Let’s start this off old school Festivus style with an airing of the grievances, shall we? We shall.
- Just prepare yourself for the fact that Texas, when facing teams with similar talent on the offense, is going to give up points. A lot of points. Unless something drastic happens, I don’t see much changing.
- Two timeouts were on my mind as I left the stadium Saturday night. The one called in the first quarter and the one not called in the fourth quarter. Texas took a timeout as WVA snapped the ball on 4th & 4 from the Texas 40-yard line in the first quarter, but no one on either team or in the stands noticed as Texas sacked Geno Smith to force the turnover. Well, the referees noticed and the Mountaineers got another chance. Of course Smith found Tavon Austin in the slot for a short gain, which he took across the field, avoided everyone and raced in for a touchdown. Had Texas not called timeout, West Virginia is stopped and the Horns take over, but that’s a hard one to second guess since it happened after the timeout was called. Mack Brown said the Mountaineers had a guy wide open and uncovered, so they called timeout. Hard to argue that. As for the one in the fourth quarter, oy. Trailing 41-38 with seven minutes to play at the Mountaineer 12, Texas seemed poised to take the game over. After failing to get the first down on 4th & 13, the Texas defense rose up and had just forced a fumble with a sack on the very next play. With a field goal in their pocket, the offense ran Joe Bergeron twice, setting up a 3rd & 6 at the 8-yard line. Before the third down play someone came into huddle that wasn’t supposed to be there and it took most of the play clock to sort out who should leave, and by the time Texas got to the line of scrimmage the play clock was almost done. Unaware the clock was expiring, David Ash was going through his pre-snap reads. As it was about to hit zero, center Dominic Espinosa snapped the ball and David Ash had no idea it was coming. He mishandled it as he was looking elsewhere, and it rolled back to the 30 or so. He regained possession, tried to find someone down field, but he couldn’t and was sacked at the 24. Anthony Fera came on and missed a 41-yard field goal attempt, giving Land of Couch Fires the ball with about five minutes to play and the wind was out of the sails of the team and the stadium. The play was a mess from the start and someone, ON THE SIDELINE, should have called time out, like they did earlier in the game. Espinosa should never have snapped that ball without first looking back to see if Ash was looking and someone on the field, DAVID ASH, needs to see the play clock expiring. And hey, if he doesn’t, someone on the sideline should. You can’t be that disjointed at such a critical moment.
- Does Texas tackle in practice? I am not trying to be rude. Seriously, I don’t know.
- Texas was so worried about the defense’s ability to stop WVA that they went for it on that 4th & 13 rather than punt. And even after the defense forced that fumble on that fateful missed field goal drive, the Longhorns ran up the middle twice to take up as much time as possible. You have to be who you are, fellas, and that’s not who you are. Case in point: Did Texas ever throw a deep pass? No.
- If its “correctable,” then let’s get it corrected. If that means new schemes, no personnel, whatever.
- Is DJ Monroe in trouble? He’s been terrific all season, yet no touches on Saturday. I feel like I ask the question every year.
- All the hoopla, all the worry. Missed field goal. It certainly was not Anthony Fera’s fault Texas lost that game, but it didn’t help.
And you know what? With all that, and plenty of other things you could add yourself that I might have forgotten about, Texas was right there. RIGHT THERE. The defense forced a turnover and got the offense the ball with a chance to take the lead late. And I’m not sure West Virginia could have answered if Texas gets that lead because the crowd was a loud as any I have ever heard at DKR. One bad play on 3rd & 8 led to a missed field goal and you could feel the energy drain from the building. The defense looked completely gassed on that last WVA drive and just couldn’t stop them. I said last week that Texas needed to hold the Mountaineers to five touchdowns to win the game, and they did (plus two field goals). And had everyone been on the same page — or, you know, CALLED TIME OUT — Texas had a chance with five minutes left in the game to take the lead or at least tie with a short field goal … but it didn’t happen. Now Texas is 4-1 and must regroup. Let’s take a look at what happened.
No.9 TEXAS 45 No.7 WEST VIRGINIA 48
Again, the crowd was there and ready to go and in the second quarter the energy produced was a huge part in Texas rallying to tie it at 21. But as really good teams do, the Mountaineers responded with great drive after great drive. The better team won and the score proved that. Here’s what I saw Saturday night:
Quarterbacks — If he isn’t playing against the Heisman Trophy winner he gets more credit for the game. David Ash finished the night with 270 yards and a td pass and added 10 yards on the ground. He was 22 of 29 and made good decisions with the ball; but he has to call timeout on that play at the end, or throw it away after the recovery. Still, it was a good night for Ash, who had played well enough for Texas to win. Again, not one deep ball.
Running Backs — Joe B. went and scored four touchdowns, but with the entire WVA defense geared to stop the run, he struggled to make big plays away from the goal line. Jonathan Gray is definitely here to stay as he was the most electric back on the field for Texas Saturday night, rushing for 87 yards on 14 carries. The Horns have found their Wildcat quarterback. He’s going to break one for a score soon. Looking at you, sooners.
Jeremy Hills reminds me of Chris Ogbonnaya back in the day with his ability to catch the ball and block, and he was outstanding out of the back field, catching six passes for 67 yards, leading the team in both categories.
Texas clearly wanted to slow the game down and run the ball, and for the most part the backs did what was asked of them.
Wide Outs/Tight Ends— Daje Johnson needs more touches. His wheel route on 3rd & 7 from the Texas 37 in the first quarter set up Texas in the red zone as he took the pass 46 yards, and I thought for sure he was going to take it in. Jaxon Shipley had five catches for 58 yards and seemed open a lot, but Texas didn’t want to throw deep too often, to him or to Mike Davis, who seemed left out of the game plan to me.
Another week, another solid day from the tight ends as they finished with three catches for a combined 54 yards. Texas found them on wheel routes on consecutive plays as the defense ignored them, and you can see David Ash trusts them to make plays when he gets them the ball.
Not a lot of fireworks this week, but that was by design. Again, DJ Monroe?
Offensive Line — I thought they played pretty well across the board, holding up very well against the Big 12′s best pass rush allowing only one sack. I’d like to have seen more of a push in the run game, but the Mountaineers were stacking the line to stop the run. A solid day, but that snap at the end of the game cannot happen. Let the qb and the sidelines worry about the play clock, Espy.
Defensive Line — Rushing the passer, Jackson Jeffcoat and Alex Okafor were excellent, totaling three sacks and four additional pressures, two fumbles forced with one recovered for a touchdown by Jeffcoat. The tackles also got a nice push, evidenced by Chris Whaley’s seven tackles. Ashton Dorsey, Cedric Reed, Brandon Moore, Reggie Wilson and Malcom Brown all made plays … but not in the run game. They had trouble getting off blocks, which was accentuated by the bad play from the linebackers. But still, they have to be better up front in the run and close those lanes. Too many wide open spaces.
The effort was there across the board and many times during the night the All-Americans looked like All-Americans, but no one gets an A when a backup tailback rushes for 207 yards.
Linebackers — Jordan Hicks is the MVP of this team, because when he’s in there this defense makes plays and when he’s not; well, you saw it Saturday night. Again, looking to the sidelines and not the ball at the snap. Again, bad angles on tackling and what appears to be just guessing on run blitzing. And hey, if you are going to blitz, GET YOUR HEAD UP AND PAY ATTENTION. Multiple times I saw a linebacker coming on a blitz and he ran right by the guy with the ball. What’s the point in that? Another poor night from the linebackers. I thought the defensive line did a decent job giving them space to make plays at times, but they didn’t make plays. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some changes this week. More on that in a bit.
Secondary — Is this the best secondary in the Big 12? No. Right now it isn’t the best secondary in the state of Texas. I think Geno Smith threw all four of his touchdowns on the same route and several times it looked like the Texas defender wasn’t even aware the ball was coming. The linebackers are young and inexperienced, the secondary (and the defensive line) don’t have the same excuse. A dropped interception in the end zone and another interception in the end zone if the db is paying attention, and no big plays. Landry Jones has to be smiling right now.
Special Teams — The sizable advantage Texas had in special teams didn’t mean anything to West Virginia, who victimized the terrible tackling and pursuit angles of the kickoff team to set their offense up at their own 46 on the opening kick-off and the Texas 32-yard line on the next kickoff. There were some great plays, like the blocked field goal, partially blocked punt, and the big return by Marquis Goodwin, but the missed field goal was absolutely a killer.
After the opening two kickoffs, the coverage was outstanding and Texas did some nice things, but you can’t miss makeable field goals. You just can’t.
GAME SIX
No. 15 TEXAS (4-1/1-1) vs. No. 10 oklahoma (3-1/1-1)
Saturday, October 13th
11 am
ABC
There is an old adage that you can’t let a loss beat you twice, meaning you can’t carry it with you into the following week. The fans have that luxury, but the staff and team do not. I don’t think anyone on the team will have a problem with that as it is ou week. This is one of the biggest games in the nation and one of the reasons guys go to each school. Maybe the reason you go to each school. It’s the Cotton Bowl, its split down the middle: Texas fans in one half, people who live in Dallas/grew up in Dallas before college/plan to move back to Dallas after college in the other half. AND I hate them. HATE. THEM. All of them. I can’t wait for this weekend because of that, and I think I’ll sleep about 25 minutes this entire week. Let’s get to it.
sooners
Bob Stoops, new and improved with brother Mike back yelling at the defense, and the oklahoma sooners come to Dallas with the swagger of a bottle-service night club bouncer and the bravado of Jersey Shore audition tape, as they always do, and fully expect to dominate this game. They were shaken some after the loss to K-State, but bluster and arrogance have been restored with the win at No.24 Tech and if Texas cannot match their intensity and their confidence, it will mean trouble. I think the Horns will be ready to go and ready to fight. Let’s break it down.
Offense
Anyone remember Landry Jones? He’s the senior starting quarterback that was a Heisman candidate for the top 10 sooners this summer, before injuries decimated his offensive line, several receivers were suspended and they lost at home to Kansas State. Now he’s an afterthought to many. Don’t sleep on Jones, because when he’s given time to throw the ball he’s proven he can be deadly. On the season he has 1,032 yards passing, seven touchdowns and two picks. He’s completing 63% of his passes and has proven he is accurate and throws the deep ball well when given the time.
His favorite target is Kenny Stills, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound weirdo at wide out. Now to be fair, I don’t dislike him because he’s a weirdo. On the contrary, I appreciate his weirdness as I, too, am a weirdo. It’s the logo on his helmet I hate. Stills will get a shot at the next level because of his size, physicality and work ethic. On the season, Stills has 344 yards and three scores, averaging 86 yards per game. Jones will spread it around pretty evenly amongst the other receivers, but Stills’ 29 receptions are more than twice as many as the second-leading receiver on the team. That second-leading receiver is Justin Brown, the Penn State transfer that has terrific size at 6-foot-3, 209 pounds but still has excellent wide out skills. On the season, he has a touchdown on 15 catches and 154 yards receiving. Two youngsters are also making waves — freshmen Trey Metoyer and Sterling Shepard. Metoyer is a clone of Stills as far as size and the former 5-star recruit runs good routes, has excellent speed and doesn’t mind mixing it up like Stills. Sheppard is more in the Ryan Broyles mold, in that he’s smaller (5-foot-10, 188 pounds) and used more in the screen game and plays in space like Broyles did early in his career. The sooners took a big hit when they lost the loveable Jaz Reynolds and Trey Franks to suspension, but the freshmen have stepped up and played well.
What opens opportunities for them outside is the running game, because when its clicking defenses have to leave them in single coverage. Last year’s big star was Dominique Whaley, but a broken ankle ended his 2011 season early and as he rehabbed this spring, junior college transfer Damien Williams took over. The 6-foot, 208-pounder has a great blend of speed, power and hands (25.5 yards per game receiving) while leading the team with 341 yards rushing and five touchdowns. Whaley is right behind in carries with 32 and has an excellent 5.9 yards per carry average, but Williams has taken over as the team’s lead back. I expect both to play, but Williams is the No.1 guy now.
But it won’t matter who plays back there if the o-line can’t open holes, right? The sooners were devastated by injuries and transfers this summer and now trot out a patchwork line that has three (or four) new starters playing different positions. Considering all that has happened, they have responded pretty well … However, I have seen them give up some sacks and the offense, a juggernaut the last few seasons, isn’t as overwhelming as it has been in the past. Some of that is on the new wide outs, but some of that is also on the inexperienced line.
They see the tape, the same tape we see. They see Texas has struggled mightily to defend the run (90th in the nation) and they know that opens the door for the passing game. With an inexperienced o-line and the super talented (albeit struggling) front 4 for Texas, expect to see ou spread Texas out and run off tackle, making the linebackers tackle in space. I see plenty of crossing routes coming as the corners have struggled to stop them and I see plenty of bubble screens coming, which will put pressure on the Texas defense to wrap up and tackle. Also, expect to see the tight ends and running backs getting passes over the middle when safeties and linebackers are matched up with them. They want to get Texas thinking, worrying about where to line up instead of just playing football, and they plan to attempt the same things Oklahoma State and West Virginia did. Can they do that? I guess they could, but I don’t think the personnel are there for it to work as well this week. But we will see, won’t we?
Defenses
As I mentioned earlier, Mike Stoops is back screaming at people relentlessly as the defensive coordinator, and I suppose its working because the sooners are ranked No.17 in total defense, allowing just 303 yards per game, 16 points per game and a paltry 160 yards per game through the air.
Up front they’re very big with starters going 256 and 286 at end and 288 and 309 inside at tackle. Looking at the numbers, they aren’t asked to/are unable to get after the quarterback a lot as they have 4.5 sacks combined. It looks like they are built to control the line scrimmage and let the linebackers make the plays, which looking at the numbers they have done well.
It looks like they have run a lot of nickel so far this year, playing two linebackers and five defensive backs, but I expect three lb’s on the field against Texas this week to account for the running Texas will bring. I guess. Or do they prepare for David Ash to go over the top? Not my problem. Two of those linebackers will be Tom Wort and Corey Nelson. Wort is the face of this defense and is the latest in a long line of big, athletic lb’s that look and act the part in every possible ou way. He has a great motor and can fly, but at 237 pounds I wonder how he withstands a punishing running game with a back bigger than him? We are about to find out. Nelson is not as big as Wort and plays outside, almost like another db on the field. At 6-foot-1, 219 pounds, he uses his speed to make plays and tries to disrupt things from the edge. He and Wort are tied for 4th on the team with 17 tackles each. Right now it looks like ou will run a nickel at Texas with Gabe Lynn being that nickel back. At 6-feet, 199 pounds he’s small to be considered a linebacker or even a run support safety, so my guess is he’s in there as a coverage guy so the bigger Tony Jefferson (5-foot-11, 212 pounds) and Javon Harris (5-foot-11, 206 pounds) can handle more of that role. These two don’t have the size of the old school sooner safeties, but they are as productive as their predecessors, ranking one and two in tackles on the team. They will bring the lumber in run support. Believe it. The question is, are they big enough and sturdy enough to do it for an entire game? Hmmmm.
The corners are solid with Aaron Colvin and Demontre Hurst, who torched Texas last year with a 55-yard interception return for a score. He was 2nd Team All Big 12 last season and has a great skill set of speed, size and physicality that make most quarterbacks stay away from him. Instead they have been throwing at Colvin, who has responded with an interception and a team-high 13 passes defended/broken up. He’s bigger than Hurst at 6-foot-1, 181 pounds, but he’s fairly new to cornerback after playing safety last year. But so far so food.
I think Stoops is going to try and do what he did 10 years ago: get after the quarterback, play very aggressively outside with his corners and jump anything inside to cut off slants. He’ll use his safeties to play deep cover two in coverage, watching the quarterback’s eyes when he’s passing and filling quickly to support the run. There are issues at Texas, but they aren’t on offense right now. So the priority will be stopping the ground game and knocking David Ash into some bad decisions and throws. No one has been able to do that yet, but this sooner defense is the best Texas has faced to date.
Special Teams
They return punts really well. Justin Brown did it well in State College and he’s doing it well in Norman, averaging 18.4 yards per return. They also cover kickoffs well, allowing only 19 yards per return, but they are average to poor everywhere else. Kicker Mike Hunnicutt has been blocked once and they have given up a blocked punt as well. They allow 10.3 yards per return on punts as well and have also missed an extra point.
The match-up between the No.3 ranked Texas punt game and the No.7 ranked ou punt return team should be interesting. The winner of that battle probably wins the game. The sooners need to be extra careful with their punts and points teams, because Texas has shown the ability to block kicks like in the days of old.
I expect Stoops to punt and play defense until he has to do something tricky.
Texas
By now the Horns have moved on from the West Virginia game and are neck-deep in ou.Looking at what ou does well (pass defense, total offense) and what they do poorly or not as well (special teams issues, not the stoutest rush defense), what does Texas do to capitalize on that? I have an answer to that.
Offense
If I know what ou is going to do, so does the Texas staff. I said this defense is the best Texas has seen, but this offense is definitely the best ou has seen. Last week the Horns changed up their game plan to account for the Heisman Trophy winner and his offense, and the flow of the Texas offense was affected by it … and they still scored 45 points and had opportunities to win it. I think Texas is going to look a lot more like they did against OSU this week: running the ball and mixing in shots down field. Look for Texas to take some of those shots early off the play-action as the super aggressive sooner defense attacks the line of scrimmage. I also expect to see some different formations to get Daje Johnson and DJ Monroe involved, using new wrinkles to mask the jet sweep and sweep passes — I made up the name “jet passes” because I don’t know what else to call that little flip Ash does to Johnson? — they like so much. HOWEVER, the baseline of the offense if going to be the running game. Joe B., J Gray and Malcolm Brown (word is he’s ready) need to get it going to set the rest of it up. I think they can do that as ou hasn’t been a dominant force in stopping the run (143.50 ypg allowed). I also think there will be opportunities down field as the safeties have to account for the backs up the middle, and I see a swing/wheel route to Jonathan Gray coming that ends in a Texas touchdown as well as at least one big Wildcat play.
When this game goes badly in Dallas it’s almost always a result of turnovers, which usually come from Texas’ inability to handle the pass rush. The Longhorns have been terrific at protecting the quarterback and the ball this year and that needs to continue. The o-line has proven they can protect David Ash (one sack allowed per game average) and Ash has proven he can deliver when given that time. The sooners are going to bring the house on Ash, a lot, and if they can hold up he can burn them. I think that’s what happens and Texas scores some points.
I think by Saturday night everyone will be talking about Jonathan Gray.
Defense
If I were Manny Diaz I’d say this:
“When you guys are dialed in and focused, you are almost unstoppable. In the second quarter last week you forced a 3 & Out and then sacked the Heisman Trophy winner and made him fumble for a touchdown. He was walking off the field after that score with worse body language than Eli Manning. You have the talent, experience and the ability to win games and for many plays on Saturday night, you were doing just that.
“But it wasn’t every play. It wasn’t on fourth downs (five for five for WVA with each drive ending in a touchdown), and it wasn’t nearly enough in the red zone. I’ll take the blame for some of that. I am asking you guys to do too many different things pre-snap, especially at linebacker. I am asking you to do things NFL guys do, and you aren’t there yet. We are going to simplify things this week. I want 22 eyes on the ball at the snap and 11 helmets on the tackle. If you are lost, just line up and hit somebody and find the ball. I’ll figure out how to get you in the right place. Stop thinking and react. Eyes on the snap, hats on the ball and violent, emotional tackling. If you do that for me, I’ll get everyone in the right place and everything will be much, much better.”
He didn’t ask me, but that’s what Texas needs to do. No one knows where to be every play. Centers and quarterbacks ask the snap count some times. Get lined up and GO. This oklahoma offense can score, but they aren’t the assaults that OSU and WVA have. Last week I said Texas needed to hold the Mountaineers to five touchdowns and I was right, because five touchdowns allowed would have meant a Texas win. This week I think the number is 30. If Texas can hold ou to four touchdowns (again, buffers are nice) they can win this game. Can they do that? Yes they can.
Get after Landry Jones. He makes absolutely awful decisions under duress, so get him under duress. The All-Americans need to show up again this week and, frankly, this piece-meal offensive line is the sort of set up that should have Ok and JJ licking their chops. Jones is not a mobile guy, so the rush will get the ball out of his hands, and history has shown that he doesn’t always make good choices under pressure. And the ou fans aren’t all in the Jones fan club. Some want Blake Bell, the monster backup they call the Bell Dozer, who is their short yardage/Wildcat trigger man (we will see him Saturday at the goal line) and if Texas can rattle Jones’ cage early it’s get him thinking about the unrest in the stands and Bell as well. Only good things can come from that.
But Texas has to tackle well and they have to defend the run better. 406 yards rushing in two straight weeks with 207 coming last week to a back-up is terrible and oklahoma is going to try and add to that. This ou offensive line should not be able to open holes like the last two did, but I thought Texas would win the battle up front last week and they did not. Texas will probably run less nickel this week, using a third linebacker and a more traditional 4-3 to deal with oklahoma’s running game. That will help at the line of scrimmage, but only if the lb’s are better. And they should be as Jordan Hicks appears ready to return.
The linebackers and safeties have to play better. There is no try, there is only do. Play better. Wrap up, stop over-thinking and react to what you see. This is football and you’ve been playing this all your life. I think y0u’ll see a new safety starting alongside Vaccaro and a renewed sense of intensity and urgency from a group that has been chewed up and spit out by the staff this week. How can that be bad?
30 points, boys. You can do this.
Special Teams
Aside from the first two kickoffs, Texas was excellent in coverage last week. That has to be the case this week and the tackling HAS TO BE THERE. Anthony Fera now has his feet wet, so the nerves should be gone and I think the points team will be fine.
Texas got a punt block last week, and a blocked field goal, and I think they get something from Diggs this week. The sooners don’t cover kicks well and I think Diggs makes them pay. Make them pay, Quandre, MAKE THEM PAY.
In Conclusion
So even with everything that was bad, went wrong, didn’t work, wasn’t tried, etc. … Texas was right there with a chance to win the game. Texas has been in shootouts with the Nos.1 and 3 offenses in the nation in the last two weeks, beating the top rated offense on the road and losing to the Heisman Trophy winner (barring a colossal collapse) by three points. Sometimes the other guy is better than you are, and that was case last week.
Texas must get back to basics on defense and play with attitude and emotion like they did for stretches last week. Landry Jones is not Geno Smith and his supporting cast is not the same, either. Yes, they are talented and can beat Texas, but they have greater issues up front than either Oklahoma State or West Virginia and Texas has the personnel to exploit that. It’s a matter of doing it.
On the other side of the ball things are not going to come as easy this week because this defense is much, much better, but Texas’ offense has the personnel to attack what ou has trouble with, which is defending the run.
30 points, defense. If you can hold ou to four touchdowns, I think the offense can get five. No turnovers, fellas. Let’s get the hat back.
I can’t wait for Dallas. I can’t wait. It’s 3:03 pm and …
Last Week in the Big 12
KANSAS 16 KANSAS STATE 56
Did anyone watch this? I can’t say if it really happened or if it was a sim, like NCAA 2013 when you play FCS-Southeast or Rice.
IOWA STATE 37 No.13 TCU 23
Casey Paschall was suspended and TCU is a mess (update: He is withdrawn from school and has entered a rehab facility) Southwest Purple was already on autopilot and I said last week this game had upset potential because the Frogs just don’t look right. That premise is supported by the starting qb getting a dwi and an indefinite suspension (no longer on the team). Starting his first-ever college game, Trevone Boykin had 270 yards passing, but was picked off three times, including one returned for a score and the crowd and the rest of the TCU team didn’t offer much help. The Frogs are in trouble, folks. Helluva win by ISU.
No.14 oklahoma 41 No.24 TEXAS TECH 20
From the tailgates before the West Virginia game and the stands during it:
- Best line: (from a Texas guy to a WVA girl he didn’t know) “Would I lie to you, West Virginia? Trust me and let’s go.” She did.
- Best crowd: It was like the Ohio State game in 2006. Insanity.
- Best moment: Jump Around
- Best fans: DKR was as loud as ever. EVER.
This Week in the Big 12
Saturday, October 13th
No. 23 TCU (4-1/1-1) @ BAYLOR (3-1/0-1) 6 pm FSN
TCU is going down. Pachall is gone, but it wasn’t like they were tearing it up with him in there. I think it’s a shootout similar to the one Texas got into with Baylor in Waco last year before turnovers doomed them. I see the freshman qb doing the same thing this time and Baylor wins.
No. 5 KANSAS STATE (5-0/2-0) @ IOWA STATE (4-1/1-1) 11 am F/X
K-State benefited greatly from the upsets around the nation, moving up to No.5. The Cyclones are a solid team with a very, very good defense that can keep this game close and the crowd involved if they force some turnovers and, with West Virginia on their minds the following week in Morgantown, Midwest Purple could be in a fight. They will be in for a fight, but they escape.
OKLAHOMA STATE (2-2/0-1) @ KANSAS (1-4/0-2) 2:30 pm FSN
Have you ever seen the video of the European track meet where the girl wonders in front of the guy sprinting down the track for the long jump? This one…
Kansas is the girl.
No. 4 WEST VIRGINIA (5-0/2-0) @ TEXAS TECH (4-1/1-1) 2:30 pm ABC
Did they go home, or just grab some rooms in San Angelo or Midland or something? One of the things about WVA I wondered was how they handled the week in, week out ground of a BCS conference. This is their first test. Surely excited after the win in Austin and home date with No.5 K-State in two weeks, this could be the hangover game. I think they win, but very close and not as pretty.
That’s it for this week. See you in Dallas. You can reach me FromTheStands@gmail.com or on Twitter Trey McLean.
It’s 3:30 pm. Just so you know.
