SB Nation - Perrish Cox

We're All Americans, But We're Not All All-Americans

Oops Pow Surprise — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:51:28 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

Iowa's Pat Angerer (43) celebrates with teammates Allen Reisner and Dace Richardson, right, after Iowa blocked a Northern Iowa field goal on the final play. Iowa won 17-16. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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As is usually the case after a 10-win season, the accolades are beginning to pour in for the Iowa Hawkeye football team. Everyone and their mom has an all-conference or All-American team, but the two that actually matter--Walter Camp and the AP--are now out. And for the 33th year in a row, the unanimous selection for player of the year is Frank Stallone*.

More importantly, the AP named three Hawkeyes to their All-American teams. While nobody made it onto the first team, thanks to Ricky Stanzi's ankle injury--come on, you know if he stays healthy and Iowa goes 11-1 and finishes at #5 or so, even the guys on defense get a little bit more of a bump--both Bryan Bulaga and Pat Angerer made it to the second team, while Tyler Sash made third-team AA as a sophomore. A fine moment for all three players (two of whom, as we insular and provincial types are quick to point out, are native Iowans).

Meanwhile, the Walter Camp Foundation agreed with the AP, naming Bulaga and Angerer to their second team as well and effectively establishing the two as the de facto MVPs of their respective sides of the ball. We have a little beef with each designation, but for wholly different reasons.

First, though Bulaga is by far the best pro prospect on the line as of right now and was utterly dominant in 2008, the reality is that even notwithstanding the 3-week absence as he recovered from thyroid issues, he struggled in 2009. Brandon Graham and O'Brien Schofield manhandled Bulaga. And while those are two very good defensive ends, so was Aaron Maybin, the 11th pick of the 2009 by the Buffalo Bills and Bryan Bulaga's personal prison bitch after Iowa-PSU 2008. There was a substantial dropoff in play by Bulaga in 2009, and voters just didn't notice it when it came time to hand out awards.

Meanwhile, Dace Richardson was actually very good in his return to the line, and he got a fair amount of media attention when mid-season awards were being handed out. Then his ankle was rolled up on against Michigan State, and he disappeared from both the depth chart and voters' attention. But why should he have been punished for an ankle injury while voters looked past Bulaga's absence of a similar length? It's all past reputation, and that's not really fair to guys who come from nowhere and work their butts off--especially in their senior year, where there's no chance for any payoff in the "rewarded in Year X for play in Year X-minus-1" system that's come to be when it comes to honoring offensive linemen.

What this comes down to is that if the AP were to select an Iowa lineman for All-American this season, we'd have preferred it be Dace--though we'll certainly "settle for" Bulaga instead. If both men are playing their last game for Iowa next month, as lots of speculation suggests, then they've both had stellar careers in the black and gold and we wish them well.

On defense, on the other hand, Pat Angerer didn't really establish himself as the most dominant player for that Iowa defense, but that's hardly through any fault of his own. After all, one usually does so by being simply better than his teammates, and the talent level on the Iowa defense this year was both so high and so consistent that it was hard to see Angerer as someone who was the best player on defense. After all, you could always come back with, "well why not Sash? Or Adrian Clayborn? Or Amari Spievey? Or A.J. Edds? Or, hell, Jeremiha Hunter?" We're not saying that Angerer was the 6th best player on the Iowa defense by any means--just that ranking the top 5 or 6 or so would be impossible, because the gaps would be so miniscule that personal preference could easily mean a 3- or 4-spot swing here or there and it wouldn't even be objectionable.

Angerer's accolades, then, come from two areas: 1) his name, which is everything you could ever hope for times infinity; 2) and his stats, which sort of sneak up on you for the same reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph. As mentioned before, he was 5th in the nation in tackles at 11.3 a game. That's pretty outstanding, especially since--as TRE noticed during the season--Angerer's real strength might have been in pass coverage, not run support.

Still, absent game-changing plays, it's somewhat difficult to notice the overall impact a player has on a game. And all of those game-changing plays seemed to happen to other players--most notably Sash and Clayborn, and to a lesser extent Spievey.

Thus we have a weird ambiguity about how we look at Angerer's standing as the most highly-lauded member of the 2009 Iowa defense. It's not that he didn't deserve it--far from it--but with a defense like Iowa's, you could basically pick a name out of a hat and feel relatively confident that you made a good choice. It was that kind of year. Effectively singling out Angerer for praise, then, seems unusual and almost a little unfair. Oh well. There are worse problems to have.

Full AP All-American teams are after the break.

First team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Colt McCoy, senior, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Texas.
	   Running backs -- Toby Gerhart, senior, 6-1, 235, Stanford; Mark Ingram, sophomore, 5-10, 212, Alabama.
	   Tackles -- Russell Okung, senior, 6-5, 301, Oklahoma State; Trent Williams, senior, 6-5, 318, Oklahoma.
	   Guards -- Michael Johnson, senior, 6-6, 305, Alabama; Mike Iupati, senior, 6-6, 330, Idaho.
	   Center -- J.D. Walton, senior, 6-3, 305, Baylor.
	   Tight end -- Aaron Hernandez, junior, 6-2, 250, Florida.
	   Wide receivers -- Golden Tate, junior, 5-11, 195, Notre Dame; Jordan Shipley, senior, 6-0, 190, Texas.
	   All-purpose player -- C.J. Spiller, senior, 5-11, 195, Clemson.
	   Kicker -- Leigh Tiffin, senior, 6-2, 212, Alabama.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jerry Hughes, senior, 6-3, 257, TCU; Derrick Morgan, junior, 6-4, 272, Georgia Tech.
	   Tackles -- Ndamukong Suh, senior, 6-4, 300, Nebraska; Terrence Cody, senior, 6-5, 365, Alabama.
	   Linebackers -- Rolando McClain, junior, 6-4, 258, Alabama; Greg Jones, junior, 6-1, 228, Michigan State; Eric Norwood, senior, 6-1, 252, South Carolina.
	   Cornerbacks -- Joe Haden, junior, 5-11, 190, Florida; Javier Arenas, senior, 5-9, 198, Alabama.
	   Safeties -- Eric Berry, junior, 5-11, 203, Tennessee; Earl Thomas, sophomore, 5-10, 197, Texas.
	   Punter -- Drew Butler, sophomore, 6-2, 201, Georgia.
Second team
	   Quarterback -- Tim Tebow, senior, Florida.
	   Running backs -- Ryan Mathews, junior, Fresno State; Dion Lewis, freshman, Pittsburgh.
	   Tackles -- Bryan Bulaga, junior, Iowa; Chris Marinelli, senior, Stanford.
	   Guards -- Rodney Hudson, junior, Florida State; Mike Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Center -- Maurkice Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Tight end -- Dennis Pitta, senior, BYU.
	   Wide receivers -- Mardy Gilyard, senior, Cincinnati; Danario Alexander, senior, Missouri.
	   All-purpose player -- James Rodgers, junior, Oregon State.
	   Kicker -- Kai Forbath, junior, UCLA.
Defense
	   Ends -- Von Miller, junior, Texas A&M; Brandon Graham, senior, Michigan.
	   Tackles -- Gerald McCoy, junior, Oklahoma; Jared Odrick, senior, Penn State.
	   Linebackers -- Pat Angerer, senior, Iowa; Brandon Spikes, senior, Florida; Sean Weatherspoon, senior, Missouri.
	   Cornerbacks -- Perrish Cox, senior, Oklahoma State; Kyle Wilson, senior, Boise State.
	   Safeties -- Taylor Mays, senior, Southern California; Rahim Moore, sophomore, UCLA.
	   Punter -- Zoltan Mesko, senior, Michigan.
Third team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Kellen Moore, sophomore, Boise State
	   Running backs -- LaMichael James, redshirt freshman, Oregon; Jacquizz Rodgers, sophomore, Oregon State.
	   Tackles -- Dennis Landolt, senior, Penn State; Ciron Black, senior, LSU.
	   Guards -- Brandon Carter, senior, Texas Tech; Jeff Byers, senior, Southern California.
	   Center -- Chris Hall, senior, Texas.
	   Tight end -- Dorin Dickerson, senior, Pittsburgh.
	   Wide receivers -- Freddie Barnes, senior, Bowling Green; Demaryius Thomas, junior, Georgia Tech.
	   All-purpose player -- Dexter McCluster, senior, Mississippi.
	   Kicker -- Hunter Lawrence, senior, Texas.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jeremy Beal, junior, Oklahoma; Brandon Sharpe, senior, Texas Tech.
	   Tackles -- Brian Price, junior, UCLA; Dan Williams, senior, Tennessee.
	   Linebackers -- Sergio Kindle, senior, Texas; Cody Grimm, senior, Virginia Tech; Navorro Bowman, junior, Penn State.
	   Cornerbacks -- Brandon Harris, sophomore, Miami; Alterraun Verner, senior, UCLA.
	   Safeties -- Tyler Sash, sophomore, Iowa; Mark Barron, sophomore, Alabama.
	   Punter -- Matt Reagan, senior, Memphis.

*Did you know he was in Tombstone, a.k.a. the SINGLE GREATEST MOVIE IN HISTORY? And in a phenomenal scene, to boot.

A Great Weekend for College Football, But Nebraska Is Ignored

Jon Johnston — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:00:15 -0000

by Harry Cabluck - AP

That Texas will beat Nebraska in the Big 12 title game is a foregone conclusion for most. That's a damned shame and a clear cut signal that no one's paid attention to Nebraska's defense.

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A great weekend for college football. Not only does Nebraska beat Colorado en route to the Big 12 title game, but a bunch of teams lost that were ranked above the Huskers. If the Huskers aren't ranked in the 15-18 range this week, you have to wonder what the hell the writes are thinking.

- Keep Voting For Suh For Heisman

Here. Let's face it, Suh is not going to win the Heisman. "The Best College Football Player" clearly has to be an offensive player. Don't let that discourage you - the point is to get him an invite to the presentation. If he can have a huge game against Texas in the Big 12 title game, maybe that'll be enough.

- Mark Mangino = Dead Man Walking

If you saw Mangino walking off the field after Kansas lost to Missouri, you know what I'm talking about. He was Zombie Mangino, walking slowly, eyes straight ahead, mouth agape - a man who'd just had his (very large) last meal.

He probably deserved that look, too. With around three minutes left, Gary Pinkel chose to punt, despite the fact that neither defense had stopped the other team. Kansas gets the ball near their own end zone, then they run two pass plays that result in incompletions. On third and long, Kansas tries a quarterback draw that ends with Todd Reesing getting caught for a safety.

The result - no time off the clock, points for Missouri, and the ball. KU's defense was true to form, and couldn't stop the Tigers. They get an easy field goal to win, Mangino is most likely fired, and Kansas ends at 5-7 after being picked by most people to win the Big 12 North.

No wonder Mangino looked like a zombie. (BTW, ESPN if you expect us to link to your videos, don't disable embedding.)

- Missouri's Danario Alexander Ignored

Alexander is not on the list for the Biletnikoff, the award given to college football's best receiver. Instead, that'll go to Golden Tate (Notre Dame), Jordan Shipley (Texas), or Freddie Barnes, the three finalists. Does Alexander belong? You tell me.

Player	G	Rec.	Yards	Avg.	TD	Rec./G	Yards/G
Danario Alexander	12	107	1644	15.36	13	8.92	137
Jordan Shipley	12	99	1292	13.05	13	8.25	107.67
Freddie Barnes	12	138	1551	11.24	16	11.5	129.25
Golden Tate	12	93	1496	16.09	15	7.75	124.67

- All Hail Texas

Did you hear Nebraska's name mentioned once on Saturday? I didn't. It's a foregone conclusion, nationally, that the Huskers will lose to Texas. I can understand the sentiment since our offense sucks, but apparently no one has much respect for our defense. Maybe that's just us - we haven't been that impressive. Maybe that's the Big 12 North's reputation (ala Nebraska not being ranked despite winning the North).

Or maybe it's the fact that college football media is all about offense. The concept that defense wins championships is evading people.

- Bowling For Nebraska

What bowl will we end up in? The Fiesta. Bold? No, a reaction to everyone writing us off. With our defense, we've been in every game except Texas Tech. The Longhorn offense isn't that special. Their defense, though, is damned good. Unfortunately for the ‘Horns, that'll be cancelled by the fact our offense sucks.

I'll work that logic out for you this week, I promise.

- Oklahoma State As Themselves

Thinking about a BCS bowl, Okie State? That had to be what you were doing this weekend. T. Boone can pour all the money he wants into Oklahoma State, but until Mike Gundy and the Cowboys win games like this, they'll continue to be what they've been throughout their history - second-best in Oklahoma. I don't know what it'll take to fire Gundy, but they're not going to get any better than they are now.

Nice try, ‘Pokes. Next up for you - being bypassed by Nebraska for a better bowl even if we lose to Texas because we have better travelling fans than you do.

- Sticking With Thanksgiving Theme

And giving thanks means being thankful that the Huskers no longer have to face these guys next season:

Missouri's Alexander and Derrick Washington. Kansas' Todd Ressing, Kerry Meier, and Dezmon Briscoe. Kansas State's Brandon Banks is moving on, as are Texas Colt McCoy, Jordan Shipley, and Sergio Kindle. Oklahoma State loses Zac Robinson, Dez Bryant, and Perrish Cox.

2010 doesn't look so bad already.

- Charlie Weis, gone.

I know, Notre Dame is not a Big 12 member, but in looking ahead, perhaps it's time to be more nationally focused.

Todd McShay stated that the rumored buyout for Weis is $18M. That's idiotic. If you were Brian Kelly, wouldn't you take the job just for the golden parachute? Maybe the government could step in here and cut Weis' bonus down. A university, even if private, should never be paying money like that to someone that's so miserably a fail.

- LSU Manages the Clock

Les Miles got this week right. He didn't screw up the end of the game, getting his field goal unit on the field with .09 left. His handshake with Bobby Petrino was a thing of beauty, IF they actually shook hands. More like two ships passing in the night with a fair amount of prejudice between them.

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

Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Lose :: Oklahoma St. Cowboys Edition

Seth C — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:00:41 -0000

This weekly feature considers five reasons why Texas Tech will win and five reasons Texas Tech will lose to each opponent. Check back tomorrow for "Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Win :: Oklahoma St. Cowboys Edition".

Reason #1 :: Which Team Will Show Up: It was just 3 weeks ago in that this Texas Tech defense gave up 321 yards to a TAMU offense that was about 30th in the country in rushing offense. This week, the Red Raiders face off against the 20th best rushing offense in the country and the majority of the carries are being split between 3 players: RB Keith Toston (155 att. for 882 yds), RB Beau Johnson (74 att. for 297 yds) and QB Zac Robinson (76 att. for 203 yds). The Texas Tech defense would be well served to look back at that TAMU tape and remind themselves that simply rushing up the field without containing Robinson will be a huge mistake. In other words, it can happen. Granted, the Red Raiders didn't have the luxury of having DE Brandon Sharpe fully healthy for that game, but the key is that the same team that showed up against Kansas St., Nebraska and Kansas needs to show up on Saturday.

Reason #2 :: Defensive No-Names: Quick, name one starter for the OSU defense. You could probably say that CB Perrish Cox and possibly is known amongst college football enthusiasts and I think you could have said that Patrick Levine is a familiar name, but the Oklahoma St. defense is getting the job done quietly. Sure, they've had their bad games, including the Houston game where the defense gave up 512 total yards and the Texas game where the offense struggled with turnovers and attempting to keep pace with the Longhorns, but relatively speaking, the defense has been pretty good. Donald Booker, Ugo Chinasa and Richetti Jones are leading the pass rush, but as a unit this group is average. The same goes for TFL, where the team is again fairly average in this area and is led by Lucien Antoine, Donald Booker and Richetti Jones. The team leader in interceptions is linebacker Patrick Levine with 4, while Perrish Cox and Terrance Anderson each have 2. OSU's defensive coordinator Bill Young is doing an excellent job of stopping the run, as the defense has given up less than 100 yards for the past 4 games (Missouri, Baylor, Texas and Iowa St.), and despite what you may read, stopping the run is traditionally a good sign for a defense.

Reason #3 :: Replacing Playmakers: A program has depth if a team can lose it's 2 most imporant players and still only have 2 losses for the year. The loss of WR Dez Bryant and RB Kendall Hunter have been huge for the Cowboys, although it's not as if schools do not have to replace players all the time. The production is slightly off from last year (about 80 yards a game from 2008), but without a player on the outside, or a play-making tight end to help loosen the field, this offense has really been very efficient and pretty good for most of the year. It's not as explosive, but the cowboys are still averaging almost 200 yards rushing a game and WR Hubert Anyiam isn't as explosive as Bryant, but he's shown the ability to have big games, including 119 yards against Mizzou.

Reason #4 :: Pass Defense: In OSU's 7 wins this year, they are holding opponents to a 105.00 passer rating, 10 interceptions and 7 touchdowns. The Cowboys sit right behind the Red Raiders in passes defended and have 11 interceptions, 45 passes broken up, which is good for 56 passes defended for the year. OSU has the athletes to play good pass defense, pressuring receivers and creating turnovers. Much like Texas Tech, the Cowboys have slowly but surely improved the type of athlete. The difference between these two schools is that OSU has not yet found a defensive lineman that opposing teams must account for during the game, but perhaps that's further testament to Young's ability to coach in that he's having success without a standout player along the front four. Make no mistake that defensive coordinator Bill Young and the players are taking this game personally, after what happened last year and after the Houston loss:

On if the Oklahoma State players feel challenged to stop the pass after the Houston game: "I certainly hope they feel that way. We all feel that way. Our coaches and players, we all feel that way. We didn’t play as well as we needed to against Houston and it’s an opportunity to bounce back and show that we can do that and it’s going to be a tremendous challenge for us because they are the ones that invented the offense that Houston ran."

Reason #5 :: No Sacks: The Texas Tech pass rush versus the Oklahoma St. offensive line is truly an interesting matchup. The Cowboys have only given up 4 sacks . . . for the year, which is good for 1st in the nation. The Red Raiders are tied for 3rd in the nation in sacks. The Oklahoma St. offensive line begins with LT Russell Okung who may be the best offensive lineman in the country, certainly the Big 12. You would expect that this is a matchup between DE Brandon Sharpe and perhaps DE Daniel Howard goes up against Okung in the hopes that the Red Raiders can get Sharpe matched up against RT Brady Bond, who is good, but not as good as Okung. This matchup makes me nervous because I do think the offensive line does an outstanding job of protecting the quarterback and getting a positive push on opposing defensive lines. In fact, the Cowboys are 1st in the conference in tackles for loss allowed at 3.22 (the team closest to the Cowboys is Iowa St. at 4.40).

Crunching the Numbers :: Oklahoma St. Cowboys Edition

Seth C — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:00:36 -0000

Texas Tech Red Raiders
(6-3, 3-2)

vs.

Oklahoma St. Cowboys
(7-2, 4-1)

Game Information:
Date: November 14, 2009 :: Time: 7:00 p.m. CST :: Weather: Stillwater, OK
TV: ABC :: Radio: Affiliates :: Game Cast: Fox Sports

I'm going to be pressed for time this week. I was able to have a preview of the numbers between the two teams and rather than give my 5 thoughts, I'd love to hear any thoughts that you may have about these two teams based on the statistics. You can find additional statistics on both teams here: Texas Tech and Oklahoma St.

CATEGORY	STATISTIC (NCAA RANK, CONF. RANK)	WINNER
TTU Pass Offense vs. OSU Pass Defense	400.44 (2, 1) 237.33 (87, 10)
TTU Rush Offense vs. OSU Rush Defense	73.56 (116, 12) 94.00 (9, 3)
OSU Pass Offense vs. TTU Pass Defense	212.11 (71, 9) 232.78 (77, 6)
OSU Rush Offense vs. TTU Rush Defense	196.00 (20, 1) 122.78 (44, 8)
TTU Scoring Offense vs. OSU Scoring Defense	40.22 (4, 2) 21.00 (33, 4)
OSU Scoring Offense vs. TTU Scoring Defense	34.11 (17, 4) 23.44 (55, 7)

Team Leaders


STATISTIC	TEXAS TECH	OKLAHOMA ST.
Passing	Taylor Potts :: 195-290 : 2,221 : 15 : 9	Zac Robinson :: 149-228 : 1,832 : 14 : 7
Rushing	Baron Batch :: 93 : 531 : 10	Keith Toston :: 155 : 882 : 9
Receiving	Detron Lewis :: 46 : 625 : 5	Hubert Anyiam :: 35 : 416 : 2
Punt Returns	Austin Zouzalik :: 16 : 161 : 0	Perrish Cox :: 9 : 75 : 0
Kickoff Returns	Eric Stephens :: 21 : 543 : 0	Perrish Cox :: 20 : 474 : 0
Tackles	Brian Duncan :: 62	Donald Booker :: 63
Sacks	Brandon Sharpe :: 10.5 : 63	Donald Booker :: 4.0 : 27
Tackles for Loss	Brandon Sharpe :: 11.5 : 65	Lucien Antoine :: 6.0 : 17
Interceptions	Will Ford :: 1 : 0 : 0 D.J. Johnson :: 1 : 7 : 0 Franklin Mitchem :: 1 : 7 : 0 Marlon Williams :: 1 : 0 : 0 LaRon Moore :: 1 : 3 : 0	Patrick Lavine :: 4 : 4 : 0

The State of Oklahoma: See Ya Next Year, Okies

TheElusiveShadow — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:30:02 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

"Good luck trying to beat me next year, too."

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Not much to say here, is there? We avoided the early hole and ended the game in the first half. The defense more than doubled Zac Robinson's interception total, even if Chykie probably should have knocked his INT down, Jordan Shipley easily won the battle with Perrish Cox, and Colt McCoy was efficient and effective. The fact that we throttled the best offense we'll probably see until the bowl season was quite encouraging.

The Pokes still have an mathematical shot at the Big 12 South title, but I doubt they are seriously considering that possibility. The Houston loss is now very costly; a one-loss Okie State would have been a good candidate for a BCS at-large berth, but even if they win out (and I'm inclined to think they'll lose to Oklahoma anyway), it is unlikely they're getting a BCS selection. Next year, they can say goodbye to some key players and it's back to obscurity.

For those curious about their losses next year, here's a list of key players moving on:

Offense:

LT - Russell Okung
WR - Dez Bryant (already gone)
QB - Zac Robinson
RT - Brady Bond
C - Andrew Lewis
LG - Noah Franklin
RB - Beau Johnson
RB - Keith Toston

Defense:

CB - Perrish Cox
S - Lucien Antoine
LB - Donald Booker
LB - Patrick Lavine
LB - Andre Sexton
DT - Derek Burton
DT - Swanson Miller
DE - Jeremiah Price
CB - Terrance Anderson

Contributing returners

Offense:

RB - Kendall Hunter
WR - Hubert Anyiam
WR - Dameron Fooks
WR - Josh Cooper
TE - Wilson Youman
RG - Lane Taylor

Honorable mention: RB Jeremy Smith

Defense:

DE - Ugo Chinasa
DE - Richetti Jones
DT - Shane Jarka
LB - Orie Lemon (injured this year)
S - Victor Johnson
S - Markelle Martin

And.... that's about it

There are several things worth mentioning. First and foremost, their offense will be losing a ton of key players, particularly along the offensive line. They have some decent receivers and Hunter returns along with promising freshman Jeremy Smith, but it looks to be a difficult transition for this offense for sure. Their offense will most certainly take a step back from the last couple of years.

Defensively they also lose a lot, but many of the losses are not exactly crippling since they didn't have that great of a defense to begin with. The biggest losses will be their linebackers and cornerback and return man Perrish Cox, but the others aren't departures to lose sleep over.

Thus, what we have is a team that will be losing most of their best players and who will be coming to Austin next year. I think I like Mack's chances to improve to an impressive 13-0 against Okie State in 2010.

And with that, the State of Oklahoma ends for good this year, and we can happily place both games in the win column. Because all we have to do is win to get to the promised land, there's no need to be overly concerned about what Oklahoma State and OU do from now on, but if I had to guess, I think Okie State loses to OU in Norman, beats Tech in Stillwater, and then Oklahoma squeaks one by in Lubbock. I hate to pick OU to win anything, but their defense is second only to ours and much better than the rest of the Big 12's units.

Just for kicks, I'll ask the community how they think Oklahoma State will finish.

Poll

What will OSU's record be at season's end (before the bowl season)?

7-5

28 votes

8-4

80 votes

9-3

315 votes

10-2

64 votes

487 votes | Poll has closed

Anatomy of Momentum: Drive Before the Half Against OSU

GhostofBigRoy — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:41:21 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

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The Context

Good offenses and good teams generally respond after the opponent scores a touchdown. That was the task Colt McCoy and the offense faced after Oklahoma State cut into the early Texas lead after Beau Johnson scored on a one-yard touchdown plunge to make it 17-7. Good offenses also operate well in the two-minute drill -- the Longhorns got the ball with 2:16 left on the clock. The game plan for Greg Davis was clearly to spread the field to take advantage of the Oklahoma State secondary, where Davis felt he had match ups favoring Texas -- that game plan meshed well with the two-minute drill Texas had to run with so little time left on the clock, though a switch to 11 personnel would ultimately help the drive find the end zone.

The other thing that good teams do is score before halftime. A score just before the half against Wyoming helped the Longhorns establish momentum heading into halftime and, when combined with Mack Brown's philosophy of deferring to the second half, scoring before halftime can give Texas two chances to score without the opponent being able to touch the football.

The Longhorns would not be able to start with a short field, however, as Oklahoma State kicker Quinn Sharp put the ball went into the end zone for a touchback. Texas would have to drive 80 yards for a momentum-swinging touchdown. Texas begins the drive with two timeouts.

The Plays

1st and 10 Texas 20

Texas, as they did throughout much of the first half, comes out in an empty set, with Dan Buckner in the flex, James Kirkendoll and Fozzy Whittaker split to the bottom of the screen, and Jordan Shipley and John Chiles split to the top:

OSU has three down linemen, with the Sam linebacker showing blitz and two deep safeties. Notice that James Kirkendoll is uncovered in the slot to the bottom of the screen.

Key Shot

Instead of blitzing the Sam backer, OSU brings the Mike and Will backers, causing a problem in the Texas protection scheme that leaves the strongside defensive end unblocked and headed for McCoy. The hot receiver on the play is Kirkendoll, but McCoy throws behind him incomplete -- probably just as well since a complete pass would have gained little yardage and kept the clock running, draining precious seconds.

2nd and 10 Texas 20

Texas stays with the same personnel group, while Oklahoma State stays with two safeties deep, but walks a defender up on Kirkendoll in the slot this time. Notice that Bill Young also dials up press coverage against Jordan Shipley.

Key Shot

Once again, McCoy looks short to Kirkendoll on a hitch and he breaks a tackle before being stood up by Andre Sexton. It's the most controversial play of the game and one that could have swung the momentum of the game considerably -- as Sexton drives Kirkendoll backwards, stopping his forward progress, he rips the ball out of his hands, seemingly giving Oklahoma State the ball inside the Texas 20 yardline.

A touchdown cuts the Texas lead to 17-14 just before the half. Instead, the referees, correctly in my opinion, rule that Kirkendoll's forward progress was stopped and Texas keeps the ball. Oklahoma State calls a timeout, ostensibly to either challenge the play or force the booth to look at it, but the play cannot be reviewed.

3rd and 6 Texas 24

Same personnel for Texas, except the strong side of the field is now at the top of the screen. OSU has two safeties deep and is not in press coverage against Shipley this time. OSU rushes the linebacker in the middle of the field.

Key Shot

Flushed from the pocket by a twisting OSU linemen, McCoy throws on the run, finding Chiles wide open down the sideline -- Chiles either ran a stop route or broke off his route. Either way, it's the biggest catch of his Texas career for the former quarterback, who gains 16 yards and keeps the drive alive.

1st and 10 Texas 40

Texas keeps the same personnel on the field. Notice that OSU is once again pressing Shipley at the line of scrimmage, with two safeties deep and three down linemen.

Key Shot

Two seconds into the play, seeing no one open downfield, McCoy bails from the pocket and breaks a tackle to pick up two yards. Texas calls a timeout to stop the clock, leaving them with one remaining in the half.

2nd and 8 Texas 42

Texas changes their personnel grouping for the first time on the drive, bringing in EBS and keeping Whittaker in the backfield. Malcolm Williams comes in at split end, while Marquise Goodwin takes over the flanker position. Notice that OSU keeps two deep safeties, while walking the nickel back up close to the line of scrimmage over Shipley.

Key Shot

Since McCoy got a little antsy in the pocket on the last play, Davis calls for max protection, keeping both EBS and Whittaker in to block.

Kyle Hix gets beat on the right side of the line, but McCoy still has a perfect pocket to deliver the football downfield. Given that only three receivers are in the route, McCoy probably knows that Shipley will create enough separation on his out route to be able to deliver the football. Shipley gets the necessary separation and McCoy throws a strike for a 16-yard gain. The OSU safety on that side of the field got so much depth on the snap that he never even got close to Shipley on the play -- it's understandable that OSU didn't want to give up the big play, but the deep coverage should have been close enough to at least make it a smaller window for McCoy to throw into.

1st and 10 Oklahoma State 42

Texas stays with the same personnel, while OSU keeps two safeties deep and three down linemen -- the same look they have shown throughout the drive. Notice that the Mike and Will linebackers are showing blitz.

Key Shot

The linebackers both drop into coverage and EBS and Whittaker both release as a result.

However, none of the receivers gain enough separation for McCoy to deliver a pass, so he heads out of the pocket and towards the sideline, getting out of bounds after picking up two yards, preserving the final Texas timeout.

2nd and 8 Oklahoma State 40

Texas stays in 11 personnel, while Oklahoma State blitzes both the Mike and the Will backers.

Key Shot

With six men on the line of scrimmage to pick up five defenders, the Longhorns pick up the blitz and allow McCoy time to throw downfield to Shipley, who beats Perrish Cox in one-on-one coverage -- the safety deep on that side of the field comes up the first-down marker and stops.

Shipley is open, but McCoy overthrows the pass by several feet -- another replay shows that Shipley cut farther inside than McCoy anticipated, leaving the pass thrown too long. Had McCoy and Shipley been on the same page, the play would have gone for a touchdown.

3rd and 8 Oklahoma State 40

Texas substitutes for the 3rd and long play, taking out EBS and bringing in Dan Buckner to play the flex tight end position, while inserting Chiles at flanker. As usual, Oklahoma State has two deep safeties and three down linemen.

Key Shot

Oklahoma State drops back in man coverage and although no Texas receivers can gain separation, since the defensive backs arent facing McCoy, after he eludes a defensive lineman, he has open field once he leaves the pocket:

McCoy picks up 19 yards on the play and slides down at the 21, avoiding a hit -- McCoy has done much better at avoiding unnecessary hits this season.

1st and 10 Oklahoma State 21

The clock starts after placement of the ball and McCoy gets to the line of scrimmage quickly and spikes the ball to stop the clock.

2nd and 10 Oklahoma State 21

Texas lines up in 11 personnel, with Chiles at split end and Williams at flanker. OSU has three linebackers on the field and three down linemen, with the nickel back lined up well inside of Shipley and a safety over the top.

Key Shot

Oklahoma State blitzes the nickel back and the Sam backer. The line picks up the blitzers well, but Michael Huey and Chris Hall don't communicate well, as Hall picks up the Sam backer and Huey helps out Hix on the defensive end, leaving the defensive tackle free to come through, with only Whittaker standing between him and the quarterback. The tackle sheds Whittaker quickly and forces McCoy to throw the ball away, but picks up a personal foul pentalty for hitting McCoy in the helmet after he released the football:

1st and 10 Oklahoma State 11

Texas keeps the same personnel on the field, while Oklahoma State rushes four and drops back in man-to-man coverage.

Key Shot

The play is designed to go to Shipley on a double move -- a curl and go -- but Malcolm Williams breaks open running the back of the end zone and McCoy finds him as the pocket begins to collapse.

It's not an easy catch for Williams, who had to fully extend while making sure that he got his foot down, but McCoy helped by throwing an extremely catchable ball -- had the Texas quarterback really zipped it, the ball might have gone through the hands of the talented receiver.

Final Totals

Ten plays for 80 yards, 2:09 expired. Four of seven passing for 47 yards by McCoy, who also added 23 yards on three carries. One potential touchdown ovethrown on the slightly miscommunication by McCoy and Shipley. One catch for four yards by Kirkendoll. One catch for 16 yards by Chiles. One catch for 16 yards by Shipley. One catch for 11 yards and a touchdown by Williams. One 10-yard roughing the passer penalty on Oklahoma State. One miscommunication on the offensive line between Huey and Hall that allowed the defensive tackle to get in the backfield and hit McCoy.

The Verdict

Texas dodged a major bullet early in the drive when the officials ruled Kirkendoll's forward progressed stopped, negating the potential fumble and recovery by Oklahoma State. However, Kirkendoll must do a better job of protecting the football with both hands in traffic and have a better understanding of when he can no longer pick up yards on a play and is better off just going down.

The drive also featured a smart adjustment by Greg Davis. After getting little out of the empty set and having McCoy leave the pocket relatively quickly, he went back to 11 personnel to give McCoy more protection and allow him to stand in the pocket longer. It almost paid off with the pass to Shipley before eventually resulting in the touchdown pass to Williams.

The other key element of the drive was the scrambling of McCoy. Even though he did leave the pocket early on his two two-yard scrambles, he avoided potentially drive-killing sacks that would have also forced the Longhorns to use their last timeout, preserving it in the case of emergency. More importantly, though, it showed just how difficult it is to defend the Longhorns when McCoy leaves the pocket, especially in man coverage -- his 19-yard run was probably the biggest positive play of the drive before the touchdown pass to Williams.

Scoring before the half is also a major swing of momentum and it virtually put the game out of reach at that point, as the Longhorns went up 24-7 -- there was no way that defense was going to give up 17 points in the second half. By scoring the touchdown, Texas demoralized Oklahoma State going into halftime and completely took the biggest crowd in Oklahoma State history out of the game for the remainder of the contest. There's also something about Texas running the two-minute offense, as McCoy has seemingly found his rhythm several times this season just before halftime, notably against Wyoming to finally jumpstart the Longhorn offense.

Five Things to Watch Against Oklahoma State

GhostofBigRoy — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:25:54 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

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Can Texas get off to another fast start? This was a key last week and is something that is basically a key every week, but considering the wild history of Texas-Oklahoma State games, it becomes even more important. A breakdown of scoring since 2002 by quarters shows the trends of the match up:

Quarter	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Texas	33	73	134	78
Oklahoma State	75	66	27	16

Clearly, Oklahoma State gets off to much faster starts historically than the Longhorns, who come then roaring back, particularly in the third quarter. In fact, from 2003-2006 Texas dropped 121 unanswered points on Oklahoma State in the second half, a streak not stopped until Grant Jones returned a kick 89 yards for a touchdown in 2006 and was highlighted by the 49 straight points Texas scored in 2004 after going down 35-7.

Basically, history shows that if the Longhorns can get off to an early lead, Oklahoma State doesn't have the depth or athletes to compete with Texas in the second half. Last season, the Cowboys nearly came back against the Longhorns after Texas established a lead in the middle of the game, so the depth advantage probably isn't what it was a few years ago, but it's probably safe to say that if Texas gets off to a fast start and takes the crowd out of the game early, there is an extremely strong chance they win this football game.

Will Colt McCoy take care of the football? After throwing eight interceptions all of last season, McCoy is currently one of only two quarterbacks in all of Division I to have thrown an interception in each game. Four of those passes were tipped balls and Greg Davis believes that only two were poor decisions by McCoy, but no matter how or why the interceptions occurred, the result remains the same. McCoy also fumbled twice against Oklahoma, and among his three turnovers, two of them occurred in the red zone. Add in three dropped interceptions by Missouri and Oklahoma and the numbers could be much worse.

How well will the Texas linebackers play? Since Oklahoma State not only runs the football well, but also uses play-action passing effectively, as well as the screen game to the running backs, the Texas linebackers must play a good game for the Longhorns to win in Stillwater. Last week, during Missouri's only successful drive of the game, Roddrick Muckelroy and Keenan Robinson consistently found themselves either out of position or unable to get off blocks, failures that led to Muckelroy being benched for a portion of the game.

This week, they must consistently do a better job of not only getting off blocks, but also reading their keys to avoid being sucked in on play-action fakes and reading and reacting quickly to screen passes. On those play-action fakes, they must be conscious of their coverage responsibilities on the running back out of the backfield or the tight ends, who may not be playing on the level of Brandon Pettigrew, but have been a pleasant surprise nonetheless, particularly Wilson Youman.

Since Oklahoma State uses a great deal of 11 personnel with three wide receivers, it's possible that Will Muschamp may play three linebackers more often this week, while using only four defensive backs, leaving Blake Gideon as the only deep safety. It's also possible that Sergio Kindle could see more time as a linebacker this week, one of the adjustments Muschamp made last week to the Missouri running game. Or Muschamp could play with three down linemen and three linebackers, leaving five defensive backs on the field and maintaining more flexibility in coverage. Whatever the case, the play of the linebackers may be the key for the whole defense this week.

How will Bill Young choose to use his defense? Oklahoma State has not been a team that blitzes much this season, but opponents generally buck their season-long trends when playing against Texas. If Oklahoma State does choose to blitz, one thing that Young has always done well in his time as a defensive coordinator is study the hot routes opponents run against blitzes and take that away. Can the Longhorns still complete passes in the face of blitzes, then?

The other question mark is how Oklahoma State chooses to defend the Texas passing game. Generally, the Cowboys have played zone defense, with cornerback Perrish Cox often playing man-to-man against the best wide receiver for the other team. Will Cox line up against Jordan Shipley man-to-man, even in the slot, where teams generally prefer to give the receiver a cushion? If Oklahoma State plays zone, can players like Malcolm Williams and Marquise Goodwin, who don't have a lot of game reps with Colt McCoy, be on the same page with the Texas quarterback when they settle into holes in the zone? In the game against Texas Tech, McCoy and Williams weren't quite on the same page when McCoy slightly overthrew the ball and Williams had it go through his hands for crucial interception. Can Williams and Gooding, as well as Shipley at his new/old position, punish Oklahoma State if they sit back in soft coverage in a way that James Kirkendoll and John Chiles could not earlier in the season?

Last season, Oklahoma State worked hard to disguise their coverages wtih a lot of pre-snap movement -- McCoy is at his best when he knows where he's going with the football before the play even begins. Oklahoma had success with a similar strategy, but one of Young's hallmarks this season has been a return to fundamentals and an emphasis on making sure that defenders are aligned correctly, eschewing disguised coverages. If McCoy can read the coverages easily pre-snap and Oklahoma State sits back in soft coverage like Missouri, the Oklahoma State secondary could be in for a long evening, especially since the front four for the Cowboys has done a poor job this season of getting pressure on the quarterback.

Can Texas continue to run the ball effectively? Using Greg Smith more often in the offense has greatly helped the Texas running game over the last two weeks, but Oklahoma State has been one of the better teams in the country at defending the run, allowing opponents only 99 yards per game, good for 18th in the country. Granted, the only strong rushing team they have faced was Texas A&M, ranked 33rd in the country. However, taking out from their per-game average the contest against Oklahoma State, the Cowboys held the Aggies to 56 yards below their average against everyone else.

For the Longhorns, the running game has improved in rushing the ball successfully -- defined now as picking up four yards, gaining a first down, or scoring a touchdown -- 61% of the time against Oklahoma to 67% against Missouri. With the offensive line now healthy for the first time the end of fall practice, there may be fewer breakdowns by individual linemen and better misdirection and more running plays to choose from should help as well. Add to the fact that the Longhorns now have some continuity at the position with Fozzy Whittaker and Cody Johnson firmly entrenched as the one-two punch for the offense and Texas has a much better chance of running the ball well than they did earlier in the season.

Panic Level: Position-by-Position

Bill C. — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:00:31 -0000

For some losses, like last week's Nebraska loss, I don't really feel like talking or thinking about it too much. For others, like this one, I can't really shut up. So to put my verbosity to good use, we're going to walk through each unit for Missouri, and I'm going to give you two ratings: 1) my short-term panic level (on a 1-to-10 scale), and 2) my long-term panic level (same scale).

Quarterback

Short-term panic level: 5 | Long-term panic level: 0

People are questioning the use of Blaine Gabbert in this game, both whether he should have played at all and, more realistically, whether he should have been playing at the end. I say of course he should have been playing--an ankle sprain is not an injury with long-term danger, and even though he was spraying every pass a bit high, let's face it: we don't really have another good quarterback. Maybe Jimmy Costello is better than I'm giving him credit for, but he's probably not better than a one-legged Gabbert, and we knew from the beginning of this season that we were going to live and die with Gabbert this season. Right now, we're not necessarily dying by any means, but we're not living well because he's not living well.

Of course, the only problem with keeping him in the game, especially late, was that his instincts are very clear when behind center. He ran a couple of times on the last series of the game, even though that was the worst possible thing he could do. When he has the ball in his hands, he's not thinking "I should be careful." He's trying to move the ball, even when that might do him further damage.

Anyway, short-term, quarterbacking is definitely a bit of a concern. A sprained ankle needs rest and treatment to heal, and Missouri doesn't have a week off for quite a while. This is going to limit him for the foreseeable future, but he's still going to make some throws that nobody else in the conference can make, and after next week against Texas, he should be able to make quite a few plays even if not 100% healthy.

And long-term, duh. No worries here whatsoever. Gabbert still needs to develop better presence in the pocket--when to tuck and run, when to leave the pocket and roll left or right, et cetera. But that will come with playing time, plain and simple.

Running Back

Short-term panic level: 4 | Long-term panic level: 1

Derrick Washington and De'Vion Moore both took what was given to them yesterday, and in a few instances even took a little more. I was a bit curious whether Moore was actually any better than Kendial Lawrence and whether he would lose his backup role at some point, but in a handful of carries the last couple of weeks, he has looked damn strong and damn quick. Meanwhile, D-Wash looked like D-Wash, never letting the first guy bring him down, falling forward, stepping through tackles, etc. If this performance is what we see the rest of the year, then things will be just fine. And Washington, Moore, and Lawrence all obviously return in 2010, along with Gilbert Moye an a couple more capable commits in Henry Josey and Greg White. For the foreseeable future, this unit will have both depth and diversity.

Wide Receiver

Short-term panic level: 6 | Long-term panic level: 4

It's almost funny how things have unfolded in the last two months. Back in August, we were worried that a) this unit didn't have a go-to guy, b) this unit didn't have a big play threat, and c) Danario Alexander's hands would prevent him from being the solution for (a) and (b). Instead, Danario is absolutely the go-to guy, and one of the best in the conference. Plus, Danario and (to a slightly lesser degree) Jared Perry and Wes Kemp are capable of both catching the deep ball and (in Perry's and Danario's case) taking short passes a long way. The potential big play is one of Missouri's best weapons. But the hands of everybody not named Danario have been a serious issue. We've already said this about six times, but two drops more or less made the difference in the game last night. If Jerrell Jackson keeps his eye on a slant and doesn't let it bounce right off of his hands, it's a 10-yard gain for Missouri instead of a pick six for Oklahoma State. If Wes Kemp, uhh, closes his hands at the right time on a gorgeous bomb from Blaine Gabbert, Missouri not only uncorks a 60-yard (at least) gain late in the first half, but even if they don't score, they don't give the ball back to OSU in time for the Cowboys to drive down and score with seconds left in the half. Those two drops resulted in at least a 14-point swing for OSU, and that's if Missouri doesn't score after Kemp's drop.

This isn't a new phenomenon, though last night was the first time it truly cost Missouri. When you've got a quarterback like Gabbert, who is capable of firing 100-mph fastballs on just about any route, at the college level you are going to have some drops. Hell, at the pro level you're going to have some drops--not just anybody could catch John Elway's passes, right? But we are halfway through the season, and the guys on the field need to be getting better at catching the fastballs, and they are really not. This is at least a bit of a long-term concern simply because the 2010 Missouri team won't feature either Danario or Perry. Guys like Kemp and Jackson (and T.J. Moe, and Brandon Gerau, and Rolandis Woodland, and L'Damian Washington) are going to have to step up, both as every-down threats and simply guys with reliable hands. All of the guys I listed above are freshmen or sophomores right now, and they will quite possibly grow into the role.

I really do like the long-term potential of Kemp, especially. He's not nearly as fast as Danario, but he's got potential both as a deep-ball threat and an over-the-middle weapon. He's just had a couple of really bad weeks, between almost getting decapitated by Ndamukong Suh last week (I honestly thought his drop last night was due to a case of alligator arms, but the replay showed that he really did just close his hands at the wrong time...which, honestly, is better than if he were starting to get a little scared) and being the perpetrator in one of Missouri's two killer mistakes, but he's a sophomore, and he's already shown ridiculous growth between years one and two. He'll likely be fine, but until he proves that he will be fine, it's hard to make a 100% confident assumption.

Tight End

Short-term panic level: 10 | Long-term panic level: 8

Last night, when Blaine Gabbert had Andrew Jones wide open on the goal line on a fourth-quarter drive (one of the two that stalled on fourth down), he ended up leaving the pocket and throwing the ball away. That was the moment I realized that our tight end problem has gone from "Tight ends are unreliable" to "It doesn't matter what the tight ends are doing anymore because Gabbert doesn't even look to them." Andrew Jones and Michael Egnew were invisible enough over the first month of the season (to the point where Gary Pinkel started Beau Brinkley over both of them at Nevada to send a message) that Gabbert apparently doesn't even trust them enough to see them as an option. Considering where we thought we were before the season--Jones as a reliable 3rd-and-7 threat, Egnew as the guy with red zone potential--this is extremely alarming. Gabbert desperately needs another consistent weapon to complement Danario and Perry, and while we all thought Jones was just the man, it hasn't happened. As fans, we cannot truly determine why, but if Missouri really is going to go 9-3 this year (which is certainly still a possibility), they need Jones and Gabbert to reconnect. Obviously everybody in this unit returns next year--Jones, Egnew, Brinkley, and redshirting freshman Alex Sanders--but they need to buy Gabbert a steak, get on his good side, and get going with the rapport they had in the spring, when Jones and Egnew were Gabbert's top two targets.

Offensive Line

Short-term panic level: 5 | Long-term panic level: 3

It's pretty clear that, as is usually the case, we were underestimating the loss of starters Colin Brown and Ryan Madison from last year's offensive line. That, combined with a tweak in technique that they apparently made this summer, have resulted in some early growing pains with this line. For the most part, I did like what they did last night against a decent OSU front seven, at least in the first half. Once Missouri fell behind and the OSU secondary started playing better, it ended up predictably affecting how OSU's front seven performed as well, and Missouri didn't have as many options available to them down the stretch. That said, though, they absolutely get a passing grade for last night's game.

Long-term, things are still pretty rosy. Four of Missouri's current five starters--Elvis Fisher, Austin Wuebbels, Tim Barnes, and Dan Hoch--will return in 2010, and only Kurtis Gregory does not. He is a strong lineman, and he will be missed, but Missouri will be in much better shape to replace him, as both Jayson Palmgren and J.T. Beasley will be juniors and are getting plenty of reps this year. That, combined with freshman Jack Meiners getting some playing time, mean that O-line depth should be a strength in 2010. I still like the potential of the line this year, and I think that with hindsight the early struggles should have been a bit predictable.

Defensive End

Short-term panic level: 6 | Long-term panic level: 2

From a run-support standpoint, there is absolutely nothing to complain about with this line. Aldon Smith, Jacquies Smith, and Briant Coulter all stand up to blocks well and are excellent at pursuit. Good mixture of speed and size. But they HAVE to start rushing the passer better. Aldon Smith is pretty reliably going to make a couple of plays a game--last night it was a couple of timely blocked passes. But Jacquies really hasn't been very disruptive at all, and even though Missouri got in Robinson's face a few times last night, the pocket never completely closed in on him, and he was always able to escape and make a throw, even if he was just throwing the ball away.

Now...Aldon Smith is a redshirt freshman and Jacquies a true sophomore. It's easy to forget that sometimes, but while their potential is clear, consistency comes with playing time, and clearly neither has had enough yet. We've got a potential all-conference performer in Agent Aldon and a potentially solid three-year starter in Agent Jacquies, but they're just not ready to make every-down contributions yet. If there's a concern here, it's depth. Brad Madison has been on the field this season, but you couldn't tell it from the stats. Marcus Malbrough looked decent in junk-time against Furman, but that's it. Hopefully one of the redshirting freshmen--either Michael Sam or Brayden Burnett--can be counted on to make a contribution next season; otherwise we'll be leaning on Smith and Smith even more next year with Coulter's departure.

Defensive Tackle

Short-term panic level: 2 | Long-term panic level: 4

LOVE what this unit did last night. Jaron Baston was great, and I noticed Dominique Hamilton quite a bit. While Missouri's run defense hasn't been as good this year as last, I thought it was an encouraging sign that, against an OSU team with a rock-solid offensive line and a very good between-the-tackles runner in Keith Toston, Missouri held OSU's running backs to just 87 yards on 27 carries (3.2 per carry). It was their best performance of the year, and if Missouri can count on that for the rest of the year, this defense will continue to look damn good.

For 2010 and beyond, there is a concern here simply because Baston is a senior. Hamilton and Terrell Resonno are the current projected 2010 starters, and while both have looked decent at times, they've clearly been the #2 and #3 DTs (in some order) behind Baston. They will need to continue to develop for Missouri not to drop off here. Of course, two young guys could make this unit a severe strength in the future: Marvin Foster and Sheldon Richardson. Foster was quickly working his way into the DT rotation in August before injuring his knee and redshirting. Assuming he's at full strength in 2010 (and with this staff, a knee injury is child's play), he could be an immediate contributor. Meanwhile, Richardson is an obvious X-factor starting in 2011, assuming he still attends Missouri (and with the comments from his JUCO coach a couple of months ago, that seems like a comfortable assumption for now).

With Resonno, Hamilton, Foster, and maybe Jimmy Burge or George White, this unit could still be strong in 2010, especially if Resonno or Hamilton make a Baston-esque leap between their sophomore and junior seasons. And in 2011, with all of those players back with Richardson added to the mix, they could be excellent. The only reason I put the long-term panic level at a 4 is that it's still an assumption that Resonno or Hamilton will make that leap, and as I said with Wes Kemp above, until it happens, it's at least a little bit of a concern.

Linebacker

Short-term panic level: 1 | Long-term panic level: 2

Even without Will Ebner, I had no complaints with this unit last night. Sean Weatherspoon was outstanding, and Luke Lambert played well, even forcing a late fumble that, uhh, was bafflingly called a non-fumble by the replay official (seriously, get the replay official a bigger monitor please). Andrew Gachkar was around the ball quite a bit, even if he didn't make a ton of plays, and Zaviar Gooden made an outstanding play on an option run. With the strong run defense Missouri showed, clearly the linebackers had a role in that.

Missouri obviously loses 'Spoon after this season, but the long-term prospects are still bright. Ebner, Gachkar and Lambert return in 2010, and with Gooden, Donovan Bonner and hopefully Joshua Tatum assuming backup roles...yeah, let's just say that at least two, and potentially three of Missouri's backups would have been starting LBs for Mizzou anytime between 2000 and 2005. I'm really excited about this unit, even without SPOOOON.

Defensive Back

Short-term panic level: 3 | Long-term panic level: 2

Don't know what to think about this unit. Hubert Anyiam had a career day last night, but as the offense was falling apart in the second half last night, the secondary continuously made plays and prevented OSU from running away with the game. Seriously, with the field position advantage OSU had last night, they very well could have ended up winning something like 45-17 or something, but they didn't. The Carl Gettis Treatment looked good, Jasper Simmons looked good, and after getting burned once on a double move (and bailed out by Simmons), Robert Steeples got a ton of playing time and did not allow Anyiam to do much of anything on a series of Q4 third-down passes. I'm not sure why Steeples was in there that much--was Kevin Rutland being punished for allowing the slant-route TD on the last play of the first half?--but he acquitted himself well. I still wish we were seeing more out of our boy Kenji Jackson, but this unit has still looked good for most of 2009...

...and all of the major contributors return for 2010. Only Del Howard and Hardy Ricks depart after this year, and no offense to them, but I'm not going to lose a lot of sleep over that. Gettis, Rutland, Steeples, Kip Edwards and Munir Prince all return at CB, and Simmons, Jackson, and Jarrell Harrison all look like keepers at safety. And if a redshirting freshman like Matt White forces his way into the rotation in 2010, all the better.

In all, the hopes for this defense in 2010 and beyond are quite high. By the end of this season, Aldon Smith, Will Ebner, Andrew Gachkar, Carl Gettis, Jasper Simmons and others will have all proven themselves at a pretty high level, and with guys like Dominique Hamilton, Terrell Resonno, Jacquies Smith, Zaviar Gooden, Kevin Rutland, Kenji Jackson, Robert Steeples and Jarrell Harrison all having shown flashes of really nice play, the 2010 defense will be as deep a play-making defense as Missouri will have had under Gary Pinkel, even with the loss of Jaron Baston and Sean Weatherspoon.

Special Teams

Short-term panic level: 3 | Long-term panic level: 1

An absolutely dreadful special teams effort last night, but it's hard to panic over that considering how good special teams have been for Missouri. Grant Ressel made his only FG, but karma bit Jake Harry IV in the ass, as he didn't get a single good bounce on any of his kicks. We have gotten very used to getting great rolls on his rugby kicks, and it just didn't happen last night. That, and OSU made a nice strategic play of having what seemed like two return men--one deep and one at mid-range to catch some of the punts and make sure the rolls didn't happen. Between Missouri's second-half three-and-outs and struggles in the punt game, they got drilled in the field position battle, especially in the second half.

Meanwhile, OSU broke off a couple of nice kickoff returns, which isn't entirely surprising--Perrish Cox is one of the best return men in the game--and thanks to horrific officiating (sorry, I can't let it go just yet), Missouri's own kickoff returns were major liabilities. Jasper Simmons' first great kick return was called back to a phantom hold (but hey, how much damage could a 70-yard net penalty do, really? Not much, right? Yeah...), and he lost a fumble in which his knee appeared to be down (SERIOUSLY...get the freaking replay official a bigger monitor...), but in the box score it says that kick returns were a liability.

Long-term, things look good here. Harry has been a great asset, and he is a senior, but honestly, Missouri's punting scheme is good, and whoever wins next year's punting battle (Matt Grabner? Trey Barrow? Grant Ressel?), I think this will still be a relative strength. Plus, Carl Gettis looking better and better on punt returns, and Simmons has shown at least strong straight-line speed and the capability of breaking a long return.

And we've got Ressel at place-kicker for another two years, so there's that.

Coaching

Short-term panic level: 3 | Long-term panic level: 0

I'm sorry, but I just cannot get myself that worked up about the coaching staff. I know we always look for somebody to blame when things go poorly, and I disagreed as much as anybody with David Yost's decision to call empty-backfield sets late in the game, but you know what? When you are calling 60-80 plays per game, you are going to make mistakes. Dave Christensen obviously made plenty of mistakes, and he was apparently good enough at his job to score a Mountain West head coaching position. Meanwhile, one of the best coordinators in the country--OU's Kevin Wilson--is getting destroyed by the OU fanbase for sucking...and he's one of the best coordinators in the game. Missouri fans are spoiled by previous successes, but in his first year on the job, Yost is already a decent coordinator, and when Missouri gains in experience, he will probably start looking like a really good one. People calling for his head or already falling back on the dumb old "Gary Pinkel's too stubborn!!!!1!!!" line are...well, they're being ridiculous. Get over yourselves--this is a good offensive staff, and it will only get better. Blaine Gabbert was two drops away from having 360 first-half passing yards last night. It takes good play-calling for that to happen.

Meanwhile, I don't think any of us can have much complaint with the job Dave Steckel and the defensive staff are doing, right? Or are we still managing to be pissed at them too? You tell me.

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I know I'm either a) preaching to the choir or b) yelling at people who have their minds made up here (and are more than willing to yell back), but man oh man...BIG PICTURE HERE, PEOPLE. Most of us did not expect to be better than 4-2 right now, and now that it's happened, we're flying off the handle. But anyway. Time to enjoy the rest of the weekend.