David Earl
10/23/2006, 08:21 AM
Overview
I don’t have much time so I’ll just throw out a few quick thoughts here.
Colorado is a weird team this year. Early on they looked pretty crummy. We were all figuring everybody would roll them pretty bad. But through the season they began to look like they were improving. They nearly beat UGA. They gave Mizzou a tussle. They whipped Tech pretty soundly. They were showing signs of life. With all that, I was figuring this game was no longer an automatic win.
But OU went out and controlled the game from beginning to end. Given Colorado’s apparent improvement, I’m counting this as a good win.
Offense
Some are complaining about the play calling and the offensive performance in general. I didn’t think it was that bad. A few receivers dropping passes can make play calling look worse than it was. We passed several times on first down. It is not nearly as easy to predict what play we’re going to run. We even had more QB run game. I wonder if that is a deliberate evolution on offense or if the guys saw something in the CU defense they thought they could exploit?
QB
Thompson continues to play well. His passes were more accurate than I’d expect with such wind blowing. He had a couple sail, but no more than usual. He also threaded the needle a few times. Fewer drops would have made him look better.
He ran respectably well. The coaches are likely telling him to juke less and just plow up field more. He seemed to do that more as the game progressed and he put together a few yards.
RB
Patrick subbed for AD respectably well. It looks like his vision is not as good as AD’s, but he ran hard and held onto the ball. Did you notice how many times he had both arms wrapped around the ball? I think he knew if he fumbled that he might get yanked.
Gute didn’t get as many carries, but got more yards per carry when called upon. His running style reminds me so much of Q. His blocking is also pretty good, reminiscent of Q. Count me among those who’d like to see him get more carries. I suspect we’re using Patrick more for the simple reason that so much of our offense is built around the I-formation.
Chris Brown subbed well late in the game. It was good to see him get that score. You hate to see a guy lose a redshirt for just a few games, but the team needs another RB and Brown did nicely. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Brown. I’ve heard he practices well and I hear he’s one of those hidden treasure type recruits. Expect good things from him in the future.
WR/TE
Of course there were the dropped passes. Man, on one, Eldridge was wide stinkin’ open. I’m sure the cold was a factor, but it’s cold every fall and winter. Gotta make those catches. The blocking did seem pretty solid from this group. One possible exception there was the CU DE or LB coming in from the back side on run plays. I think on some of those it might be a TE responsibility to block, not sure. That was a problem some in our run game.
OL
Some have complained about the run blocking here; I thought it was pretty solid. CU has a good run defense, one of the better ones we’ll face this season. Patrick had some good running lanes to work with. IMHO, the line showed our run game isn’t just AD’s ability. They can give 100 yards to the backup guy too. I know CU’s run-blitz stuffed a couple of runs, but there were some plays with running room too.
The pass blocking was good again. I’m really proud of the guys here. Such a young offensive line and they are doing well in a difficult area of the game.
I also want to call out Trent Williams. He came in and subbed well for Braxton. For a true freshman to do that at tackle deserves a little respect.
Defense
The defense seems to keep getting a little better. They are playing with better fundamentals. I’d still like to see more hard hitting. Outside of that, I believe we can safely say our run defense has become formidable and the pass defense is looking a little better.
DL
The d-line is part of the improvement. The last couple of games it’s looked to me like the guys are not getting pushed as much. Did the coaches all of a sudden decide to start working on footwork?
The pass rush has been better, especially from the ends. That usually means better tackle play too. Ah You has looked good when in the dime package they move him to the middle.
LB
Rufus is playing much better than the first couple of games. Lofton is making some youthful mistakes but seemed noticeably better in the CU game. Latimer is also playing better in the middle. He had the heads up on his INT. Wasn’t that his second or third this year?
DB
This group still makes me nervous, but they’re certainly playing better. Walker is solid on one side. Holmes is getting better at the other side. I don’t remember seeing any play where the CB got totally burned in this game. That was an all too common sight earlier in the season. I know CU isn’t exactly a passing juggernaut, but going back to the ISU game, the guys have played better the last few weeks. It also needs to be said that Nick Harris is having a good year.
Smith is clearly not 100%. I respect him wanting to play, but I really wish we had let him rest so he’d bee 100% for the Missouri game. We’re going to need him.
Special Teams
The return game wasn’t much punkin. Part of that was CU kicking away from Smith. Part of that was Smith not being 100%. Our punting doesn’t seem as strong as earlier in the season. It’s not bad, just not getting quite as much distance seems like.
Hartley nailed the long FG. What was it? 46 yards? That’s pretty good, even with a tailwind.
Zebras
For the life of me, I just knew the halo rule had been taken out. I guess the zebras thought Wolfe touched the CU guy before the ball got there. Whatever it was they saw, they threw a flag, took the ball out on the West Coast and gave it to Oregon. I was totally confused.
Summary
I don’t know what the spread was, but 24-3 is a good win in this game. CU was showing signs of life but OU took care of business. No game left on our schedule is a guaranteed win. NO GAME! But every one is very winnable.
Playing Mizzou up there will be tough. If OU can pull out a win, it makes our College Station game look more winnable. If the team can hang together, keep improving, finishing the regular season 10-2 is within reach. That makes this Sooner fan smile. Boomer Sooner!
I don’t have much time so I’ll just throw out a few quick thoughts here.
Colorado is a weird team this year. Early on they looked pretty crummy. We were all figuring everybody would roll them pretty bad. But through the season they began to look like they were improving. They nearly beat UGA. They gave Mizzou a tussle. They whipped Tech pretty soundly. They were showing signs of life. With all that, I was figuring this game was no longer an automatic win.
But OU went out and controlled the game from beginning to end. Given Colorado’s apparent improvement, I’m counting this as a good win.
Offense
Some are complaining about the play calling and the offensive performance in general. I didn’t think it was that bad. A few receivers dropping passes can make play calling look worse than it was. We passed several times on first down. It is not nearly as easy to predict what play we’re going to run. We even had more QB run game. I wonder if that is a deliberate evolution on offense or if the guys saw something in the CU defense they thought they could exploit?
QB
Thompson continues to play well. His passes were more accurate than I’d expect with such wind blowing. He had a couple sail, but no more than usual. He also threaded the needle a few times. Fewer drops would have made him look better.
He ran respectably well. The coaches are likely telling him to juke less and just plow up field more. He seemed to do that more as the game progressed and he put together a few yards.
RB
Patrick subbed for AD respectably well. It looks like his vision is not as good as AD’s, but he ran hard and held onto the ball. Did you notice how many times he had both arms wrapped around the ball? I think he knew if he fumbled that he might get yanked.
Gute didn’t get as many carries, but got more yards per carry when called upon. His running style reminds me so much of Q. His blocking is also pretty good, reminiscent of Q. Count me among those who’d like to see him get more carries. I suspect we’re using Patrick more for the simple reason that so much of our offense is built around the I-formation.
Chris Brown subbed well late in the game. It was good to see him get that score. You hate to see a guy lose a redshirt for just a few games, but the team needs another RB and Brown did nicely. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Brown. I’ve heard he practices well and I hear he’s one of those hidden treasure type recruits. Expect good things from him in the future.
WR/TE
Of course there were the dropped passes. Man, on one, Eldridge was wide stinkin’ open. I’m sure the cold was a factor, but it’s cold every fall and winter. Gotta make those catches. The blocking did seem pretty solid from this group. One possible exception there was the CU DE or LB coming in from the back side on run plays. I think on some of those it might be a TE responsibility to block, not sure. That was a problem some in our run game.
OL
Some have complained about the run blocking here; I thought it was pretty solid. CU has a good run defense, one of the better ones we’ll face this season. Patrick had some good running lanes to work with. IMHO, the line showed our run game isn’t just AD’s ability. They can give 100 yards to the backup guy too. I know CU’s run-blitz stuffed a couple of runs, but there were some plays with running room too.
The pass blocking was good again. I’m really proud of the guys here. Such a young offensive line and they are doing well in a difficult area of the game.
I also want to call out Trent Williams. He came in and subbed well for Braxton. For a true freshman to do that at tackle deserves a little respect.
Defense
The defense seems to keep getting a little better. They are playing with better fundamentals. I’d still like to see more hard hitting. Outside of that, I believe we can safely say our run defense has become formidable and the pass defense is looking a little better.
DL
The d-line is part of the improvement. The last couple of games it’s looked to me like the guys are not getting pushed as much. Did the coaches all of a sudden decide to start working on footwork?
The pass rush has been better, especially from the ends. That usually means better tackle play too. Ah You has looked good when in the dime package they move him to the middle.
LB
Rufus is playing much better than the first couple of games. Lofton is making some youthful mistakes but seemed noticeably better in the CU game. Latimer is also playing better in the middle. He had the heads up on his INT. Wasn’t that his second or third this year?
DB
This group still makes me nervous, but they’re certainly playing better. Walker is solid on one side. Holmes is getting better at the other side. I don’t remember seeing any play where the CB got totally burned in this game. That was an all too common sight earlier in the season. I know CU isn’t exactly a passing juggernaut, but going back to the ISU game, the guys have played better the last few weeks. It also needs to be said that Nick Harris is having a good year.
Smith is clearly not 100%. I respect him wanting to play, but I really wish we had let him rest so he’d bee 100% for the Missouri game. We’re going to need him.
Special Teams
The return game wasn’t much punkin. Part of that was CU kicking away from Smith. Part of that was Smith not being 100%. Our punting doesn’t seem as strong as earlier in the season. It’s not bad, just not getting quite as much distance seems like.
Hartley nailed the long FG. What was it? 46 yards? That’s pretty good, even with a tailwind.
Zebras
For the life of me, I just knew the halo rule had been taken out. I guess the zebras thought Wolfe touched the CU guy before the ball got there. Whatever it was they saw, they threw a flag, took the ball out on the West Coast and gave it to Oregon. I was totally confused.
Summary
I don’t know what the spread was, but 24-3 is a good win in this game. CU was showing signs of life but OU took care of business. No game left on our schedule is a guaranteed win. NO GAME! But every one is very winnable.
Playing Mizzou up there will be tough. If OU can pull out a win, it makes our College Station game look more winnable. If the team can hang together, keep improving, finishing the regular season 10-2 is within reach. That makes this Sooner fan smile. Boomer Sooner!