C'Mans Big 12 power rankings - Week 3

POWER RANKINGS

#1. Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-0, 0-0)

The Cowboys finally played a game in the comfortable confines of Stillwater after spending the first two weeks of the season in Texas. Oklahoma State took on a decent Lamar squad and dominated the game on both sides of the ball winning big 59-3. The Cowboys look as strong as ever on offense but their defense is the story thus far in 2013. I'm going to have to see the 'Pokes beaten, or at least challenged, before they lose their hold on the top spot. Oklahoma State will enjoy a bye week before heading to West Virginia in two weeks.

#2. Baylor Bears (2-0, 0-0)

A bye week has proven to be the only thing that can stop the Bears offense this year. Baylor remains #2 despite not playing this week. Baylor takes on Lamar next week and then enjoys a second bye week in three weeks. We won't get a real glimpse of the Bears ability until they face West Virginia at home in week six.

#3. Oklahoma Sooners (3-0, 1-0)

Oklahoma moves up this week based on the performance of quarterback Blake Bell. In his first ever start, Bell threw for a record 413 yards and 4 touchdowns. Bell's on field performance surpassed that of both Sam Bradford and Landry Jones in their respective first starts. The question is, how different would the first two games have been with Bell calling the signals. The Sooners dispatched in-state foe Tulsa 51-20 playing well on both sides of the ball. The Sooner defense missed Aaron Colvin in the secondary and Gabe Lynn was injured during the game, but OU defended well until the fourth quarter as they subbed most of the starters out. If they both return for Notre Dame we should have a good game in South Bend in two weeks.

#4. Texas Tech Red Raiders (3-0, 1-0)

The Red Raiders beat TCU 20-10 in Lubbock Saturday but needed back-up quarterback David Webb to seal the deal. TCU is reeling and probably did not deserve the preseason pub they received. However, Texas Tech and first year head coach Kliff Kingsbury are undefeated and have a quality conference win. Texas Techs next three opponents are Texas State, Kansas and Iowa State with a bye week included, All game Tech should win. The first real test comes in week 8 when they travel to Morgantown and take on West Virginia. A win against the Mountaineers and they likely come in to Norman 7-0.

#5. Kansas State Wildcats (2-1, 0-0)

The Wildcats have recovered from their opening day loss to NDSU by beating two "lesser" opponents. After beating Louisiana-Lafayette two weeks ago they downed UMass 37-7 Saturday in Manhattan. Kansas State travels to Austin next weekend to face Texas, where winning is not what it used to be. KSU has won the last 5 against the Longhorns and should win Saturday. We may have to wait until week 7, when Baylor pays a visit to Manhattan, to find out how "real" the Wildcats are.

#6. TCU Horned Frogs (1-2, 0-1)

I am not ready to write off the Horned Frogs season despite two losses in their first three games. An opening week loss to #6 LSU and a week three loss to Texas Tech, who should be ranked this week, sting but TCU has been in bigger holes. Having said that, TCU looked confused on offense at Tech and they need to get the wrinkles ironed out with a bye week and a game at home against SMU coming up. After that they face tough road games at OU and OSU with a home date against Kansas in the middle. If they don't,  they could find themselves in a huge hole going in to the second half of the season.

#7. West Virginia Mountaineers (2-1, 0-1)

The Mountaineers have had a tough season and its only week 3. A weak win at home against William and Mary, a devastating early conference loss at OU and a blowout win against a ho-hum Georgia State team. The Mountaineers are a tough group to figure out. They face an undefeated Maryland squad next week on the road and then return to Morgantown to host OSU. We could be looking at a 2-3 West Virginia team when the roll in to Baylor in week 6. If they start 0-3 in the Big 12, it will be a long winter for Dana Holgerson.

#8. Texas Longhorns (1-2, 0-0)

Wow. How quickly  things have fallen apart in Austin Texas. The Longhorns lose in consecutive weeks on the road at BYU and at home against  Mississippi. The Longhorns gave up 40 to BYU and defensive coordinator Manny Diaz was shown the door in favor of Greg Robinson. Texas then gives up 43 to Mississippi at home. Different coordinator, same old Texas defense. The Longhorn offense might be worse than the defense. They look as rattled and confused and are playing with zero confidence. Texas host KSU and travels to ISU before the Red River Rivalry. Perhaps it's time for Mack Brown to start planning his retirement.

#9. Kansas Jayhawks (1-1, 0-0)

After a solid 31-14 victory over South Dakota in their opener, the Jayhawks fall this week, 23-14, to Rice. It's difficult to follow up that first sentence without mentioning Bill Self and the Jayhawk basketball team. The Jayhawk fans would trade almost anything (except Bill Self) for Mark Mangino. Say what you will about Mangino, he could coach football. Kansas may never have another winning season in football, and certainly not if it takes away from basketball. Mangino did both. Charlie Weiss will do neither.

#10. Iowa State Cyclones (0-2, 0-0) 

Someone has to be last, might as well be Iowa State. After an opening week loss to Northern Iowa and a bye week to lick their wounds, the Cyclones welcomed in-state rival Iowa and promptly lost 27-21 to the team that lost to Northern Illinois in week 1. The good news for Iowa State, they get another bye week. The bad news, they have to travel to Oklahoma in two weeks and play a decent Tulsa team. Cyclones head coach Paul Rhodes has done some good things in Ames. Unfortunately he's done some really bad things too. The Iowa State Cyclones will win this year, although they might have to wait for basketball season to do it.

CMan's OU Sooners game analysis: Week 1

 

Louisiana Monroe - 0
Oklahoma Sooners - 34

The Oklahoma Sooners entered the 2013 football season with a lot of  unanswered questions. Closed practices and lack of information are par for the course at OU. Head Coach Bob Stoops has never been known for his transparency when discussing his team or its outlook.

 

The Sooners ended the 2012 season with a demoralizing Cotton Bowl loss to Heisman trophy winner Johnny Manziel and former Big 12 foe, Texas A&M.  Questions.

 

Gone are four year starter at QB Landry Jones and several assistant coaches along with several other key players on both sides of the ball. More questions.

 

There were certainly more questions than answers, frankly we knew little about this team or any potential answers on Saturday morning. So, let's take a look at the game last night and address what I think were  the most glaring questions at game time.  

 

 

Who is Trevor Knight and why was he chosen over Blake Bell as the starter?

 

Has the OU defense improved in the second year of Mike Stoops return as defensive coordinator?

 

How effective will the special teams be?

 

What impact will the new coaches have?

 

Were the questions answered? After a slow start, I believe they were. Let's break the game down and see how well the questions were answered.

 

The Grades:

 

Quarterback Trevor Knight - B+

 

If you asked for a grade in the first quarter I would have given Knight a weak C. He was nimble on his feet and his decisions were hurried. His arm looked strong but he couldn't hit the side of a barn. Knight started the game 1-6 passing. Most of his passes were too low or way too high. His receivers didn't do much to help either. The offensive line couldn't get the run game started which forced a lot of 2nd or 3rd and long situations for the rookie. He did, at times, show the patience of a veteran in the pocket and made some solid decisions in break downs. Not a good start. I'm sure many OU faithful were not only questioning the decision, but looking for the BellDozer to enter the game.

 

Now, if you asked for a grade from the 2nd quarter on I would give Knight a solid A. Once the jitters left and the offensive line started to gel, Knight looked like a starter. By the second half his passing was on target, his runs were fluid and the running game started to wear down the ULM defensive front. Knight finished the game with 11-28 passing for 86 yds, 3 TD's and 1 questionable interception. While the passing yards need improving, he did finish with 103 (team leading) rushing yards. The most rushing yards for a QB since Jason White in 2001 and the first QB with more rushing yards than passing than Eric Moore in 1998.

 

Trevor Knight has enormous upside. This was ULM, but Knight gave a wonderful peek at what was possible in the future.

 

As for Blake Bell, he entered the game in the fourth quarter to mop up. He was playing with mostly second stringers but could have played a lot better. The gap between the two QB's on this night was pretty wide.

 

OU Defense - A

 

The rush defense was solid from the start of the game however,  the pass defense early was reminiscent of last years woefully ugly secondary. Thankfully it didn't last. The catalyst was the pressure up front. The OU front line and linebackers played most of the game in the ULM backfield. The defense created havoc for ULM QB Kolton Browning. They hurt him early and often. They forced hurried throws and mad dash scrambles. OU defensive end Charles Tapper appeared to be Browning's roommate for most of the game. ULM crossed midfield twice and only managed 9 first downs, 6 of those came in the first quarter.

 

ULM finished the game with 166 total yards, 128 passing and only 38 rushing. This from a team that averaged 400 total yards in 2012. Their longest run was 6 yards. The longest pass reception, 14 yards.

 

The defense was vastly improved. It is evident that the front line pressure relieved any secondary threat. If the defense can continue to pressure the quarterbacks and stuff the run, the OU defense should fare a lot better in the big 12 this season than they did in 2012. I would still like to see the secondary tested before the bulk of big 12 games start. the good news is WVU and its high powered offense pay a visit to Norman next week.

 

Special Teams - A+

 

The special teams played a huge role in last nights game. ULM returned 1 kickoff for 65 yards and did not return a single punt. Nick Hodgson's kicks were finding the end zone repeatedly and   Place kicker Mike Hunnicutt was 2-2 on field goals and 4-4 on PAT's. The biggest surprise for me was new punter Jed Barnett. Barnett averaged 43.6 yards on 7 punts with a long of 54. Four of his punts landed inside the ULM 20. In addition to consistent yardage, Barnett's hang time allowed our special team players to get down field and prevent any return.

 

New coaches impact - A

 

The lines on both sides of the ball were better. the defensive line was aggressive and mobile. the linebackers moved with confidence and speed reminiscent of past sooner linebackers. The offensive line started slow but eventually opened huge holes that the OU running backs exploited.  OU quarterbacks were given ample time to make decisions in the pocket. The down field blocking got increasingly better as the game wore on. Football games are won in the trenches and the Sooners owned the trenches last night.

 

Overall it was a dominant performance after the first quarter. My friend Buster tells me that the first quarter performance by Trevor Knight was to be expected. He said the bad throws were a combination of nerves, first game jitters causing the failure to follow through. Buster says he's been there and I believe him. You see Buster is a darn good, State Champion, high school quarterback.

 

I am looking forward to the evolution of Trevor Knight and the continued improvement of the Sooner defense. Sure, its only one game but there are far fewer questions going in to next week than we had on Friday.

 

One side note: Saturday nights win was the 150th of Head Coach Bob Stoops career  at Oklahoma. He  is now just 7 wins shy of tying Barry Switzer for all time wins at OU.

 

Up next: West Virginia visits Norman.

Jim Tressel Resigns

Jim Tressel the Ohio St. football coach resigned today, in the midst of an NCAA violation. Tressel led Ohio St. to their first National Championship in 34 years. "After meeting with university officials, we agreed that it is in the best interest of Ohio State that I resign as head football coach,” Tressel said in a statement that was released by the University Of Ohio St.

Luke Fickell will be the head coach for the 2011 season. Fickell had already been chosen to be the coach for the five game suspension that Tressel would have to serve in the 2011 season.

Tressel who was 58, had a record of 106-22 at Ohio St. He lead his team to eight BCS bowl games in the ten years he coached at Ohio St. He coached 15 years at Youngstown University, and had a record of 135-57-2. At Youngstown he won four division 1-AA National Championships. Tressel's over all record as a coach is 241-79-2.