The real question at OSU
In case you missed it on my video commentary …
Mike Gundy has a conundrum on his hands.
Sure, there’s the question of Bobby Reid or Zac Robinson, the quarterback quandary that surfaced suddenly last weekend. But really, at the heart of that is a bigger, tougher question.
How can you sit an athlete like Bobby Reid?
The junior is an elite athlete. He’s big. He’s strong. He’s fast. He has every bit of athletic ability that you could want.
Football coaches work to find ways to get guys like him onto the field.
How, then, is Gundy supposed to sit him? It goes against every coaching fiber in his body. Hey, I understand that there are other considerations in this Reid-Robinson question. Reid has been solid for two years, so one rough stretch is not exactly a fireable offense. Being so quick on the trigger isn’t a good way to manage quarterbacks, anyway.
Of course, Reid’s continuing inconsistency at this point in his career would be enough to drive me crazy if I was Gundy.
By the way, yours truly is one of the biggest Bobby Reid fans around. He’s a super kid and a stellar athlete. Heck, a year ago, I wrote that I thought he had a chance to be the second coming of Vince Young.
And frankly, Sir Vincent is likely one of the reasons Gundy is struggling with what to do about his quarterbacks. Young battled inconsistency the first two years of his career, too. But when he put it all together — man, oh man, he was spectacular. A big-time athlete who finally figured it out.
That’s exactly what Gundy hopes to get from Reid. And if he replaces him with Robinson, he’ll always wonder “What if?” What if Reid was only a week away from putting it all together? What if Robinson turned out to be a good quarterback but Reid could’ve been a great one? What if Bobby Reid could have been Vince Young?
When you have an athlete as good as Reid, putting him on the bench is a gut-wrenching decision for the coach.
The question, then, isn’t “Reid or Robinson?”
It’s “How long will Gundy allow Reid’s potential to go unrealized?”
America’s team?
After the tragedy of Sept. 11, the New England Patriots became America’s team.
Maybe it was their colors, the red, silver and blue. Or their mascot. Or their winning ways. Or even their dimple-chinned quarterback.
They were the all-American boys playing America’s sport.
Ironic, then, that on the sixth anniversary of Sept. 11, the NFL ruled that the Patriots have cheated. You know the story — New England had a cameraman on its sidelines Sunday taping the New York Jets’ coaches on the opposite sideline. They were taping defensive signals.
That, my friends, is a no-no.
Now, I’m all for a little gamesmanship. But this violates long-standing rules in the NFL. And by some accounts, it isn’t the first time the Patriots have done it. The Packers say that they escorted the same cameraman out of Lambeau Field a year ago when they suspected the same kind of foul play.
The NFL needs to come down hard on the Patriots. A fine, even a hefty one, won’t be enough to hurt a multi-million dollar franchise. A suspension of coach Bill Belichick won’t do it either. His assistants are able enough to handle the gig without him.
The NFL has to hit the Patriots where it hurts.
Make the Pats forfeit the victory against the Jets.
It seems extreme, but nothing else will be enough to make the Pats think twice about doing this again. A loss, though, would likely scare them from trying it again.
The image of America’s team has already been tarnished. Taking away a victory would be just the thing to keep from letting that tarnish rub off on America’s game.
Talk of Troy
Oklahoma State ventures into foreign territory Friday night.
Not just enemy territory. Foreign territory.
Troy has become something of a saint for the upset-minded little guys. We know that the Trojans knocked off Missouri a few years back and gave Florida State a scare a year ago. But because Troy is, as my buddy Berry Tramel would say, so deep in the heart of Dixie that it is something of an unknown.
Foreign, if you will.
You’ll read more about the Trojan quarterback Omar Haugabook later this week in The Oklahoman, but if you want a look at him and the Trojans, check out these highlights from last year’s game at Florida State. The Seminoles needed a late interception and touchdown to beat the Trojans. Haugabook looked like he belonged on the same field as Florida State, and as a result, Troy looked like it belonged.
Look, Ma! No tacklers
Did you see the picture of Adrian Peterson on the cover of SportsMonday?
Did you notice his eyes?
An Associated Press photographer snapped a shot of the former Oklahoma tailback during his NFL debut Sunday. Now a rookie with the Minnesota Vikings, Peterson had just made a tough, juggling catch on a little swing pass and turned it up field. As Peterson was scampering down the sideline on his way to a 60-yard touchdown, he appears to be looking up.
Way up.
Not up at a would-be tackler.
Not even up into the stands.
Peterson seems to be looking up at the jumbotron at the Metrodome. Why? To see if any defenders were on his tail.
The jumbotrons have become like rearview mirrors for players. Think it was just Peterson? Reggie Smith did the same Saturday afternoon in Norman when the Oklahoma defensive back scooped up a Miami fumble and scrambled 61 yards for a touchdown.
Turn the lights out
The three light banks on the north side of Boone Pickens Stadium have gone out.
One by one, they turned off.
The lights on the south have remained on, but referees have stopped action as stadium officials try to determine what’s wrong.
Here’s hoping the delay doesn’t last long. This game has already turned ugly in the second half with the Cowboys opening a 35-6 lead. The last thing anyone wants is an hour delay while they find the light switch.
New OSU QB
Zac Robinson has taken over under center for Oklahoma State.
Starter Bobby Reid was shaken up on the Cowboys’ touchdown-scoring drive. Robinson finished out the drive, two running plays by Keith Toston.
But when the Cowboys next had the ball, Robinson was back on the field. Reid is on the sidelines and appears fine, but Robinson took over for the series.
After a three-and-out, we’ll see if he’s back next time around.
Cowboys too cutesy
Oklahoma State managed only one first down in its first three possessions.
The problem: the Cowboys were trying to be too cute.
There were swing passes and gadget plays, and the results were absolutely terrible. Against a team like Florida Atlantic, you just need to line up and shove the ball down their throats.
On its fourth possession, OSU finally took it right up the gut. After a long Perrish Cox punt return, the Cowboys ran a designed draw up the middle for Bobby Reid, a run around the left side for Keith Toston and another run right up the middle for Toston. He went almost untouched into the end zone.
No need to get cute with a team that you’re so much better than. Just take it to ‘em. If the Cowboys keep that up, they’ll roll.
Sloppy in Stillwater
Oklahoma State and Florida Atlantic are off to a sloppy start in Stillwater.
Cowboy safety Andre Sexton intercepted a pass on the first play from scrimmage, returning it for a touchdown. Since, there have been three fumbles, one which was lost. Keith Toston fumbled deep in OSU territory that set up a Florida Atlantic field goal.
The Cowboys’ second offensive possession was no better. Bobby Reid threw behind a receiver, threw low of a receiver, then threw low again. The possession netted a minus-2 yards for the Cowboys.
Not exactly the world’s most powerful offense.
They left the field to a chorus of boos.
Listen up, Miami
There’s been a ton of talk about this Oklahoma-Miami game.
Here’s some more.
Thanks to the fine folks at the Miami Herald, you can listen to what Miami coach Randy Shannon has to say about this match-up or what quarterback Kirby Freeman thinks about being the guy for the Hurricanes. There’s all sorts of audio clips from players. About the only guy unaccounted for is defensive end Calais Campbell.
From the in-case-you-missed-it file: Sports Illustrated had an extensive feature on Shannon in this week’s magazine. Gary Smith goes in-depth on a guy who built a coaching career with few people really knowing anything about him.
Grow up already
Our government reporter Bryan Dean is a sports junkie.
A friend of mine, too.
He loves Oklahoma football and grew fond of the Hornets, but the sport Deaner grew up playing was tennis. So, when he shot me an e-mail earlier this week titled “random sports rant” about the U.S. Open, I made sure to sit up and pay attention.
(After, of course, I remembered that the U.S. Open was actually going on.)
Bryan was miffed about Serena Williams’ sullen, snippy reaction to her loss to Justine Henin. Here’s what he said: “I’ve never liked the Williams sisters, and this is why. They have an utter lack of sportsmanship in a game that is all about sportsmanship. You grow up in tennis calling your own lines and shaking hands with your opponent after every match, win or lose.”
Remember, this is a guy who knows of what he speaks.
“Nothing in the game is worse than a poor sport. I hated playing kids like this when I played in high school and in the USTA junior tournaments.
“Serena and Venus have been doing this kind of thing since they broke onto the pro tour, and they’ve never stopped. They are adults. It’s time to grow up and learn sportsmanship, ladies.”
Couldn’t have said it any better myself.
