Football Articles
Looking Over The Red River
Posted by NateHeupel on August 29th, 2010 under Football
Rally for Raylee. Have you done your part?
So I was reading Nickel Rover’s very solid piece going across the positions comparing and I was inspired (Ripley commanded me) to write up a response piece. I thought about going across the Big 12, but that’s for a later date. So, here’s my take on how the Red River rivals match up across positions.
QB: OU
Nickel seems to think that two good drives against Alabama mean that Garrett Gilbert is the superior option. I think that a guy who threw two TD’s and three INT’s the same way, to his first read, is a guy who’s going to look a like a slightly above average redshirt freshman this year. He’ll be decent, not great, and he’s going to get his world rocked more than once. A QB’s biggest improvement is from year one to year two. And playing 3/4ths of one game, no matter who it’s against, isn’t the same as starting 10 games during an entire season.
Further, I don’t believe there’s a better QB coach in the Big 12 than Josh Heupel. Heupel’s signature is developing the most important part of the game for QB’s: the part between the ears. For example, Bradford was a good, but raw, athlete coming in to OU. By the time he left, he was a legend for his accuracy and his decision making. For those of you who’ve forgot, those two characteristics were the hallmarks of Heupel’s run to the 2000 title. Landry Jones isn’t the next Heupel or Bradford, but he could better than Jason White. He’s got more talent than White, and he’s got a better scheme to work in. Gilbert’s going to be the better QB in 2011 and after, don’t get me wrong. He’s more talented. But he needs time. As for the starters, I’d call it even, or OU ahead negligibly, until I see some of the hype on Jones’ offseason be backed up by play on the field. So why do I give OU the definitive edge? If OU loses Jones, we’re hurting but not dead. Drew Allen is a 6’5″ 232 lb redshirt freshman whose learned the BYU lesson, and he’s putting in starter’s effort as a backup. He’ll be at least serviceable. But if UT loses Gilbert, they’re 31 flavors of hosed as their backup options are true freshmen who are nowhere near game ready.
As a side note, if by some miracle, we actually get Archie Bradley on campus, you’re looking at OU’s 6th Heisman winning QB. The kid has that kind of leadership and athletic ability. He also has a 94 mph fastball, and he’s projected presently as a top 15 draft pick for MLB. So, yeah, he’s not coming.
To answer Nickel’s question “Could Landry Jones do what Garrett Gilbert can do?” Yes. Landry Jones can throw an inordinate number of INTs against a top D, rely on his defense for field position, have no ability to look anywhere but his first read, and be dependent on his one good WR. Gilbert is a raw, unfinished product. We have no idea what he is truly capable of. This is where Nickel and I differ. He sees raw talent and is willing to gamble on it. I look for production on the field and consider upside a distant second.
RB: Ha Ha Ha Ha!
Not even kind of close. Even with Roy Finch being hurt, we’ve got no less than three guys who are legitimate homerun threats in Murray, Calhoun, and Brennan Clay. Madu is the definition of a #2 RB. Flexible enough to do what’s needed from him in this system, always going to hold on to the ball, not good enough to steal carries. Calhoun would have the #2 job on lockdown, but he still hasn’t gotten his fumblitis under control. Meanwhile, UT’s best hope is Cody Johnson. Well, he’s not a danger to break a 60 yarder on you, nor is he any real threat out of the backfield. Basically, he’s a quick fullback. And he’ll help UT mitigate its looming weakness at the tackle positions. Imagine if OU was starting Trey Millard in place of DeMarco Murray. That’s what UT has right now.
Speaking of FB, Millard seems to have a lock on the starting job. This is a guy who long jumped 18’2″ as a 240 lb high school senior having only done track for one year, so he’s got some wheels. He’s picked up the blocking schemes pretty quickly (inside out, inside out, inside out). Here’s hoping he’s everything Stoops has said he is.
WR/TE: OU
Two reasons. First, Ryan Broyles >>> any WR on UT’s roster. There is no substitute for a #1 WR that must be accounted for like a Texas player leaving 6th Street at 2am with car keys in hand. Muschamp’s game plan will start with locking down Broyles. Every other DC in the conference will do the same. Do not underestimate the ways this will open up the field. Second, I have never been impressed by the player development on the offensive side of the ball at UT. Players leave with what they came in with, and nothing more. This is in contrast to the defensive players in Austin, especially of late. OU’s corps of WR’s 2-5 is just as good as UT’s 1-4. Good players, one of whom has the ability to be great but has just been adequate to date (Malcolm Williams and DeJuan Miller). If you’re discounting Kenny Stills, consider this. When Adrian Peterson came to OU, even he didn’t get this kind of deference early. Of course, Stills came in for spring football and summer conditioning. What’s more is that his maturity is light years beyond his age. Stoops doesn’t let true freshman who haven’t played a down talk to the media…but he’s let Stills talk to the press, and Stills has acquitted himself incredibly well.
As for TE, Barrett Matthews is yet another unknown quantity. Of course, I’d rather have that unknown than Trent Ratterree and James Hanna. Hanna’s inconsistent and unfocused as a receiver, Ratterree just doesn’t have the physical tools. Austin Haywood is the real hope here. Wilson has already said Haywood’s the best receiving TE on the roster already. Basically, both teams are tying their hopes to youth at this position.
OL: Even
On the one hand, assuming the players stay mostly healthy, OU wins this by a respectable margin. However, that is a distinctly dangerous assumption as history has proven to date. So OU takes a hit in my book for that reason.
Tyler Evans is a big road grader type (6’5″ 330), but he’s built for the right side of the line. He got on the field his true freshman year last year BEFORE the injuries, so he’s legit. Stephen Good is a monstrously powerful player, benching 480 and squat pressing 625. It shows when he’s 2nd in knockdowns only to Trent Williams. Ben Habern is extremely smart, which is a must for an OU center, but he’s also on the fritz from time to time….also seemingly a must for an OU center. Presuming health, I think this is a better unit than what UT fields. Huey doesn’t have the ability to manhandle people like Good can, Snow isn’t Habern’s match at C, but the combo of Mason Walters and Tray Allen (or either) provides about the same effect as Evans. If Good stays healthy, he’s the kind of player who can put Kheeston Randall on his ass, and that’s no small thing.
At the edge, coaches have been raving about Donald Stephenson’s talent for over a year. Which is great, except he hasn’t played a down. Eric Mensik acquitted himself shockingly well as a right tackle last year after moving from being a blocking TE, and he’s put on some good weight to make the move permanent. Kyle Hix is a proven commodity, and here you will again see the difference in how Nickel and I approach this analysis. Hix may have a limited ceiling, but I don’t give a damn what he’ll become eventually. What is he right now? What will he be for 2010? Right now, that would be the most proven and reliable T of the two teams. Britt Mitchell is a good player for OU to have at RT, as it is a likelihood he will get Gilbert brutalized more than once.
DL: Texas
Let’s play personnel MAD LIBS!!!
_____ has an outstanding DE talent in ______ , a player who is good as a pass rusher with a solid power rush, but who is more adept at crushing the offtackle and sweep rushes. _______ is complimented on the other side of the line by _____ a fast but physically gifted athlete who needs to prove he can take his game to the next level with more consistency. On the interior, the star is ________, but the depth at the position relies heavily on true freshmen after the first 3 players.
Aside from Adrian Taylor’s rehab, which is behind the hoped schedule, it’s terrifying how similar these starting groups are. As Nickel rightly points out, Jeffcoat and Wilson would be adequate if they had to start tomorrow. Though Geneo Grissom surprised OU coaches by checking in at 7.3% body fat, which is insane for a true freshman checking in for the first time, and playing at an advanced level, he’s not needed. Nickel overlooks RJ Washington, who is easily the equal of Jeffcoat and Wilson in raw talent. If Washington actually commits with some maturity (not a given based on his past offseason work), he can pull OU to even. Until then, I give the nod to Texas.
LB: OU
Again, a slight nod. Tom Wort is the wild card here. Like Gayron Allen in 2004, he’s fast, smart, and extremely effective in the system. He’s also light, and Allen got manhandled by USC in ’04. I expect that the Texas RB’s will drop at least one easy flat pass after seeing one of their friends get knocked silly by the Hammer, Ronnell Lewis. Travis Lewis is the best LB of the group, bar none. I think Emmanuel Acho is going to be an All Big 12 player, and Keenan Robinson can be special, but OU is simply a bit better.
CB: Texas
Yikes. Demontre Hurst is going to be great in coverage, but he’s also going to give up a huge size advantage to guys like Jeff Fuller and Malcolm Williams. I think our best option in obvious passing situations is to line up Hurst on the slot man, put Jonathan Nelson out at field corner, leave Fleming on the boundary, and have Tony Jefferson and Quentin Carter over the top. Fleming is a top-flight athlete from all accounts, but running and jumping isn’t all it takes to be a great
Now, compare that to Chykie and Curtis Brown and Aaron Williams. Exactly.
S: OU
Nickel doesn’t think there’s anyone pushing for time like Vaccaro as a 5th DB. This is the only time Nickel says something utterly and completely without merit. Considering he’s a die-hard UT fan trying to be somewhat objective about OU, we’ll let it slide.
The name he was looking for Tony Jefferson. In comparison to Vaccaro (and the rest of the UT safeties), he’s a superior athlete. Fast enough to stay with anyone, physical enough to not be outmuscled, Jefferson, like Stills, got on campus early and it paid off huge. He’s already humped the starting Nickel position into submission, and the coaches have created a 3-4 look just to get Jefferson and Ronnell Lewis on the field at the same time. The only reason he’s not starting at FS or SS is because the options there are absolutely outstanding. Nelson is essentially a CB playing safety and Quentin Carter is the enforcer of the secondary who’s good enough in coverage to not be a liability. I like that pairing better than Gideon and Christian Scott.
Special Teams: Texas
Oy-vay. We just had open tryouts for kickers. Jeebus. Our kickoff specialist is gone as an academic casualty. Unless our offense is the shit, this is going to cost us a game or two again. Our kick return team is good, if not spectacular. Kick it to Madu and he’ll get about 20-25 yards while not being a threat to go the distance.
That said, our punt and punt return teams are outstanding. Tress Way may win back the games our kickers try to lose. Way can change the field with his punting. Broyles returning punts is a nightmare for opposing coverage teams, but it’s a hell of a gamble with your best offensive weapon.
’m not sure what OU does here in the nickel but after Carter and Nelson there aren’t options like Vaccaro demanding time on the field.
Share This
26 Responses
Leave a Reply
FanTake Topics
Our Other Blogs
- The Rathskeller »
- Recruitocosm »
- Barking Carnival »
- One Foot Down »
- Get Buckets »
- Perunas Pundits »
- Crimson Caravan »
- FanTake »
- BCS 101 »
- Atomic Teeth »
- Spence Park Soap Box »
- Fading Las Vegas »
- Pitchmen »
- Fifth Down »
- Ahearn Alley »
- Purple Wimple »
- Eight Walls »
- Icemen »
- One Riot One Ranger »
- March To March »
- The Tortilla Retort »
- Better Off Red »
- The Looping Starship »
- Devilicious »
- Oread Boom Kings »
- Ring of Honor »
- Boomer and Sooner »
- Pokelahoma »
- The Norseman »
- Mr. Blogtober »
- The Victors »
- Sparty On »
- Born Hog Wild »
- Roll On You Bears »
- Bear Crawl »
Z
Vasherized
Sailor Ripley
NateHeupel
NorthDallasSooner
Soonervino
phi gam90
lildeucecoupe
Don't Call Me Bill
rickvigorous
HoyaSooner
Jeff George
August 29th, 2010 at 9:50 am
Great stuff, Nate.
I’ll send the hordes over for debate!
NorthDallasSooner said:
August 29th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Nate,
Generally we agree, but Jones better than White? Yeah, White got exposed by LSU and USC, but had no running game in the LSU game. What White did have was accuracy that rivals Bradford’s and patience, sooo often going to the second or third guy.
White disappointed in two BCS games but he was as good as his numbers and awards.
Jongleur said:
August 29th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
I’m taking the under in this year’s game for sure.
NateHeupel said:
August 29th, 2010 at 5:30 pm
NDS,
We recruited White as a RUNNING quarterback from Tuttle, OK. By 2003, he wasn’t terribly mobile in the pocket, and he had a fleet of receivers who would have pretty decent NFL careers. He was worthy of every award he won, but Landry Jones has a better arm and more pocket mobility. Jason White also never had to stand behind a Swiss cheese line like Jones did.
I’m certainly not saying Jones WILL be better than Jason White. I’m saying he can be, and part of that does have to do with the system. White played for Chuck “3rd and” Long in a spread variant of a Big 10 offense. Run on first down, run/pass on 2nd down, pass on 3rd down. Kevin Wilson runs a much more creative spread offense that’s less reliant on going downfield and gives more high percentage options.
NorthDallasSooner said:
August 29th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
All I’m saying, Nate, is White produced back to back undefeated regular seasons and three wins against Texas. As haunted as I am by the two NC (especially LSU) game losses, the kid is an example of how you can oversome injuries in a big way. While you challenge Jones to surpass White. I’d like to see him surpass Nate Hybl first.
NateHeupel said:
August 29th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
NDS,
I couldn’t agree more on all counts. What I’m saying is that the combination of talent and system are there for the taking.
Nate Hybl was Landry Jones in 2001 and 2002 in one respect. He finished the season as the less preferred choice both years after losing his job to Jason White.
t1climb1 said:
August 30th, 2010 at 8:57 am
Nice article Nate. Couple nits to pick though. You have stated in the past that you are from Missouri (i.e. Show Me) when it comes to a player’s production and I tend to agree with that, but you don’t get to turn around and say that one of the reasons OU wins the WR comparison is by touting Kenny Stills. Remember, we have a Fresh WR that is generating the same type of buzz in Mike Davis. Word is he is already the best route runner and the coaches have said he is more ready to play than any true Fresh they have ever had on campus before. That said, I am not going to count either guy in the credits side of the ledger until I see it in a game. Chances are both he and Stills will be very good, and maybe even great, but neither have played a down of D1 football yet. In the end I agree that OU>UT in the WR department because Broyles is that good but I think the advantage is very, very slight and I’m not considering the freshmen. Based on pre season buzz Stills and Davis are equals so who gives a shit anyway right? I think Miller vs Williams is a push right now. Both have the potential to be devastating but have lacked consistency. The rest of the guys are basically a push as well although I think more potential resides in Austin so if we do this 4 weeks into the season I may change my mind.
Safety match up is close in my opinion. I might give the slight edge to OU but rest assured, whereas our RB’s will be looking for Lewis whenever their number is called, Scott is going to command that type of respect as well. He’s going to hurt people this year and he is more of a known quantity even with the limited playing time. Muschamp was all sorts of excited about him last year and he was penciled in as the starting nickel until the grade issues sidelined him. I will still give the edge to OU on account of Gideon’s whiteness.
OL – So I take it Good isn’t having any issues with the shoulder anymore? If so, I’m very interested to see what he can do when healthy. I chuckle when I see my fellow Longhorn fans speak of him as a bust already. It reeks of sour grapes over his recruitment and ignorance mixed with a hint of dumbassery. Also, don’t bank on Mitchell being our starting RT by the time October rolls around. He may well be, but I won’t be surprised if he gets passed up.
In the end I don’t totally disagree with any of your assessments, we only differ in degree. Like others have said though, take the under in this game.
magnusbleuveigner said:
August 30th, 2010 at 11:38 am
Gilbert will be good to start the season, and great by the end of it.
Cody was a good enough RB to have Stoops sit in his living room and tell him that he wanted him at TB and not FB. Until that happened UT was offering him as a FB. He’ll break one for 50 against somebody, but not y’all. I fully expect him to truck Tom Wort at some point. If Wort is in the middle on goalline, expect Cody to do what he did in ’08.
I’m really not looking forward to seeing Jefferson and R. Lewis on the field at the same time. Two absoultely elite specimens when you compare the size/speed ratio. Plus they’re properly predisposed to punish.
That haul from SoCal will be legendary for you guys, which sucks for us.
I still like UT in a close one.
Bobby Time said:
August 30th, 2010 at 11:41 am
Thanks, Nate, nice work. I think the conclusion to draw from your post and the one to which you were responding is that October 2nd is going to be a dog fight if both teams stay healthy.
Each side has obvious strengths and weaknesses and fanbases eager to make leaps of faith. The assumption that Gilbert is already an all-conference level player is probably the largest and most common leap being taken on either side, in my opinion. That said, I do think he’s a future star, and if he gets it going sooner than later, Texas probably deserves to be favored. Big if, though.
I disagree with the Malcolm Williams and Dejuan Miller comparison. Yes, they are both big guys who can run. And yes, like Malcolm, Dejuan has frustrated Sooner fans with flashes of potential. I learned about this frustration first hand from a fan sitting next to me at Gaylord Memorial last fall. But to me, that’s about as far as you can take it. The two players’ production isn’t comparable at all.
One other point I’ll make relates to the safety groups. It might make sense to include Aaron Williams with the Texas safeties. There will be a lot of sets with both starting safeties, plus Williams, Brown, and Brown on the field at the same time. As good as Tony Jefferson might be this fall, he isn’t going to be Aaron Williams good.
Nickel Rover said:
August 30th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Very nice, typical Sailor-smarts to clash our opinions on this as compatible as they may be.
I am willing to gamble on Gilbert, as you are with Lewis and Stills, because if you won’t gamble on projecting college players you will never be able to accurately foretell the events in college football. Matt Leinart on a Heisman Trophy his first year as a starter. I’m not saying Gilbert will do that, my point is just that first year starters make big impact.
Also, what finished off my doubt on Gilbert was his work in spring and fall practice. He can check down, hit a tight window deep or short, and throws the ball where only his guy can get it. His pocket presence is also outstanding.
I didn’t know about Tony Jefferson so I’ll be very excited/terrified to see what he can offer this season. Clearly I’ve underrated your defensive backs a little although I gave you some credit at safety. I still think Fleming and Hurst is a good step down from Jackson and Franks.
And don’t sleep on Vaccaro, he can man the slot pretty well and hits like a truck. Like Lewis he is making the leap from ST star to impact player, albeit it will be a longer leap both in distance and time.
Should be a pretty even battle…terrific.
NateHeupel said:
August 30th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
@t1climb1
I was very careful to make sure that it was clear I wasn’t touting Stills as a sure thing star. I’ve seen a number of pieces write him off as a non-factor. I’m very clear that Stills is good, but a NUMBER TWO option right now at best. He needs a year to put on about 10-15 pounds of muscle before he’ll be ready to shine on his own. Right now, he’s a 30-40 catch, 750 yd, 7 TD guy who makes teams pay for doubling down on Broyles.
That said, even without Stills, I think OU has the edge. And I agree that it’s slight, but when OU’s 2-5 (excluding Stills) matches up with UT’s 1-4, that’s an edge. UT just doesn’t yet have a guy who worries me. Of course, Stills and Davis are likely going to add some very serious firepower.
As I’ve said about Gilbert, it’s not that I’m not a believer. Gilbert’s legit All America material. But there’s talk like he’s going to be the second coming of Bradford’s 2008 season in his first year as a full time starter. Gilbert is going to get great, that’s a given. But it’ll take time to get there.
@Bobby Time:
“As good as Tony Jefferson might be this fall, he isn’t going to be Aaron Williams good.”
No shit, but who is?
@Nickel Rover:
Don’t sleep on Vaccaro? That’s no kidding. Kid will smother you with a pillow and then punch your corpse. But both him and Christian Scott strike me as having Mike Stoops’ syndrome. Their natural inclination to attack the line of scrimmage is so ingrained that they’re susceptible to play action if you can tear off a few big runs or long gains on flat passes. Fortunately, discipline is the order of the day with Muschamp.
R. Lewis isn’t much of a gamble. When he steps on the field, he’s flying places, and he has to be accounted for. Stills is, like Gilbert, an unknown with huge upside. OU fans got burned last year as a number of receivers were killing it in practices but stepped onto the field and because useless fast. I’m more jaded than anything else. I’ll take your word on Gilbert’s practice performances, but I would say I’ve seen equally shocking work (in a good way…love to get that phrase into a comment/post) from Landry Jones.
Hurst isn’t a step down in coverage skills from Franks, but he’s obviously a few steps down in shoe size. A bit worrisome. But Brian Jackson got abused by assorted Hispanics and Mormons. There’s no shortage of good, not great CB’s on the roster. Worst case scenario, Jonathan Nelson slides back to CB and Tony Jefferson gets a shot at SS. Forgive me if his loss doesn’t instill tremors of concern.
@magnus
I fully expect a lot of large FB’s to truck Tom Wort before this year is over. But I’m not yet convinced UT’s offensive line will be able to get anyone out of the way to make that meeting happen. I know the coaches are just in love with the possibilities of Ronnell Lewis freakish athletic ability, but I really hope they slide him to the middle on short yardage and goal line situations. 240 lbs of rural Oklahoma awesome running a 4.56? Yes, please.
Phaeded said:
August 30th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
“[Cody]’ll break one for 50 against somebody, but not y’all.”
No argument here. In last year’s RRS he had a full head of steam after breaking it up the gut and only had to put a move on or run over our FS. Instead Carter brought Cody down by himself in Cody’s longest run of the day (14 yards).
Texas has no game-breakers at RB and yet they’re rolling out a rush-first O. Unplanned for 3rd and longs are going to get Gilbert killed. OU knows what it wants to do on offense and is making no wholesale changes to get there. Hell, Jones came off the bench cold (in extremely similar circumstances to Gilbert in the NC game) and still threw for over 200 yards in the first half. And that was with Earl Thomas in UT’s secondary.
Bobby Time said:
August 30th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
My point wasn’t clear enough. Nate, if you include Williams with the Texas safety group, do you still give the edge to OU’s safeties? If you do, I’m interested in your reasoning.
Phaeded, Jones coming in to play against Texas was under “extremely similar circumstances” as Gilbert going in against Bama? I don’t think so, buddy.
magnusbleuveigner said:
August 30th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
“And that was with Earl Thomas in UT’s secondary.”
What the hell does that have to do with this year? Earl missed the tackle on Murray that he broke for a long gain. If given that same chance Christian Scott probably ends Murray’s life.
“Texas has no game-breakers at RB and yet they’re rolling out a rush-first O.”
Where the hell did you get that notion? We’re merely trying to be more balanced as opposed to the ridiculous Andy Reid like ratio of run/pass. Gilbert’s ability to throw deep will allow us to run more effectively than anything else.
Also, if Proctor was in a battle to start at safety, I disagree with he notion that that’s an OU over UT selection.
To further Bobby Time’s point, Jones should have been expecting to play. Bradford had already been hurt, and that hit he sustained by Williams was nothing compared to what QB’s deal with throughout the course of a game. Maybe Jones believed Stoops’ bs about Bradford being healthy.
Phaeded said:
August 30th, 2010 at 7:38 pm
Let’s just wait to see how UT’s tackles hold up against Rice’s decent DEs first; if Gilbert’s jersey stay’s clean while the play action works then color me more concerned about OU’s safeties. I just don’t see Gilbert getting the time between Beal and then Venables’ blitz packages (hell Hurst had a 19 yd sack on Colt last year…and Gilbert ain’t no Colt moving around behind the LOS).
TexasObserver said:
August 30th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Nate.
Adrian Petersen’s best year was his freshman year. So tell me how OU’s staff improved his talent?
NateHeupel said:
August 30th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
@TexasObserver:
This is easy. Adrian Peterson’s HEALTHIEST year was his freshman year, but it was not necessarily his best. In 2006, if he doesn’t get hurt in that freak accident, he could’ve surpassed his previous bests. How did he improve? In the two ways every NFL scout wants an NFL back to improve. 1) Ability to block in the backfield, 2) Ability to catch the ball in the flat. He was not impressive at either in 2004. He was frequently pulled on passing downs, which was a dead giveaway to key in on Jason White.
@BobbyTime
Do I give them the surefire edge? No, that would require a bit more careful analysis than a comment allows. Does it pull them to even? Definitely. HOWEVER, it also cuts a HUGE chunk out of UT’s edge at CB. That margin then goes from “Ha ha ha ha!” to “hmm…this is manageable”.
@magnusbleuveigner
“To further Bobby Time’s point, Jones should have been expecting to play.”
Agreed, but with a caveat. As you well know, the bulk of a starting QB’s preparation doesn’t happen in fall camp or during the season, it happens during winter conditioning, spring practice, and summer 7 on 7′s. Jones needed to be ready, but by that point, he wasn’t going to be no matter what he did.
LeaveItToStever said:
August 30th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
“In 2006, if he doesn’t get hurt in that freak accident…”
You Sooners crack me up. Still a good read filled with at least as blatant homerism as the BC post. You’ve got to love this time of year when everybody is still undefeated. I just found out I have a ticket to the game, so I can’t wait to see the end of the discussion.
NateHeupel said:
August 31st, 2010 at 7:05 am
@LeaveItToStever
C’mon, man, the site is called BOOMER and SOONER. Of course I’m (err…we’re) homerrific. Normally, I’d make a joke about leaving objective reporting to major media, but those shitbirds can’t even do that.
That said, I was actually at the Iowa State game when AD got hurt in 2007. I still have the ticket. Last game AD played at Owen Field, and I knew it even then. Much like Bradford’s shoulder, it was a fluke of how he fell. He turned to dive into the end zone and thought someone was going to hit him. When they didn’t, he came down wrong on his collarbone.
As far as the stats go, AD ran for over 1000 yards in SEVEN games. Against Baylor, A&M, Mizzou, and Okie State, OU’s leading rusher went for 150+ in all 4 games. It’s not a stretch to think AD would’ve went 200+ on each of them. This doesn’t include games like Colorado (where our 3rd string RB went for 100+) and Tech (again, 3rd stringer went for 84 yds and 2 TDs). If you shift the #1 rusher’s yards in each of the 7 games missed to AD (not including what the backups did), he ends up with over 1900 yards. To think a 2000 yard season would’ve resulted is not unreasonable.
One last thing. Remember 2008? You may want to rethink that whole “end of the discussion” part.
jc25 said:
August 31st, 2010 at 7:16 am
Good stuff, Nate. Sounds like both you and Nickel have your school-tinted shades on.
Sounds like the only definitive are at RB, where OU is clearly better, and CB, where UT holds a distinct advantage. The matching standouts are at DE, where if we combined forces would obviously form Megazord from Power Rangers.
The battle for the RRS & Big 12 comes down to which group can develop its personnel the best.
magnusbleuveigner said:
August 31st, 2010 at 7:38 am
I actually enjoyed both posts and didn’t see too much homerism. Both schools are evenly matched.
If you follow a school for hours a day the entire calendar, you’re going to be pretty optimistic.
Phaeded, the “Gilbert isn’t athletic” shtick is unfair and from people who haven’t watched him. He’s athletic enough to make plays behind the line of scrimmage. Is he going to take off and run for 8? No, he’s going to buy time and throw it for 15. The difference between Joe Montana and Steve Young.
In HS he was atheltic enough that LT designed run plays for him and when I watched him in the State Semis where the wind would have had Dennis Connor capsized in about 15 seconds, he ran all over Friendswood.
Barking Carnival | that other league: NFL preview pt. I said:
August 31st, 2010 at 7:51 am
[...] at boomerandsooner Nate Heupel offered his response to my Texas-OU roster comparison. There isn’t much disagreement and the overall consensus [...]
llogg said:
August 31st, 2010 at 10:05 am
OU with the edge at LB is laughable.
One Foot Down | The week in news- Superconferences, Combat and the ND Depth Chart said:
September 2nd, 2010 at 8:54 am
[...] about one another you can find the answer in this great back and forth between Barking Carnival and Boomer and Sooner. You have to appreciate the fact that they are so focused on one another before the season even [...]
Rosamaria Bentrup said:
September 5th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
I’ve glanced at various of your posts and I had been curious about if you were interesting in swapping website links? I am usually searching to switch links with websites on very similar topics! I look forward to hearing back from you quickly.
Virginia Contractors said:
November 16th, 2010 at 4:42 am
I have a short while ago started out a weblog, the knowledge you present on this website has aided me greatly. Thank you for all of your time & work.