Friday November 11th, 2005
11:45amAg Football Preview: Oklahoma
This week I was contacted by Matt from over at My Opinion on Sports (a fellow BlogPoll participant) and we decided to swap information on our own teams.
We also made a small, non-monetary, wager with the loser having to promote the winner’s website for a week.
He has my Aggie analysis up at his site right now, so feel free to go check that out.
And I’ll now hand off to Mark….
Sizing Up the Sooners
Greetings Aggie fans, here is your first hand look at the Oklahoma Sooners from the perspective of a Sooner fan.Oklahoma leads this series 13-10 including a 9-2 record in Norman. Everyone remembers what happened last time the Aggies traveled to Norman. After watching the Sooners walk off the field after that 77-0 win I remember thinking that OU was not that good and A&M was not that bad. Of course that OU team had a Heisman Trophy quarterback and was a national championship runner-up and I believe that Aggie team quit that day.
Defense
OU ranks number 2 nationally in rush defense and A&M is number 11 in rush offense. However stopping the A&M offense is more than just shutting down their running game. A&M ranks 18th nationally in total offense and the OU defense will start with the running game and then try to pressure the quarterback. Here is what you will see from the Sooners tomorrow.Down Linemen
The Sooners run a four-man rotation at defensive tackle. Dusty Dvoracek (#94) is a team captain who will not only plug up the middle but also draw double teams and free up space for the linebackers. He has recorded 28 tackles (11 for loss), 3 sacks and 1 interception.The down linemen on defense will stop the run up the middle and force plays to the outside where the speed of OU’s linebackers and defensive ends will be on display.
Defensive Ends
With the pre-season loss of Larry Birdine and the first game loss of John Williams, OU is not very deep at this position, but they are fast. CJ Ah You (#99) has 31 tackles (8 for loss) and 3 sacks and Calvin Thibodeaux (#58) has 42 tackles (14 for loss) and 7 sacks. The DE’s will pressure the quarterback and provide run support on the outsides.Linebackers
The linebackers are the strength of the Sooner defense. Led by Rufus Alexander (#42), 71 tackles (13 for loss), 4 sacks and 1 INT, the linebackers will play the run and come after the quarterback on blitzes from different positions.Secondary
The secondary has taken its share of criticism over the past few seasons and this season has been no different. At times receivers have been wide open in the secondary (that’s how Baylor took us to O.T.) and at times they have played stellar. It’s kind of like a Jekyll and Hyde situation.Chijioke Onyenegecha (#22) and DJ Wolfe (#25) will probably get the start at corner. Both have returned interceptions 60-plus yards for a touchdown this season and Wolfe is more likely to come on the blitz.
Lewis Baker (#16), Nic Harris (#5), Reggie Smith (#1) and Darien Williams (#41) will all play safety at some point in the game. Smith is a star in the making recording 28 tackles and an interception as a true freshman so far this season.
The secondary will play mostly man coverage because of their inexperience. This means that it is vital that they get pressure on the QB.
Offense
After having last weekend off the Sooners are mostly healthy again on offense and they are also gaining experience and confidence. The Sooners will try to set the tone with their running game but the Aggies are decent on run defense (37th nationally) so look for OU use their athletic receivers to try to expose a weak pass defense (116th nationally). Here is what you will see from the OU offense.O-Line
The offensive line started the season very inexperienced but now they all have experience at more than one position. Davin Joseph (#77) and Chris Bush (#52) have each played three positions on the line and Chris Chester (#64) has played two. OU line coach has found the magic formula that has allowed the line to be decent and give QB Rhett Bomar time.Receivers/Tight Ends
OU’s receiving corps is another fountain of youth. Of the 15 players with a catch this season 7 have at least two years of eligibility left. Of the four OU touchdown passes this season two have gone to a sophomore and two have gone to a true freshman.Malcolm Kelly (#2) seems to have become Bomar’s favorite target. He had eight receptions against Nebraska two week’s ago. That’s a combination we will see for a while because they are both freshmen. You also can’t overlook Travis Wilson (#4) who is about to move into the Sooners’ Top 10 All-Time Receiving List.
Joe Jon Finley (#85) has also become a receiving threat from the tight end position. His career long touchdown catch came last season at A&M when he hauled in a 24 yard pass from Jason White. The sophomore has two touchdown catches this season.
Quarterback
Rhett Bomar (#7) is a work in progress. He is learning the offense more each week and he is growing more comfortable as well as becoming a leader in the huddle. Bomar has completed 52 % of his passes for 1,167 yards, 4 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He is not afraid to take a hit so he will stay longer in the pocket and he is not afraid to run either. Bomar does have a tendency to fumble so look for the Aggies to come after him often.Running Backs
The best thing to happen to the OU offense is the return of Adrian Peterson (#28). Peterson is not 100% but he is as healthy as he has been in a long time. In his first game back he ran for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns against Nebraska.Fullback J.D. Runnels (#38) is a punishing blocker who has great hands. Look for OU to use him on screen passes.
Special Teams
Punter Cody Freeby (#17) is averaging 41.5 yards per punt and had a 70 yard punt against Tulsa.Kicker Garrett Hartley has made 8 of 13 field goals this season with a long of 52 yards against Texas. He has also made 22-23 P.A.T.’s this season.
Freshman Reggie Smith (#1) is the most dangerous kick returner and Senior Kejuan Jones (#20) is taking over the punt return duties this Saturday.
Baylor returned a kick-off for a touchdown against the Sooners.
So there you have it Aggie fans. Feel free to come on over to My Opinion on Sports and leave me your comments. If you are coming to Norman for the game drive safely and park at the Lloyd Noble Center. It’s the best place for parking and you can ride the shuttle (for a small fee) or take a brief walk through campus.
Enjoy the game and good luck! Boomer Sooner!
Prediction: OU 31/A&M 24
Thursday November 10th, 2005
8:58pmQB Controversy Revisited
About 3 weeks ago I wrote an article regarding the discussion of greatest Aggie QB.
On Monday in The Batt, Jonathan Wall wrote an article that basically covered everything that I was trying to disprove when I wrote mine.
Longtime TAMABINPO reader, Bryan, emailed me Monday afternoon to let me know that he had actually written a letter to the "Mail Call" section of the paper using the information from my article. What is even cooler is that his letter was printed.
What blows my mind is that Wall doesn't even think that Reggie should be in the conversation. Wow.
Like I've said before, I know that winning is the name of the game but all playing fields are not level....and Reggie is fighting a steep uphill battle in this one.
I don't disagree with Wall's assessment of the other quarterbacks or even his assessment of the results of Reggie's tenure. He's spot on there.
Wall mentions the SWC argument. I don't really know enough about it but it is something that I'd really like to investigate sometime in the future when I get some time on my hands.
I've been looking around for old stats and stuff and I still have not been able to find which players started what games during their career. I have some rough estimates but nothing solid. Here's what I came up with....Murray broke his leg in the 3rd Q of the 1984 Arkansas State game (the 3rd G of the season), he played in 34 games....Bucky started some in 1987, he missed all of 1989 due to a torn ACL, DNP v. Tulsa in 1991, he played in 40 games....Pullig took over around mid-season of 1992 and never looked back, he played in 41 games....Reggie played in 8 games during 2002 (and started 1 but left it in the beginning of the 2nd Q due to an injury), he started every game since the start of 2003 except the '03 texas game (but he was the leading passer anyways). Please let me know anything I'm missing or even where I could find box scores from the SWC days.
Here are the career numbers that I came up with from old media guides, etc. You'd think that this information would be available somewhere on the web but I couldn't find it. Please help me fill in the blanks if you can.
Kevin Murray (1983-1986) Passing Rushing Cmp Att %age Yds TD INT No. Yds TD Avg Year ======================== ============== 1983 132 249 53.0 1544 14 9 -115 1984 43 77 55.8 534 4 5 -73 1985 147 251 58.6 1965 13 10 38 1986 212 349 60.7 2463 17 8 99 ============================= ============== 544 926 58.7 6506 48 32 -51 Bucky Richardson (1987-1988, 1990-1991) Passing Rushing Cmp Att %age Yds TD INT No. Yds TD Avg Year ======================== =============== 1987 62 423 3 6.8 1988 108 554 9 5.1 1990 97 670 8 6.9 1991 1492 103 448 10 4.3 ============================= =============== 196 405 3039 14 370 2095 30 5.7 Corey Pullig (1992-1995) Passing Cmp Att %age Yds TD INT Year ======================== 1992 63 126 50.0 953 3 3 1993 144 243 59.3 1732 17 10 1994 161 269 59.9 2056 13 7 1995 165 307 53.7 2105 14 9 ======================== 560 992 56.5 6846 47 29 Reggie McNeal (2002-2005) Passing Rushing Cmp Att %age Yds TD INT No. Yds TD Avg Year ======================== =============== 2002 24 45 53.3 456 6 3 37 137 0 3.7 2003 113 221 51.1 1782 8 7 127 370 4 2.9 2004 200 344 58.1 2791 14 4 151 718 8 4.8 2005 129 236 54.7 1805 14 8 89 666 3 7.5 ======================== =============== 466 846 55.0 6834 42 22 404 2506 15 4.7I wanted to share some new stuff that I ran across. I was able to dig up the annual defensive stats for each season.
"Murray Era" "Bucky Era" ScorD TotD ScorD TotD ================ ================= 1983 15.8 306 1987 14.4 245 1984 19.7 317 1988 21.1 281 1985 16.4 282 1989 14.6 294 1986 17.0 258 1990 18.2 302 1991 13.1 222 "Pullig Era" "Reggie Era" ScorD TotD ScorD TotD ================ ================= 1992 14.0 304 2002 23.3 338 1993 10.8 248 2003 38.8 432 1994 13.4 266 2004 24.2 387 1995 13.5 258 2005 29.7 449Wow, I still can't get over how insane our defenses were. I can't even imagine....the best D's we've had since I've been here was 2001 (total defense was 294/game) & 2000 (17.8 points/g).
Here's a look again at the number of times our defenses gave up "X" amount of points (I added shutouts this time)....
"Murray Era" 0 <10 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 ========================================== 1983 0 2 6 1 1 1 0 1984 0 1 4 5 1 0 0 1985 0 2 6 4 0 0 0 1986 0 4 3 2 3 0 0 ========================================== 0 9 19 12 5 1 0 "Bucky Era" 0 <10 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 ========================================== 1987 1 2 7 3 0 0 0 1988 1 1 5 4 1 0 1 1989 0 2 7 2 1 0 0 1990 0 1 8 3 1 0 0 1991 0 5 5 1 1 0 0 ========================================== 2 11 32 13 4 0 1 "Pullig Era" 0 1-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 ========================================== 1992 0 4 6 2 1 0 0 1993 2 3 4 1 0 1 0 1994 1 1 7 2 0 0 0 1995 0 4 6 2 0 0 0 ========================================== 3 12 23 7 1 1 0 "Reggie Era" 0 <10 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+ ========================================================== 2002 1 3 2 3 2 1 1 0 0 2003 0 0 2 1 4 3 2* 0 1 2004 1 3 0 4 3 2 0 0 0 2005 0 1 1 3 1 2 1 0 0 ========================================================== 2 7 5 11 10 8 4 0 1We were 3-10 from 1983-1995 when we gave up 30 or more points. Like I said in the original article, it seems as if everyone has trouble winning when put in a hole like that.
12:01amTAMABINPO's Week 11 Rankings
TAMABINPO's Week 11 Rankings Rk. TEAM (LW; Record) LW Results ============================ ================ 1. Southern Cal (1; 9-0) W 51-21 Stanf 2. texas (2; 9-0) W 62-0 @Baylor 3. Miami (Florida) (4; 7-1) W 27-7 @VT 4. Alabama (5; 9-0) W 17-0 @MissSt 5. Louisiana State (6; 7-1) W 24-0 AppSt 6. Virginia Tech (3; 8-1) L 27-7 Miami 7. Ohio State (8; 7-2) W 40-2 Ill. 8. Penn State (14; 9-1) W 35-14 Wisc 9. Notre Dame (9; 6-2) W 41-21 Tenn 10. Georgia (11; 7-1) <----DNP----> 11. Florida State (7; 7-2) L 20-15 NCSt 12. Florida (13; 7-2) W 49-42 Vanderb 13. Oregon (16; 8-1) W 27-20 Cal 14. West Virginia (17; 7-1) W 45-13 UConn 15. Wisconsin (12; 8-2) L 35-14 @PennSt 16. texas tech (19; 8-1) W 56-17 TAMU 17. Auburn (18; 7-2) W 49-27 @Kty 18. UCLA (10; 8-1) L 52-24 @Ariz 19. Michigan (20; 6-3) W 33-17 @NWtern 20. TCU (22; 9-1) W 33-6 ColSt 21. Boston College (15; 6-3) L 16-14 @UNC 22. Colorado (24; 7-2) W 41-12 Mizzou 23. Fresno St (23; 7-1) W 45-7 SJSt 24. Georgia Tech (NR; 6-2) W 30-17 W.F. 25. Northwestern (NR; 6-3) W 28-27 Iowa OUT: 24. UTEP (25; 7-1) W 41-38 Tulsa 21. Oregon State (21; 5-4) W 18-10 @WashI think that I probably had Penn State a spot or so too low last week and combined with three teams ahead of them falling and a win over a tough Wisconsin they took a bigger jump than I would normally be comfortable administering.
I have absolutely no clue why I had Oregon State was ranked last week. I think I confused them with Oregon a couple of weeks back and didn't move them last week after their bye. That is certainly an error that slipped by me.
The official BlogPoll Top 25 for the week is now up so go check that out and see how far off I was from everyone else. Also, check out Brian’s post from Monday….there were 2 or 3 good articles linked from there.
This past weekend I got to see a pretty good chunk of football. I listened to the 1st quarter of the texas/Baylor game and watched the 3rd and 4th. VY played really well and Baylor was just flat out outmanned.
I watched all of the Notre Dame/Tennessee game and have officially concluded that Jeff Samardzija is my favorite non-Ag player. I actually concluded that before his 73-yd reception and his TD reception. He has 12 TDs on the season and one in each of the last 8 games....those are both Notre Dame records. Anytime someone sets a record at Notre Dame you know they're good.
I wanted to watch Wisconsin and Penn State but it was a regional game and my region got Mizzou v. Colorado.
I watched all of the Alabama/MissSt game. I hope you didn't miss the first 3 minutes of the 2nd half because 'Bama scored 14 points before their offense even took a snap. Their offense is pretty ugly (one TD pass since Prothro went down) but their defense is flat out nuts. Our friend, Warren St. John, pointed out that the defense hasn't surrendered a TD in their last 5 games (since September 24th against Arkansas). This weekend ESPN's College Game Day will be in Tuscaloosa for their match-up with LSU.
I saw bits and pieces of Iowa/Northwestern, OhioSt/Illinois, Minnesota/Indiana, Mizzou/Colorado, & I watched the entire 4th quarter of the Oregon/Cal game. Oh, and I watched most of the Virginia Tech/Miami game on Thursday.
Tuesday November 8th, 2005
Ag Football Recap: texas tech torches Ags, 56-17
Ron: "Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast."
Champ: "It jumped up a notch."
Ron: "It did, didn't it?"
Brick: "Yeah, I stabbed a man in the heart."
Ron: "I saw that. Brick killed a guy. Did you throw a trident?"
Brick: "Yeah. There were horses and a man on fire and I killed a guy with a trident."
Ron: "Brick, I've been meaning to talk to you about that. You should find yourself a safe house or a relative close by. Lay low for a while, because you're probably wanted for murder."
--AnchormanThe same could certainly be said for just about everything that happened after halftime. Unfortunately, it was more than one person who was stabbed in the heart....it was all of Aggieland.
I think what was so crushing about this game was that we quickly fell behind 14-0 but fought back and went into halftime following 10 unanswered points to make the score 14-10.
I made some notes as the game went on and I thought I'd share them.
- Stupid penalties early don't help (12 men on the field, & a personal foul)
- On the Hodges fumble at the end of the 1st quarter Jason Jack could have easily fallen on the loose ball had his jersey not been stuck in the clenched fist of a tt OLineman
- Play-action is good
- Jaxson Appel is out after the first defensive possession....less depth at safety now
- Lots of Mobley early on
- Fake punt....I like the idea but someone, I think it was Harrington, missed a block and my boy, Justin Brantly, had no chance. I think he would have made it otherwise. I'm glad he didn't get hurt. A dropped pass that would have picked up the first down preceded the fake punt.
- Why does the Big XII 10 Year Anniversary Patch say 1996-2006?
First of all 1996-2006 is eleven years. Second of all this year is the year 2005.
- Jason Jack is making his first start since Baylor. So far he's played well....was missing him part of the problem?
- Carpenter & Gorrer have played much better tonight when the ball is in the air
- Huge INT by Melvin Bullitt on the goal line with 2:14 remaining in the 1st half
- Defense played GREAT in the first half
- I warned about Dwayne Slay. He forced his Big XII record 12th fumble on J-Lane to start off the second half....that lead to a TD
- 3-and-Out following the FF
- I don't really care too much for the zone read option
- 3-and-Out on our 3rd possession of the half
- 4th & 10 -- Pass to Kerry Franks and Slay just about kills him while he's in the air....but he held onto the ball. Nice catch.
- This is sickening
- I liked the play fake pass to Martellus for the TD
I didn't really write too much in the second half....mainly because my pencil broke (I'm not saying how) but also because I think my eyes glazed as deja-vu took over.
Reggie played well in the first half completing 7 of his 10 passes (including his first 6 of the game). His second half wasn't so great but most of the bad was in the third quarter which is odd because his best statistical quarter this season is the third.
PASSING RUSHING ------------------ ------------ Att Com Yds TD INT Att Yds TD 1Q: 3 3 32 0 0 3 19 0 2Q: 7 4 34 0 0 1 6 0 3Q: 8 3 24 0 0 3 0 0 4Q: 6 5 41 1 1 1 1 0 ======================= ============ Tot: 24 15 131 1 1 8 26 0We got to see quite a bit of Jorvorskie Lane & Courtney Lewis as we attempted to control the clock to keep our defense off the field. The plan worked well in the first half when we had a +2:52 in the T.O.P. game. I like seeing both of them come out of the backfield....it gives us a little bit more of a thunder/lightning combo. The two combined for 29 carries and 184 yards on the ground.
C-Lew had a particularly solid day rushing for 95 on 10 carries. Since coming back from injury, Courtney has rushed for 184 yards on 15 carries including longs of 73 & 48.
J-Train has now rushed the ball 94 times on the season with only 3 negative carries and is averaging 4.71 ypc for the year.
My boy, Justin Brantly had himself another pretty solid day punting. He punted 5 times for an average of 40 yards per punt with punts of 44, 27, 42, 49, & 38.
Cody Hodges didn't set any records throwing the ball against us (29-of-44 for 408 yards & 2 TDs) but he still had a solid night. He found Jarrett Hicks 9 times for 147 yards and two TDs. He also found eight other raider receivers throughout the evening.
Taurean Henderson was the guy who most frustratingly killed us. He ran for 109 yards & 4 TDs on 20 carries plus he made 6 catches for 69 more yards.
We have to win at least one of our next two games to become bowl eligible and it's probably safe to say that we won't be favored in either of them (@OU & texas).
Here are the important numbers. I added average starting field position because I think it's safe to say that is pretty important as well.
Off3DC 1-of-10 Def3DC 9-of-14 T.O.P. -2:52 O#plys 65 D#plys 85 T.O. -2 O-FP AM19 D-FP tt42Nothing about any single one of those stats is really a positive....that is probably why we lost the football game.
The rumbling and grumbling for a change in the coaching staff continues to grow but my opinion isn't influenced by another game played. I understand that patience is a virtue that not everyone shares but our players didn't get any older in the last week and I still stand by my statement from Friday. Unless something completely bizarre and crazy happens that'll be exactly how I feel when this season ends too.
I'll have my weekly rankings up tomorrow....
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