soonerboy_odanorth
8/22/2008, 12:16 AM
The question: Do we have them this year?
Lots of buzz about this team and their potential. But the one thing that has separated our NC championship teams of the past from our "just" conference championship/bowl championship teams is a certain "rawhide" toughness. And of course, that is not to overlook speed and athleticism. But moreso, what I mean is a unique blend of mental and athletic toughness.
Think of some of the 2000 characters: Calmus and Marshall patrolling the middle with a bunch of no-names in the front four who didn't miss a game and just played out of their skulls (including a nobody walk-on in Corey Heineke), guys who just played nasty in the DB, a QB with absolute refuse-to-lose mentality, a 5'6" RB that played like he was the biggest player on the field, an O-line that was a the model of consistency.
I think we have a clear handful of a few. going into 2008... can the rest follow that model?...
Brody Eldridge
Austin English
Ryan Reynolds (I know he's been injured... but he has played tough, IMO)
Chris Brown
Jon Cooper (Smallest. Toughest.)
Nic Harris
Juaquin Iglesias (J and Manny go over the middle as well as any larger receiver... that is toughness)
Manuel Johnson
That's a pretty good core. Who else is on the verge?
I'll offer to you where I think toughness needs to improve:
The left side O-line. They are physical marvels and future NFL millionaires, but have at times not taken over games when they should have.
Sam is the man, but needs to be that on the road (CU he was still green, not sure that TT is fair in that comparisons are subject to a scrambled nougat, but ISU was not exactly inspiring, and took him better than a quarter...almost two... to start making a difference in the Fiesta.)
Granger and McCoy. They have every ounce of genetics on their side. They've been killer... at times. They need to engage in complete and total shutdown.
JUCO's at LB. Different game, they gotta grow up fast.
n00bs at the corners. They have to make any pass attempt by the other team a shaky proposition at best.
Quentin Cheney. He is right there. Will he, or won't he?
Your thoughts as a point of discussion please....
Lots of buzz about this team and their potential. But the one thing that has separated our NC championship teams of the past from our "just" conference championship/bowl championship teams is a certain "rawhide" toughness. And of course, that is not to overlook speed and athleticism. But moreso, what I mean is a unique blend of mental and athletic toughness.
Think of some of the 2000 characters: Calmus and Marshall patrolling the middle with a bunch of no-names in the front four who didn't miss a game and just played out of their skulls (including a nobody walk-on in Corey Heineke), guys who just played nasty in the DB, a QB with absolute refuse-to-lose mentality, a 5'6" RB that played like he was the biggest player on the field, an O-line that was a the model of consistency.
I think we have a clear handful of a few. going into 2008... can the rest follow that model?...
Brody Eldridge
Austin English
Ryan Reynolds (I know he's been injured... but he has played tough, IMO)
Chris Brown
Jon Cooper (Smallest. Toughest.)
Nic Harris
Juaquin Iglesias (J and Manny go over the middle as well as any larger receiver... that is toughness)
Manuel Johnson
That's a pretty good core. Who else is on the verge?
I'll offer to you where I think toughness needs to improve:
The left side O-line. They are physical marvels and future NFL millionaires, but have at times not taken over games when they should have.
Sam is the man, but needs to be that on the road (CU he was still green, not sure that TT is fair in that comparisons are subject to a scrambled nougat, but ISU was not exactly inspiring, and took him better than a quarter...almost two... to start making a difference in the Fiesta.)
Granger and McCoy. They have every ounce of genetics on their side. They've been killer... at times. They need to engage in complete and total shutdown.
JUCO's at LB. Different game, they gotta grow up fast.
n00bs at the corners. They have to make any pass attempt by the other team a shaky proposition at best.
Quentin Cheney. He is right there. Will he, or won't he?
Your thoughts as a point of discussion please....