For whoever is interested, my biggest takeaways from this week's game:
1) That was unnecessarily stressful
That game as a handful of plays from being a huge blowout. Dropped TD, Vasher 4 inches out of bounds, block in the back that cost us 60 yards, two missed chip shot FGs...That game should have been a lot bigger margin and never really in question. But on the other side, we weren't really ever in that serious of danger of losing the game. It's not like if one or two plays could have put us on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
Back to back weeks now we've had games that should have been blow outs turn into one score games. But we've also managed to win both of them. Last year, we kept losing the one score contests (1-4 I think). So that's a huge step for this team. No one is going to look at the scores and think Tech showed that much, but we've been playing better than the final score indicates, now we just have to string it all together and put a team away. We can't play like that next week.
Here's the other thing. Once or twice a year, our offense lays an egg. Maybe it's the early road game curse. Maybe it's Kingsbury on ABC always going badly. Could have been somewhat due to the best DL in the country being on the field for the other team. But whatever the cause, we got one of those type games out of our system. And we managed to get out of that with a win. That's absolutely huge, and all due to...
2) Defense. Holy cow.
Five turnovers is nuts. They made the Houston offense, which I think is at least decent, look awful all day. Yes, they gave up some stuff at the end but they were playing prevent without our best defender and starting safety. And the Cougars subbed in a QB they hadn't prepared for at all. To me, they really only gave up one TD, and that was after a pick and facemask penalty from the offense. Brooks and Allen played a heck of a game. Our DL was very disruptive. We usually had really good coverage, even on some of their big pass plays. Tony Jones was a magian in creating turnovers, and would have had another one had he fallen on the fumble instead of trying to scoop and score. Jaylon Lane & Morgan continue to impress. To me, that was the most impressive Tech game on the defensive side of the ball since 2008 or 2009.
If we can get that kind of effort the rest of the way, its going to be a very good season. They'll get one of their biggest tests of the year next week. Hoping we get some of our guys back for it.
3) Stockton
He gets a lot of crap on here, and sometimes deservedly so. But there's a reason really, really good offensive coaches insist on getting him the ball 5-10 times each week. Any one of those touches can turn into an 80 yard run or catch if one guy just can't quite get there in time. And today it helped seal the win.
Wasn't the biggest fan of giving it to him on the final two drives since he's your big play guy, not your consistent 3 yards every carry guy. But maybe the staff trusts him the most not to fumble, in which case it makes sense.
Two weird things: 1) Have we ever seen him caught from behind before? and 2) How many times has a guy had over 100 yards from scrimmage on the same drive? 84 yard run and a 20 yard catch. 104 yards and a TD on the same drive.
4) Playing with house money next week
Don't get me wrong, I really want to win. Most of my family went to OSU, and I've been on the wrong side of the scoreboard for what feels like an eternity now. And we should have a shot at them. It is in Lubbock, we almost beat them last year, and their secondary is pretty bad at tackling in space. They aren't looking good against TCU at all right now. If we play well we absolutely can be 4-0.
But can we agree now to try not to lose our minds and call for everyone to be fired/benched if it doesn't go that well next week? Even if we lay an egg, we will be 3-1 at the 1/3 point in the season, which I think all of us would have signed up for in an instant to start the year. Unless we absolutely fall apart, hard to imagine a scenario that doesn't have us in a bowl game at the very least. We've got a fun team with plenty of individuals to root for. Let's enjoy the ride.
5) Kicking is an adventure
I guess Hatfield is still hurt. The freshman needs to settle in, and maybe this game will help him do that. Or maybe Barden becomes the guy for short stuff as well as long. Whatever, we need to get a reliable option squared away or we can expect to get an L from it at some point.
6) Baker Mayfield vs Baylor coming up
How you guys rooting? Personally, I'm hoping OU has a game like they had against A&M in ~03 and wins it 77-0.
1) That was unnecessarily stressful
That game as a handful of plays from being a huge blowout. Dropped TD, Vasher 4 inches out of bounds, block in the back that cost us 60 yards, two missed chip shot FGs...That game should have been a lot bigger margin and never really in question. But on the other side, we weren't really ever in that serious of danger of losing the game. It's not like if one or two plays could have put us on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
Back to back weeks now we've had games that should have been blow outs turn into one score games. But we've also managed to win both of them. Last year, we kept losing the one score contests (1-4 I think). So that's a huge step for this team. No one is going to look at the scores and think Tech showed that much, but we've been playing better than the final score indicates, now we just have to string it all together and put a team away. We can't play like that next week.
Here's the other thing. Once or twice a year, our offense lays an egg. Maybe it's the early road game curse. Maybe it's Kingsbury on ABC always going badly. Could have been somewhat due to the best DL in the country being on the field for the other team. But whatever the cause, we got one of those type games out of our system. And we managed to get out of that with a win. That's absolutely huge, and all due to...
2) Defense. Holy cow.
Five turnovers is nuts. They made the Houston offense, which I think is at least decent, look awful all day. Yes, they gave up some stuff at the end but they were playing prevent without our best defender and starting safety. And the Cougars subbed in a QB they hadn't prepared for at all. To me, they really only gave up one TD, and that was after a pick and facemask penalty from the offense. Brooks and Allen played a heck of a game. Our DL was very disruptive. We usually had really good coverage, even on some of their big pass plays. Tony Jones was a magian in creating turnovers, and would have had another one had he fallen on the fumble instead of trying to scoop and score. Jaylon Lane & Morgan continue to impress. To me, that was the most impressive Tech game on the defensive side of the ball since 2008 or 2009.
If we can get that kind of effort the rest of the way, its going to be a very good season. They'll get one of their biggest tests of the year next week. Hoping we get some of our guys back for it.
3) Stockton
He gets a lot of crap on here, and sometimes deservedly so. But there's a reason really, really good offensive coaches insist on getting him the ball 5-10 times each week. Any one of those touches can turn into an 80 yard run or catch if one guy just can't quite get there in time. And today it helped seal the win.
Wasn't the biggest fan of giving it to him on the final two drives since he's your big play guy, not your consistent 3 yards every carry guy. But maybe the staff trusts him the most not to fumble, in which case it makes sense.
Two weird things: 1) Have we ever seen him caught from behind before? and 2) How many times has a guy had over 100 yards from scrimmage on the same drive? 84 yard run and a 20 yard catch. 104 yards and a TD on the same drive.
4) Playing with house money next week
Don't get me wrong, I really want to win. Most of my family went to OSU, and I've been on the wrong side of the scoreboard for what feels like an eternity now. And we should have a shot at them. It is in Lubbock, we almost beat them last year, and their secondary is pretty bad at tackling in space. They aren't looking good against TCU at all right now. If we play well we absolutely can be 4-0.
But can we agree now to try not to lose our minds and call for everyone to be fired/benched if it doesn't go that well next week? Even if we lay an egg, we will be 3-1 at the 1/3 point in the season, which I think all of us would have signed up for in an instant to start the year. Unless we absolutely fall apart, hard to imagine a scenario that doesn't have us in a bowl game at the very least. We've got a fun team with plenty of individuals to root for. Let's enjoy the ride.
5) Kicking is an adventure
I guess Hatfield is still hurt. The freshman needs to settle in, and maybe this game will help him do that. Or maybe Barden becomes the guy for short stuff as well as long. Whatever, we need to get a reliable option squared away or we can expect to get an L from it at some point.
6) Baker Mayfield vs Baylor coming up
How you guys rooting? Personally, I'm hoping OU has a game like they had against A&M in ~03 and wins it 77-0.
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