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Week#4 Oklahoma (A) (A very good road win that many national pundits were predicting OU would lose. OU should have won the game and did so in a hostile environment. West Virginia looks like a team very much on the cusp of top 4-5 teams in the Big XII. This is a major improvement. OU gets the A for winning in a hostile environment over a a thousand miles away......I still don't understand how this works geographically, but it is what it is. OU matched West Virginia virtually punch for punch in the first half. The Alex Ross return was sensational and snatched the momentum right out of WV's hands. WV is a scrappy team which feeds off of momentum. However, as we saw in the second half, much of that momentum had worn off and the players appeared to be tired/gassed and the WV fans started hitting the exits early in the fourth quarter. A major negative is that OU did not get a lot of pressure on the WV line in the first half, but some credit goes to the opposing O-Line, of course. Another major negative was OU players trying to retaliate against the dirtiness of WV. Not smart and cost OU several yards/opportunities in penalties. OU was sound in its defense and really was out of position twice all night....which consequently cost the Sooners two TDs, which is why the Sooners don't get an A+. OU did an excellent job against the run and causing some turnovers to take some wind out of Trickett's sails was big. So overall, the D did quite well. As for the offense, it did what it had to do to wear down West Virginia's smaller and less physical athletes. This is essentially exactly what Bama did. If WV had just 2-3 bigger/faster guys on their D-Line, I'm telling you this team would be a lot tougher. Knight missed some throws, but managed the offense well. The O-Line was excellent in their assignments in the second half and we got to see the fruit of the O-Line's blocking with Perrine rollin' the Mountaineers up, especially the linebacking core. I wish I could say I felt sorry for Perrine destroying the backers/secondary (you could tell that none of them wanted to tackle him as he's just an absolute tank of a man), but WV was playing pretty dirty and talkin' some trash.....so the Mountain Men got Rednecked by the Boys from the South-Central. OU just has to point at the scoreboard. Good win against a better than decent team.) West Virginia (B) (Played gutsy and fed off of that first half momentum. The offense is a legitimate force and one of the better O's in the Big XII, perhaps in all of college football. A question was answered: Could WV stop the run? Answer: not when it counted. West Virginia played their hearts out in the first half but lost the battle up front over and over in the second half as Perrine gashed 'em and the WV D-line buckled under 325 lb. Sooner lineman.....D. Williams and Tyrus Thompson are freaks, not to mention Shead and Darlington. Savage is coming on and into his own. A nasty and tough O-Line will win a lot of games. As for the rest of WV, their offense was quite balanced. Trickett threw to 4-5 different receivers I believe, with White and Mario Alford being the cream of the crop. White is a beast and probably the most physically imposing receiver in the Big XII, since DGB isn't allowed to play. White ran precise routes and did a great job against an above average secondary. One downfall of White: he talks a lot of trash, stands over players when he makes a routine catch. Striker made him pay in a big way at the end of the game on WV's two-point conversion. Trickett sailed the ball high on an out route to White and it left White exposed.....Striker licked his chops and almost separated White's head from his body the kid got blown up so hard. Other than having a small D-Line, the other major issue for WV was special teams, especially the lack of coverage on kickoffs. Two weeks in a row the kickoff team has allowed a TD. Ross is electric and some credit has to be given to his lightening speed, but this was a huge blow to WV's momentum going into halftime and very well could have changed the whole course of the game. Either way, WV played hard, although nasty/dirty, and deserves some credit. I think most teams in the Big XII will have their hands full with the Mountaineers.) Kansas State (C) (This is gonna be "the game which got away" for K-State. Played hard against a very athletic and big Auburn team, but there were so many opportunities that K-State did not capitalize on. The missed field goals, which were mostly chip shots and straight away, are unnacceptable. Leaving 9 points from missed field goals is something that is not characteristic of a Snynder team. Also, Locket's drop in the endzone was a killer. It really set the tone for the whole game and it's a mystery why Locket, who usually is one of the better receivers in the Big XII....just ask OU, is playing so poorly this year. He may be having some off the field stuff affecting him as I believe Snyder sat him out the first game for personal issues. The Snyder D was there as usual, but many big plays were given up which is surprising. K-State did a serviceable job of stopping the run, but the pass rush was pathetic and much of the pass defense on the back half was poor at best. Too many big plays given up. This wasn't a crisp and clean game that K-State is so used to playing against good teams. A few thoughts: Watters is a gamer, but he can't do it alone. There needs to be better receiver play and a stouter run game outside of the Redzone. Their Redzone Wildcat is quite effective, in contrast. Auburn seemed to underestimate K-State some and perhaps the Tiger players were not expecting such a good crowd. Either way, this is a game that K-State easily (easily!) could have won if it would have taken advantage of just a few opportunities. If Auburn is really the 5th best team in the country, then I think that shows that K-State can play with just about anybody. Good fightin' K-State, but too many mistakes.) Kansas (A) (Won a game it should have won, but C-Michigan is no gimme. There have been some really good athletes go through that program and play on Sundays. For Kansas' offense, it is really good to see Pierson get the ball; the kid is really good...and as they noted on Big XII Showcase on Fox Sports Southwest, he could probably play on most Big XII teams. The defense is still shakey, but hey we'll be happy for Kansas for a change. This was a decent win against a decent non-conference foe. I'm pleasantly surprised, as I fully expected Rock Chalk Jayhawk lose. Well done.)
Baylor (A) (Played well against a gutsy Paul Rhodes team. I think it's pretty clear that Baylor's speed on offense is no joke. Getting some receivers back along with Cannon, this is probably the fastest receiver core in all of college football. Bryce Petty played well and delivered the ball on time so his athletic receivers could make plays. The only question mark that remains for Baylor is their D. Iowa St., while no pushover with Richardson, really doesn't bring a great skill set offensively. Mangino is improving though. However, the fact that the Cyclones almost put 30 on Baylor's defense raises a few concerns about their power up front and a little bit of the inexperience the Bears have in the secondary. Overall good win against a conference foe.) Texas Christian (A) (Played an inferior opponent and did what it was supposed to do. Obviously, the most impressive stat is not the "hangin' half a hundred on 'em" [ala Switzer], it was the defense shutting out SMU. I am beginning to think that ol' Boyken might be the real deal. Maybe all he really needed was an a new O-Coordinator? It's strange to see him progress so fast. Good for him. Looks like Joekel will be stuck on the sidelines. The TCU D is really solid, and Patterson has proven himself, even when TCU is not winning, to provide well-thought out schemes against opposing offenses.) Oklahoma St. (B+) (Great offense. I thought Garman handled his first real start well. The kid can spin that ball and he throws one of the better deep balls I've seen in the Big XII since little ol' Heisman winner Jason White. The only problem is that Tech's secondary was turned around all night. Garman threw up several (maybe 7-8?) jump balls and Cowboy receivers came down with it the majority of the time. Against better corners and safeties that will not happen. I know Oklahoma State's line is inexperienced but there has to be a better run game in place for Roland and Hill to grind down other teams. The Oklahoma St. defense was somewhat iffy. Tech always throws the ball well, but it was amazing how many balls Webb threaded in there right over the middle. In fact, Tech's receivers help out the OSU defense a lot with several drops. There needs to be a better pass rush from the D-Line as well. All in all, this is a decent win.) Texas (B+) (It's probably a good way for Charlie Strong to start off his conference play in the Big XII against the conference's weakest team. Texas handled its business. I know there have been some big injuries, and even some dismissals on the O-Line, but I still have to believe that Texas can run the ball better than it has up to this point. Even Kansas was getting some push against that O-Line; this shouldn't happen so Wickline (former Oklahoma State O-Line coach) needs to get 'em goin'. I think Swoopes is maturing nicely and from what I see of the highlights the kid is doing a good job of protecting the football. He also has a really good arm. The play where he scrambled to his right and then threw it down field about sixty yards for a completion was impressive from an athletic standpoint. For the defense to shutout Kansas has to give Texas a pretty good feeling. This is an okay win for a perenniel powerhouse on the rebuild.) Kansas State (A) (Looked good against a relatively athletic UTEP squad. Offensively, I was most impressed with K-State's utilization of the tight-end. There were several well drawn up plays to the tight-end that resulted in a TD and others for some big yardage. As usual, K-State flourished under big plays in the Special Teams = blocked kicks, and a punt return for a touchdown by Lockett. Otherwise, not much to say other than the D was serviceable, not dominate, but serviceable against an athletic UTEP team.) Texas Tech (C) (Given all the stuff this team has gone threw in such an early part of the season, I thought the Red Raiders played pretty decent. I think they were determined not to let Arkansas happen all over again so the box was stacked all night long. Tech tested Garman and Garman made 'em pay, especially with some beautifully thrown deep balls. Along with the ridiculous amount of penalties, the greatest critique I have of Tech's D is their corners. Many (many, many) times they were around the ball to make a play, matching the receiver stride for stride, and then somehow they would get turned around. I don't know how many times Tech corners got outjumped for the ball. On the positive side, Webb is a good player but he needs his receivers to step up big time. There were too many drops. Catch those balls and the game would have been much closer, maybe even tipped in Tech's favor.) Iowa State (C-) (As usual fought hard. Richardson is a decent QB and has shown some grit. I also do not think that its a mistake that Iowa St. is putting some points on the board with Mangino as O-Coordinator. That man can coach offense! It just appears that Iowa St. is just about 3-4 big athletes away from making the next big step, especially on D. Granted it was Baylor and a high octane offense, but letting the team get almost fifty on you is unacceptable. Rhodes has a decent track record of improving his teams from week#1 to the end of the season.) Kansas (D+) (Back to Kansas being Kansas. Question: Why is this team throwing the ball so much? I know there are a few running backs dinged up, but Kozart does not throw the ball well enough to not have more prominent running game. With an athlete like Pierson on the field, there should be 15-20 runs and some underneath throws ever game. I was tempted to give Kansas a C- when thinking that its D held Texas under 30 points, and then I realized that with Texas' weak O-Line and inexperienced QB, this isn't a huge accomplishment, although notable for a team like Kansas that will take any good news at this point. I think the firing of Weis was premature. Kansas should never have gotten rid of Mangino.)
^^^I agree with those grades B&C. I was certainly glad to see Tech play a fairly decent game. If it wasn't for the excessive penalties Tech may have even won that game. The dropped passes didn't help of course. I was most satisfied with the effort. Tech never gave up so that was good to see. I certainly hope that will continue. I thought Ok State played a pretty solid game overall. To me, Garman looked very good. I was impressed with his performance.
^^^I agree with those grades B&C. I was certainly glad to see Tech play a fairly decent game. If it wasn't for the excessive penalties Tech may have even won that game. The dropped passes didn't help of course. I was most satisfied with the effort. Tech never gave up so that was good to see. I certainly hope that will continue. I thought Ok State played a pretty solid game overall. To me, Garman looked very good. I was impressed with his performance.
Unless of course they lose to the inferior and over-rated SEC West teams, then they get an F-... because the Big Bad 12 should compete with the NFC West.
Unless of course they lose to the inferior and over-rated SEC West teams, then they get an F-... because the Big Bad 12 should compete with the NFC West.
You've got issues, Fellar.
K-State got a "C" for playing Auburn close the week before. I think Auburn is probably going to make the Playoff so, IMO, they're a great team.
How in the world could you interpret my post as some sort of slam towards the SEC or the SEC West?
I used to be a CU Buff fan... back in the late 80s. Now I root for them to lose to CSU every year. Can't root for the Falcons because they can't seem to see past the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy every year. Sometimes they'll get it, then lose to New Mexico or Wyoming.
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