SB Nation - Ryan Broyles

Thoughts On All-Big 12 Football Team

Beergut — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:25:36 -0000

by Jerry Larson - AP

Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year Christine Michael. (AP Photo/Waco Tribune-Herald, Jerry Larson)

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I thought Jordan Shipley should have been named Offensive Player of the Year instead of Colt McCoy. McCoy had a poor first half of the season; Shipley was remarkably consistent game-in and game-out this year, and I thought that should count for something.
Mack Brown getting Big 12 Coach of the Year is something of a joke, in my opinion. texas was favored to win the Big 12 South and the conference in the preseason, and they....won the Big 12 South and will play for the conference championship this weekend. What about Paul Rhoads, who took a team picked to finish last in the Big 12 North to a fourth place finish and bowl contention?
I don't agree with the pick of Jeron Mastrud for all-conference TE over Jamie McCoy at all. McCoy had better numbers (31 receptions, 328 yards, 1 TD vs. 21 receptions, 233 yards, 1 TD), and was versatile enough to play some H-back and FB.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Christine Michael make Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year. I thought he had a terrific season, but I figured the coaches would take the easy way out and give it to Landry Jones, who did receive some votes.

I think it is interesting that outside of Earl Thomas, texas had no other players make the first team defense. I thought Lamarr Houston deserved some serious consideration, although I can't argue against including Jared Crick, Ndamukong Suh, or Gerald McCoy at the DT position.
It was a surprise to see Michael Hodges receive some votes for Defensive Newcomer of the Year.
I am also happy some coaches think Jerrod Johnson deserved to be Offensive Player of the Year.
Von Miller received votes for both Defensive Lineman of the Year AND Defensive Player of the Year. With a freak of nature like Suh in this conference, you knew he wouldn't win either award, but the recognition of his performance this year is nice.
This conference is ridiculously loaded at wide receiver; show me another conference that can name a talented trio like Ryan Broyles, Kerry Meier, and Brandon Banks as their SECOND team.
I think Trent Hunter should be on the first team over Larry Asante, but I guess I'll have to be happy with a second-team selection. I think Asante had an easier job, since heplayed behind Suh and Crick, and just had to clean up on a lot of play. Hunter had to be a playmaker for us a lot more often, as attested by the 87 tackles he had on the season.
It is baffling to me that Sergio Kindle makes second team DL while Sam Acho did not. If you look at their play on the field or their statistics, Acho is obviously a better player, and this while playing on the strongside, so often facing double-teams.
It is nice to see that Uzoma Nwachukwu received some consideration for Offensive Freshman of the Year.

Bedlam Post-Game Quotes

ccmachine — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:57:21 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

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"You have to compliment the defense. I thought coach (Brent) Venables and the staff did an excellent job. But still, in the end it's the players that have to tackle, be where they need to be, make plays and they were great." - Bob Stoops

"They (Offensive Line) played hard and battled well. For Eric (Mensik), as a tight end, we did a lot of max and zone blocking, so it wasn't mentally that tough. He is used to playing against ends. We had that ready and he is a fourth-year guy. Brian Lepak was a scholarship player at Colorado State and he wasn't like a un-recruited player and he is from an Oklahoma family. So he came back and everything was good for him. I was proud of those guys. - Kevin Wilson

"Our guys came out basic and simple and they lined up right. They played very physical and man-to-man played very strongly. They played a really clean game, we tackled well, covered well and got great pressure. I thought that our guys created a new line of scrimmage from the outset. I thought they responded to a lot of challenges in a lot of different ways. It has been a tough and difficult year but our guys have never made excuses." - Brent Venables

"We had a lot to prove today, especially for the seniors. We've had a difficult year and we just wanted to come out on top with a great win. I'm proud of our team today. We played extremely hard and the score proved it." - Jeremy Beal

"It's a good way to go out. We still have one more game, but to win this Bedlam game, definitely ends us on a high note." - Ryan Broyles

"We knew that we couldn't come out and play the way we played last week and win this game. We've played well at home all year but if we came out and played like we did last week we wouldn't have had a chance. You have to give it to the defense in this game. They held OSU to around 109 yards on offense which makes our job easier and gives us less pressure." - Landry Jones

"Regardless of what happens, life is going to throw all types of different things at you. A lot of different hurdles, but you have to hurdle. A lot of ups and downs. But in the end, you have to find a way to bounce back, pick yourself up and keep on fighting. I think we went out there and proved that today." - Gerald McCoy

"Coach Wilson told us at halftime, we needed to start running the ball more and we knew as an O-line that we needed to start punching it harder and step it up and go ahead and go after it." - Eric Mensik

"It was a big rival, and I think we played together for the first time as a team. Special teams, defensively, and offensively, we were one unit. I thought it was a great victory today for us." - DeMarco Murray

"It's just a great feeling coming out against your rival, on your home field, and doing it for the seniors this year, and letting them go out on a winning note. Just for us to shut them out is even [better]." - Jazz Reynolds

"He was healthy. Zac's health is not an excuse for what happened. Zac wasn't 100 percent, but that certainly isn't an excuse for what happened." - Mike Gundy

"It was very disappointing. We came out thinking we would leave here with a victory and go on to a BCS bowl for the first time and it just didn't work the way we planned it." - Perrish Cox

"They were just the most dominating force on the field. You can see the results of that right now." - Russell Okung

Breaking Down Bedlam

ccmachine — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:16:33 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

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There are so many things that could go right or wrong for Oklahoma in today's Bedlam football game that I really have no idea what to expect. On one hand you consider how well the Sooners play at home and you think that they have an outstanding chance to win. Then you consider how bad they've played in their five losses and add the fact that the competition at home hasn't been that great and suddenly there's a huge knot in your stomach because you realize the realistic possibility that the nation's longest home winning steak very well could come to an end.

The roles are already reversed coming into the game. O-State is the ranked team with a shot at going to a BCS Bowl. Regardless of what the final score is the Cowboys are going to finish ahead of the Sooners in the Big 12 standings and will get a better bowl invitation. The only thing left to happen is for OSU to actually win the game and they come in as a legitimate favorite and for OU to avoid losing their sixth game of the season they must win one of the game match-ups that they're not supposed to.

Quarterbacks

Landry Jones is completing 58% of his passes this year and has 23 touchdowns to 13 interceptions. At times he's look exceptional and then at other moments he's look completely out of his element. The knocks against him are that he's not stable in the pocket and doesn't read through his progressions.

Zac Robinson has completed 63% of his passes with a touchdown to interception ration of 15 to 7. Robinson is a dual-threat quarterback who has rushed for 302 yards this year but has also been known for turning the ball over on a big hit when he runs.

Robinson's experience and leadership give him a clear advantage over Jones but there's the chance that he may not play due to injury or that he'll be playing at less than 100%.

Advantage: OSU

Running Backs

Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray are averaging 4.3 and 4.4 yards respectfully with 12 touchdowns between them but they are a far cry from the dynamic duo that we saw them become last season. After rushing for over 1,000 each last season the two have a combined 1,251 yards this year. The problem has been getting them in space to make plays and clearing holes for them to run in between the tackles. That's on the line and not necessarily the running backs.

Keith Toston is the Big 12's second leading rusher with 1,130 yards. He's averaging 5.5 yards per carry and has crossed the goal line rushing the football 11 times. He's a powerful runner with good speed and is one of only two players (KSU's Daniel Thomas) to average over 100 yards rushing per game.

Toston has clearly had the better season of these three backs and despite Murray having the added dimension of being Oklahoma's second leading receiver the Sooners don't have a rushing threat like Toston has been this season.

Advantage: OSU

Receivers/Tight Ends

Ryan Broyles is one of the most electrifying receivers in the country. He's averaging 12.9 yards per reception and has 861 yards with 12 touchdowns. He's on target to break 1,000 receiving yards this season and it would go a long way for the Sooners if he surpassed that mark today. Behind Broyles is a massive drop off as Brandon Caleb has almost 40 fewer receptions and only 2 touchdowns. Dejuan Miller is coming on and is has pretty much inserted himself as Oklahoma's #2 receiver.

O-State was dealt a huge blow when the NCAA took Dez Bryant away from them. Since then Hubert Anyiam has become the Pokes' top receiver. He's caught 39 passes for 482 yards and 3 touchdowns.

After Anyiam the Cowboys don't have another receiver playing in this game with more than 15 receptions. Conversely the Sooners have four receivers with more than 20 receptions. What's a tight end?

Advantage: OU

Offensive Line

I don't have the words to describe how disappointing Oklahoma's offensive line has been this season. Now this unit has become decimated with injuries and literally a walking triage unit. The latest victim is Trent Williams who may have to sit out today's Bedlam game due to a head injury. Oklahoma has given up 12 sacks this season.

Oklahoma State has only given up 7 sacks this year and is much stronger in both run and pass blocking than the Sooners are. The have a future NFL All-Pro in Russell Okung as their anchor.

Advantage: OSU

Defensive Line

Oklahoma's defensive line against OSU's offensive line is the match-up that could determine the game. Jeremy Beal is third in the conference in sacks with 11 and third in tackles for loss with 16. Gerald McCoy is fifth in the Big 12 in tackles for loss with 14.5.

Ugo Chinasa has 4 sacks for the Pokes and 6.5 tackles for loss. However, you have to go all the way down to 11^th O-States leader board for tackles to find Chinasa, a defensive lineman, listed.

Advantage: OU

Linebackers

Travis Lewis is third in the Big 12 in total tackles with 99 and Keenan Clayton is 39^th with 58. Oklahoma will be without Ryan Reynolds who is a field general for the Sooners defense and that may hurt the Sooners more than missing his 67 tackles. In his place Austin Box will step in and try to get a head start on taking over the middle linebacker position full time next season.

Donald Booker leads the Cowboys in sacks with 5 and tackles for loss with 7. He and Patrick Lavine lead the team in tackles with 80 and 67 tackles respectively. Lavine also leads the team in interceptions with 5.

Both team's linebacker units attack down hill and are solid run stuffers. O-State is second in the conference against the rush (82.6 yards per game) and the Sooners are third (91 yards per game)

Advantage: Even

Secondary

Oklahoma is second in the conference against the pass by holding opponents to just 197.5 yards per game. The OU secondary has a combined 11 interceptions led by Brian Jackson's 4. Jackson and Dominique Franks are one of the best corner duos in the conference and safety Quinton Carter is a hard hitter who's second on the team in tackles with 76.

Perrish Cox is not only the best athlete in Oklahoma State's secondary he's most likely the best athlete on the team. He has 32 tackles and 4 interceptions but as a whole the Cowboys are 9^th in the conference in pass defense.

Advantage: OU

Special Teams

Oklahoma State is last in the Big 12 in kickoff return average (18.6 yards per return) and while the Sooners aren't sitting pretty at #10 (21.2 yards per return) at least they're not last. Punt returns are a different issue for the Sooners where their 14.3 yards per return average are tops in the Big 12. OSU isn't too far behind at 13.9 yards per return which places them 3^rd in the Big 12.

In punting average the Sooners have a 39.6 (Best in the Big 12) to 37.5 advantage. Oklahoma's place kickers have missed seven field goal attempts this season while the Cowboys have missed five.

If this game becomes a field goal kicking contest then I'm not sure that I like Oklahoma's chances. However, in the battle for field position OU's special teams units are outperforming O-State's in just about every category.

Advantage: OU

Proof That Some Guys Just Don't Get It

ccmachine — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:13:22 -0000

Does anyone else get the feeling that this team has a "me" and not a "we" attitude?

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 11.21.09

Seth C — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:20:20 -0000

Let's hope this happens. ~~I'd love to give credit to whoever did this, if you know, leave a comment.~~ Texas Tech alum Brian Crowell gets credit for the photoshop skills. Thanks to Brian for the foreshadowing.

Senior Day: LAJ's Don Williams writes that on previous senior days, the Red Raiders have made it count. The first 2 paragraphs were pretty good:

Texas Tech tackle Marlon Winn started the week reminding teammates the added significance of today’s regular-season home finale against Oklahoma. It’ll be the last trip down the tunnel at Jones AT&T Stadium for 19 Red Raiders seniors.

"He said it (Sunday) night: ‘How would you want to be sent out when you’re a senior?’’’ Tech linebacker Bront Bird said. "’We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores playing right now. Think about whenever it’s your time, how you want your legacy to be left in the Jones.’ So I think the team’s going to rally around that.’’

Injuries Hurt Red Raiders and Sooners: LAJ's Don Williams runs down the injury situation for both teams and reminds me that the only significant injuries that Texas Tech suffered that year was DT Rajon Henley for 3 games and G Louis Vasquez and CB L.A. Reed for 2 games. I could spend quite a bit of time going over the injury situation this year, but it's certainly been significant.

Howard Has No Limits: FWST's Dwain Price features DE Daniel Howard, who fellow teammate LB Bront Bird feels that Howard isn't as known and opposing linemen should know about him:

"Maybe he’s not as tall as the other guys, or as strong, or maybe not even as fast, but he makes up for that in effort, that’s for sure," Red Raiders linebacker Bront Bird said.

"I’m not sure what [opposing offensive linemen] think of him, but I know they better respect him. He causes havoc off the edge, I know that much."

Here's Howard on coming to Texas Tech:

"I got recruited by the rest of the schools around here to play linebacker, and Tech was the one that came in and told me, 'You’re going to play defensive end.’ I said, 'OK,’ because everybody else told me I was too small [to play defensive end], I wasn’t fast enough and I wasn’t tall enough, and I think as a defense we’re making statements because we’re all those guys."

Go read the whole thing, it's worth your time.

Oklahoma Sooner and Big 12 Links: Crimson and Cream Machine with 5 keys to beating Texas Tech . . . NewsOK's David Ubben with the weekly blitz package . . . NewsOK's Jake Trotter writes that the Sooners might need some magic today . . . NewsOK's Berry Tramel writes that the Sooners have struggled on the road . . . the Tulsa World with 3 storylines for today's game . . . FWST's Mike Jones with a look at RB DeMarco Murray and WR Ryan Broyles are playmakers . . . LAJ's Adam Zuvanich wirtes that the OU defense is one of the best in the Stoops era . . .

Game Tonight: Lamar Cardinals vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Time: 7:00 p.m. :: Location: United Spirit Arena, Lubbock, Texas
Preview and Game Day Thread: Scheduled for 6:00 p.m. post

Stressing Defense: LAJ's Courtney Linehan writes that head coach Pat Knight is stressing defense:

Skeletons dance across the backs of the Texas Tech men’s basketball players. The frightful figures are printed on their T-shirts, but they carry a message coach Pat Knight hopes rattles his team this season: Play to the bone.

"It’s a fighting term: it means you have to fight to the end, until that final bell goes off," Knight said after the Raiders’ 94-75 win against Northwestern State on Thursday. "Look at boxing, how many guys lose it in the 12th round, get knocked out because they’re playing it safe or just think they have the fight won."

And Knight was not happy with the first the first half of the game against Northwestern St.:

"It was going back to the same old BS as last year: not guarding people, trying to out-gun the other team. You might be able to do that against some teams in the preseason, but you’re not going to be able to out-gun Texas and Kansas."

Q & A With Crimson And Cream Machine

Beergut — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:37:39 -0000

We preview our game with the Oklahoma Sooners by asking a few questions of Crimson and Cream Machine, SB Nation's excellent Oklahoma blog. Thanks to moderator ccmachine for his answers and insight into the Sooner program.

1. I thought after the 2005 season, Stoops would have learned his lesson, and y'all wouldn't have to go through a wholesale 'rebuild' season where you suffer a serious dropoff from previous seasons. Granted, you can't win the Big 12 every single year, and three in a row is a nice run, but do you have any thoughts on why Stoops & Staff weren't able to have adequate replacements ready to step up this season, particularly on the offensive line?

This seems to be more of a question of ignorance than anything else. What lesson was Stoops to learn from `05 that would have prepared him for the rash of injuries in `09? With yesterday’s injury to offensive lineman Jarvis Jones, making him doubtful for Saturday, the Sooners have now lost over half of their offensive unit to injury. What coach has a contingency plan for that?

Sam Bradford was the one who took most of the reps in preseason camp and this season was supposed to be spent prepping Landry Jones for next year. Instead Bradford is done and Jones has been thrown into the fire. The guy that was supposed to be behind Bradford transferred to Michigan State after losing out on the starting position which left just freshmen in the fold after Joey Halzle graduated last season. We knew the linemen wouldn’t be as good as last year but it also appears that not all 4-Star recruits are as good as advertised. That goes for receivers as well. Adron Tennell was a highly touted 4-Star guy coming out of high school. Now we know why he’s been riding the pine for his entire career.

2. Injuries have ravaged your team, with All-Americans Sam Bradford and Jermaine Gresham being lost for the season. Brody Eldridge and Auston English are now out for the season after the Nebraska game. Is it just bad luck this year, or do you think there is an issue on the S&C program that is leading to more injuries this year?

We call it the curse of Andre Ware! It has nothing to do with the strength and conditioning program. Bob Stoops has never suffered a rash of injuries like this and his strength and conditioning system has been in place since 1999.

3. All Aggies are familiar with DeMarco Murray, Chris Brown, and Ryan Broyles. We've watched Landry Jones attempt to replace Sam Bradford's production in the OU offense. Who is an offensive player we might not know about who could be a key contributor on Saturday?

DeJuan Miller (#24) has really come on lately. I have not idea why he didn’t play against Texas but since he entered into the starting lineup against Baylor the Red River Shootout is the only game where he didn’t receive a significant amount of playing time. He’s slowly moving his way up the ladder in receiving yards and earning the trust of Landry Jones as the second option at receiver.

4. Who is the A&M player you are most worried about on offense or defense?

On offense you can’t ignore what Jerrod Johnson is doing. He is quietly putting together the best season of any Big 12 quarterback by completing over 60% of his passes with a Big 12-best 21 touchdowns to just 4 interceptions.
Just as impressive on defense is Von Miller who leads the Big 12 in sacks with 15.5. He’ll be going up against a hodge-podge offensive line and will no doubt live in Oklahoma ’s backfield.

5. What does A&M need to do to pull the upset?

All they have to do is score more points. Yes, I realize that is a plain answer but its also a simple plan. The Aggies will struggle against Oklahoma ’s defense but conversely Oklahoma ’s offense is really hurting and may still struggle to score despite the Aggies being dead last in the Big 12 when it comes to scoring defense.

6. OU has been ridiculously tough at home under Bob Stoops. What do the Aggies need to do to take the crowd out of the game?

OU fans are already disgruntled with the offense so the longer the Aggies can keep Landry Jones and company at bay the more you’ll see and hear grumbling from within the stadium.

7. Score prediction.

OU’s offense is bad but A&M’s defense is worse. I like the Sooners 27-10.

SBN Big 12 Roundtable – Make The Pain Stop!

ccmachine — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:59:38 -0000

by Orlin Wagner - AP

Oklahoma's passing attack has been painful to watch at times this season. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

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I'm back! Pardon my absence from the blogosphere but until running the Crimson And Cream Machine pays the bills I have to work the real job which requires traveling to Central/South America from time to time. I'd like to say thanks to dishingoutdimes for carrying the torch for me while I was gone. Great job!

Now, on to this week's roundtable discussion and you know the drill. Add your thoughts in the conversation by using the comments section below. Thanks to I Am The 12^th Man for hosting this week!

1. We are three-fourths of the way through the season now, with either 2 or 3 games remaining for your respective teams. What players have surprised you, what players have disappointed you this year?

Offensively, I've actually been surprised with Ryan Broyles. We saw what he was capable of doing last season but didn't know how he would handle being the go-to guy. Its safe to state that he's been the lone bright spot on Oklahoma's this season. Especially when you consider how bad the other receivers have been.

As far as disappointments go for me let's just sum it up by naming every other offensive player other than Broyles.

Defensively Jeremy Beal has been amazing to watch. With all the talent and pro-stock on this unit he has been the shinning star on what has been the best defense in the conference. That doesn't mean that there haven't been disappointments though. I'm pointing my finger at Dominique Franks who has been very solid but has also made his share of, "What the heck was he thinking!" plays.

2. Name a player on another Big 12 team who you think has underachieved or been a disappointment this season (I don't consider someone getting knocked out by injury a disappointment, so no references to Robert Griffin, please).

This one is easy for me! My pick goes to Sergio Kindle of the Texas Longhorns. I actually received emails in the preseason about how Kindle was going to be unstoppable and all Sooners should beware. Of course I wasn't scared because my football playing days are well behind me and therefore I had a better chance of Kindle hitting me with his car than I did of him hitting me on the football field. As it turns out, I'm not the only one as Big 12 offensive players have seemed to elude Kindle's wrath like competent driving skills have eluded Kindle himself.

He's not among the Top 10 sack leaders in the conference and he isn't found among the To 50 leading tacklers in the conference (and there are actually 65 players on that list). I even bought into the hype and placed him our preseason Twelve Players To Watch In The Big 12 list. Turns out that his shining moment of the season so far has been a illegal hit on Texas Tech's Taylor Potts.

3. What player on another Big 12 team has surprised you or surpassed your expectations this season?

Kansas State's Daniel Thomas is the only running back in the Big 12 to crack 1,000 yards so far and he's also the only back to average over 100 rushing yards per game. Who would have thought?

4. Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh is the most dominant defensive tackle I have seen in years. Who do you think is the last dominant defensive tackle you can compare him to at the college level? Is there one to compare him to for the last 10 years?

Tommie Harris comes to mind but I just don't know. Suh is such a dominant player who makes things happen in just about every defensive phase of the game. You need a quarterback pressure/sack? He's your man. A run stopper? He's on it! How about an interception returned for a touchdown? Got it! A blocked field goal? Yep!

5. Right now, who is your pick for Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, and Offensive and Defensive Freshman of the Year?

Offensive Player of the Year: Jerrod Johnson, QB Texas A&M

Defensive Player of the Year: Ndamukong Suh, DT Nebraska

Newcomer of the Year: Daniel Thomas, RB Kansas State

Offensive Freshman of the Year: Landry Jones, QB Oklahoma

Defensive Freshman of the Year: Cody Davis, DB Texas Tech

6. Power rank the teams, 1-12.

1. Texas

2. Oklahoma State

3. Texas Tech

4. Kansas State

5. Nebraska

6. Oklahoma

7. Texas A&M

8. Kansas

9. Colorado

10. Iowa State

11. Baylor

12. Missouri

Nebraska Safety Matt O'Hanlon is Big 12 Player of the Week, Kicker/Punter Alex Henery Ignored

Jon Johnston — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:46:38 -0000

More photos » by Nati Harnik - AP

Henery - a masterful weapon overlooked by most.

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The Big 12 selected Matt O'Hanlon as Defensive Player of the Week yesterday. It wasn't that difficult a selection. O'Hanlon tied a school record for interceptions in a game, the fourth player in Nebraska history to do so. The last time this happened was 30 years ago (almost to the day), on November 10th, 1979, when Ric Lindquist intercepted three passes against Kansas State. The other two times came in the first week of November as well - Dana Stephenson against Colorado on November 1st, 1969, and Joe Blahak against Kansas State on November 14th, 1970.

O'Hanlon had a career-high 12 tackles against Oklahoma, include nine solo tackles. While his three interceptions all came in the second half, nine of his tackles were in the first half, so you might say he spent the first half getting warmed up. He stopped Oklahoma from scoring with his interceptions coming at the NU 25, NU 19, and at the NU six-yard line to seal the game.

Kicker/Punter Alex Henery had a masterful game. I'm surprised that more hasn't been written this week about him. He was not selected as Big 12 Special Teams player this week. Texas A&M's Cyrus Gray got that honor for returning a kick 99 yards for a touchdown, and another for 45 yards for the Aggies final score in a game in which they lost to Colorado. I guess it's more important that you score rather than recognize the value of field position in a field position-based game.

Fans don't recognize the value of punting as easily as they would O'Hanlon's interceptions, but as far as the game went, they were just as valuable. Henery consistently punted the Huskers out of trouble, and for the most part kept Oklahoma's dangerous playmaker Ryan Broyles out of the game. Henery had two punts downed inside the 20, including the 66-yarder (mentioned in the postgame overreaction article) that flipped field position in Nebraska's favor. He would have had two more punts inside the 20 had it not been for returns.

Here's Henery's work as a punter against Oklahoma (I only listed return yardage where the ball moved past the 20):

from the 16 for 43 yards
from the 11 for 44 yards
from the 30 for 35 yards
from the 32 for 66 yards, downed at the two-yard line
from the OU 42 for 34 yards, downed at the eight-yard line
from the 31 for 39 yards - out of bounds at the OU 30
from the 40 for 43 yards to the OU 17, returned to the 29-yard line.
from the 11 for 48 yards to the OU 41
from the 27 for 44 yards to the OU 29, out of bounds
from the 33 for 42 yards to the OU 25
from the 41 for 43 yards to the OU 16, returned 35 yards to the NU 49-yard line.

His performance against Oklahoma gives him 19 punts downed inside the 20 this season. He was leading the Big 12 in that category before the game (Still is, depending upon whether you go by number or percentage).

Unfortunately, Henery broke his streak of 25 straight field goals of less than 50 yards when he missed a 43-yarder in the fourth quarter. He did hit a 28-yarder in the third quarter to extend Nebraska's lead. Between the two field goals he is 12-for-15 on the season and 38-for-44 for his career.

Henery is an incredible weapon on a team desperately looking for them. He deserves more recognition than he's getting.

Big Red Rivalry Advantages Favor OU

ccmachine — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:26 -0000

by ALONZO ADAMS - AP

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Oklahoma should be able to come away with a win in Lincoln but I don't expect it to be easy. Nebraska's defense is too nasty for the Sooners to come by a lot of points but the Husker offense may be at even a larger disadvantage than OU's. Looking at the unit breakdowns I'm gaining more confidence in Oklahoma's ability to score their 6^th win of the season.

Quarterbacks

I'll take Landry Jones over either one of Nebraska's signal callers. Zac Lee was benched after the Huskers went 1-2 to start conference play and Cody Green would only be making his second ever career start Saturday night. Either way it goes Jones is the better quarterback.

Advantage: OU

Running Backs

DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown are averaging 4.7 and 4.2 yards per carry with each back scoring 5 rushing touchdowns. Nebraska's Roy Helu is averaging 5.6 yards per carry and has scored 6 rushing touchdowns.

Advantage: Huskers

Receivers/Tight Ends

Just about anyone is going to have an advantage over Oklahoma's tight ends at this point but the Sooners have one of the most explosive receivers in the country in Ryan Broyles with Dejuan Miller and Adron Tennell starting to become actual playmakers in the offense as well. After Niles Paul the Huskers don't have a receiver with more that 16 receptions.

Advantage: OU

Offensive Line

Despite all the early struggles and even with the continuation of dumb penalties Oklahoma's offensive line has shown improvement. The Sooners have given up a total of 7 sacks this season. Nebraska has seen their quarterbacks get put down 10 times this season. While neither unit is eye popping good Oklahoma's has faced stronger defenses and knows what pressure is.

Advantage: OU

Defensive Line

Two of the best defensive tackles in the nation will be on the field today but regardless of how much publicity they get they won't be going head-to-head. This game will be won or lost by the other guys that stack up the line and not just the two superstars. Fortunately for both sides they've got guys like Jeremy Beal and Jared Crick that prevents them from being one man shows.

Advantage: Even

Linebackers

The Sooners are giving up 2.6 yards per carry and Nebraska 2.7 to their opponents. Both teams are stellar against the run but Oklahoma's experience has to account for something.

Advantage: OU

Secondary

Brian Jackson and Dominique Franks may not be Thorpe finalists but they are one of the best cornerback duos in the country. However, Nebraska leads the conference in pass defense and their secondary is a big reason for that.

Advantage: Nebraska

Kicking Game

Tress Way is now performing both punting and kicking duties and doing a solid job at it. However, Alex Henery is one of the best place kickers in the country.

Advantage: Nebraska

Bottom Line

I think that Nebraska's offense will struggle considerably more that Oklahoma's. Not because one defense is better than the other but because the Huskers don't have as many playmakers on offense as OU.

Q&A With An Oklahoma Sooner Expert

Jon Johnston — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:00:29 -0000

by Sue Ogrocki - AP

OU receiver Ryan Broyles is the Sooner's most dangerous playmaker. Shutting him down will be a key for the Huskers' Blackshirt defense.

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No one knows more about the Sooners than someone who follows them on a regular basis, so we asked Matt at the SB Nation site Crimson and Cream Machine to answer some questions about this weekend's Oklahoma vs Nebraska game.

I took my kids trick-or-treating with the Sooners rolling over Kansas State. I came back, and it's 35-30. What happened?

I'm not sure what happened there and I was watching it. OU jumped out 21-0 and then they just took their foot off the gas, so to speak. I have a theory that Bob Stoops has enough respect for Bill Snyder that he had the offense go ultra conservative in order to prevent an absolute blowout of his former mentor but that would have only worked if the defense was able to continue doing what it did through the first fifteen minutes when the score was 21-0. However, when the OU offense went into a shell (for whatever reason) the K-State offense came to life and was unstoppable for about two quarters.

The Sooners woke back up again in the fourth quarter but not before being given a legitimate scare. Landry Jones was 10-for-10 passing in the final quarter and after he led a scoring drive to push the lead to 35-23. Brandon Banks returned the kickoff 98 yards to bring it back to a 35-30 game. Fortunately Jones and company had one more drive left in them and scored again in the fourth for the final 42-30 outcome.

In the preseason, there was quite a bit of debate whether Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy was the best d-lineman in the Big XII, yet we've hardly heard much about McCoy this season. Is this because Mister Suh (as ESPN/ABC has given up trying to pronounce Ndamukong) is dominating the headlines, or is McCoy not playing up to expectations?

McCoy is in no way having a bad season and both are exceptional players. Gerald McCoy lives in the opponent's backfield. He has 12 tackles for loss but has been overshadowed a bit by defensive end Jeremy Beal who has 13.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks.

With 5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss, Suh has certainly lived up to his expectations this season but to think that for some reason McCoy hasn't is a bit of a stretch.

The Sooner offensive line has struggled this season. Is this due to a lack of players, inconsistent line up, or what's happening there? Would you put most of the problems with Oklahoma's offense on this unit?

I think that there are several things that you could pin Oklahoma's offensive woes upon but it all starts with the line. Before the season even started Bob Stoops said that Oklahoma's offense would only be as good as the line allowed them to be and that has certainly been true. That was also before injuries took Jermaine Gresham and Sam Bradford away from this unit as well. The line does a decent job at pass blocking but the two main struggles have been picking up blitzes and run blocking. Then there are the mental errors (false starts) and acts of desperation (holding penalties). Watching Oklahoma's offensive line really is a comedy of errors.

Keep in mind that OU's offense is scoring a respectable 33.1 points per game. Its just when you compare it to last year's pace it just isn't the same and its not what we expected this year either.

Other than Ryan Broyles, who is the most consistent receiver? Who's the most dangerous?

How about no one for an answer? Ryan Broyles is the most dangerous receiver and there really is no one else! Brandon Caleb has been solid and Adron Tennell has come on as of late but they've both struggled with the drops this season. Dejuan Miller had a breakout game against Kansas State but we'd like to see some more consistency from him. DeMarco Murray also catches passes out of the backfield and occasionally from the slot. The tight end position is pretty much non-existent so basically what we have is a quarterback's second option done by committee.

Would you like to see the Big 12 change scheduling so that Nebraska - Oklahoma play on a yearly basis, or does this ex-rivalry mean much to Sooner fans?

Like many fans I grew up on the Oklahoma/Nebraska rivalry and would love to see it return to yearly game, and I would want it put back in its rightful Thanksgiving weekend spot. I know there has been some talk about pursuing this but I just don't see how it would work out for the benefit of the conference. And as well all know if it doesn't benefit the conference it most likely isn't going to happen.

Prediction?

I don't see this being anything like last year's game. With two dominating defenses I think that it will be a close game decided by special teams and turnovers. I favor Oklahoma in that because our freshman quarterback has played in every game this season and started five of them while yours is just making his second start. OU will be able to pressure him more than Baylor did which will put him under fire for the first time this season. Landry Jones has already been up against Texas and Miami defenses and while the Huskers will bring tons of pressure it will be something that Jones has already experienced on multiple occasions.

OU 17 - Nebraska 10