2010 - The Year of the Defense

Earlier this year, we saw an article in the Dallas Morning News discussing how the Longhorn defense will be bigger and badder than even this year, in spite of the losses to the NFL of Earl Thomas and others. I don't disagree with the premise of that article. However, I submit to you that overall, the Big 12 will look better defensively this year, for three reasons: 1) offensive philosophies of Tommy Tuberville vs Mike Leach will reduce Texas Tech points and yards by 25% at least; 2) continued defensive maturation to battling spread offenses; and most importantly, 3) the degeneration of the field general in the Big 12. here's some tidbits of information for you:

• Coming into the 2008 season, returning Big 12 quarterbacks had collectively 18 years of college starting experience. This year, it's eight.
• For 8 of the Big 12 schools in 2008, their starting quarterback that year ended up being the career leader in passing yards for the school. The exceptions in that year were: Cash Machine U, Nebraska (Joe Ganz finished second); Baylor and Colorado, where Cody Hawkins is presently the third most prolific passer in terms of yards (let that sink in for a minute).
• In 2010, how many of the starting QBs could end up with most yards in school history at the end of their careers? According to my review of career yards to date and class of the starting QB, there are three possibilities: a) Landry Jones; b) Jerrod Johnson; c) Robert Griffin; d) Garrett Gilbert, if he passes for 4,000+ yards/yr for the next three years.
• The incoming starters for 2008 had collectively passes for 36,010 yards 272 TDs and 123 interceptions the previous year.
• In 2010, those same figures are 19,506 yards, 138 TDs and 75 interceptions.

With the departures of Reesing, Bradford, Daniels, Harrell and McCoy over the last two years, the conference lost salty quarterbacks that stepped in as freshmen with almost immediate success. These quarterbacks allowed their coaches to be more aggressive offensively due to their low failure rates. Fast forward to 2010, you don't have near the pedigree of quarterbacks and they have less experience,and you're going to see more conservative play calling to minimize turnovers.

So, let's pronounce this the year of the defense now, and get it over with. In some ways, the Big 12 has wanted to be like the SEC, now here's our chance. Break out the jorts and the fried food people, it's time to party.

Preview at College Football Zealots

Earlier this summer I had the pleasure of writing a Sooner preview for the gang at College Football Zealots. Check it out here. Kevin, thanks for letting me participate.

Tale of the Tape - Aggies vs Hogs

Work and family schedules precluded me giving this proper coverage earlier this week, but I wanted to do a little preview of a game involving two of the most dysfunctional and loyal fan bases in college football, Arkansas and Texas A&M.

How'd they get the name? Arkansas: After an undefeated season in 1909, Coach Hugo Bezdek referred to his team as a "wild band of Razorbacks" and the name caught on. Hog fans have NOT caught on to the fact that they've only had one undefeated season since 1909, in 1964 when Barry Switzer was an assistant and Boss Hog Jerry Jones was a player on the team. Cash Machine U: It's Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University. While some believe that the Aggies moniker is Greek for "abuser of sheep", that is just a rumor. It's a tribute to the school's agricultural roots. Gearheads just doesn't roll off the tongue, so they went with Aggies. Edge: Aggies.
Returning Starters: Texas A&M 10 on offense / 6 on defense; Arkansas 8 on offense / 10 on defense. Edge: Arkansas
NFL Passing Yards by Alums: Arkansas 41,090; A&M 9,157. I'm excluding former Razorback Tarvaris Jackson from this tally, as he transferred to Alabama State and improved the quarterback play at both schools. Edge: Arkansas, courtesy of Buffalo Bill great Joe Ferguson.
NFL Draft History: Arkansas 243; Texas A&M: 258. Edge: Arkansas
Best NFL Player: Arkansas: Pat Summerall; Texas A&M: Yale Lary. Edge: Arkansas. I went with Summerall over NFL HOFs Lance Allworth and Dan Hampton because Summerall wins the Best Voice and Best Recovering Alchololic portion of the contest as well. Both schools have fairly storied college fb programs, but not many elite NFLers come out of the pack. If you disagree, see Mcelroy, Leeland. Edge: Arkansas
Hot/Cold: Arkansas: Cold. The Hogs have allowed 77 points in two games against 1-A opponents. Texas A&M: Overheated. Courtesy of the mediocre defenses played by the Aggies, Cash Machine U is hot, but cool faster than a plate of scrambled eggs. Edge: Aggies.
Random Stat: The defensive ranking of A&M foes year-to-date: 107, 117, 116. Arkansas is a veritable defensive juggernaut at 91. Edge: Aggies
Random Stat 2: Texas A&I has more NFL Hall of Famers than Texas A&M. Gene Upshaw and Darrell Green starred for Texas A&I back in the day. Edge: Arkansas
How we see it: this game has fluctuated between a pick'em and Arkansas as a 1 point favorite. Arkansas is 1-2, but has played teams you've heard of in Alabama and Georgia. For some reason, I think Arkansas is going to win this, though I'll be pulling for the Aggies. The battle of the Aggies and Hogs in the seats will be an interesting part of the game as well. Prediction: Arkansas

Hurricanes Preview

How's they get the name: The Hurricanes found their moniker in 1926 prior to their first game. The game has been postponed by a hurricane. A Miami football player, Porter Norris, suggested the team be named the Hurricanes. Presumably, Porter did not graduate with a language arts degree.
Returning starters: 8 offense, 7 defense
NFL passing yards by alums: 125,231 by quarterbacks
Draft History:313 draftees
Hot/Cold: Frigid. The Canes were left cold and wet after a arse-whooping at the hands of the Virginia Tech Hokies last week.
The Skinny: these are not your father's Miami Hurricanes. Actually, if you're in your twenties and reading this, and your father is a Miami Hurricane, you probably don't know it anyway. Pardon me, I digress. "The U" as it's become known, was one of the premier programs from 1983 - 2003, and had a remarkable run 14 year of first round NFLers from 1995-2008. In 2001, former OU and OSU assistant Larry Coker took over the reigns from Butch Davis, won a national championship his first season, then drove the wagon in the ditch. Randy Shannon has uprighted the wagon, tricked it up with some hydraulics, a sound system and some sweet spinners and the Hurricanes are on their way back to being a top 10 programs
Random stat: According to the Miami game notes, "Of the 20 seniors on this year's squad, eight have already earned degrees, while the remaining 11 are all on course to graduate either in December of 2009 or May of 2010." Apparently the missing senior was contributing to the media guide.
Random stat 2: The Sooners have not beaten Miami FL in South Florida since 1975.
Random stat 3: Of Oklahoma's 11 offensive starters for last year's NCG, 2 are starting Saturday night (Chris Brown and Trent Williams) and only one of those at the same position (Williams).
How we see it: I see the Sooners prevailing in a close one. I think the pass rush and the zone blitzing by the Sooners will put pressure on Jacory Harris, and the defense should prevail over an improving Canes offense. On the other side of the ball, the U is just not the U of old. The Canes stats are distorted somewhat due to timing - they've played three conference games so far, not a string of cupcakes - but they currently rank 86th in rushing defense and 89th in pass efficiency defense. Gone are the days of a punt returning weaving through a punt coverage unit, the Canes rank 117th in punt returns, averaging 2 yards per return. While the Sooners are not as dominant offensively as they were last year, they still have the offensive firepower with Broyles and Murray, and Jones is quite serviceable as a backup QB.

Golden Hurricane Preview

Line: Sooners by 15 1/2
How'd they get the name: According to a gent on Yahoo! Answers, it's when you urinate into the wind and it comes back at you. Fortunately for all of us, that's not correct.
Returning Starters: 5 on offense, 8 on defense
NFL Passing Yards by Alums: 54,052, led by Gus Frerotte
Best NFL Player: WR Steve Largent, inducted into the HOF in 1995. Shout out goes to Drew Pearson, an undrafted QB that made out alright as a WR for the Cowboys for a few years also.
Draft History: 168 players drafted by the NFL
Hot/Cold: The Golden Hurricane has won three of their last four bowl appearances, with their last loss in a bowl game coming to Utah. Just like Alabama.
The Skinny: Tulsa is not the mid-major cupcake you might think. Since the start of 2003 (end of the Keith Burns reign of terror at Tulsa), the Golden Hurricane is 52-29, with more wins in that time frame than the following schools, among others: Tennessee, Michigan, Oregon, Alabama and Brigham Young University. Todd Graham, an up and coming mercenary in the ranks of college football, is a native of Mesquite, TX and the coach was attributed with turning around Allen, TX High School football. Graham was also on Rich Rodriguez's staff at West Virgina, which explains his unique negotiating tactics (see comment 2) when transitioning from Rice to Tulsa.
Random stat: The Golden Hurricane has produced three NFL Hall of Famers, more than OU or OSU. Only 20 colleges can claim more HOFers.
How we see it: Mike Bryan, son of former Sooner and recently deceased Rick Bryan, will get big applause at the game. Bryan is the MLB in the Hurriance 3-3-5 scheme. Tulsa's QB is G.J. Kinne, a Texas transfer who gave up on replacing Colt McCoy. It's worked out well for Jevan Snead. The Sooners should win this one, but I think it will be closer than I want it to be. In all honesty, this game makes me nervous. Tulsa is a good football team, and the Sooners W against Idaho State told me nothing. Tulsa will come into this game confident, and with a chip on their shoulders. OU has oodles more recruiting stars, and the superior talent should prevail over the course of 60 minutes. Pick: Sooners to win, but not to cover the 15.5 points.

Idaho State Preview

I know tens of you are waiting for my analysis of the Idaho State Bengals. Well, tough. Not gonna do it. I'm not wasting my time on this, as the Sooners playing ISU is not going to tell us anything. Seriously, what are you going to learn about the Sooners this week? If Landry Jones looks good, he's playing a 1-11 FCS team for goodness sake. If he sucks, well, he's getting the kinks out after not playing for two years. I'm going to presume our o-line will block these guys this week.

Anyway, here's a brief snapshot of the Bengals. Apparently theyu come out of this tunnel that's supposed to invoke fear in the opponent. It looks to me like someone got one the prop's from Aladdin on Ice, painted stripes on the snake and called it a tiger. Whatever.

This concludes our Sooner-Bengal Preview. Enjoy the game.

Five Things that could point to a Sooner Victory

1. Chris Brown runs effectively
2. Sam Bradford has time to throw
3. Sooner kick coverage allows no returns past midfield
4. Sooner D creates turnovers
5. Percy Harvin twists his ankle coming out of the locker room, loses his balance and falls down on Jeffrey Demps, breaking Demps’ leg.

The LandThieves BCS NCG Preview

Breaking away from poetry to write a bit more about this one.

Florida defense vs Oklahoma offense: there’s much ado about Florida’s speed, and their ability to cover, rush the passer, etc. Texas has speed and pass rush ability, as does TCU. This has proven out in pre and postseason nonconference games. While Texas didn’t knock anyone’s socks off last night in the Fiesta Bowl, it wasn’t the lack of speed that got them in trouble, it was power running and a slippery dual threat QB that kept TOSU in the game. In the TCU game, Bradford was 19-34 for 411 yards and 4 TDs. Granted, some of that was aided by two slips by TCU defenders. Let’s look at the Texas game, another game against a topflight D. In that game, Bradford was 28-39 for 387 yards, 5 TDs and 2 interceptions. The second interception was a throw into the end zone as time expired on a ten point loss. In the loss, Bradford averaged 10 yards per attempt and completed almost 72% of his passes. The question at hand will be Oklahoma’s ability to run the ball. Against UT, the Sooners compiled 13 total rushing yards, and lost the time of possession battle 37 to 23. OU has run the ball better since then, but really hasn’t played teams that were adept at stopping the run. Against TCU, the Sooners rushed for 36 yards. If Florida can stuff the run, and make OU a pass-only offense, then they will be able to take control of the game and get Bradford more on the run. Alternatively, looking at Florida’s stats tells you they are better pass defenders than run defenders. Teams were able to run the ball semi-well against the Gators gaining between 3-5 yards / carry in most games, but the Gator D shut down their passing games. Aside from the loss to Ole Miss and, the Gator’s foes were averaging 3-5 yards per attempt. If OU is getting 5 yards per attempt, that’s going to get you in trouble. It seems kind of simple to say, but if OU can run the ball effectively and make the Gators play run and pass defense, Bradford can lead the O to score some points. If Chris Brown and Mossis Madu can’t find anywhere to run, it’ll be a long night in Miami.

Oklahoma defense vs the Florida offense: I think this is a difficult matchup for the Sooners. The Sooner defensive stats are somewhat misleading, but make no mistake, this is not the 85 Sooners. The Gator strength is running the ball and having a balanced attack. The Gators have four backs with more than 50 carries that average more than 7 yards per carry. Speed is the name of the game, as 3 of the four weigh in at less than 200 pounds. That’s probably better for the Sooners, ad I don’t think they would matchup well vs a power running game. The Sooner D allowed only 2.4 yards per carry in the first half this year, which is pretty solid. The second half was a different story, with the Sooners allowing 4.05 yards per carry then. Why were the better against the run in the first half than the second? I don’t know. I know many of the games were over by then. Oklahoma has to shut down their running game, then get pressure on the passer. However, Tebow is difficult to bring down.
What the Sooner D lacked in domination was made up for in turnover margin. The Sooner D was excellent this year at third down conversions and creating turnovers. Why was that the case? One, I believe the Sooner D is quick, and most years have been ball-hawking types of units, and two, the proficiency of the Sooner offense forced the opponent to take chances and force the ball where they otherwise may not. On the contrary, Florida takes care of the ball well and is 13th in the country in third down conversions.

At the end of the day, the Sooners D performance in the last three BCS games has been atrocious, allowing 55, 43 and 48 points. And statistically, I believe those teams were better than this one. That leaves it up to the offense. I don’t think the Sooners can trade scores with the Gators, as I think the Gator D is more likely to stop the Sooner O than the Sooner D is likely to stop the Gator O. So, I’m not feeling very warm and fuzzy at this point.

How could I rationalize a surprise performance by the Sooner D?

• Frank Alexander. FA has been a beast since he returned from a stabbing after the UTC game in late August. His pressure from the defensive end spot could be critical.
• Experience. The Sooners had three first year starters in the LB this year. Now, it’s the end of the season, they’ve had a season of experience, and another month of practice at the end.
• Motivation. Stoops plays the underdog really well. All this talk about no defense, and the Sooners not being able to keep up with the Gators, will hopefully be a motivation factor to Stoops, Venables and the player to have a superior performance.

What do I think will happen? Florida victory, 45-35, and I'm hoping I'm wrong.

Sooner - Tiger Preview

It's not that often that a team goes 9-3, wins their division, and is considered to have a disappointing season, but that's probably waht one woudl say about Missouri at this point. Prior to the beginning of the year, most assumed the Tigers would be the same offensive threat if not better (correct) and would be better defensively (not so much). Chase Daniel has had a solid year, throwing for 34 Tds and 3,880 yards. On the downside, the 13 picks are more than desirable. The defensive showed up suspect from the beginning of the season, with the Tigers allowing Juice Williams of Illinois a career day of 451 yards passing. The Tigers set as the 92nd ranked team in yards allowed, and are 117th in passing yards allowed. This does not bode well for the Missouri D.

The Sooners are coming in on a roll, having scored 60+ poionts in the last four games. They have the third best passing attack in the country, and the running game has come on with authority the past few games. Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray should finish teh game with over 1000 yards for the season. That'll be the first time that's happened since 1973, when Joe Washington and Waymon Clark (who?) both broke the 1000 yard barrier. To contrast, in that year, the Sooners threw for 1,011 yards for the entire year.

I just don't see how the Tigers are going to stop the Sooners. I'm more than a little concerned that Mike Balogun, third string LB, will fare in his first start against the tiger D.

I think the difference here is the Sooners ability to create turnovers and make third down stops. Missouri may resort to allowing the Sooners to score just so Jeremy Maclin can return the kick.

OU-NU Preview

When Oklahoma has the ball - Bradford is 3rd in the nation in pass efficiency and has been lighting it up this year. Demarco Murray seems to have found his groove a little bit running the ball as well. Nebraska is in the middle of the pack in defensive statistics. To their credit, they held the Red Raiders to only 31 points in Lubbock during regulation play, but that was in part to controlling time of possession for 40 minutes. I don't think the Bugeater D will be able to stop the Sooner O with any level of regularity.
When Oklahoma punts the ball - when this does happen, OU sucks at it this year. The Sooners are 106th in net punting. Our best punting play is when pressure on punter Mike Knall allows his to display his Academy Award level acting skills. Conversely, the Huskers are 14th in the nation in punt returns. Nate Swift has led the way, with 7 punt returns for 121 yards. It says something that Nebraska has only returned 13 punts so far.
When Oklahoma kicks the ball - I'll close my eyes again this week. As much practice as Ou gets kicking off, you'd think we'd be better at it. The Sooners are 109th in KO return defense. Only 11 of the 66 kicks have been toucbacks. Nebraska is 32nd in KO returns. Look for that to improve this week. Alternatively, here are the top 10 teams in KO return defense this year: FishEasters, LSU, UNC, La Tech, Troy, K State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Marshall ,Western Michigan and Temple.
When Nebraska has the ball - statistically, Joe Ganz is the 6th best passer in the Big 12, which ranks him 9th nationally, excluding the Big 12. The Bugeaters are 12th nationally in passing yards per game, and 29th in scoring offense. The rushing offense average 4.3 yards per game, which ranks 53rd. Marlon Lucky leads the way when the N rushes the ball. Nate Swift is Ganz's favorite receiving target, and has 100+ yards receiving in each of the last two games. As far as defense goes, the Sooners are now struggling in conference play, courtesy of the offenses in the conference and the inabilty to replace Reynolds in the middle of the D. Going into Texas, OU had the 1st ranked defense in passing efficiency and was 15th in scoring D. Three weeks later, the Sooners are 33rd in pass efficiency and 50th in scoring D. Nebraska should move the ball okay. The trick to the Sooners D is getting the offense to 3rd down. the Sooners continue to be solid defensively on 3rd down, ranking 6th in the nation.
When Nebraska punts the ball - the Bugeaters are even worse in net punting than the Sooners, ranking 118th. The Huskers are 76th in punt return D. The Sooners are 46th in punt returns, climbing the charts after Ryan Broyles return for a score last week. The Sooners have been rotating Franks, Iglesias and Broyles in there, but now taht Broyles is 12th in the nation, he may get back there all the time. It's rare this year that the Sooners find a team worse than them on special teams, but we may have found one in Nebraska.
When Nebraska kicks the ball, they are 77th in ko return defense. The Sooners are 14th in the natino in kickoff returns. DeMarco Murray and Juaquin Iglesias both average just over 24 yards per return.


In summation: 45-21, Sooners.

OU-Bugeaters, Flashback

Sam Gilbert, Jr. over at the Oklahom Sooners Football blog found an excellent video recap of the Sooners victory over the Bugeaters in 1985, my sophomore year of college. What I recall about the game, aside from Jackson's running, was the concern that Bosworth was going to hurt someone after a Sooner fumble led to a Husker defensive TD with less than a minute remaining. That defensive shutout spoiled what would ahve been a shutout of the #2 ranked Huskers.

As bonus coverage, Sam provided a link to an article on the game. Keith Jackson rushed three times for 136 yards and a TD. Not many teams deploy the TE reverse anymore, and on one of those instances, Jackson was supposed to pass but pulled the ball down and ran it.

The Sooners were 1-4 passing that day. My how times have changed. The article linked to above also have coverage of the Texas Longhorns ruining Baylor's chances of a Cotton Bowl berth.

Due to work and Halloween schedules, weekend preview coverage will be limited at best.

OU KState Preview

Today we’re bringing you our Willie and Friends vs LandThieves preview, hopefully with the medication wearing off:

• Overall: The last time the Wildcats defeated the Sooners in Manhattan was 1996, when Snyder’s Cats beat Blake’s Sooners 42-35. K State was won 6 of the last 11, but that’s a little misleading. Stoops is 1-5 against K State, with the sole loss being that butt kicking in the Big 12 Championship game in 2003. Ron Prince has yet to coach against the Sooners.
• When OU has the ball: The Sooner offense is 3rd in points per game, and fourth in yards per game. The Sooners utilize their talented offensive weapons even more with the hurry up offense. The Wildcats are 82nd in points allowed and 106th in yards allowed. Their pass defense is bad (94th) but they offset that with an even worse rushing defense (101st). I look for the Sooners to throw enough to get Sam 300+ yards, but run the ball as well. At the end of the day, I think the Head Visor wants to just run the ball and control the clock, and the Wildcat defense is fertile soil for that theory. Advantage: Sooners
• When OU punts: tough to envision that. However, Mike Knall is one of the best actors in all of Big 12 special teams. K state has already blocked 4 kicks and returned them for scores this year. Look for Knall to get a couple of running into the kicker calls this week. Or for the Sooners to actually have one blocked. Advantage: Wildcats
• When Kansas State has the ball: The Wildcats aren’t completely unfortunately looking, but they could use some ball control (82nd in turnover margin) and some serious red zone conversions (54th). Josh Freeman, alleged NFL #1 pick, QBs the offense. He is 21st in the country in QB pass efficiency rating, which is 8th in the Big 12. His favorite target is Brandon Banks, who has 34 catches for 668 yards, and has caught 6 of Freeman’s 12 TD passes. The KSU rushing attack is Josh Freeman and Logan Dodd, and they have the 61st best rushing attack in the country. The Sooner defense is allowing big chunks of yards lately, but to highly competent offenses. Texas and Kansas have superior offenses to the Wildcats, so look for the Sooners to be able to slow the Wildcats down enough to pull away. Advantage: Sooners
• When Kansas State punts: not much happening here. K State is 77th in net punting and OU is 73rd in returns. Advantage: Even
• When OU kicks off: I close my eyes. Aubrey Quarles is Kansas State’s leading KR, at 22 yards per return. Look for him to improve upon that this week. Oklahoma is 110th in KR defense, beating out Syracuse, Illinois, Colorado State, Idaho, UTEP, Toledo, West Virginia, North Texas and Colorado for the bottom spot. Advantage: Wildcats
• When Kansas State kicks off: Most teams kick to Demarco Murray, who has not been up to par this year returning kicks. I was surprised to see him as ranking 43rd in the country, averaging 24 yards per return. The Wildcats are 4th in the country in KR defense, allowing a mere 16 yards per return. Advantage: Wildcats.

So, I guess in summary, the Wildcats should excel on special teams, but the Sooners offensive dominance should propel them to their second straight victory. I predict 52-28, Sooners.

OU-KU preview

Offense - the Sooner offense continues to rack up big points and yardage. The only way to stop the Sooners to date had been to get pass pressure with your front four, stop the run, and don't fall down in the secondary. Texas is the only one to be able to do all of those things. The Jayhawks are quite capable on offense as well, with Kerry Meier leading the nation in cathces with 8.8 per game and ninth in yards per game with 101. He's like Jordan Shipley, if Jordan was McCoy's backup. Reesing is 12th in the country in pass efficiency. Nonetheless, I'll take the Sooners on this category.Advantage: Sooners.

Defense - this area makes me nervous this week. We don't know how the Sooners will respond with Reynolds out for the game, and they've had a week to come up with Plan B. Kansas is 20th in pass effiiency defense and 27th in scoring defense. The Sooners are 15th in pass efficiency defense and 37th in scoring defense. The Kansans are led by the LBs, we won't have any LBs on the field Saturday that were playing a year ago. I'm giving this one a push, placing my faith in Stoops and the D line to find someway to stop the Jayhawks enough to win.Advantage: Tie

Special Teams - Kansas hasn't returned kicks well this year, but had an All-American return game last year. We can't cover anyone on a kick. The Sooners aren't punting terribly well either, and little Jimmy Stevens has made one FG all year. In his defense, he's only attempted one. Advantage: Kansas.

Ability to swallow players whole - this photographer captures Coach Mangino just before he expands his jaw to swallow the player in his entirety. Special fluids inside Coach Mangino enable him to digest a person of this size - and a helmet on! - with minimal damage to his neck, jaw or colon. Advantage: Kansas.

Q and A with the Enemy - Kansas

This week I was approached by the fine folks at Kansas Football, It's Business Time to exchange a Q&A session about our respective programs. Here's the link to our exchange there. As a bonus, the link immediately after has a great shot of former Sooner Brian Bosworth sporting a 80s mullet that would make Billy Ray Cyrus proud. Below, are the Hiphopapotamus responses to my 10 questions about Kansas.

1. Kerry Meier is the best former quarterback at Kansas since Nolan Cromwell. Discuss.
People often ask me where this Kansas team would be without Todd Reesing. And much to their surprise, I think the bigger loss is Kerry Meier at receiver. Todd is the right man for the job, no question. But Kerry Meier could run this offense very well, especially with his running ability. The biggest obstacle he'd have to overcome is not being able to throw to himself. Right now he's on track for over 100 catches and 1200 yards and over 60% of his catches go for first downs. Right now, he's irreplaceable and this is without even practicing with the WRs (though he does have a semi-serious hamstring injury, so hopefully he'll be healthy this weekend and the rest of the way).

2. Did you break anything during the first half of the Iowa State game?
I did not (because I was at a family member's house), but I did start drinking heavily. I still have no explanation for that display. All at once, the entire offense just seemed to forget what they do well and how they do it. And defensively, they just forgot to show up for the first two drives, and given ISU's field position that was plenty to take a quick 14-0 lead. It was a truly awful 30 minutes of football and I'm grateful they were able to regroup at half.

3. Nebraska is not what the many thought they would be, and KU got a tough draw on the Big 12 South side of the schedule. With two games completed in the conference schedule, how do you feel about the Jayhawks chances for a Big 12 North title?
A lot better since Chase s*** the bed against the Pokes. And if they lose again this week in Austin, I'll really be giddy. In that scenario, Kansas would only need to go 3-3 the rest of the way as long as one of those wins came at Arrowhead on Nov. 29th. Unfortunately, 3-3 won't come easy. Obviously beating Methzou will be tough, but even outside of the South teams (OU, UT, Tech), KU may also need to win in Nebraska. Down as they may be, the Hawks haven't won there since the sixties so I won't be guaranteeing anything until that one is in the books.

4. Kerry Meier is having a great year, as is Todd Reesing. Tell me who else the Sooners will watch run unabated through the middle of the defensive backfield.
Well the other receiver that's very similar to Meier is Dexton Fields. In fact, that duo is incredibly similar to Shipley/Cosby. So obviously I'm hopeful KU's coaches will find a way to match them up on your linebackers, much the same as Texas did. On the outside is probably the most talented receiver in Dezmon Briscoe. I'll be interested to see how he performs, because he sometimes has a tendency to disappear for halves at a time. You'll also see Johnathan Wilson, but ever since exploding in the South Florida game he hasn't been able to get a ton going.

5. What's the scuttlebutt on Mangino? Do you think he'll stick around at Kansas? Or try to go somewhere with a more consistent tradition? I would think if he would start drinking SlimFast and the Jayhawks go 10-3 or so he could land a big raise at some place like Clemson or Washington.
We all think he'll stay. They just opened the new football complex this year and that's pretty much his offspring. Also, like you alluded to, I don't think any big time programs want to take a chance on him, because of the long-term risks of his health. Plus, he's making $2.3 mil a year and while that's not at the Stoops/Saban/Weis level it's a pretty solid chunk of change that will only go up with prolonged success.

6.My limited research says the LBs are the heart of the Jayhawk defense. Tell us about them.
The linebackers are the heart of the defense. Or at least they should be. To this point, the true heart has come from SS Darrell Stuckey. But as a unit, they're what makes this defense go. When they're flying around, shedding blocks and making hits it's infectious because they're all the senior leaders everyone looks up to. In the middle, Joe Mortensen is an all-league player that's not having an all-league year. He struggles in pass coverage, but is great against the run. On the outside is Mike Rivera and James Holt. Mike is the most talented of the three and is one of the last guys you want to get hit by when he's running downhill. And while he's the least known, Holt has actually had the best year of the bunch. He's very undersized, but he's fast and a very sure tackler. You'll also probably see Arist Wright some, and he too, has been playing very good, assignment sound defense lately.

7. Kansas has had some intermittent success in football, dating back to Gale Sayers, John Riggins and Nolan Cromwell back in the day, some good years under Glen Mason, and now a resurgence under Mangino. What's the campus environment like on gameday? Have the Jayhawk faithful embraced football yet? Or is this something to do until basketball gets underway?
Campus on gameday is gorgeous if not crazy. The Jayhawk faithful have absolutely embraced football (see the sellouts v. FIU and SHS – that didn't even happen last year), but I'm not sure that they entirely understand it just yet. With campus on two sides and neighborhood housing filling out the rest, it's always a beautiful scene with the potential for much more. Don't get me wrong, the tailgating has increased dramatically and is always a great time. I'm just not the sure the vast majority have figured out that a home football game is an all day event, regardless of kickoff time.

8. Kansas was one of the top teams in the country in kickoff returns last year, and are awful year to date. Do you expect that the Sooner matador kickoff return coverage unit will get Marcus Herford back on track?
I sure hope so. Herford was a preseason All-American after averaging 25+ each of the last two years and now they've done almost nothing. After last game, Mangino said he was going to be evaluating all special teams from both a personnel and schematic standpoint. Combine that with the Sooners' struggles here and I'm hoping he can find something to get this thing going.

9. For the uninitiated, what's the backstory to "it's business time"?
I wish I had a cool back story, but we're just a couple of dorks that really like Flight of the Conchords. "It's Business Time" happens to be one of their funnier songs and so we threw it in the title. In fact, now that you ask, there's probably nothing less correlated with Kansas football.

10. What's your prediction for the game Saturday?
I really like the range of your score (42-28), but I think both teams may be forced to kick a FG or more (whether they make them is a different story). I'll say 41-30, but I have a hunch I'm being a tad too optimistic.

Ou-Texas Preview

Bob Stoops is 6-3 against Mack...blah blah blah
Mack Brown blah blah blan
Colt McCoy is 2nd in the nation in blah blah blah
Will Muschamp led LSU's defense in attacking an immobile Jason White...blah blah blah
Sam Bradford is a Heisman blah blah blah.

Alright, let's play the game.

OU - BU Preview

Fox Sports showed the 2005 Baylor-OU game last night, it was a 37-30 Sooner win in OT.

I didn't need to be reminded of that. Let's see how they match up this year.

Offense		Led by Coach Art Briles and Reverend Robert, the Bears are 26th in total offense and 30th in scoring offense. They'v edone this against some decent defensive foes, like Wake Forest and U Conn. While a tremendous improvement, the Sooners still hold the edge.
Defense		Baylor is 36th in total defense and 65th Scoring defense.Last year they finished 110th and 112th in these categories. These numbers will drop as they get into Big 12 play. The Sooner defense ranks higher, but has been relatively untested.
Special Teams		The Sooners ranking in net punting, punt returns and kick return defense reads like my test scores in Theory of Coaching: 95, 86, 104.
Dual Threat QBs		Reverend Robert won the Big 12 hurdles last year (when he shoulda been at the prom. He leads his team in rushing and is 10th in the nation in pass efficiency. At a similar stage in his career, our dual threat QB was so good at working Big Red Sports he did it double time. He's lighting it up as a senior at Sam Houston State, though.
Guaranteeing Wins		All the info right here.
Coaching		This got a whole lot closer this year.
Bowl Game Records		Did you know Baylor is 3-2 in it's last 5 bowl games. Did you know Grant Teaff was the last BU coach to coach a victory in a bowl game, and the 5 bowl games takes you back to 1985.BU has gone to bowl games in consecutive seasons 3 times in their history. OU has gone to a bowl game the last 9 years.

The Sooners are 17-0 against the Bears.
It should get to 18-0 on Saturday.

Horned Lizard - Sooners Preview

So you're wondering how TCU matches up to

the Sooners on the gridiron? TCU helmets from
1966, courtesy of a right-click on The Helmet Project.

Offense		The Sooners have the edge here. TCU is rising since Aaron Brown made it on the field last week. Andy Dalton is better as a sophomore, but the Sooners have too many weapons here.
Defense	Tie	TCU has allowed 183 ypg ranking 1st in FBS; their opponents offenses are ranked, in order of appearance, 100, 93 (1-AA), 111, and 98. OU is ranked 10th. Their foes' offenses are 115 (1-AA), 33, and 99. What does this tell us? Nothing, except both have played for the most part really bad teams.
Special Teams		The Sooners special teams haven't been very special this year.
NFL QBs		Sammy Baugh and Davey O'Brien. 'nuff said.
Coaching		I'm a big fan of Patterson. Coach Fran hasn't been any good w/o him. But I'm sticking with the Head Visor here.
Bowl Record		The Horned Lizards are 4-3 under GP with wins over Colorado State, Iowa State, Northern Illinois and Houston. TCU couldn't beat Boise State in a bowl game, either. And it was at home.

TCU - OU Preview; the Mascots

Due to overwhelming popular request, I submit to you a breakdown of the mascots:

First of all, in Texas the Horned Frog is actually a lizard. Horned frogs do exist, however (link NSFW). The Texas Horned Lizard is being monitored by the Texas Parks and Wildlife commission as the THL population has been dwindling over the past 30 yards. Apparently one of the theories surrounding the demise of the Horned Frog has been red ants. TP&W even has a program to "watch" the THL. If you want to read way too much information about the THL, click here.For those of you with young 'uns at home, you can even make your own.

Sooners, on the other hand, are thriving. Cheating continues to thrive in our society 120 years after the first Sooner. See Enron, Martha Stewart, Worldcom, New England Patriots, Notre Dame laptop scandals, Lehman Brothers, any election in Chicago ever.

As it relates to college football, while the Sooners may have been a pioneer in cheating and illegal acts for the student-athlete, the proliferation of domestic abuse, drug trafficking, kidnapping and your basic DUI has taken on a life of its own. In 1989, Charles Thompson made the cover of Sports Illustrated sporting an orange jumpsuit. Fast forward 18 years, and practically every member of the Texas Longhorns was wearing an orange jumpsuit, and not just because it was school colors. Today, for good or bad, an athlete with legal troubles is almost commonplace. In spite of this man's valiant efforts, Jimmy John's is still better known for fabulous sandwiches and not for on campus cocaine distribution. Ellis T Jones III is lesser known as well.

Clearly the Sooner is a superior mascot, as their ilk has thrived in the past 30 years, defying police and the NC2A, while the Texas Horned Lizard is requiring bleeding heart liberal tree huggers to protect their mere existence. Advantage: Sooners

Carnac Previews the Frog-Sooners matchup

• Yes, dear, you can watch football all day, I don't mind.
• I just got an email from John McCain.
• I sure hope the Sooners don't get caught looking ahead to the Baylor game.

The envelope please...

Name three things you've never heard before.

Mocs Preview Limerick

To both my readers:
I just can't get fired up about the OU-Mocs game on Sat. evening. The Mocs were 2-9 in 1-AA last year. Statistically, they had a bad offense that was offset by a bad defense.

I'll do more in-depth previews next week, but for now you get a preview limerick and that's it.

The Sooners are hosting the Mocs
Without LB Austin Box
It will not matter
The guests couldn’t be badder;
OU could win the game in crocs