Boone Pickens: Any ideas?
I got a note from Boone Pickens on Tuesday, after he read my column calling for Dez Bryant’s eligibility to be restored by the NCAA.
“Thanks for a succinct analysis of the Dez Bryant issue. It’s unfair to hold someone up. A sentence should be given for whatever it’s for. What else do they have to study? If you have any ideas on what else we can do to help, I’m all ears. Boone”
I told Pickens I had no idea how to make the NCAA move. My only idea was to shed some light on the unfairness of the situation. Maybe if enough people say, wait a minute, is this what you really want to do?, then something might move. As Pickens said, “It’s a sad deal for the kids.”
But isn’t it interesting? Pickens, the OSU benefactor who is like a collegiate owner, a man who has funded Cowboy football into a competitive franchise much like Phil Knight has at Oregon, isn’t calling for restoration of Bryant’s eligibility. He’s just asking the NCAA to decide.
Is that such a huge request? Think about it. As Pickens suggested, what else does the NCAA need to know? If the NCAA wants to stay hard-core in its punishment of Bryant for lying to investigators, fine. Say so. Say, hey bud, you’re gone for the rest of the season. If there’s room for leniency and a three-game suspension is sufficient, say so. Don’t make a three-game suspension a six-game suspension just because it’s more convenient for committee members’ schedules.
But isn’t it also interesting that Pickens feels helpless in this situation? This is one of America’s most influential businessmen. He’s a man who is accustomed to getting things done, usually his way. A man who thinks he can take on the task of changing American energy habits.
And yet Pickens’ hands are tied by the NCAA. Not that he could buy off the NCAA or even influence the NCAA committee. But it’s an odd juxtaposition. In Texas wildcatting or water rights, in hedge funds and billion-dollar deals, Pickens is right at home. But when it comes to getting an NCAA committee to decide one way or the other, Pickens is out of ideas and even asking for help.
I’m pretty sure Boone Pickens rarely is out of ideas.
Think about that the next time you hear about someone wanting to take on the NCAA.
Missing Dez but not Hunter
I wrote about Dez Bryant in today’s Oklahoman, and no doubt the Oklahoma State Cowboys miss their all-star receiver. Some say Dez would be a Heisman candidate, had he not missed those three games, and when you look at the lack of contenders for the award, they could be right.
Sam Bradford is out, Colt McCoy has slumped, Tim Tebow is playing OK but not spectacular. Jimmy Clausen of Notre Dame might be the favorite. If Dez hadn’t missed those three games and was reeling in touchdown catches and returning punts for touchdowns — and there’s no reason to believe he wouldn’t be — then he would be in the discussion.
And the Cowboys have missed Dez, no doubt. But here’s what’s interesting. They haven’t missed their other all-American, tailback Kendall Hunter. Backup Keith Toston has always been a solid player (well, since that fumble-marred performance at Troy in September 2007 that allowed Hunter to ascend up the depth chart) but has become a force in Hunter’s absence.
Toston is running hard and catching well. Against A&M, Toston had 26 carries for 130 yards and two catches for 74 yards, including a 40-yarder. Against Missouri, Toston had 24 carries for 87 yards, plus seven catches for 54 yards. He was a big-play man vs. the Aggies and a workhorse vs. Mizzou.
Toston does not have the home run ability of Hunter. But Toston is tougher; he can produce the rugged yards in tight games that sometimes are needed.
OSU is best when it has both tailbacks. It would be great for the Cowboys if Hunter can return soon — coach Mike Gundy says Hunter has practiced for two weeks, it’s just a matter of when he can make full cuts and handle the hurt of a sprained ankle — but until he does, the tailback position is in good hands with Toston.
Big 12 North: Looking for one good team
In the preseason, I picked Colorado to win the Big 12 North. I thought the Buffs would be decent, they most definitely had the most favorable schedule and Dan Hawkins had to start doing something sometime, didn’t he? Then Colorado lost to Colorado State and got rolled by Toledo, and my pick looked silly.
Last week, I took another flier on Colorado. I decided to go with a daily double on my weekly Upset Special: Texas Tech to beat Nebraska straight up and Colorado to do the same to Kansas, straight up.
Darned if the Buffs didn’t pull it off. Under new starting quarterback Tyler Hansen, Colorado beat KU 34-30, and now look at the crazy North standings: Kansas State 2-1, Colorado 1-1, Nebraska 1-1, Kansas 1-1, Iowa State 1-2 and Missouri 0-2.
Suddenly, it’s not crazy to see Colorado winning the North. Kansas has the toughest schedule (OU, Texas and Tech). Missouri has a bad team. Nebraska has no offense. I can see Colorado winning at Iowa State and beating Texas A&M at Boulder. That’s three wins. CU also goes to Kansas State (this Saturday) and hosts Missouri. If the Buffs can split those two, that’s four wins. That means Colorado would host Nebraska on Thanksgiving Friday with a 4-3 record and perhaps the North Division title on the line.
Saturday night, someone asked me what’s the minimum number of wins for the division winner. The answer will startle you: three. The North champ conceivably could go 3-5.
Here’s how. If the North teams play as even as possible, you’d have three teams go 3-2 within the division and three teams go 2-3. Let’s say Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska are the three that go 3-2.
Kansas hosts OU and goes to Texas and Tech. That easily could be 3-5.
Nebraska hosts OU and goes to Baylor, plus already the Huskers have lost to Tech. It would be a huge upset if Nebraska lost to Robert Griffin-less Baylor, but with the way NU’s offense struggles, anything is possible.
And Missouri already has lost to OSU, hosts Texas this Saturday and hosts Baylor. So that’s a stretch. No way would Baylor win at Mizzou, I don’t think. So we might have to go to another team.
Colorado? If the Buffs get to 3-2 intradivision, they’re not a good candidate to be swept by the South, since the Buffs host A&M. Colorado also goes to OSU and has already lost to Texas.
Kansas State already has a victory over A&M and Iowa State already has a victory over Baylor.
So while it’s possible to have a North champ at 3-5, the only way it could happen is if Baylor pulls a big upset or A&M wins at Colorado.
Not likely. But the South clearly remains dominant over the North. OU and Texas routinely sweep the North; Tech and OSU are threats to do the same in 2009. Don’t count out 4-4 for the North champion.
Would Bradford have made a difference vs. Texas?
With a fractured offensive line that wasn’t great to begin with, and with undependable receivers, it’s difficult to know what kind of difference Sam Bradford would have made against Texas had he played the whole game.
Bradford played eight snaps. For what it’s worth, here are the eight plays:
1. Swing pass to DeMarco Murray for 13 yards; 2. Incomplete pass, thrown behind Brandon Caleb in the face of a heavy Texas blitz; 3. Incomplete pass intended for Murray; 4. Screen pass to Murray for 64 yards; 5. Chris Brown run for no gain; 6. Lofted pass in the end zone incomplete to Ryan Broyles; 7. Incomplete pass thrown out of the back of the end zone under Texas pressure; 8. Sack for a loss of 13 yards and an injury that likely ended Bradford’s OU career.
So you see, it wasn’t exactly a high-precision offense even with Bradford. The big play was huge, and that’s how OU was going to have to strike against the Longhorns with either quarterback. Would Bradford have produced more big plays? Almost certainly. Enough to win? Almost certainly.
This was not a game where it took much. A 16-13 final. A day the Sooners played as good of defense as they ever have in the Stoops years.
Here are a few examples of how Bradford makes a difference.
* One of the few times OU went deep — lack of time and lack of confidence — was in the third quarter, when Caleb got behind the Texas secondary but dropped Landry Jones’ long pass. Caleb should have caught it. However, the pass was not well thrown. It was a little short, Caleb had to slow down and the Texas DB recovered enough to at least impair Caleb’s vision. A better thrown ball would have continued the separation. Let it be noted that OU scored a touchdown on that drive anyway.
* OU’s fumble on the third play of the second quarter, which might have been the biggest play of the game. The Sooners led 6-0 and had dominated the game, already kicking two field goals and missing another. With first down at the Texas 24-yard line, in hurryup mode, Jones and Murray muffed a handoff, and UT recovered. The hurryup served OU well, but it has stiff consequences, and we saw that with the fumble. Timing can be disrupted. A touchdown (or even a field goal) there would have put even more pressure on Texas.
* Jones’ two interceptions in the fourth quarter. Not to say that Bradford is incapable of throwing a pick. He is and he has. But OU’s final two possessions ended with interceptions. The first was just awful, a scrambling Jones tried to throw the ball away, out of bounds. He threw it very high, but not high enough. Aaron Williams leaped and made the pickoff at the OU 20-yard line. On OU’s final drive, on 2nd-and-8 from the Sooner 45, Jones threw right into coverage, and Earl Thomas easily intercepted at the Texas 37. OU’s chances of producing fourth-quarter points were much higher with Bradford.
Those are just some examples of the difference between a rookie quarterback and a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback who had 31 career starts under his belt.
Emails in on OU-UT & coordinators
The new emails are in, and lots of talk about Texas and my support of OU’s coordinators.
Marc didn’t like my statement that in 2008, OU lost but won, while Texas won but lost. “No clear winner last year? 45-35 is about as crystal clear as it gets.”
So is 39-38.
Larry, our resident Tech fan, wrote about the OU and Texas sniping: “I wasn’t around back in 1941 when godless, genocidal totalitarians from Germany attacked godless, genocidal totalitarians from the Soviet Union. I suppose there were a lot of conflicted people then too.”
So what does that make Tech? Czechoslovakia?
David: “I was intrigued by your question of whether someone would rather see OU 5-1 with a loss to UT or 4-2 with a win over the Horns. Iwould have gone with the OU going 4-2 option, myself. I thought I’d share a discussion I had here in Austin last week with my best Longhorn friend when I asked him, ‘wouldn’t you rather have been in OU’s shoes at the end of the season, loser of OU-Texas, but conference champ and in the BCS title game?’ This is a rational UT fan, a running partner of mine for several years who takes his football very seriously — even played in the Longhorn band. And he’s smart enough to not be in favor of a college football playoff. He said in complete earnestness that he wouldn’t have traded places with OU. And I know him well enough to believe him. So there is at least one big-time Texas fan out there who’d rather be 12-1 with a win over OU and shut out of the Big 12 title game than be conference champs playing in the Big Bowl with an OU loss. That’s one difference between OU-OSU and OU-Texas: with OU-Texas, the fans of BOTH sides overweigh the importance of the series in relation to everything else.”
I didn’t advocate 4-2 because it included a victory over Texas. I advocated 4-2 because it had OU on track to win the Big 12, while 5-1 (with a loss to Texas) likely would knock OU out of both national and Big 12 consideration.
Brad: “Oct. 17 is the latest the OU TX Game has been played since 1931. Why was the game moved away from the second Saturday of October for the first time in 77 years? I bet some people secured hotel prior to double checking date. By the way, OU ranks 61st in third-down conversions. The reason they are 3-2. Pretty poor stat, regardless of QB.”
OU has to be better at third downs. But here’s what’s funny about the OU-Texas date. It’s not always on the second Saturday. Five times since 1931, they’ve played on the first Saturday: 1978 and four times this decade.
Dave didn’t like my column defending OU’s coordinators: “I am in utter disbelief that you would let the OU coaching staff off the hook so easily. I mean, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the coaching has been weak for years. Please humor me. 1. As I’ve said for the last 5-6 years, Bob Stoops’ strength was in Mike Stoops, Mike Leach and Mark Mangino. If you’ll remember, as soon as Mike Stoops left and turned the defense over to Venables, we got our butts handed to us by K-State, followed by a mediocre performance against LSU. 2. OU gets humiliated by USC. Our defense was completely dominated; continuing the trend of our secondary getting burned by a decent team. Granted, that loss was apparently to a professional team, so we may not want to count this example. 3. Losses to TCU, West Virginia, Boise State, BYU, Miami, UCLA, OT vs. Baylor. Five consecutive bowl losses. All examples of a coaching staff that wasn’t prepared and obviously hadn’t prepared the players. 5. We’ve had more talent SINCE 2000 than we actually had on that team. However, many writers are trying to convince the rest of us that it’s simply a lack of execution and motivation on the part of the players. How is it that players have come and gone, but the coaching methods and philosophies have remained the same? Kevin Wilson is doing the same thing Chuck Long did. Venables, while showing some improvement this year, has provided nothing that stands up to more competitive teams. The Big 12 titles continue to be used as examples of why Stoops should be considered one of the best coaches in college football today. In reality, OU and Texas are the Big 12. Typically, whoever wins between those two will almost always win the conference; due mainly to an extremely weak North Division. Do I expect OU to win a national championship every year? Of course not. But I do expect for one of the highest paid coaches in college football to at least make the team a serious contender every year. I do expect his to recruit and demand excellence from his players and staff. I do expect him to hold his staff and players accountable when they’re not meeting expectations. As I’ve said hundreds of times before, if Stoops isn’t going to hold his coordinators accountable, then Castiglione needs to hold him accountable. The fact is, Stoops continues to ride the coat tails of the 2000 national title. Those coat tails have become tattered and have virtually disappeared. The trend of the last 5-6 years has gotten old.”
OK, I’ll bite. I expected this. 1. Mangino, you’ve got to be kidding. OU fans were trying to run him out of town at the end of 2001. Leach was here one year and went 7-5. Mike Stoops coached the defense vs. Kansas State. And OU gave up 14 offensive points to LSU. 2. OU stunk vs. USC. Agreed. 3. Your point is exactly what? OU doesn’t win every football game? Please give me the list of all the teams that do. Please give me a list of all the teams that win more than do the Sooners. Yes, there’s a bowl slump. I don’t understand it, but it most definitely exists. So you want to fire a bunch of good coaches because of a bowl slump, which no one understands. Not Tom Osborne, not Bear Bryant, not Bo Schembechler, all of whom had worse bowl slumps than Stoops. 4, Kevin Wilson is doing very little like Chuck Long did, other than losing an occasional game, which I guess means his job is in jeopardy. 5. You said you expect Stoops to make OU a serious contender for the national title every year. In that, he has failed. He has done that only four of the previous six years. That’s better than LSU, Florida, Alabama, Ohio State, Virginia Tech and everyone else other than USC. But it does not meet your standard. You said you expect Stoops to hold staff and players accountable, and by your tone you think he does not. Which means you advocate firing assistants. OK. No one else does that. No program, college or pro, fires championship-contending coordinators. But I suppose it could work. Probably wouldn’t, but it would get the fans fired up. And by the way, Stoops’ salary has nothing to do with it. If Stoops made $1 million instead of $2.8 million, there would not be fewer expectations. If Stoops made $2.8 million and Urban Meyer and Les Miles made $750,000 each, then OK, Stoops is overpaid. But he’s getting what the market bears. It’s nuts, but not for what Stoops is getting. For what they’re all getting.
Kenny: “Clearly only sports writers, ESPN commentators and Bob Stoops know enough to comment intelligently about offensive coordinators. Still, I offer the following uneducated, unqualified comments. At least you can tell your boss that someone, though unwashed, does read your propagandist opinion pieces. In your most recent Wilson apologia, you cite example play calling sequences from LSU and Boise State (actually Miami). In these examples you miss the point of all the criticism directed at Wilson. He seems to call every play as if he has consistent ability to beat the other team on the line or in the secondary. Cleary with the talent he has had of late, that is not the case when playing good (LSU) or imaginative teams (Boise State). At some point it seems to me that an offensive coordinator has to adjust his play calling to the talent he has on the team. Wilson seems to be calling plays as if he still has Peterson and last year’s receiving corps. If you can’t beat the other team every play then sometimes you have to fool them. OU can’t fool anyone (other teams) and seems to be fooled by almost any team that tries. Even teams that don’t have a clue in most games have all the clues they need against OU. Do we try to compensate for a weak line, running back, receiver by misdirection, play action, options, etc? Maybe we do and it is just not evident to all us $90 per bleacher seat fans. But if that is the case, then you sports writers owe us a story. Give us the story that explains why each and every offensive call was a good one. Tell us why Boise State beat a better team in 2006. Maybe you could explain why Texas and Florida beat us last year. Why did we lose to BYU and Miami this year? Tell that story.
Did you read this guy? He wants to know why OU doesn’t run play action (it does) or options (he’s got to be kidding). Says Wilson doesn’t try to fool anybody. Who does try to fool people? Does Texas? Does Florida? Does USC? That’s really what this is all about, you know. Some fans believe that football is a game of deception. Out-thinking the other team. And that indeed does happen. About once every 1,000 games. Quality coaching is teaching players what to do and how to do it. It’s not a funky chess move. Why did OU lose to BYU and Miami? Because it played without its quarterback. Why did OU lose to Texas last year? Because Jordan Shipley ran a kickoff back 100 yards, and after Ryan Reynolds went out, OU’s defense couldn’t stop colt McCoy. Sam Bradford threw five touchdown passes against UT. I don’t think that was a bad game by Kevin Wilson.
Greg: “Surprised that you didn’t bring up the playcalling against Florida last year. Shortly before halftime, we had been running the ball down UF’s throats and when we made it down inside the 5-yard line, we ran it four times and were stopped short of the goal line. i remember complaining when we started passing against LSU. I still question whether that was the right thing to do. That was at the end of the game and their D-line was undoubtedly gassed. I don’t fault Kevin Wilson for trying to ram it down UF’s throats last year. With the line we had, they SHOULD have been able to get the job done. Additionally, the fact that Sam threw an interception the very next drive deep inside UF territory, kind of controverts any criticism of playcalling in that instance. I don’t judge Wilson at all for the playcalling against Miami. When you’re playing with a completely rebuilt O-line, new receivers and you are playing without most of your playmakers, on the road against a strong team, it doesn’t matter who is calling the plays. You are going to struggle.”
I know everyone wants to fool everybody, but the truth is, the best teams power the ball into the end zone. If you can’t power the ball in, you’re not a great team to begin with. OU believed (believes?) it is a great team. I don’t blame them.
James: “A little harsh, Berry. Slammed the loyal OU fans. Let’s get this straight: If I disclose that I never played football, and dare to comment on bone-head decisions that even Brent Musburger (of all people) questions, that makes me part of a ‘mob’ and a ‘so-called expert?’ Wow! More of that give us your money, but keep your mouths shut philosophy.”
Commenting is fine. Demanding the heads of coaches who have won big-time is ridiculous.
Greg: “At times, during the tenures of Mangino, Long and now Wilson, if the typical fan can call the EXACT play which is run approximately 67% of the time, the coordinator and the head coach do not require firing, but they need to conduct some introspection, and just maybe once, just listen. Throw on first down and second-and-short like we used to. Please, try anyone we have, Eldridge, Mensik, Ratterree, Hanna, you pick’em, run the post pattern on 2nd-and-1 and just watch even a slow guy be 10 yards in the open. Run the Miller kid in a meaningful situation on first down. This kid is too good to sit. He is a big play waiting to happen. Finally, just once in a decade, in a third and long, run the trap quick opener with the fullback who defenses now just totally ignore. It is not the exact play calling, it is how predictable each of these guys became after a year or two. For teams which study tendencies, OU can be read like a book once a coordinator has been on the job for more than a year.”
This one wears me out. The typical fan can’t call the EXACT play 30 percent of the time. The typical fan would be largely flipping coins on either run or pass. OU does not - didn’t under Long, doesn’t under Wilson - have tendencies on first down and second down. I’ve studied it. I’ve published it. OU mixes it up pretty good. Runs about 60 percent on first down; has for 7-8 years. I wouldn’t throw to the tight ends. They’ve proven they can’t catch. Move on. Bench DeMarco Murray or Chris Brown and run Jonathan Miller? That sounds like madness. And while I love the fullback run on occasion, Matt Clapp couldn’t pick up a third-and-long if his hole was 10 yards wide.
John: “One of the few things I do get down on Stoops about is he is too overdramatic. Criticism of individual game calling does not necessarily rise to the occasion of calling for someone’s dismissal. In fact, in this year being the 50th I have either had or my father had season tickets, I have never seen, nor would I surmise you have seen, a perfectly called game. It is like writing the perfect column, the perfect appellate brief to the Supreme Court or perfect appraisal report for the next regional shopping center. You review them a month later and you find either a lot of mistakes or places where it could have been improved, or both. Bob needs to come out every Tuesday or Thursday, like Barry used to do at Othellos, sit and hold court for an hour. He is popular now, but he would find as Barry knew and Bud knew from his TV show, the people, although sometimes fickle, all understand what he has done and continues to do.”
Here’s what’s funny. Kevin Wilson does that. He doesn’t necessarily interact with the crowd, but Wilson always is falling on his sword, saying, bad call, I should have done this.
David: “Man, it just wouldn’t be Oklahoma football if some misguided fans weren’t griping about something, whether it be at Steve Davis (32-1-1 as an OU starter) being booed after the first loss of his career; Barry Switzer almost being fired after the 1983 season; or the coordinator (take your pick) flavor of the month this time around. The only time I don’t remember a coach being booed too much were the years 1989 through 1998. People weren’t booing too much because Owen Field was empty and no one had great expectations for OU football. Anyway, the fans around here don’t care if Wilson is down an all-American quarterback, an all-American tight end and the team’s best receiver on a team that the year prior graduated six starters, four of which are playing in the NFL. By my count through the 2-2 portion of this season, in essence, OU had two returning starters. Yet the clowns around here think OU should be putting up 60 against everyone and when OU doesn’t, said clown could personally call plays that COULD achieve 60 points a game. Perspective! The thing to remember here is, in his tenure, Bob Stoops and staff have done a excellent job winning at a plus .800 percent clip.”
You know what? This is a great point. Schnellenberger wasn’t around long enough to get things too riled up, but fans didn’t really demand the heads of coordinators during the Blake years, or even the Gibbs years much. They only want the heads of coordinators who have won big. Really supports the spoiled theory.
Greg: “I have a Bud Wilkinson story. In 1985, I connected planes to the West Coast from St. Louis. Sitting in an airport lounge, having a vodka tonic, was the venerable coach looking as he did the day he left in 1963. It was very crowded at the bar. I was wearing my OU starter jacket or something. As I walked in and looked around forlornly, he summoned me to sit by him. You can imagine I just about peed in my pants at age 34 or 35. I ordered, was quiet but smiling and he said, ‘how are things at home?’ I said, ‘Penn Square failed, the oiwwwl biz is bad, the job market is too poor to get out of the Army for and we got hosed by the refs in the Cotton Bowl in a rainstorm, but other than that, OK.’ He smiled and responded, ‘It always gets better.’ We chit-chatted about a lot of things other than football as I did not want to be the typical football nutball antagonizing a legend in an airport. When his plane was called, he rose, put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘Always find something to enjoy and never accept it as perfect.’ I think that statement covers a lot of subjects.”
Yes, like play-calling.
Mark: “I think you’ve captured a characteristic of Stoops’ that shows through in every press conference I’ve observed, he truly does not suffer fools gladly, and that appears to include the press (which know a great deal more about football than I do). The more I see and hear about Mack, the harder it is to dislike the guy. I’m getting soft on Texas.”
Mack Brown is very difficult to dislike. Anyone who knows him would agree.
Terry: “OU is rated around 20th in the country. Of all the teams rated ahead of them, who do you think would be favored if they played today?”
Interesting question. OU would be an underdog to about five. Bama, Florida, Texas, USC, maybe Virginia Tech. Remember the question. You asked about underdogs. Which means point spreads. Which means what betters think would happen. Which doesn’t necessarily correlate to reality.
Mike: “One question about Ryan Reynolds, who deserves an award for courage, certainly, However, he cannot run any more with all of the knee(s) damage. Why are the coaches leaving him in there? He cannot cover anybody over the middle for short passes. I think Colt McCoy will eat him alive this week. Could move Austin English over to MLB and let Frank Alexander play defensive end instead?
I think Reynolds gets too much blame for not covering passes. He was covering passes quite well last year vs. Texas, and the house caught on fire only after he left. Moving English? No way. He would be far less mobile than Reynolds in the open field.
Alberto: “Whatever happened to DeMarcus Granger? Is James Hanna not as good as he was advertised out of high school? Who will be anchoring the interior of the defensive line next year? Who is going to be our middle linebacker next year?”
I love easy questions. Granger is still fighting off back trouble. Doesn’t sound like he’ll be back. We’ve got to quit comparing tight ends to Jermaine Gresham. OU might never have another one like that. I would guess Jamarkus McFarland might anchor the line. And Tom Wort, if he recovers from the knee injury, is the likely MLB.
Chris: “Much has been said about the number of penalties that OSU has committed this season. Perusing the penalty statistics from ncaa.org shows that three Big 12 teams are dead last in penalty yards per game: Colorado, OSU and Texas Tech. Furthermore, Texas A&M is 110tth, Texas 104th, Baylor 98th, Oklahoma and Nebraska tied for 94th and Kansas St 87th. That is nine of 12 teams in the conference that are in the bottom .30 percentile in penalty yards. What gives? I cannot believe that almost the entire conference is undisciplined or their coaches are poor teachers of the rules. I’m not suggesting any conspiracy theories, but maybe the Big 12 officiating crews are too overzealous with the yellow hankies? Maybe the number of plays per game are higher in the Big 12? I know A&M is averaging about 90 plays per game and the Sooners had 99 plays on Saturday.”
I think there’s something to flag-happy officiating crews. That long has been the claim about certain NFL crews.
David: “I have an idea. Let’s have all the receivers wear Captain Kangaroo pockets on their jerseys. That way Sam or Landry only need to hit one of those pockets and bingo…. no more dropped balls.”
Why not surgically add Velcro to all Sooner hands?
Alan wrote from Baghdad: “Thanks for the great articles, video clips, and blog. I don’t always agree with your views, but I respect the research, talent and work ethic it takes to pound out the volume of information, and entertainment, found in the various formats. Those of us spread around the globe feel a little closer to home when we get a chance to jump online. I know it takes a healthy newspaper to support all this content. Where do you see the newspaper sports coverage headed? I see the ESPN-Chicago and ESPN-Dallas as an attempt to take away some of the niche currently held by local papers.”
First of all, heck of a country. We’ve got a guy over in Iraq, and he’s thanking us. Anyway, excellent question. You’re exactly right, the newspaper still supports most of the Internet content we do. We plan to keep making sure the newspaper remains profitable while also figuring out a way to make the web-based stuff produce revenue. Those are days are coming, we in the newspaper business haven’t figured it all out yet.
Jason wrote about my comments concerning Oklahoma sunsets being just as spectacular as Key West’s: “I went to college in Florida and saw the sunrise over the Atlantic and saw it set over the Gulf of Mexico. I also spent six years in east Tennessee and saw it rise and set from many mountain views. There is no sunrise or sunset like the ones I see every day just outside my front door in the Oklahoma Panhandle. I tell people if you know an atheist, bring them to my house with a lawn chair. We’ll face them east in the morning and turn them around before it sets. They’ll believe in God before they go to bed.”
The Panhandle has terrible highways but sensational sunsets.
Chat Recap: Oct. 16
OU dilemma: How to beat the Longhorns
Here’s OU’s dilemma against Texas. The best way to beat the Longhorns — run the ball and control the clock — is in the hands of a beleaguered offensive line. With no Brian Simmons, the OU line is really down to one veteran, Trent Williams. That means Ben Habern, Tavaris Jeffries, Stephen Good, Jarvis Jones and Cory Brandon could determine the Sooners’ fate.
That’s why I picked Texas, even though I believe it will be a close game. OU’s O-line will have to play above its established performance to win.
I believe OU’s defense will play well. I don’t think Colt McCoy will get shut out, but there will be no repeat of 2008. No 38 offensive points for the Longhorns. OU’s cornerbacks are too good, OU’s front four won’t be pushed around and the Sooner linebackers are solid. So if the safeties play well, OU’s defense has a chance to really shine.
But I think OU’s offense could struggle, even with Sam Bradford. The pass receivers have to catch the ball. The line has to protect Bradford, which won’t be easy against Sergio Kindle and Co. And OU has to run.
DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown, really both of them, have to have big games. At least 150 yards, I’d say, and 200 wouldn’t hurt. In fact, let’s put parameters to it. If OU rushes for 150 yards, it wins. If OU rushes for less than 125, it loses. In between, we’ll see.
I think 150 is a tall order for this line, which frankly has not played well until Baylor. And even then, the O-line wasn’t dominant against an opponent you would think it could dominate.
All told, that’s why I’m picking Texas, 22-21.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 6: 38th Parallel Games
Bob Stoops’ chief malady in recent years has fluctuated. His teams seemed to struggle on the road. His teams couldn’t win a bowl game.
Here’s a new one. His teams can’t win on neutral turf. Starting with the USC Orange Bowl in January, the Sooners are 5-8 in neutral stadiums: 1-3 vs. Texas, 1-4 in bowl games, now even the Brigham Young egg laid in September.
They’re all intertwined, of course. The bowl problem is a neutral-field problem. The Texas problem (if OU loses Saturday, it most definitely has a Texas problem) is a neutral-field problem.
Think about it. The most important games on the schedule almost always are neutral-field games. Texas, Big 12 title game, bowl game. They all are trophy games, which is why the Sooners have taken to having their picture shot in front of the scoreboard after victories, though admittedly, OU hasn’t cleared Kodak’s shelves in recent years.
Stoops, of course, started out like a house-a-fire on neutral fields. Before USC, Stoops’ record on neutral turf was 12-4, and two of those losses came in 1999.
That makes Stoops 17-12 overall in neutral-turf games.
And here’s the fun part. There are some coaches who can easily be compared to Stoops. Three other jobs have a similar schedule cadence to OU’s: Florida, Georgia and Texas. All play a neutral-site regular-season game against a bitter rival. All play in a conference with a championship game in a pro stadium. All then proceed to a bowl. So here are the comparisons.
* Florida’s Urban Meyer is 8-2 in neutral-site games. He’s started out very much like Stoops. National title in his second year, back to contend for more very soon.
* Georgia’s Mark Richt is 9-9 in neutral-site games. Richt seems beloved in Athens, Ga. He was cagey; Richt didn’t win a national title early and set his bar too high.
* Texas’ Mack Brown is 14-11 in neutral-turf games. But here’s the rub. Brown is 9-1 starting in January 2005. When Brown took his team to the Rose Bowl in December 2004, the Longhorns were 5-10 in neutral-site games. But now Brown has won five straight bowls, has gone 3-1 vs. OU and won the only Big 12 title game he’s reached during that time.
Bob Stoops is not in any kind of hot water at Oklahoma. That’s not what I’m saying. He does have disgruntled fan base, to some extent, most of which doesn’t want him or even his coaches gone. That fan base just wants to win some neutral-site games against teams from outside the Big 12 North.
GEOGRAPHY LESSON
Last week, I spent a few days in the Florida Keys. After the Miami game, we drove down to Key West, the southernmost point of the Continental U.S.
Going to the Keys is a great geography lesson. Driving to Key West, you’re going more west than south. Key West is farther west than Tampa.
Anyway, this always has been my picture of the Keys. Long stretches of engineering genius; mile after mile of highway bridges stuck in the middle of the Atlantic, punctuated by an occasional respite stop.
Wrong. The Florida Keys is a series of 1,700 islands, though most aren’t connected by roads. Driving down U.S. Highway 1, you probably go through 50-60 keys, most connected by a short bridge no longer than the bridge that spans the Oklahoma River. The Seven Mile Bridge is the only part of the trip that is extensive travel over water.
Most of the trip down the keys, you can see water on at least one side, sometimes both. But the land is inhabited not just with opulent homes or resorts, but towns and villages. A couple of them are charming; most are not. Take away the water, and it’s not unlike driving through west Texas.
Key West is a gorgeous, historic, funky tourist town 90 miles from Cuba. You enter the city of about 25,000 from the northeast, and it looks like Fort Lauderdale or something, with Ford dealerships and KFC’s dotting the terrain.
But down into town, you reach the historic district, Duval Street, which leads to Front Street, and the historic seaport.
It’s an interesting place. I’ll tell you more about it.
TEN BIGGEST LOSERS OF THE WEEK
10. Indiana: The Hoosiers played Oklahoma State in the 2007 Insight Bowl, but that marginal success is long gone. The Hoosiers opened the season with unimpressive victories over Eastern Kentucky, Western Michigan and Akron, then almost won at Michigan before falling 36-33. But Virginia, a struggling team itself, routed IU 47-7, stamping Indiana as a possible selection for worst team from a BCS conference.
9. Rushers: Weekly passing leaders often lose. Weekly rushing leaders rarely. But last week, three of the top five rushing games were turned in by players from losing teams. Memphis’ Curtis Steele (240 yards vs. UTEP) and Oregon State’s Jacquizz Rodgers (189 yards vs. Stanford) were winners. But North Texas’ Lance Dunbar (187 yards vs. Louisiana-Lafayette), Utah State’s Robert Turbin (184 yards vs. New Mexico State) and Auburn’s Ben Tate (184 yards vs. Arkansas) were losers.
8. UCLA: The Bruins were in position for a big upset, leading Oregon 3-0 at halftime. But the Ducks’ Kenjon Barner returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, 13 seconds later Talmadge Jackson returned an interception 32 yards for a TD and, after a UCLA fumble, Jeff Maehl scored on a 20-yard screen pass. Oregon had taken a 21-3 lead in less than four minutes and went on to a 24-10 victory.
7. Saturday nights in Baton Rouge: LSU hadn’t lost a Saturday night home game since 2002, a streak of 32 straight. But top-ranked Florida pinned a 13-3 defeat on the Tigers. A year ago, LSU lost home games to Georgia, Alabama and Ole Miss, but all in the afternoon.
6. Ron Zook: The heat is rising on the Illinois coach, who is 18-34 in his fifth year and 1-4 this season. Zook got the Illini to the Rose Bowl two years ago, but that promise looks far away. Zook benched veteran quarterback Juice Williams against Michigan State in what appears to be a desperation move - replacement Eddie McGee completed just two of 11 passes for 31 yards and an interception.
5. Gus Malzahn: The deposed Arkansas offensive coordinator from a few years ago returned to the Ozarks with a mighty Auburn offense. But the Razorbacks shut down Auburn, roaring to a 34-3 lead before the Tigers rallied. Auburn finished with 375 total yards.
4. Georgia defense: Having given up 37 points to South Carolina and 41 to Arkansas in victories, the Bulldogs finally cracked. They were rolled 45-19 by Tennessee. Ineffective Vol QB Jonathan Crompton had a career game, completing 20 of 27 for 310 yards and four touchdowns. With games remaining against Florida, Auburn and Georgia Tech, 3-3 Georgia could be looking at a .500 season.
3. Blaine Gabbert: In September, the Missouri quarterback was just drawing comparisons not just to his predecessor, Chase Daniel, but to, ahem, John Elway. On a cruddy night in Columbia, Gabbert had a fourth quarter to forget, throwing back-to-back interceptions that helped Nebraska storm back from a 12-0 deficit to a 27-12 victory. Gabbert’s numbers (17 of 43, 134 yards) were not exactly Elwayian.
2. Cody Hawkins: The son lost his job before the father lost his. Colorado quarterback Cody was benched during a dreadful performance against Texas (6-of-18, 68 yards, two interceptions), and his dad, beleaguered CU coach Dan Hawkins, says Tyler Hansen will start for the Buffaloes.
1. Mike Stoops: The Arizona coach had a chance to get his team to 5-0 in the Pac-10. The Wildcats, 1-0 already in the league and with three straight home games coming, none against USC or Oregon, had a 33-21 lead with three minutes to play. But Washington quarterback Jake Locker threw a touchdown pass with 2:55 left, then UW’s Mason Foster intercepted a deflected pass off the foot of ‘Zona’s Delashaun Dean and returned it 37 yards for the winning TD in a 36-33 verdict.
SEAFOOD, EAT FOOD
I love fish. I don’t love TO fish, but I love eating fish. In seven days away, I had seafood six times. Missed only on game day.
I had lobster. Eating a full lobster as an entree, I can remember only doing once before, 25 years ago in Los Angeles. But we stopped at the Fish House in Key Largo, which is famous in song and movie and now, in my mind, for a cool restaurant.
Any place that has strung lights on the ceiling and a basket of crackers on every table is my kind of joint. This place offered a special; $14.95 for a one-pound lobster dinner, or $19.95 for 1.5-pound lobster dinner. I bit on the latter.
It was excellent. I’m glad I ate it. But I’m not sure I would eat lobster again. It’s good, but I’ve never understood why lobster is more expensive than giant prawns or mahi-mahi. They’re all good to me.
I also got an appetizer of conch. Key West is known as the Conch Republic - it facetiously declared its independence in the 1980s when the government set up a road block leading out of the keys, to search for drugs. Conch is sort of like calamari. Stringy. Didn’t taste bad, but I didn’t see much to it.
The Fish House was so good, we stopped back by on our way out of the Keys. I had mahi-mahi and a giant shrimp appetizer. Outstanding.
Down in Key West, you can eat right on the wharf. I found those places to be a little pricey and not as good as up in Largo. But I did discover a fabulous new item. Lobster rolls at Turtle Kraals.
Turtle Kraals was the best of the Key West places we dined. Its lobster rolls are just like egg rolls, only stuffed with lobster. I like egg rolls big and fast and piping hot, like I get at Canton Palace in Del City, and that’s the way these were.
Key West also is known for key lime pie, which my wife just loves. I’m not that crazy about key lime pie; give me blueberry pie any day. But we had key lime every day and maybe twice on Sunday, I can’t remember. We had it with meringue, we had it with whipped cream, we had it plain.
They’ve even got a series of stores. Key Lime Pie Company, where you can buy stuff to make key lime pie. We did make a purchase. Usually, that kind of stuff gets spilled, and your jeans smell like lime juice, but so far I haven’t discovered any calamities.
REALITY RANKINGS
10. Boise State: Doesn’t reflect win at Tulsa.
9. Southern Cal: Win at Notre Dame would move the Trojans up big.
8. LSU: Championship-caliber defense.
7. Georgia Tech: Option is alive and well.
6. Miami: Hurricanes could go 11-1 and not make ACC title game.
5. Virginia Tech: Hokies not likely to beat out Boise State for BCS title game berth, if it comes to that.
4. Cincinnati: Huge game Thursday night at South Florida.
3. Iowa: Hawkeyes have some tough games coming up.
2. Florida: Bama-Florida has the chance to be a game for the ages.
1. Alabama: Hey, if Bama and Florida are unbeaten going into the SEC title game, wonder if SEC fans will argue that both should advance to the national championship game? SEC fans argued the other way when Michigan and Ohio State wanted such a repeat in 2006.
TO HAVE & HAVE NOT
Key West always was a favorite spot of Ted Williams, the great Red Sox slugger who lived there much of the time and was an avid fisherman. In three days in Key West, I never saw on reference to Ted Williams.
But Ernest Hemingway is everywhere. Key West is home to the Hemingway House. Hemingway, noted fisherman and tomcat and occasional author, lived in Key West in the 1930s, and his home has been restored and is open for tours.
I recommend it highly, even at $12 a head. I always like touring period homes, even if no one famous lived there. But the tour guides tell all kinds of Hemingway stories that are interesting.
The place is a virtual mansion for the ’30s, with a swimming pool and a beautiful verandah and a studio in which Hemingway did most of his writings.
The place is overrun with cats, 40something in all, and they say they all come from cats who lived there with Hemingway and his family. The tour guide knew most of the cats by name, and some would come when he called.
Hemingway was a wild man, always cheating on his wives and getting divorced. But he could write.
Truthfully, I hadn’t read much of Hemingway. In college, I was a William Faulkner man. But in the Hemingway gift shop, I bought a copy of To Have And Have Not. Read it on the plane home. Outstanding. Very, very good.
TEN BIGGEST WINNERS OF THE WEEK
10. Florida: The Gators won the game of the day, 13-3 at LSU, and it was big for this reason. Florida didn’t have to use its get-out-of-jail-free card. Even had the Gators lost, they would be in the national title game by winning out. Beating LSU, which figures to be their toughest of the regular season, means the Gators stillhave an ace in the hole.
9. Florida International: Golden Panthers won 37-20 at Western Kentucky in a battle of winless teams. FIU might have stayed that way with a loss. They’ll be underdogs the rest of the way.
8. Wake Forest: Demon Deacons routed Maryland 42-32 (Wake led 35-10 at halftime) and now lead the ACC’s Atlantic Division, with victories over the two teams (Boston College and Maryland) immediately behind them.
7. Ohio State returns: Wisconsin’s offense outscored Ohio State’s offense 13-10. But the Buckeyes scored three touchdowns on returns - Kurt Coleman’s 89-yard interception, Jermale Hines’ 32-yard interception and Ray Small’s 96-yard kickoff - to beat the Badgers 31-13.
6. Iowa: Why aren’t the unbeaten Hawkeyes getting more love in the rankings? They’ve won at Penn State and, in Iowa City, beaten Arizona and Michigan, the latter 30-28 Saturday night. With wins in back-to-back road games upcoming at Wisconsin and Michigan State, the Hawkeyes have to be taken seriously.
5. Service academies: Army got a victory over an SEC opponent, Vanderbilt, for the first time since 1990. Navy got its most lopsided victory in 36 years, 63-14 over Rice; and Air Force played a heck of a game, losing 20-17 to TCU.
4. David Cutcliffe: Fired at Ole Miss, the Duke coach again showed he still can get the job done. Duke QB Thad Lewis threw for 459 yards and five TDs as the Blue Devils beat North Carolina State 49-28 to snap an 11-game series losing streak and win an ACC road game for the first time in almost six years.
3. Nebraska: The Cornhuskers trailed Missouri 12-0 but scored 27 points in the fourth quarter to win going away and seized control of the Big 12 North Division, which, amazingly, Nebraska has won just once this decade.
2. Alabama defense: Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead, who not so long ago was a Heisman contender, completed just 11 of 35 passes against the Crimson Tide in a 22-3 loss. Snead’s 31.4 completion percentage is the lowest for a game this season by a quarterback. The second-lowest? Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett, 34.3 percent against Alabama. Don’t mess with the Bama defense, and don’t mail the national title to Gainesville, Fla., just yet.
1. Steven Sheffield: Few positions in football are more fool-proof than Texas Tech quarterback. Mike Leach’s triggermen automatically become stars. But with first-year Tech starter Taylor Potts out with a concussion, Sheffield threw for 490 yards and seven TDs in a 66-14 rout of Kansas State. Leach is mum on who will start this week, but Sheffield showed enough to campaign for the instant-stardom job.
SUNRISE, SUNSET
Key West is one of those rare places where you can see the sun both rise and set over water. Key West is known for its glorious sunsets. I don’t think people get up early enough to see sun rise.
Please don’t take this wrong. Key West indeed has gorgeous sunsets. But the beauty is no greater than an Oklahoma sunset. In fact, I’d say our sunsets are more colorful.
The difference is, on the water, you can actually see the sun drop off the edge of the Earth. Actually see the sun move. (I know, I know, we’re the ones moving, but you know what I mean.) In Key West, the sun seems not to slide away, but step away. Point by point. Move and stop. Move and stop.
It’s really something.
And of course, Key West’s ocean water is great. Clean, colorful. Hard not to like a place that gives you options of both the Atlantic and the Gulf. Key West does NOT have much in the way of beaches. The keys don’t have much sand.
We took two boat rides, a sunset cruise on a sailboat that was really fun. But best of all was an excursion that took us out into the ocean, where we sailed for awhile, then snorkeled and finally kayaked.
Snorkeling, I’m not crazy about. It’s fun to see what’s under the sea, but I guess I’m not built to hold my face under water while breathing through a tube. My wife loved it, though.
The kayak was tremendous. We went around the mangroves, which are tree islands. This grove of trees grows out of the water, and over millions of years actually forms sediment that forms land that formed the keys in the first place.
There is something adventurous about being in a tiny little kayak in the middle of such an awesome ocean. The water wasn’t deep around the mangroves. Never over our head and sometimes less than three feet. But still, when I think about rafting the Illinois River, and I think about kayaking the Atlantic Ocean out of Key West, I get a little amused.
The boat excursion, which is offered all over Key West, is like $69 a person for 5-6 hours. It’s a great deal. They serve you all you can drink, plus fruit and snacks. Fabulous day. Simply fabulous.
September and October are Key West’s slow months, because it’s hurricane season. No one wants to get caught in bad weather. It would take forever to go back up the keys if everyone was trying to leave via the two-lane highway.
Everyone says Key West is a little on the decadent side, and I’m sure there’s some truth to that. But I’m about as straight as it gets, and I never once felt uncomfortable. Generally, you have to go looking for trouble to find it.
Close Loss Bob: Stoops cursed by tight losses
I did a video today in which I talked about Bob Stoops’ propensity to lose close games. Close Loss Bob, I called him, after the two one-point defeats. But as the OU-Texas game approaches, Stoops’ record in close games is not the issue.
Mack Brown’s might be.
In games decided by three points or less, Stoops is 6-8, and that includes the two one-point losses this season. Not great. But not terrible. Take away the two losses without Sam Bradford, which I know you can’t do, and Stoops is 6-6. Which is exactly where you’d expect a guy to be.
Here’s a quick review of those games. Wins: 2000 K-State 27-24; 2001 K-State 38-37; 2004 OSU 38-35; 2005 Baylor 37-30 in overtime; 2005 Oregon 17-14; 2006 A&M 17-16. Losses: 1999 Ole Miss 27-25; 2001 OSU 16-13; 2005 Tech 23-21; 2006 Oregon 34-33; 2006 Boise State 43-42 in overtime; 2007 Colorado 27-24; 2009 BYU 14-013; 2009 Miami 21-20.
That’s not a bad record, considering two of the defeats were dubious (Tech and Oregon) and two were with Bradford sidelined. If you expand the close-games criteria to at least five points, Stoops records changes to 8-10, with these additions: 2000 wins over A&M, 35-31, and OSU, 12-7, and losses of 34-30 to Notre Dame (1999) and 30-26 to A&M (2002).
Expand the criteria to seven points, which certainly still qualifies as a close game, and Stoops’ record suddenly goes to 17-13. Again, not great, but certainly acceptable. Close games are the essence of sport. You win some, you lose some.
For grins, I ran the records of some of Stoops’ peers. It’s always good to compare Stoops not just to Brown, but to Pete Carroll, who took over at USC two years after Stoops arrived at OU, and Jim Tressel, who has been at Ohio State roughly the same time period. All have had great success; all have had their share of troubled times.
First, Ohio State. Tressel is 9-5 in games decided by less than four points, 15-5 in games decided by less than six points and 22-13 in games decided by less than eight points. Very good records. But what’s most striking is the total of close games the Buckeyes have played under Tressel: 35 of 108 games, 32 percent, have been decided by seven points or less. That’s a huge percentage. Compare that to Stoops, who has had 30 of 138, 22 percent.
OK, on to Southern Cal. Carroll is more aligned with Stoops. Carroll is 6-8 in games decided by three points or less, 7-12 in games decided by five points or less and 16-15 in games decided by seven points or less.
I agree with everyone who says that for whatever reason, Stoops’ teams fall short of Sooner magic, that they don’t compare to Barry Switzer’s remarkable record in close games (we’ll get to that more specifically in a minute). But before we label Stoops some kind of choke artist, whatever you say about Close Loss Bob applies to Carroll, too. Compare those records again, with Stoops’ first: 6-8 vs. 6-8 in three-point games, 8-10 vs. 7-12 in five-point games and 17-13 vs. 16-15 in seven-point games. Very, very close.
All of that data seems to even out. Guys who lose more than their share of 3-point games tend to win more than their share of 7-point games and vice versa.
But that doesn’t explain the remarkable Mack Brown. In Mack’s 12 years at Texas, the Longhorns are 19-4 in games decided by three points or less. 19-4! Two of those losses were a decade ago, to North Carolina State and Stanford. He also lost to Colorado 39-37 in the 2001 Big 12 title game. The only other 3-point loss was to Kansas State 45-42 in 2006, when Colt McCoy was injured.
Absolutely unbelievable. Among those 19 victories, Mack has beaten Ohio State twice, Southern Cal once and Nebraska thrice. That’s right, Brown is 3-0 vs. the Huskers in games decided by three points or less (and 4-0 in games decided by four points or less).
That’s just remarkable, and very close to his old boss’ record. Switzer was 18-1-4 in games decided by three points or less. His only loss was that 1978 heartbreaker, 17-14 at Nebraska. His teams’ propensity to come through in close games begat Sooner Magic, often against Nebraska but not always. Ohio State, Florida State, Miami (in the ’70s), Colorado, OSU. Many were victimized by Sooner Magic.
How do you explain such success? Confidence, of course. And a coach’s bravado surely led to that. And playing ties didn’t hurt. Switzer probably would have dropped a couple more games had he had overtime.
In games a little less close, Switzer, like Brown, turned human. Switzer was 4-4 in games decided by four or five points and 8-6 in games decided by six or seven points. But still, like Brown, that made for a gaudy overall record of 30-11-4. Just silly good.
Brown, too, returned to Earth when the standard is raised a few points. In games decided by four or five points, Brown is 6-5. In games decided by six or seven points, Brown is 0-2. So his overall record in games decided by seven points or less is 25-11, which still is outstanding but isn’t 19-4.
What does it all mean for Saturday? Who knows? But this much is certain. Texas has a strong track record of coming through in tight games under Brown. In similar situations, OU under Stoops is strictly a crapshoot.
OU-Texas: Wildcat anyone?
I did something Monday night I almost never do. I watched a ballgame and in mid-stream changed my preference for who I wanted to win.
Jets-Dolphins. I was pulling for the Jetropolitans, primarily because of Rex Ryan (enjoyed working with him his year at OU) but also because for some goofball reason, I’ve always liked New York football teams. Baseball, not so much. The Yankees and Mets can lose every game and it’s OK by me. But the Giants and Jets I like.
Yet late in that game I switched allegiance, primarily because of the absolutely bogus pass interference call that gave the Jets a 27-24 lead with five minutes left. Don’t look now, but the NFL is being ruined by penalty flags, some of them game-deciding flags against defensive backs. The league has got to do something. Officials are deciding ballgames unlike anything we’ve ever seen in sport.
Anyway, I began hoping the Dolphins could stage a late rally and in part, I was thrilled with Miami’s wildcat offense: the newfangled formation in which a quarterback leaves the field (or goes out to flanker) and the ball is snapped directly to a tailback.
I love the wildcat because it’s different. For the most part, the NFL forever has been a vanilla league. Most teams all do the same thing offensively. Occasionally comes a shotgun, or a one-back, but within 15 minutes everybody is doing it.
The Wildcat is different. The Wildcat is the NFL’s wishbone. The Wildcat says we’re going to run the ball and you know we’re going to run the ball and we don’t believe you can stop it.
The Wildcat is part single wing and part wing-T and part shotgun. The Dolphins run it with tailback Ronnie Brown, who Monday night threw a pass (and completed) for the first time all season and also ran deceptive handoffs to backfield mate Ricky Williams and also kept the ball a ton, including a game-winning touchdown with six seconds left, when Brown charged up the middle and plunged into the end zone from two yards out despite very little running room.
And the Wildcat got me to thinking about OU-Texas. Will we see any new wrinkles Saturday in the Cotton Bowl?
I don’t think we’ll see any Wildcat. The Wildcat works best for a team that is limited at quarterback. The Dolphins the last two years have had the dangling Chads — Pennington and Henne — who are functional NFL QBs but not superstars. Snapping the ball to Ronnie Brown is not like taking the ball out of Peyton Manning’s hands.
I don’t recommend taking the ball out of the hands of Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy. I recommend putting the ball in their hands. If either team decided to go with the Wildcat, it’s more likely OU. The Wildcat is not a formation used by teams that can’t run the ball in the first place. It’s a formation used by teams that already can run the ball and want to do it even more effectively. Texas’ running game has been minimal.
But that doesn’t mean the Sooners or Longhorns can’t produce surprises, and I don’t mean like OU’s switch to the wishbone in 1970. The changes could be schematic — OU’s new draw play with Quentin Griffin in 2002 ran the ‘Horns ragged; Texas’ move of Jordan Shipley into a tight end/slot position last October opened all kinds of pass-route space in the Sooner middle.
The changes could be personnel. In October 2001, redshirt freshman Mark Clayton had made little impact, with six catches for 37 yards in four games. Then he had six catches for 65 yards against Texas and spent four years as the primary receiver for Jason White and Nate Hybl.
OU-Texas history is full of Sooner tricks. Marcus Dupree’s reverse. Joe Washington’s halfback pass and quick kick. James Allen’s statue-of-liberty counter, which was a beautiful play, it just didn’t work.
