Our Daily Bears (Baylor Bears) Recognizing straightaway that strength of opponent matters and we haven't played the best two teams to start things off, it's really hard not to overreact to these two dominant performances. And "dominant" is just about the only way to describe them. The last two weeks, this Baylor team has shown itself possibly the most explosive team in the country, capable of scoring from anywhere at any time with a speed that has to surprise even our most optimistic fans, myself included. The combination of Lache Seastrunk, Bryce Petty, and Tevin Reese has been incredible in the most literal sense of the word, as in difficult, if not impossible, to believe. (Link)
Wide Right & Natty Lite (Iowa St. Cyclones) Bye week.
Rock Chalk Talk (Kansas Jayhawks) We won. In one game, the win total from last year has already been equaled. Moving up in the world. James Sims ran for 94 yards on 16 carries, averaging 5.9 yards per carry. Sims also had two touchdowns on the ground, one for 1 yard and a 6 yard run. I don't know how he looked though because I couldn't watch the game. Sims wasn't the only bright spot on the ground. As a team, they gained 280 yards through rushing. Darrian Miller had 86 yards, Tony Pierson had 47 yards on 5 carries, Taylor Cox had 44 yards, and Brandon Bourbon added another 32 yards on two runs. That's a great output by the backs and I'm guessing the line had to do some work as well, though I don't know because I couldn't watch the game. We had a wide receiver catch a touchdown! (Link)
Bring On The Cats (Kansas St. Wildcats) This evening really could have been worse, but it also could have been a lot better. After a fairly dominant first thirty-five minutes, after which the Cats were sitting on a 30-point lead, the situation slowly deteriorated. Questionable tactics and play-calling through the final twenty-five minutes nearly doomed what was looking like a rout. Most things we had to complain about last week were corrected this week. The offensive line play was drastically improved from last week. A lot better. The defense was completely on the ball in the first half; the Cajuns did not convert a third down in the first two periods, and did not see the end zone until the second half. Special teams were on point up to the turning point as well, with Tramaine Thompson busting a 94-yard kickoff return followed by an 80-yard punt return in which he was hauled down at the 2; Waters scored a couple of plays later to put the Cats up 33-3. (Link)
Crimson and Cream Machine (Oklahoma Sooners) There were a number of OU fans (myself included) defending Knight after his struggles in the season opener against Louisiana-Monroe. Unfortunately, a number of those same problems arose against West Virginia before Knight was eventually lifted in favor of Bell. His play Saturday night, especially the interceptions, were simply indefensible. Knight was telegraphing his passes and the Mountaineer defenders clearly picked up on that. And while that is somewhat to be expected from a redshirt freshman quarterback making his second ever start, it also can't be to the point that it becomes that obvious and detrimental to the offense. (Link)
Cowboys Ride For Free (Oklahoma St. Cowboys) For everyone getting all gaga over J.W. Walsh's passing performance...take a chill. For everyone getting all worked up over the defense...take a chill. The only other team that may display a worse pass defense than UTSA will come to Stillwater next week. Walsh did make some really good throws, twice had 10 completions in a row, and broke Brandon Weeden's single game completion % record. The score was 42-7 at the end of the 3rd quarter. UTSA, which does NOT have a wallflower offense, scored some quick points against the 2nd and 3rd string defense. What did concern me was our defense's struggles on the perimeter in the first 3 quarters. Need to get that cleaned up before Big 12 play. Offensively, how could OSU struggle so mightily running the ball? No problem throwing, as the aforementioned Roadrunners' secondary was not going to offer much resistance. (Link)
Burnt Orange Nation (Texas Longhorns) A week after the Texas offense set a school record for production, the Texas defense set a school record for futility, giving up 550 rushing yards to BYU in a 40-21 loss, including a record-setting first half that eclipsed previous school lows for rushing yards allowed, including the opening half against Oklahoma last season. The question is where the Horns go from here. Surely, head coach Mack Brown will be back on Monday. Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz probably will be, too, days after his defense utterly and totally collapsed in the thin air of Provo. After the 2007 run for Duane Akina, firing Diaz and installing the defensive backs coach as the defensive coordinator probably isn't an answer. In fact, there may be no immediate solutions here. The defense is still soft and not coached particularly well, destroying the preseason narrative of improvement, of more toughness, more effort, better tackling. Does a slight regime change alter that or does Texas merely have to wade through what is looking like another disastrous season before assessing the state of the program? (Link)
Barking Carnival (Texas Longhorns) BYU - 40, Texas - 21. And it wasn't that close. This was a toughness test and the Horns filled in a whimsical petunia on the Scantron. Gutless, soft, undisciplined, horribly coached, and scared. Those are just a few of the kinder descriptives that came to mind while watching Texas embarrass itself on national television. That's Texas Football after the "rebuild" under Mack Brown. When do we end this charade? A BYU team starting two cornerbacks at a position they considered weak before their starters blew their ACLs out physically mauled the Texas offense while a BYU offense featuring a QB that can't throw a forward pass (and didn't need to) dominated and humiliated Manny Diaz's defense with simple dive plays and option reads that turned Taysom Hill into Cam Newton on speed and a BYU OL crushed by lowly Virginia into the San Francisco 49ers. 349 rushing yards allowed in a half. 550 rushing yards allowed for the game. 679 total yards allowed. What else can you do but laugh? Please follow this BYU offense over the course of the year. I can promise you'll never see it produce like this again. (Link)
Frogs O War (TCU Horned Frogs) Thank goodness that's over. After a first half where the Frogs looked like they'd rather be anywhere but on the field again, the Frogs overcame adversity, injury and intense heat to look pretty good in the second half. All our thoughts are currently with Casey Pachall who may have been seriously injured on a scramble late in the second quarter. Let's hope a speedy return is in the offing for him. That said... he really didn't look good against SE Louisiana, completing barely over half his passes and even his completions didn't look like vintage Casey Pachall throws. On TCU's first touchdown drive Casey threw a ball that Doctson caught and took down inside the ten, but he had to stop and catch it far behind him- if he catches it in stride it would have been an easy touchdown for the Frogs. Playcalling was also an issue for the Frogs, as the coaches focused on the pass early on when the run was working exceptionally (sound familiar?) but balance returned in the second half when Boykin took over. Speaking of Boykin... Man he looks really, really good. I didn't believe all the hype coming out of practice that Boykin looked like an entirely new man, but he's been really impressive every time he's been on the field. If Casey can't go against Tech, we'll be in good hands. (Link)
The Smoking Musket (West Virginia Mountaineers) What could have been. The Mountaineers shot themselves in the foot, time and time again tonight against the Sooners. Turnovers, offensive inefficiency and special teams breakdowns were the main culprits in WVU's demise tonight. Many were predicting a Sooner blowout, but the Mountaineer defense was able to bend-but-don't-break several Sooner drives, creating four turnovers of their own, a couple of which were in the red-zone. Dreamius Smith broke a 75 yard touchdown run for what would be the Mountaineers only offensive bright spot and score of the game. Paul Millard was inconsistent at best throughout the night, as were his receivers. Many times tonight when he made a good pass, they dropped it. Other times, his decisions and throws were suspect. The running game, despite everyone but Millard averaging over five yards per carry, never seemed to get on track enough for the team to get into a flow and rhythm. (Link)