KingBarry
9/2/2008, 11:57 AM
A look at the game from the other side.....
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Monday, Sept. 1, 2008
Mocs made mistakes, but Sooners dominant By: John Frierson
Neil Brown knows a great team when he sees one. He’s got first-hand experience after playing as a freshman at Auburn in 2004 when the Tigers went undefeated.
Now a senior defensive end at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Brown heaped praise on fourth-ranked Oklahoma following Saturday’s season-opening 57-2 rout of the Mocs — a truly dominating performance in front of a sellout crowd of 84,715 (at least before the 1 hour, 12 minute weather delay) at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
“They’re the No. 4 team for a reason,” said Brown, who had four tackles.
Prior to the opener, the Mocs pointed to last season’s game against Darren McFadden-led Arkansas, which was competitive for three quarters, as a sign that maybe they could hang with the Sooners for a while. That didn’t happen; UTC never stood a chance.
After seeing the Sooners score touchdowns on their first seven possessions, while holding the Mocs to just one first down and 11 yards of total offense through three quarters, UTC fullback Brent Hayes said Oklahoma was on a different level from last season’s Razorbacks.
“It was fun when we first ran out there, but after that ... they are that good,” said Hayes, who had one reception for 8 yards. “They’re a lot better than Arkansas was — a lot better.”
Mocs coach Rodney Allison, who has seen plenty of great teams from his playing days at Texas Tech to his coaching stints at Auburn and Clemson, was equally impressed.
“They looked like the real deal to me,” said Allison, who was named the quarterback on the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s all-time Texas Tech team Saturday. “That might be the national champion, right there.”
Because the Sooners were so good, so sharp, so dominant, how then does a coach gauge UTC’s performance in its sixth straight loss dating back to last season? Allison said following the game that he’d have to watch the game film closely to provide a detailed answer, though about one thing he was already certain.
“We got whipped up front (on the offensive and defensive lines),” said Allison, now 16-41 at UTC.
On Sunday night, having studied the film, Allison’s assessment was that the rout was “about 70 percent them being really, really good and 30 percent us making mistakes.”
“If you make a mistake against that team, they make you pay,” he said. “If you missed a tackle or an assignment, they scored.”
The Mocs were off Sunday and will have meetings and conditioning today before returning to practice Tuesday. They host NAIA opponent Cumberland University in the home opener this Saturday at 6 p.m.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Monday, Sept. 1, 2008
Mocs made mistakes, but Sooners dominant By: John Frierson
Neil Brown knows a great team when he sees one. He’s got first-hand experience after playing as a freshman at Auburn in 2004 when the Tigers went undefeated.
Now a senior defensive end at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Brown heaped praise on fourth-ranked Oklahoma following Saturday’s season-opening 57-2 rout of the Mocs — a truly dominating performance in front of a sellout crowd of 84,715 (at least before the 1 hour, 12 minute weather delay) at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
“They’re the No. 4 team for a reason,” said Brown, who had four tackles.
Prior to the opener, the Mocs pointed to last season’s game against Darren McFadden-led Arkansas, which was competitive for three quarters, as a sign that maybe they could hang with the Sooners for a while. That didn’t happen; UTC never stood a chance.
After seeing the Sooners score touchdowns on their first seven possessions, while holding the Mocs to just one first down and 11 yards of total offense through three quarters, UTC fullback Brent Hayes said Oklahoma was on a different level from last season’s Razorbacks.
“It was fun when we first ran out there, but after that ... they are that good,” said Hayes, who had one reception for 8 yards. “They’re a lot better than Arkansas was — a lot better.”
Mocs coach Rodney Allison, who has seen plenty of great teams from his playing days at Texas Tech to his coaching stints at Auburn and Clemson, was equally impressed.
“They looked like the real deal to me,” said Allison, who was named the quarterback on the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s all-time Texas Tech team Saturday. “That might be the national champion, right there.”
Because the Sooners were so good, so sharp, so dominant, how then does a coach gauge UTC’s performance in its sixth straight loss dating back to last season? Allison said following the game that he’d have to watch the game film closely to provide a detailed answer, though about one thing he was already certain.
“We got whipped up front (on the offensive and defensive lines),” said Allison, now 16-41 at UTC.
On Sunday night, having studied the film, Allison’s assessment was that the rout was “about 70 percent them being really, really good and 30 percent us making mistakes.”
“If you make a mistake against that team, they make you pay,” he said. “If you missed a tackle or an assignment, they scored.”
The Mocs were off Sunday and will have meetings and conditioning today before returning to practice Tuesday. They host NAIA opponent Cumberland University in the home opener this Saturday at 6 p.m.