Texas Tech recap: Gunned Down

The better our wins get, the more the media tells us how much we're going to get left out, how insignificant our early wins actually were, how "lucky" and "flukey" our record has been.  It's that time in the season where the blogs and tweets and articles that I look forward to all year long start turning on our team and I have to go into media black-out.  I'll try not to get sucked down into the pit of negativity that is November college football speculation.  But I'm hoping you guys can keep me accountable.

So!  Let's talk about that victory!

Some Things I Liked

 

I like Arthur.

-Opportunistic defense.  The defense gave up a ton of yards (442) but got the turnovers (3) and scored points (17) off them.  They had trouble with the pass coverage, didn't get a ton of pressure on Doege and didn't always get back in time to impede Tech's hurry up offense, but Tech's no slouch offensively.  It's kind of inconceivable that we gave up 442 yards and still beat them by 31.  It's even more inconceivable that they outgained us by 16 yards.  Snyder Ball.

-Meshak Williams.  Meshak had a huge day, just like I asked him to.  He forced a fumble in the first quarter, he knocked down passes at the line of scrimmage, he sacked Doege and he blocked a field goal in the second quarter.  He was huge and now I want him to be just a little bit better next week.  And the week after that.  And the week after that.  Etc.

-Chris Harper.  Harper is alive and well!  He had 99 receiving yards, set up huge blocks for the running game and continues to be our most clutch receiver.  Lockett may have the sideline hands, but Harper is big and tough and strong and will get it done in double coverage.  The receivers just keep getting better.

Some Things I Loved

I love Arthur.

-Collin Klein's rushing touchdowns.  Klein advanced his running game this week to include 20 yard touchdown runs instead of the 5 yard sneak we're so used to.  You know what?  The long run is even prettier than the short run.  The refs that botched so many calls in the first half made up for it in the second by throwing a block for Klein on his second rushing touchdown in the third quarter.  All is (mostly) forgiven.

-Arthur Brown's touchdown.  There is no one more deserving of a pick 6 than Arthur Brown.  It warmed my heart to see him get to the end zone, and then I saw how happy the rest of the team was for him.  This team!  They're something special.

-Randall Evans.  Randall finally got his big moment this week and put away the game for good with his fumble recovery.  Not only did he cause the fumble, but he scrambled around the side to pick it up, and then ran down the field 20 yards, and then got a face mask penalty which gave us another 15.  He's been so good this year at pursuing and blocking and tackling in space and never giving up and I was so happy to see him finally break through with this big time play.  

Some Things I Could Have Lived Without

I can't live without Arthur.

-Ryan Mueller's senseless chop block on Jarell Childs fumble recovery.  Did you guys watching at home notice how far away from the play he was?  Did you notice that he was blocking a guy who had no chance of impeding the touchdown?  Did you notice how late in the play he made the block?  Mueller had to go back upfield to block the guy, and the only thing I can figure is that he was excited and running on adrenaline and made a bad mistake.  It was a 4 point mistake, and took away a hard fought touchdown run from Jarell.  Bad on every front, but at least it didn't cost us the game.  I'm sure he'll be hearing quite a bit about that in film study.

-Questionable officiating on that whole series.  Okay, so Mueller should never have been near that guy, but it was a pretty suspect chop block to call.  To make matters worse, Thompson got pushed down in the end zone two plays later, the refs threw a flag for the obvious pass interference, then picked it up after deciding that their feet got tangled.  Two calls led to 3 points instead of 7.  Thankfully the game didn't come down to 4 points.

-First quarter play.  The guys looked stiff and slow throughout the whole first quarter.  The offense didn't seem to call plays that matched the defense.  The throws came late, and the runs came against a loaded box.  The defense took a few Tech possessions to really get the hang of Tech's rhythm and allowed a touchdown on the first offensive possession for the first time this year.  They only allowed one field goal after that in the first half, which is miraculous when you consider how many yards they racked up.  A little scary, but they did enough to give the offense time to warm up and get rolling.

Next up - Oklahoma State Cowboys.  Did you know that Oklahoma State is the only team Snyder hasn't beaten since his triumphant return?  Did you also know that the last second loss last year was one of Collin's lowest moments?  Every article I read about this team makes me like them even more.   See you Friday.  Avoid the media.  Expect to win.

The Thing You Never Knew You Needed But Now Can't Live Without - Week 9

Wouldn't it be great if Alabama, Florida and Notre Dame all lost today?  Then we could finally stop talking about the canceled game with Oregon and get back to being #1 in the country.  It's going to be a good day.

Big 12 Schedule

 

It's a weird feeling to cheer for OU.

11:00 a.m. FSN: Texas at KU
KU is getting closer to beating teams at home, due to the fact that their defense is improving and teams never, ever take KU seriously.  Will Texas be the team to fall?  Their defense is certainly dreadful enough, and it will be cold and quiet in Lawrence.  I think KU will have a chance, but I don't think they're disciplined enough to pull it off.  Prediction: 31-28, Texas.

2:30 p.m. FOX: Texas Tech at K-State (extended preview available)
Tech has only given up 10 plays of 20+ yards.  However, 4 of those came last week against TCU.  K-State's offense will prevail, as long as we protect the ball.  Prediction: 35-27, K-State.

2:30 p.m. FSN: TCU at OSU
I can't figure out these two teams.  TCU looked miserable at home against Iowa State, then took Texas Tech into triple overtime with their freshman QB.  OSU looked great against Texas, then escaped Lawrence with a 6 point victory.  They're currently ranked 7th in overall passing yards, so I'm guessing they'll have a monster day and move up to 3rd, just in time to visit Manhattan next week.  Prediction: 52-35, OSU.

6:00 p.m. FSN: Baylor at Iowa State
Terrifying fact of the week for Iowa State: Baylor has scored 45 points in 9 of their last 10 games.  Iowa State hasn't scored 45 points since 2010.  The Cyclones defense went missing in the second half of their game last week but I think the home crowd will keep them in this one.  Prediction: 30-24, Iowa State.  

7:00 p.m. ABC: Notre Dame at OU
OU has scored 32 of 33 times they've been in the red zone this season. Notre Dame is the only team in the country that hasn't given up a rushing touchdown this year.  In the battle of Belldozer vs. Manti Te'o, who will emerge victorious?  My money's on the Klein clone.  Prediction: 20-10, OU.

Best of the Rest

 

Johnathan Banks, meet Jonathan Banks.  You're our only hope now.

11:00 a.m. ESPN: South Carolina vs. Tennessee
South Carolina sure fell hard and fast, didn't they?  Derek Dooley really needs to win this game so that he can get another job next year.  South Carolina really needs to win this game so that Spurrier will stop destroying visors and headsets and quarterbacks.  Whatever happens will be sad.  They both had it so good!  And then they played Florida.  Prediction: 27-20, South Carolina.

2:30 p.m. CBS: Georgia vs. Florida
Georgia has only won 4 of the last 22 games against Florida.  Yuuuuuck.  Florida keeps getting better and more consistent and well-rounded.  Yuuuuuuck.  I really want Georgia to win.  But then I remember that they played even with Mizzou for a half, and we all know that Mizzou lost to Vanderbilt (Vanderbilt! Tee hee hee)  Prediction: 35-12, Florida. 

2:30 p.m. ABC: Arizona vs. USC
Everyone really, really wants to believe that Rich Rodriguez is succeeding at Arizona.  They're not, and USC only reacts poorly to teams who play defense.  Enjoy your Saturday, Trojans.  The real fun begins next week.  Prediction: 41-20, USC.

2:30 p.m. ESPNU: Duke vs. Florida State
Duke's been on kind of a hot streak this year and Florida State messed around with Miami for 3 quarters before deciding to play football.  This kind of game is the entire reason that ESPNU exists and it makes me sad all over again that we can't have DirecTV.  Watch it for me, tree-less football fans.  You don't know how good you have it.  Prediction: 38-35, Florida State.

4:30 p.m. ESPN: Ohio State vs. Penn State
The Big 10 is so embarrassing this year.  These are the top two teams in their division and neither of them are eligible for the postseason.  Or even the conference championship game.  Just go away for a couple of years and let the MAC take your place.  Y'all look silly.  Prediction: Disqualified. 

7:30 p.m. ESPN: Alabama vs. Mississippi State
Dan Mullen is currently beating Bill Snyder in the Coach of the Year poll.   If Dan Mullen beats Nick Saban this weekend, that will start to make a tiny bit of sense.  If he doesn't, can we all stop fooling around and voting for anyone other than Snyder and Mike Riley?  C'mon people.  Also, I love that Mississippi State's cornerback is named Johnathan Banks.  It's the most topically appropriate name for a cornerback in 2012.   Prediction: 35-21, Alabama.

9:30 p.m. Pac-12 Network: Washington vs. Oregon State
The only good thing about ESPN not showing this game is that College Football Final will start before midnight.  I can't wait to hear Lou's thoughts on the Notre Dame game, and Mark May's flippity-flop.  I give ESPN a fair amount of grief, but starting my day with GameDay and ending it with College Football Final is the perfect combination.  Oh!  I was supposed to talk about the game.  It'll be close, since it's in Washington, but without the benefit of practicing with a live beaver, I think Oregon State retains the upper hand.  Prediction: 24-14, Oregon State.

K-State vs. Texas Tech preview

I'm going to say something controversial and slightly dumb.  Are you ready?  I kind of hate blow-out victories.  It's not because I think close games are more exciting.  Close games are physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausting.  It's just that K-State, as a team, historically, has a super annoying habit of playing really poorly after a blow-out victory.  We've had one other huge blow-out this season against Miami.  The next week we came out flat, at home, against a fundamentally sound North Texas team.  We couldn't get off the field on defense and struggled to get anything going offensively until the end of the third quarter.  Last year we were coming off a huge victory over KU (of all people!) and thought we would just walk all over OU.

I think it's about a lack of hunger that makes us lose focus, take things for granted, and then get pouty.  We really can't afford that against Tech.  The offense and defense better have extremely short memories and stay conservative.  This is a much, much better team with plenty to prove, led by a Coach who has made a career out of shocking ranked opponents.  I'm confident, but also scared.  The longer we stay undefeated, the more restless I sleep.  I'm not ready for that to end. 

Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-1)

 

Yikes.  I thought the worst was over after West Virginia.  Turns out it's just the beginning. 

Players to Watch 
#7 Quarterback, Seth Doege - We spent all that time worrying about Geno Smith, only to be rewarded with Seth Doege.  Despite Geno's mind-boggling stats, it's Doege who has the touchdown record with 28 on the year.  West Virginia was ranked 6th in passing yards when we played them and Tech is ranked 4th.  How is it possible that they're even more statistically impressive?  The Big 12 is just a minefield of Heisman quarterbacks and super prolific offenses.  Hear that, ESPN?  A MINEFIELD.   

#16 Safety, Cody Davis - The truly terrifying thing about Tech this year is that they have a legitimate defense.  Tech last year was basically West Virginia this year.  That means that Tech this year is like OU last year.  Still with me?  Cody Davis is the leader of the Big 12's top defense with 56 tackles and 3 interceptions.  He's also a finalist for the Campbell trophy so he's a defender with a brain.  That's a truly lethal combination.  He'll be tested by our three offenses at once, but I expect him to get better as the game goes on.  Our offense will need to improve too.  


#86 and # 6 Wide Receivers, Alex Torres/Austin Zouzalik - If you watched any of the TCU/Tech game last week, you probably saw the Alex Torres highlight reel.  He and Zouzalik had an amazing day, catching everything Doege threw up, especially in high pressure situations.  TCU has a decent defense, and these two torched them all day long.  Our poor secondary will need to have an even better game than they did last week. 

Keys to Victory
Score more than 21 points.  K-State is 1 of 4 teams in the country to hold their opponents to 21 points or less in every game this year.  If Tech wants to pull off this upset on the road, they're going to have to score a lot more than 21 points.

Stop the run.  Now that Klein has proven himself as a legitimate passing threat, defenses have quite a bit more to do.  If Tech can stop the run first and keep Hubert, Pease, and Klein in the backfield, they should have enough time to create havoc with the offensive line and disrupt the passing game.  Sounds simple, but no team has been able to do it yet.

Avoid turnovers.  Last year's game appeared to be in Tech's favor well into the fourth quarter. Then Tech turned the ball over 4 times in 5 plays and K-State escaped Lubbock with the win.  Zimmerman is on a hot streak and Nigel gets closer every week.  With Randall Evans roaming around ready to tip balls and the pass rush gaining strength and confidence every week, Doege is going to have to be very careful on Saturday.


Fun Facts

If K-State wins this game, they'll be 8-0 for the first time since 1999.  Part of our trouble with getting to 8-0 is that we've lost 9 of the past 11 games against top 25 opponents at home.  Texas Tech is currently ranked 14 (or 15 or 17 - there are too many polls).  No pressure though.  It's not like there's a national championship on the line.  Or a chance for redemption for our beloved coach who had his heart shattered 14 years ago.  Nothing like that.  Walk in the park.

Texas Tech may not seem like the season's scariest opponent, but history is not in our favor.  We haven't defeated Texas Tech in Manhattan since 2000.  That means that we have a total of 2 home victories over the Red Raiders since the Big 12 began.  Texas Tech came to Manhattan for the first time in 1996, as the first game of the Big 12.  The Cats won that year, then again in 2000, and then... never again.  Our victory over Tech last year in Lubbock snapped a 5 game losing streak against the Raiders.  If you have K-State HDtv, go ahead and rewatch the game from last year.  It was the luckiest we've ever been. 

Spooky stat line of the week: Texas Tech and K-State have IDENTICAL scoring stats.  They've each played 7 games.  They've each scored exactly 300 points.  They've each had 39 touchdowns.  They've each had 9 field goals.  Spoooooooooky.

Last week, Stephen A. Smith made a name for himself as dum-dum ESPN analyst of the week by saying that Collin Klein only looked good because the rest of the team were a bunch of scrubs.  According to Smith, that made Geno Smith all the more impressive, because he wasn't surrounded by a stable of mediocrity.  After K-State thrashed West Virginia, the players wasted no time in tweeting Stephen Smith and others about their supposed mediocrity.  I appreciate the fire, but I think it's directed at the wrong person.  ESPN analysts are paid to be dumb.  It's the only way they get any attention.  The real anger has to be taken out on the opponent.  If not, you're just as bad as the analysts.  I'm anxious to see if we can do more showing than telling on Saturday. 

Kansas State Wildcats (7-0)

 

If it doesn't happen this year, can it ever really happen?

Players to Watch
#42 Defensive End, Meshak Williams - Meshak and Adam had a great game against West Virginia, but they're going to have to be even better against Texas Tech.  Doege is coming in with confidence after two huge passing games and he has great rhythm and timing with Torres and Zouzalik right now.  Our secondary will do what they can in the first half, but Meshak must get to the backfield and disrupt Doege in the second to prevent a shoot-out.

#3 Wide Receiver, Chris Harper - Are you finally ready, Chris?  We need you and Tyler and Tramaine to be equally lethal to make sure Collin has plenty of options.  You made sure the media heard all about your thoughts on mediocrity.  Now it's time to prove it.

#24 Cornerback, Nigel Malone - Poor Nigel has had about 10 almost interceptions this year and you can see his blood pressure rise a little more with each one.  He's such a ball hawk, and it drives me crazy to see him so close to breaking through.  He came up huge for us last year, scoring on a pick 6 in Tech's first offensive series.  A repeat might be necessary. 

Keys to Victory
Defend the pass.  Did you know that the secondary I'm always complaining about has only given up 7 passing touchdowns this year?  Did you also know that they've recorded 8 interceptions?  Sorry about that, guys.  I promise that if you keep up your streak of only allowing opponents to score 21 points or less, I will sing your praises in the recap blog.  I'm not worried about the offense suffering a mental letdown, but I'm a little worried about the secondary facing the two most prolific passing offenses back to back.  


Be special on special teams.  Have you ever noticed that Coach only shows emotion when the special teams unit screws up?  If they get a penalty, or miss a block, or allow a 100 yard return, he gets downright scary.  They owe him and the team and themselves after last week's debacle.  In last year's victory, the special teams unit blocked two field goals (Raphael Guidry), returned a kick for a touchdown (Tyler Lockett), and then blew an onside kick (Tysyn Hartman).  They need to play big on Saturday. 

Grind it out.  Turns out, when you play perfect football on the road, and your opponents are a bunch of undisciplined babies, time of possession doesn't really matter all that much.  However, against a quality Tech defense, at home, after a blow-out victory, I think we're going to need to return to our grind it out style of time suck football.

Trap Level
Coach said in the press conference this week that the idea of a trap game shouldn't exist in the Big 12 because anyone can beat anyone, on any given Saturday.  I was almost shamed into taking it out of the blog, but I still believe in that little bit of superstition.  I think that Texas Tech has played well enough to earn the player's attention and respect, but I have no idea if the players showed up to practice this week with the same level of attention and focus and effort that they did for the West Virginia game.  The possibilities for this team are staggering.  Can they handle the pressure?

Goal of the Week
#12 No Self-Limitations.  Coach has been saying it all week and I'll repeat it here.  Just because we were good last week, doesn't mean we can't be better this week.  Sage advice, considering our opponent will definitely be better than last week.

Prediction
I really have no idea what this one will look like.  We had no business winning in Lubbock last year, but magically did.  They have no business winning in Manhattan, but will they?  They looked terrible against an angry OU team and great against a sluggish West Virginia.  We both played Iowa State about the same.  We both have the exact same scoring stats.  We both have Heisman caliber quarterbacks and somewhat inconsistent defenses.  Are they tired from the 3OT battle in Fort Worth?  Are we tired from the cross country trek to Morgantown?  I think this one is bound to get a little sloppy, and frustrating for both fan bases, but in the end, you can't pick against K-State at home.  35-27, K-State. 

----
Insider tip: Do you all still have your K-State HDtv subscription that I advised you to get for the Missouri State game?  If you're like me, you do, and it's the best $10 you'll spend every month.  They have the weekly press conferences from Coach and Collin, the radio calls with pre-game, halftime and post-game shows, and the whole televised game up by Wednesday.  I have learned so much from re-watching these games and listening to Wyatt and Stan.  They've been following this team from the early Snyder days and they know their stuff. 

West Virginia recap: Primetime Domination

  

The Predator strikes again.

Well, that was unexpected.  I should've had more faith in the Cats, and I have to admit that I was almost as shocked as the Mountaineers at how good K-State was in every facet of the game from beginning to end.  This was a dominating performance, against a very good offense, in a match-up that, on paper, didn't seem to highlight our strengths.  We came in with a swagger I've never seen before and left with limitless opportunities.  The rest of this season just got terrifying.

Some Things I Liked: 

Angelo Pease!  Getting it done and serving as a viable back-up to Hubert.  I'm not sure if Hubert missed a block or why he was pulled in favor of Pease in this game, but for the first time since inferior competition (Miami, KU) Pease blocked and ran and read things effectively.  If he can improve his tackling, I think he'll be another great weapon in our running game.

Chris Harper.  Chris catches with style, doesn't he?  That TD catch to start the second half was epic and showed some of that fight that was missing in the early season games.  I still think Klein forces it to him a little too often, and he is responsible for Klein's only two interceptions this year, but he's definitely improving.  Now if we can just get him to show a little more humility in front of the media, we'll really be cooking.

Meshak Williams/Adam Davis.  Our big Defensive Ends had a huge day and continue to improve in getting off their blocks and bursting into the backfield at the most opportune moments.  They seem to get better as the game goes on, which is great for us in close games and blowouts.  I was proud of their continued effort into the fourth quarter.  These guys are hungry and I like it.

The only thing more beautiful than this catch was the final score.

Some things I loved: 

Collin Klein's passing game.  Yowza.  I had no idea he could throw like that.  And throw like that.  And throw like that again.  He and Lockett have incredible timing and his confidence should be way, way up after this game.  If it were anyone other than Collin, I would worry, because West Virginia's pass defense is the worst I've ever seen in college football.  It was a nice opportunity for him to be able to show that facet of his game without repercussion.  Even with the new confidence, I expect to see more of the grind it out style next week against Tech.

Tyler Lockett.  What a day!  He's so good on the road, in the passing game, when we need a big play, or a little play, or a first down, or a throat punch.  He's clutch, and if he can clean up his blocks a little bit (he's had two holding calls in two weeks) he'll be our most efficient offensive weapon.  Can you believe this kid is only a sophomore?  Coach got so lucky when he signed Kevin some 20 odd years ago.

Randall Evans.  He is slowly but surely filling David Garrett's shoes and doing a terrific job in our nickel package.  He's progressed so much since the non-conference games and has really caused some major chaos on defense.  Like Ryan Mueller, if there's a big play breaking on defense, chances are that Randall had some hand in it.  Keep it up, Randall.  We see you. 

Arthur Brown's interception.  It was an interception off a tip ball, of course, because Arthur is nothing if not a team player.  I love that he was able to break both RG3 and Geno's interception streak in back to back seasons.  I loved his instincts against the run.  I loved his unimpeded corner blitzes.  I loved that every time I heard a helmet crack, it was Arthur leading the judgment.  Big game Arthur never lets me down.

Ty Zimmerman's interception.  Ty had a great game, just like I asked him to.  Did you know that he now has interceptions in 4 straight games?  That's a Bill Snyder record.  Can he make it 5 this weekend?  We'll need him to, and I'd like to see just how far this record can go.  His 4th interception sure was a thing of beauty though, wasn't it?  

 

I can't imagine K-State football without the Lockett family tree.

Some Things I Could Have Lived Without:

Tavon Austin's 100 yard kick return.  I'm pretty sure he was untouched.  Untouched for 100 yards, against the finest special teams unit in the land.  What happened, Sean?  It was an embarrassing moment in the middle of a perfect game and it sticks in my mind that much more because of it.

Collin's last offensive drive.  The line had been doing so well all game long and then suddenly, up 52-14 in the fourth quarter, they just stopped playing.  Hubert couldn't get past the line of scrimmage and Collin was sacked on third down in what looked like a vicious hit.  There's no way he should've been in the game that late anyway, and I hope he didn't get hurt because of it. 

The Thing You Never Knew You Needed But Now Can't Live Without - Week 8

Big 12 Schedule

11:00 a.m. FX: Iowa State at Oklahoma State
Can Iowa State make it two in a row?  Iowa State looks much better this year and Oklahoma State looks much worse.  Joseph Randle is OSU's most consistent weapon, but Iowa State's run defense is no joke.  This one should come down to the final minutes.  Prediction: 24-20, Iowa State.

2:30 p.m. ABC: Texas Tech at TCU
Texas Tech won big last week, which means they're ready for their annual implosion.  TCU is weak, plays poorly at home and is young and inexperienced at nearly all the skill positions.  The middle of the Big 12 is predictably unpredictable.  Prediction: 28-17, TCU.

6:00 p.m. FOX: K-State at West Virginia (extended preview available)
Class vs. Flash.  Klein vs. Smith.  Defense vs. Offense.  Nausea everlasting.  Prediction: 42-38, K-State.

6:00 p.m. FSN: KU at Oklahoma
Oklahoma woke up and decided to play football the past two weeks.  Think the coaches can get them excited about KU at home?  Not a chance.  Think KU will be able to capitalize on it?  Not even a little bit.  Prediction: 41-20, OU.

7:00 p.m. ABC: Baylor at Texas
Things are looking pretty bleak for Mack Brown and the Longhorns after last week's Red River rout.  Luckily Baylor's coming to town dead last in total defense. Unluckily for Texas, they're also bringing the #1 overall total offense.  It's a sad day in the neighborhood when Texas has to win a shoot-out to beat Baylor.  It's an even sadder one when they can't do it.  Prediction: 35-30, Baylor.

Best of the Rest

11:00 a.m. ESPN: LSU at Texas A&M
I can't wait to see the vaunted LSU defense take on Johnny Football at Kyle Field.  LSU has no idea the freak show they're about to enter.   God rest their souls.  Prediction: 30-20, Texas A&M.

2:30 p.m. CBS: South Carolina at Florida
Ugh.  Almost all of South Carolina's playmakers are out for this game due to injury or flu.  Do I really have to pick Florida?  That's my only option?  Fine.  But I'm not rooting for them.  Prediction: Gators win.  The world weeps.     

2:30 p.m. NBC: BYU at Notre Dame
This could be the ugliest game of football all year.  It's not so much that their defenses are solid as their offenses are completely inept.  Make Notre Dame play West Virginia and then talk about their amaaaaaazing defensive prowess.  If BYU were at all kind, they would beat Notre Dame this weekend so that OU doesn't get the credit for "exposing" them next week.  Prediction: 17-14, BYU.
 

6:00 p.m. ESPN: Alabama at Tennessee
Alabama is finally playing a team with an offense and Derek Dooley has nothing to lose except his job, orange pants, and future happiness.  Nothing to see here except destruction and weeping.  Lots and lots of weeping.  Prediction: 49-28, Alabama.

9:30 p.m. ESPN2: Utah at Oregon State
Did you guys see that feature on Mike Riley last week?  Oregon State is just precious.  Prediction: 35-10, Oregon State.  In-N-Out for everyone!

K-State vs. West Virginia Preview

Last weekend during Texas Tech's dismantling of the Mountaineers I finally figured out why I can't seem to take West Virginia football seriously.  I watched Dana Holgorsen chug a Red Bull on the sideline right before kick-off.  I stared in amazement at Joe DeForest in his sloppy polo and backwards baseball cap.  I looked at Geno Smith and Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey and wondered why they weren't talking to each other.  And then it hit me.  They're essentially a group of frat guys playing video game football.  Their offense is all run and shoot.  Their defense is non-existent.  Their team goals?  Winning.  Scoring.  Stat lines.  They're aggressive, excessive, unrelentingly confident and insufferably entitled. 

Perhaps that's why I'm so intrigued by this match-up.  You can't find two more diametrically opposed teams in all of college football.  West Virginia is flashy, shiny, fast.  K-State is strategic, disciplined, slow.  Is a Stedman Bailey one-handed reception more impressive than a pancake block by tiny Tyler Lockett?  Is a 60 yard Geno Smith touchdown pass prettier than Collin's incredible patience on an option read?  Sportscenter says yes.  This football fan says no.  My college football heart needs the tortoise to beat the hare.  The frat guys shall not inherit the Earth.   

West Virginia Mountaineers (5-1)

 

Geno Smith: the man with the impossibly long arm 

Players to Watch

#12, Quarterback: Geno Smith - I don't know if you've heard, but Geno's pretty good at football.  His passing stats are insane, as most video game QBs are.  75% completion percentage, 2,271 yards and 25 touchdowns and we're only halfway through the season.  He's also the lone Big 12 QB without an interception this season.  Is it too much to ask to get an interception on the first play of the game?  Fine, I'll settle for the first offensive series.
 
#13, Running Back: Andrew Buie - West Virginia relies on Andrew Buie to run the ball occasionally so that they can make their long, vertical passes seem surprising.  They're not surprising, but Andrew Buie has been a surprisingly effective running back in the West Virginia points machine.  We'll need to do what we always do and stop the run first to make West Virginia one-dimensional.  Of course, we're forcing them into their scariest dimension, but when you can't stop it, you've just got to lean into it and hope for the best.  It's the Midwest way.
 
Wide Receivers, #1: Tavon Austin and #3: Stedman Bailey - Geno may be the straw that stirs the drink, but these two are the key ingredients in West Virginia's offense of pain and destruction.  They catch with style, they catch with substance, and they catch absolutely everything.  As if that weren't bad enough, they're also West Virginia's return specialists. It's really only a matter of time before Joe DeForest finally figures out how to install them in his secondary so that they can catch everything on all sides of the ball.  Essentially our defensive plan is three fold.  1. Stuff the run game.  2. Pressure Geno into making bad passes.  3. Force these two to only catch 50% of the bad passes.  If we can do that, we should be within spitting distance at halftime.   

Keys to Victory

Play video game football.  West Virginia got in an early hole last week in Lubbock which led to Geno Smith forcing deep passes when there was no need to hurry.  They went for fourth down when they should have punted and kicked field goals when they needed to go for it on fourth down.  They were desperately searching for a shortcut instead of just focusing on one drive at a time.  If they can reboot and forget all about last weekend, their offense should be fine.  And when their offense is fine, generally their team wins.

Show up on defense.  Just a little bit of improvement here would do a lot.  Force some three and outs.  Don't allow over 300 yards on the ground.  Execute some blocks on special teams.  Do the bare minimum and stop making it so blatantly obvious that you spend all your practice time on offense. 

Protect your breadwinner.  Geno got sacked a lot in the Texas game which could explain why he was so incredibly hesitant to run the ball against Texas Tech.  A nervous quarterback is a deadly virus to an offense, so the line will need to protect him for as long as possible to keep the points machine going. 

Fun Facts


Though this is the first time we've played West Virginia since 1931, the head coaches are very familiar with each other.  Dana Holgorsen coached under Mike Leach at Texas Tech from 2000-2007 and Oklahoma State in 2010.  Overall, he has a 5-1 record against us, with his only loss coming in 2000.  Historically, Snyder teams have had trouble keeping up with Air Raid offenses, and Tom Hayes will have his hands full this weekend.  
 
Currently K-State is one of four teams to hold their opponents to 21 points or less in all 6 games this season.  The other three teams are Alabama, Notre Dame and Florida.  If K-State manages to escape Morgantown with that stat intact, I think they deserve to jump Florida in the BCS.

So far in Big 12 play, the K-State defense has allowed one play longer than 30 yards.  That 31 yard play surprisingly came against KU, not Oklahoma.  West Virginia should have to work a little bit harder for their highlights on Saturday.

This game could get chippy as the fan bases have been at war this week.  First came the K-State Mask video, then the goEMAW.com controversy.  Also keep in mind that West Virginia sells alcohol in their stadium.  Fans will be ready, rowdy and roaring drunk by the time the 6pm kick-off rolls around.  And you thought Ames was loud.

Kansas State Wildcats (6-0)

#12 to #12, all day long.

Players to Watch

#12, Safety: Ty Zimmerman - Ty has been coming up huge for us this season and we so appreciate it.  Now we need him to have the absolute best game of his life.  He's got to knock down passes.  He's got to intercept Geno.  He's got to not get called for pass interference.  He must never, ever, ever be out of position.  He's the key and I would not want to be him on Saturday.

#4, Linebacker: Arthur Brown - Is there anything better than big game Arthur?  He'll have an amazing day whether we win or lose and I can't wait to see all the brilliant things he does.  Swoon.

#16, Wide Receiver: Tyler Lockett - Tyler played a huge role in the Texas Tech and OSU games last year and will need to do the same here.  He and Tramaine need to be active early on offense and special teams.  West Virginia's defense is suspect, and we know that Collin will do his part.  Now we just need Tyler to get open and run fast and we'll have a good shot at keeping up in a shoot-out.

Keys to Victory

Time of possession.  The key to this game has to be keep away.  We held the ball for over 40 minutes last week against Iowa State and had multiple drives of 7 minutes or more but still only managed to score 27 points.  That won't cut it against the Mountaineers.  They've got to be long, sustained drives and they've got to end in touchdowns.  If I was Joe DeForest, I would just let K-State score once the drive went over 3 minutes.  Just fully commit to living and dying by offense alone.  That's just one of many reasons I'll never be a football coach.    

Defensive positioning.  Normally I'm not a huge fan of our super soft zone that allows passes up the middle all day long, but if it means that we can keep their receivers underneath, then I'm all for it.  I doubt we can do much in the way of blitzing because Geno is so quick, but with a four man front and Brown, Mueller and Tuggle on pass rush, we should be able to disrupt him enough to keep him slightly off rhythm.  It will take awhile, and they'll put up a ton of yards in the first half, but if we stay in position and get a good feel for it, the second half should start turning in our favor. 

Play opportunistic football.  We're going to need a few things to go our way in this one.  Special teams will need to be huge for both momentum swings and field position.  The defense will need to be opportunistic and I would really love to see Geno's interception free season end early in this game to get him good and rattled.  Finally, we need to play turnover free football and avoid as many penalties as we can.  Morgantown will be incredibly unfamiliar, hostile and loud, so I hope they got all their jitters out last week in Ames.  There is very little margin for error on the road, especially against this quick strike offense.  Still, I think it will come down to coaching.  The key to escaping with the victory will be to trick West Virginia into playing conservative when they should go all-in.  It's my favorite SnyderBall trick.   

Trap Level
Nonexistent.  The media may have lost interest after West Virginia lost last week but we sure didn't.  Beating this type of team, on the road, to stay undefeated, is as big as it gets.

Goal of the Week
#13 - Expect to Win.  We have all the advantages in this game.  All we have to do is execute.  We can't get intimidated by the offensive weapons or the environment or the speed.  If we play our game and capitalize on their inevitable mistakes, we should absolutely win this game. 

Prediction
I think this game will either be like our win at Texas Tech in 2011 or our loss in Stillwater in 2011.  I can't imagine it would end up like our OU game, simply because of West Virginia's defense.  We can certainly come up short in a shoot-out, but if we make the halftime adjustments and start to eat some clock and score frequently in the second half, I think we have an excellent shot at leaving Morgantown 7-0.  K-State wins it, 42-38.

Iowa State recap: Phew!

Honey Badger, Optimus Klein, Baby Tebow, Kleinapple Express.  You know which one I've always preferred?  The BillSnyder Kleinsdale, because I love that end zone gallop.

 

I have never been so happy to see a game end.  This one was messy, and I held my breath on every extra point, feeling like the first team to miss would be the eventual loser.  K-State and Iowa State are so similar in what they try to do that the game is usually decided by one or two mistakes and one or two playmakers.  In the past four years, we've been on the winning end of that equation, but it can't last forever.  Thankfully, we got through this one.  Even more thankfully, we only have to play them once a year. 

Good

Loooooooong, sustained drives.  K-State held the ball for over 10 minutes in the second, third and fourth quarters.  It didn't always result in points, but the keep away was effective and gave our defense ample opportunity to rest.  By the time the fourth quarter rolled around and we absolutely had to have the stops, the defense was rested and ready to go.  We crazy dominated the time of possession in this game, 41:54 to 19:06.  And yet we still only won by 6 points!  Iowa State is so dangerous. 

Collin Klein.  Collin scored all of our touchdowns against Iowa State.  All of them.  He also had over 100 yards on the ground, compared to Hubert's 82.  He converted third and forevers on his feet and connected with receivers while the pocket collapsed around him to keep drives going.  He called time-outs that saved us from penalties when there were too many/too few men on the field. He has so much to do and he does it beautifully.  The patience he shows on option reads is just phenomenal. We should appreciate it now because Sams is the jitteriest jitterbug I've ever seen try to run Snyder's offense.

Bad

Pass rush:  For the second time this year, we never got the QB to the ground.  Not so good.  I like the variety of blitzes that Tom Hayes is calling though, and Meshak batted down three passes in the second half, so it's not as if our pass defense is ineffective.  I just like sacks.  Though, is there anything prettier than an Arthur Brown blitz package?  I love that he plays spy for the first two downs and then rushes up the middle, untouched, to wreak havoc.  Can you imagine anything more terrifying than Arthur "Predator" Brown running unimpeded straight at you?  Nightmarish.

Offensive line:  Remember when I warned you to look out for flags flying in the first half?  Once Keenan Taylor got a 15 yard penalty for tripping, I knew it was going to be a bad day for the O-Line.  To their credit, they got through it, and never had a string of penalties, which you sometimes see with undisciplined lines.  I think the offense definitely struggled with focus, and I know there were communication issues from the booth to the sideline to Collin, so overall, they did a good job of minimizing mistakes in a bad situation.

Ugly

Penalties.  In the first 5 games we had a total of 9 penalties.  At Iowa State we doubled that number.  Some were good, some were bad, all could have been avoided.  Braden was flagged for two holding penalties?  Keenan Taylor got a 15 yard penalty for tripping?  Off sides calls?  Pass interference calls?  Delay of game?  It was a mess from start to finish, and though the officiating was a little suspect at times, you just don't want to start the second half with two penalties on the kick return to begin at the 4 yard line.  Super observant nugget - Coach never reacts when the other team scores, or when there's a turnover, or when we score a touchdown.  The only - ONLY - time you'll see a reaction out of Coach is when we get a penalty on special teams.

This was a family victory, through and through.

Rant of the week: why do we call so many offensive plays that start 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage?  Is that really how they're designed?  Does it work against anyone other than KU?  I detected what I thought was a little KU hangover in some of the play calling this week. Take, for example, Angelo Pease.  When Hubert was having success running the ball, they pulled him and put in Angelo, who had a great day against KU last week.  Not so much against Iowa State.  It must be so frustrating to be Angelo Pease.

Favorite play of the game: Collin's 46 yard pass to Tyler Lockett at the end of the second half.  It was a beautiful throw, a great catch and the perfect play call.  After last week's disastrous mismanagement before the half led to no points despite being on the 2 yard line, I was happy to see our version of the quick-strike offense get into the end zone.

Favorite team moment: On a 4th and inches, Collin ran the QB sneak straight up the gut and got buried in a pile.  Shortly after the whistle blew, an Iowa State lineman ran around the back of the pile and started tugging at Collin's foot.  Hubert, who wasn't involved in the play, saw the lineman and ran over to shoo him away.  Family 101.

Second favorite team moment: After Tramaine muffed a punt on the 20 yard line, Ty Zimmerman saved the day by intercepting Jared Barnett on the very next play.  The first person to congratulate him when he got to the sideline was Tramaine.  

Favorite Paul Rhoads similarity: He has a headset guy too!  They've got to be the last two coaches in the FBS without wireless headsets.  Old school football, clap, clap, clap clap clap.

The Thing You Never Knew You Needed But Now Can't Live Without - Week 7

Big 12 Schedule

11:00 a.m. FX: K-State at Iowa State (extended preview available)
Did I mention that we haven't won in Ames since 2003?  I'll be happier when this one is over.  Prediction: 27-23, K-State.

11:00 a.m. ABC: Texas vs. Oklahoma
For the first time in years, Texas and Oklahoma are evenly matched, so naturally, no one is talking about the fried food fest this year. I think David Ash is the real deal, and Texas' defense should be disruptive enough to get Landry Jones to start jabbing his feet again.  If college football makes any sense, Texas will win this one.  Prediction: 35-21, Texas.

2:30 p.m. FSN: Oklahoma State at KU
Good news KU fans... Basketball practice has officially started!  Prediction: 49-17, OSU.

2:30 p.m. ABC: West Virginia at Texas Tech
So I have this sneaking suspicion that either K-State or West Virginia will lose this weekend.  The match-up is too good, too big, too important not to be ruined right before.  West Virginia has won their last two games by 7 and 3 points.  They earned a little bit of my respect last weekend against Texas, but I have more faith in the mystical powers of Tuberville in Lubbock.  Prediction: 45-42, Texas Tech.

6:00 p.m. FSN: TCU at Baylor
TCU is going to have a rough season without Pachall but Baylor isn't a terrible place to regroup.  After the 70 point massacre in Morgantown, I'm sure Baylor's defense is ecstatic about the prospect of a running game and a rookie under center.  Expect both teams to be kind to each other, whether they mean to or not.  Prediction: 28-16, Baylor.

Best of the Rest

2:30 p.m. NBC: Stanford at Notre Dame
I might finally be on board with Notre Dame being a good team this year.  I've yet to watch them play a single down, but they keep winning and people keep talking and eh, maybe.  I'm still not on board enough to pick them though.  Prediction: 17-14, Stanford. 

2:30 p.m. CBS: Alabama at Missouri
I just read that James Franklin is out again for this game.  It's going to be a lot harder to be "the Iowa State of the SEC" without him.  Especially when the rest of your team lost to Vanderbilt last week.  Teehee.  Vanderbilt.  Oh you silly Tigers.  Prediction: Bloodfest or 52-3, if you want to get specific about it. 

4:30 p.m. ESPN2: Boston College at Florida State
So... Florida State lost to NC State last week and we're all just not talking about it?  College football talking points are so weird.  Half of the Gameday crew picked Florida State to be in the national championship.  Are we just going to ignore that and pretend that they picked Alabama all along?  The ACC is not a good place to be.  Luckily even Miami beat Boston College so the Seminoles should pick up a good win.  Not that anyone will mention it.  Prediction: 42-21, Florida State.

5:00 p.m. ESPNU: Florida at Vanderbilt
Can Vanderbilt make it two in a row?  I don't know if you know this, but they beat Missouri last week.  Can they beat Florida after also beating Missouri last week?  They're pretty confident right now, since they beat Missouri last week.  Vanderbilt is 2-3 on the season and 1-2 in the SEC with their lone SEC victory coming over the Missouri Tigers last week. Prediction: Can you believe Missouri lost to Vanderbilt?? Bahahahahahahahaah. (Florida still sucks).

6:00 p.m. Fox: USC at Washington
Here's another PAC-12 logic wheel for you.  USC lost at Stanford, then Stanford lost at Washington, therefore Washington should beat USC by a little more than a lot.  However!  Washington went down to LSU earlier this season and lost by 40 points, despite practicing all week with a live tiger.  What does this prove?  USC is underwhelming and Steve Sarkisian makes bad choices.  Also, home field advantage is a factor.  Prediction: 31-28, Washington.

7:00 p.m. ESPN: South Carolina at LSU
LSU had only one third down conversion against Florida?  Really?  Wait, South Carolina's defensive end is named Jadeveon Clowney??  How are there so many amazing things happening that I don't know about?  Football is the gift that keeps on giving.  Prediction: 15-6, South Carolina.  That's right.  I'm predicting a safety.  Boom.

K-State at Iowa State Preview

 

The only bad part about doing these blogs every week is searching for images.  The librarian in me knows there has to be a better way than Google images but I haven't found it yet. So this week you get my 4 favorite results from the image search "farmageddon."

Farmageddon has arrived and there's danger in the air.  (No really, they're forecasting severe thunderstorms in Ames on Saturday).  Last year's game was delayed two hours due to lightning and this year's game looks to be just as electric. (Weather humor!)  Iowa State is coming off a big road victory against overrated TCU while K-State looked mostly sloppy in a 40 point trouncing of in-state rival KU.  Paul Rhoads has been gunning for K-State since he arrived in 2009 but so far they've managed to escape.  This year he gets us on his home turf for the very first time, with the best team he's ever had.  It's a big one, and we'd all be better off watching through partially covered eyes.  OSU knows what I'm talking about.

Iowa State (4-1)

 

 Seriously, just do the Google search.

Players to Watch
#47 & #20, Linebackers: AJ Klein, Jake Knott.  Jake is the leader with two interceptions on the year and leads his team in tackles.  Put them together and they have a terrifying 83 tackles in 5 games.  Iowa State is the only Big 12 team with two players in the top six in the league in tackles.  What does that mean?  We'll have to claw for every inch.  Even worse?  These guys have seen us before and almost got us then.
#19, Wide Receiver: Josh Lenz.  Lenz had a monster of a game last week, with three of his five catches resulting in touchdowns against TCU.  As if that weren't enough, he also had a touchdown pass, just for kicks.  Barnett isn't exactly the most accurate quarterback in the league, but our pass defense can be very forgiving.  In order to keep Iowa State one-dimensional, we'll need to shut down Lenz.
#8, Running Back: James White.  Iowa State is deceptively deep in the running game.  White is their starting back, but Aaron Horne can hurt you on special teams and Jeff Woody can be deadly in the short yardage power running game.  Simply put, they have weapons, and if the weather becomes a factor and the line gets tired in the second half, these guys could earn a name for themselves. 

Keys to Victory
No running in the stadium!  Iowa State is currently allowing 115.8 rush yards per game.  That's John Hubert's average alone.  They'll have a tough task stopping Hubert, Klein and Pease but they might be the most equipped team in the league to do it.   
Let's play keep away.  The time of possession battle is more important for Iowa State this week because their offense has struggled and K-State has held all their opponents to 21 points or less.  In order for Iowa State to keep it close into the fourth quarter, they'll need to play a fair amount of keep away.
Don't be a dropper.  Iowa State has been on the losing end of the turnover battle in 3 of their 5 games but managed to win them anyway.  They'll need to hang on to the ball to keep it competitive as well as forcing a few opportunistic turnovers of their own.  K-State only has 3 turnovers on the year though, so they'll have their work cut out for them. 
 
Fun Facts

In the past four years, K-State has won this game by 8 points or less.  Paul Rhoads was responsible for the last 3 of those, coming within 1 point of victory in his first showdown with the Snyder Cats in 2009.  The last time we ventured to Jack Trice Stadium was in 2007 when Ron Prince led us to a humiliating 31-20 loss.  Why humiliating, you ask?  Oh maybe because Iowa State only won 3 games that year and the other two victories were by margins of 2 and 3 points.  You think KU looks bad now?  That's nothing compared to Ron Prince teams in November.  

Extra points are kind of a mysterious bugaboo for Iowa State.  For example:
2009 - Iowa State scores a touchdown with one minute left in the 4th quarter and pulls within 1 point of overtime.  Emmanuel Lamur blocks the extra point and the Cats win, 24-23.
2011 - In a game where Iowa State jumped out to an early lead and K-State played from behind for most of the game, Raphael Guidry blocked an extra point in the first quarter to make the game 13-7, Iowa State.  K-State took control of the momentum from there and went on to win it, 30-23. 

Iowa State has already missed 3 extra points on the season (highest in the league), despite only attempting 17 (second fewest in the league).  Both Guidry and Lamur are gone now, so we have an opening for a new block hero.  For what it's worth, my money's on Meshak.
 

K-State (5-0)

The blonde girl perfectly depicts my feelings on gardening, cooking, and other domestic duties.

Players to watch
#7, Quarterback: Collin Klein.  AJ Klein and Jake Knott are two of the best linebackers in the league and they've already seen what Klein can do.  In last year's game they held us to just 201 rushing yards and were fierce in the red zone.  Klein is a better passer this year, and he'll need to have a good day with his receivers in order to keep the linebackers off balance.

#33, Running Back: John Hubert.  Fun fact - Hubert already has 532 yards on the season.  That's an average of over 100 yards a game.  Hubert had a huge game against Iowa State last year and will need another one this year.  He can't do anything on his own though, and the offensive line will have to win this game up front for us to have any chance at scoring.

The Offensive Line.  These guys play as a unit, so it's not really fair to single one out.  Our whole offensive game plan relies on their wall, and Iowa State's front seven are beastly.  Keep an eye on the false starts, which should tell us how much they're gelling in the hostile environment of Jack Trice stadium.  Amazingly they've only had one false start this season.  If the flags fly in the first half, it's time to worry.

Keys to Victory
QB(id) Shuffle.  Jared Barnett started for the first time last week, but Steele Jantz is aching for his job back.  If we can keep Iowa State frustrated enough that they have to switch quarterbacks, we'll be in good shape.
Hit the Ground Running.  It took 346 rushing yards last year for K-State to squeak out a 30-23 victory over Iowa State.  This year Iowa State's rush defense is even better, and returns almost all of the skill players from their 2011 team.  Our Offensive Line has looked stellar so far this year and they're going to need a huge game to create space for Klein and company.
Pass it up, pass it in.  Let me begin.  Iowa State lost to Texas Tech, but still held them to 24 points on almost 400 yards of passing.  How did they do that?  Stout red zone defense.  We'll need to utilize the pass to open up the run and then figure out how to perfect that pretty fade route to Harper for touchdowns.  Hubert the human pinball will also come in handy, and if Braden can be trusted with the ball, he might be a particularly useful bulldozer up the middle.  Every inch in the red zone will be difficult.

Trap Level
DANGER DANGER DANGER.  K-State opens as only a 6.5 point favorite, which says something about the upset tendencies of the Cyclones.  Can it really be considered an upset when they do it consistently?  Iowa State and West Virginia are pretty much polar opposites in nearly every facet of the game, so if the players are looking ahead and thinking about West Virginia, you'll be able to tell immediately. Rhoads has had our number since he arrived at Iowa State and we've been able to sneak out on turnovers, special teams plays and a little bit of magic.  This year though, we're in Rhoads' house. If K-State doesn't show up to this game ready to play physical football on the lines, we will absolutely lose.

Goal of the week
#5 Be Tough - Mentally and physically.  Iowa State likes to play our brand of football which is more about strength than style.  Last year it was rainy and cold and we paid for each yard.  This year we'll be in extremely hostile territory, in a place where no one on the roster has played.  Add to that the history of Paul Rhoads pulling upsets at home and it will take every ounce of mental toughness these players have to keep the game between the white lines.

Prediction
I think this game will be close and stressful and uncomfortable and generally unfun the first time through. The match-ups are brutal.  It looks like the weather will be brutal.  The morning kick-off is brutal and the stakes are brutal.  We absolutely have the talent to win this game.  We'll need a little magic too.  27-23, K-State.   

 

"I have escaped Upset Valley... victorious!  And I am SO PROUD..."

KU Recap - A Sleepy Start

The Sunflower Showdown was as weird as ever.  The final score showed blow out but the Cats were only up by 7 at the half, and had just handed KU the momentum heading into the locker room.  However, K-State pulled out a vintage 3rd quarter and outscored KU 28-2 to allow Daniel Sams and the back-ups to take over in the 4th.  It was a game where we took 20-30 snaps less than usual.  A game where we lost the time of possession battle by almost 14 minutes.  A game where the O-Line changed positions several times throughout the game.  A game where we allowed a tight end to score a touchdown.  Straight up wacky.

First Quarter

 

Baby Lockett takes the best acrobatic photos

 Offense. That was by far the ugliest opening drive of the year.  Were they cold?  Were they asleep?  The whole thing was very strange.  Opurum should've picked off Collin on the first play of the game and run uncontested into the end zone.  Collin threw to Harper on the second play, one of those awful passes to Harper that never ever work.  Why is he always right on the sideline when he catches the ball?  All the other receivers get nice over the middle passes and Collin hits them in stride and they look super flashy.  Harper always has to squish right up next to the sideline so that he ends up with negative yards after catch.  Those two are still off.  Then the line completely dissolved on the third play and Collin just sort of ran to the middle and sat down.  It was baffling and frustrating, made even worse by the fact that KU answered with a 6 minute touchdown drive.
One good thing:  The second drive was the exact opposite.  The line opened up huge holes for Hubert, Collin had the greatest option read of his career on a super delayed pitch to Hubert, and we scored on one of the prettiest misdirection plays I've ever seen. 
Defense.  The defense looked even sleepier.  They survived by the skin of their teeth.  Do you realize how close Pierson was to busting out for a 60 yard TD run on KU's first drive?  Randall Evans had to grab on to the back of his shirt to get him to slow down.  If he had been wearing Tre Walker's belly shirt, that would've been a huge play. 
One good thing:  Ryan Mueller.  He's my greatest prediction.   
Special Teams.  And then, of course, there was special teams, who allowed KU to convert on a fake punt and fake field goal in the same drive.  One good thing - it's a pretty good sign that you've intimidated your opponent something fierce if they feel desperate enough to call two fakes in the first quarter.  So there's that. 

Second Quarter

 Hubert only carried the ball 10 times, but ended with over 100 yards on the day

Offense. Collin has an interesting (maddening) habit of picking one quarter, early in the game, to go back to his overthrowing ways.  It wasn't every throw in the quarter, just enough to make you really feel sick about the missed opportunities.  When he can throw a beauty like the TD to Lockett, it really makes you crazy to see him miss Tramaine wide open in the flat.  Another missed opportunity that makes you crazy?  Not being able to score from the 5 with 16 seconds left in the half.  I used to watch other teams struggle with these plays and feel bad for them because they don't have our Coach.  Oops.
One good thing:  The triumphant return of Angelo Pease.  Angelo had spectacular vision and for the first time ever - patience!  To wait for his blocks!  And it paid off!  Angelo definitely gets the most improved award and I hope it's a sign of things to come.
Defense. The defense was still sleepy this quarter, but woke up enough to at least prevent a touchdown.  Javonta Boyd got the first sack of the game, with 6 minutes left in the half.  Arthur Brown had 1 tackle in the first half.  I think that just about paints the picture for you 
One good thing:  Nigel Malone.  If he'd trusted his speed just a teensy bit more and run straight, he would've had his first touchdown of the season.  We did our best to squander his momentum, but I think that interception will really help his confidence.

Third Quarter

A sign of things to come

Offense.  The offense couldn't be stopped in the third quarter.  Hubert scored twice, Collin scored, Travis Tannahill scored and even Harper caught a pass.  Though not for a touchdown of course.  That would just be crazy talk.  When the third quarter finally ended, the score was 49-16 and the back-ups were putting on their helmets.
Defense.  Whatever was said in the locker room at halftime, the defense reacted to it.  Maybe it was the fact that Pierson stayed in the locker room with an injury.  Maybe it was the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Whatever happened, the results were spectacular.  Opening KU drive - ends in a sack by Jarell Childs.  Second KU drive - Bubba Chapman interception in the red zone.  Third drive - fumble on the kick-off.  Fourth drive - Ty Zimmerman interception.  Fifth drive - ends in a sack by Meshak Williams.  Sixth drive - fumble recovered by Ryan Mueller.  Complete domination.
Dirty room: Um.  The safety.  Yep.  Safeties are pretty embarrassing.

Fourth Quarter

 Regardless of the beginning, the fourth quarter always looks the same

Offense. Sams ran the offense.  He didn't score but it didn't make me as happy as last time.  I think it's because I expect Sams to improve, and he appears to be taking a few steps back.  If you can score against Miami, you should be able to score against KU.  Also, Collin has improved dramatically in his running game with his patience and vision and Sams is just a puppy finally let off the leash.  Next year is going to look very different.
Defense. Arthur played through to the last snap.  Do we really lack that much depth on defense that the first string has to stay in?  I don't like it. 
Dirty room: Most of the fans succumbed to the cold and left the game early in the 4th quarter.  Shame on you, fans. I stayed in my nice warm sports bar until the bitter end. 

Next week - Iowa State.  DANGER-DANGER-DANGER.  Preview up on Friday.  Happy Farmageddon week!

The Thing You Never Knew You Needed But Now Can't Live Without - Week 6

It's October and that means grown man football has begun.  The Big 12 finally got their act together and spaced the games out over the day meaning that you can settle in and watch quality football from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m.  College Football Saturday is the best thing ever.  (Though Ticket Oak is a close second). 

Big 12 Schedule

Mack Brown's past, present and future as yell leader #1.

11:00 a.m. FX: KU at K-State (extended preview available)
There is so very little to be excited about in this game.  If it's at all competitive, I will be steaming mad.  If it's a blowout, it will be sort of sad and pathetic in the second half.  I guess I'll get excited about the possibility of Daniel Sams getting to play?  I just hope no one gets hurt.  Prediction: 52-0, K-State.

2:30 p.m. FSN: Iowa State at TCU
This would've been the week that TCU lost their first game, regardless of Pachall's status on the team.  The defense is good, but the team is young and sloppy and not ready yet for 10 big games a year instead of 1 big game a year.  The game will be close, because Iowa State is just dreadful on offense, but this is the start of a very long year for the Frogs.  Prediction: 17-6, Iowa State.

2:30 p.m. ABC: Oklahoma at Texas Tech
Tech eked out a 24-13 win last week over Iowa State despite amassing close to 400 yards of total offense.  I still don't know what to make of this team on either side of the ball, but it seems like OU has more talent at the key skill positions in this match-up.  That, and Stoops has never - ever - lost 2 consecutive regular season games in his tenure at Oklahoma.  Prediction: 38-17, OU.

6:00 p.m. Fox: West Virginia at Texas
I have high, high hopes for this game but can't really figure out who to cheer for.  West Virginia drew Nick Saban's ire for their ridiculous "football" game last week and yet people are still falling all over themselves to anoint Geno Smith the Heisman of all Heismans.  I'd like to think that Manny Diaz has a really solid plan for stopping the Holgo machine, but I'm not sure his players have the discipline to execute it.  West Virginia would be happy to turn this into another shoot-out, but for the love of the game, I guess I'll root for Bevo.  Prediction: 38-35, Texas.

Best of the Rest

Spurrier always has a good ol time, doesn't he?  Even when he's throwing his headset, he looks like he's doing it because he wants to.  Good for you, Steve. 

11:00 a.m. ESPN: Northwestern at Penn State
Northwestern is 5-0 and the leader of the Big Ten Legends division.  Penn State... is having a bad year, despite playing mostly decent football.  Northwestern might very well win the Big Ten and go to the Rose Bowl and they'll get absolutely no credit or positive press for it.  Instead, ESPN will spin it into yet another diatribe about how slow Midwest athletes are.  Grrr.  Prediction: 28-14, Northwestern. 

11:00 a.m. ESPN: Arkansas at Auburn
I'm going to keep putting Arkansas on this list until they win a game.  How can they return so much talent at so many skill positions and still lose so badly week after week?  I mean, yes, John L. Smith is certifiable, and still really, really broke, but is he really that destructive? Prediction: 17-14, Arkansas.  Please.

2:30 p.m. CBS: LSU at Florida
I love crazy Les Miles and I love rooting against Florida.  It just makes Florida fans so mad.  Why so righteous, Gator fans?  You'll win the big games again someday.  (Poke poke poke).  Prediction: 28-20, LSU.

3:00 p.m. Big Ten Network: Michigan at Purdue
Purdue is also doing well in the Big Ten this year.  Technically they're behind Ohio State, but the Buckeyes are sitting out the postseason to appease the NCAA, so it's Purdue's to lose.  The Big Ten is Purdue's to lose.  It's a weird year up there.  Also, Brady Hoke does not deserve Denard Robinson and the missed opportunity is just tragic.  Prediction: 24-10, Purdue.

6:00 p.m. ESPN: Georgia at South Carolina
Georgia's defense magically evaporated last week against Tennessee.  If it happens again this week, I'm sure South Carolina would be happy to play along.  I always got the sense with Spurrier that he was just happy to roll with however you wanted to play the game.  Stifling defense?  Okay, us too.  Pass happy offense?  Sure, we can do that.  A game where all the points come from non-offensive players?  Sounds fun!  He's wild and I like it.  Prediction: Whatever Spurrier wants.  Also, 38-34, South Carolina.

6:30 p.m. NBC: Miami vs. Notre Dame
Have you been heeding my advice and watching Miami lately?  Seriously, just set your DVR to record Miami 4th quarters for the rest of the season.  It'll be the best decision you ever made.  Prediction: 28-27, Miami.

9:30 p.m. ESPN: Washington at Oregon
Washington pulled off the "upset" against Stanford last week which made Sarkisian and the Huskies relevant again.  Unfortunately, after watching USC struggle with Utah this week, it's starting to seem like USC just isn't all that good.  That's bad news for Washington because Oregon keeps proving that they are much, much better than anyone thought.  They'll slow play the first half and then go all-in on pocket 2's in the third, leaving you penniless at the exact height of your hope.  Them ducks are deadly.  Prediction: 45-14, Oregon.