I was able to watch the OkSU game through the magic of the Interweb and surprisingly got a much better feel for what took place than listening to the soothing sounds of Dave and Dave. We’re going to call this game the watered down Sex Panther game. It’s like Shem and Co. took the Miami game and only made it work every time 30% to 40% of the time. There were definitely some positives from the game but there’s even more negatives in my mind.

I’m going to call this game a 7-14 point win by OkSU. We definitely gifted them some points but they didn’t play as good as the score suggested and we didn’t play as bad. They did beat us fair and square by 7-14 points though. No way a few breaks here and there let us win that game. We got beat plain and simple.

OkSU is a pretty formidable team but they’re definitely not on the level of OU, tu, or Missouri. They might be just slightly below Kansas and Tech as I don’t think Tech has really played anyone to test them yet. Based on what I saw I do think we can go 6-6 if we can ever get that Sex Panther up to 80% of the game.

Let’s get to the specifics of the game:

Special Teams:

• Starting off with these guys because they were HOR-EN-DUS outside of a couple of things.
• I’d said it before and I’m going to say it again that if Jordan Pugh really is our best punt returner then we’re hosed. I don’t know if he’s being coached to stay away from the ball but he’s definitely not willing to go into traffic and call for a fair catch. Maybe he just doesn’t know how to position himself but whatever it is it’s removing any threat of a return we might have..
• Coverage and tackling is still really bad so I don’t know what’s going on there. I think Kirk Doll needs to channel his inner Frank Beamer and get this thing going.
• The two great things I saw were that we got to the punter a couple of times and did it in a great manner. We tested their splits and blocking on the first punt and got fairly close. On the second punt we pulled off and then on the third punt we had a flat out jail break. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to the ball but wound up getting to the punter. Surprisingly, we didn’t maul the guy and only got a 5 yard penalty. Sadly, all they needed was 4 ½ for the first down so they did get that. I was actually really pissed listening to the radio as I thought it was just lack of discipline but when you’re going for the ball in that manner incidental contact happens sometimes so I’m okay with that. I’m just glad we took the chance considering how we were down. Honestly, if we get that it could have swung the game. They still win but it would have been much more competitive.

Offense:

• Guess what goes here? That’s right – Michael Goodson = STUD. Remember when he outran the Miami defense? Well, he blew the damn doors off the OkSU defense. He didn’t really get a chance to establish himself outside of that as we pretty much abandoned a consistent running game but he looked good a few times. I still believe he’s the most explosive player in the Big XII and I mean that. Maclin is pretty special but Goodson is truly Reggie Bush like. In that Mizzou offense he’d be leading the Heisman talk.
• I believe Whitney Houston said it best when she sang, “I believe that Jerrod Johnson is our future. Teach him well and let him lead the way.” He definitely had more bad moments than good but he’s the only shot we have at six wins this season. He does something we haven’t seen in a long time and that’s make teams pay for blitzing. He stands tall in the pocket and delivers the ball before getting hit. OkSU actually pulled off blitzing a lot of time which actually hurts JJ. He does much better when teams are loading up as he sees its, reads it, and knows where single coverage is. He simply delivers the ball right before contact. His throws aren’t always on the mark but the kid is fearless through the air. He’s still got a long ways to go but when he has those moments where he moves the ball you just smile because he actually got the better of the defense. Keep on keeping on, JJ. We need you out there getting some serious OJT.
• Fuller needs to work on securing the ball but the kid is a stud. He and JJ pitching and catching are the future of this program offensively.
• Tannehill made a few great catches. He, Fuller, and JJ are going to be pretty formidable for a couple of years.
• The offensive line actually did a pretty decent job of blocking. They still got burned and vapor locked a few times but they were picking up blitzes and knew their assignments. They did get shuffled in the second half as it looked like Matthews and Vince Williams were running guard with Brian Thomas snapping the ball. Not sure if that was due to injuries or what. Either way, they looked decent but the OkSU defense is not that solid. Still, maybe this group can hold their own against KSU, ISU, CU, and Baylor.
• I love Jamie McCoy but the kid still has problems blocking. I can relate to him because I played TE in high school and often went up against DEs that were 30-40 pounds more than me. My coach told me I was never going to dominate them so just engage them as long as I could. McCoy still has issues engaging people at times but he’s giving it all he has. He actually did decent a few times but there were also a few times he just missed his guy. He’s such a great receiver that you take the negative and hope he just gets better at engaging people. He’s definitely working at it but he has problems.
• Good to see the Train worked into various packages. I don’t know if the FB experiment is over but he played tailback and did what the Train does. I’m actually hoping he gets his TD record this weekend and it energizes him for the rest of the season. He actually did decent on blitz pick up a few times as well as catching the ball out of the backfield. It’ll be interesting to see how he gets used going forward.

Defense:

• Once again, Joe Kines pitched to contact in the first half. He knew OkSU’s reads and positioned our guys perfectly for the most part. OkSU does that crap where the coach reads the defense and then signals in the play. Kines had his defense adjusting after the call and usually had the play sniffed. Gundy adjusted in the second half and we didn’t do nearly as well. Still, for a half Joe Kines did all he could.
• The goal line stand was a thing of beauty. BIG credit to the defense on that one.
• We suffer big time from cut backs and the zone read. We’re so hell bent on attacking the ball that we lose contain really easily when someone cuts back. We’re also so bent for the ball that our outside guys go after the play action leaving the outside wide open for the QB most of the time on a zone read. Sure that’s what the zone read is built to do but you need to confuse the QB just a tad and we’re not doing it at all.
• We still need help on tackling head up. We like to tackle from the side and from behind just like I like shooting dove. Doves are pretty safe coming straight at me just like offensive ball carriers against the Aggie defense. They’ll get better but they’re just lacking it right now. Me, I’m still not getting better about dove coming at me.
• Jordan Pugh and Arkeith Brown need to be our starting corners. I’m not going to completely bash a player but someone got burned pretty bad on simple routes by Dez Bryant. Sure, you’re a little on edge covering someone like Dez but this person just whiffed a couple of times and doesn’t bring anything else from a run support standpoint. Arkeith is going to vapor lock sometimes but I think he has more raw talent than the person I won’t name from both a coverage and run support standpoint.
• Trent Hunter can flat out stick. I don’t know how well he can cover but he’s easily the best tackler on our team and tackler we’ve probably seen in 5-6 years. He’s going to have an outstanding four year career I believe.
• The tackles still aren’t getting a great push up front. I don’t really expect it out of Patterson because he’s so sound technique wise but the other guys aren’t disrupting much. It looks like Tony Jerod-Eddie has pretty much displaced Kellen Heard as the other starter. It’s disappointing as Heard has so much talent but he’s just not delivering consistently.
• The defensive ends did fine except for not realizing when the QB was keeping the ball but that was mainly due to the fact the QB reads the DE and we were hell bent on crashing on the RB so the QB kept knowing the DE wouldn’t be out there.
• Our LBs are still a major work in progress. Anthony Lewis actually saw a lot of time so I don’t know what lead to that but the kid does hold lots of promise. Von Miller is still learning to play in space. Garrick Williams looked okay but definitely nothing special. Hopefully these guys get better and have solid years next season.

I posted it already but I really think at worst Sherm has to win one of KSU or CU at home and then one of ISU or Baylor on the road. Ideally Baylor as Briles beating Sherm could really hurt recruiting wise. I think best case is that we beat KSU, ISU, CU, and Baylor. There’s not a chance in Hades we’re beating Tech, OU, or the sips. Just not going to happen. 6-6 is the best hope we have right now.

I’m excited for Saturday as I do think we can pull it off and get to six wins. Will we? I don’t know but we’re going to find out a lot on Saturday.