Tear Down This Wall
11/29/2006, 12:55 PM
Defense: Lendy Holmes, CB
Comment: Look at our record with Lendy playing corner versus Lendy not playing corner. Lendy. Lendy, Lendy, Lendy. Thank you for saving our 2006 defensive bacon, fella!
Offense: Paul Thompson, QB
Comment: ENA. Screwed in 2005, but enough of a team player to play wide receiver and keep his mouth shut while Rhett Bomar compiled a 1:1 TD to Interception ratio, then piled up tons of bad off the field publicity in the off season. In 2006, ENA was given the choice to return to QB. He did so and led in quiet, classy, yet tough way. In an era of "Throw Me The Ball" jerkwad athletes, we may not see too many Paul Thompsons. ENA, you da man!
Special Team: Garrett Hartley, K
Comment: The kid put 17 of 18 of his field goal attempts through the uprights. No other kicker in the history of OU football has been that accurate in a season with that many kicks. The only miss was the block in the freakishly ending Oregon game. The dude was a lineman's successful blocking assignment from being 18 of 18 ... and making us 11-1. If there was ever a true "Ice Man", it's the 2006 version of Garrett Hartley.
Coach: Cale Gundy, RB
Comment: No one has flamed Gundy more on these boards than me. Year after year of only having one back ready, or not having a back that could run, catch a pass, and block all in the same season now seem to be a thing of the past. Gone this year were the "this guy can't block yet" or "we're working on his hands in the passing game" bullcrap. In 2006, Gundy actually delivered tailbacks who could do it all. Watching Allen Patrick not only run, but successfully pick up blitzes was a joy! Thank you, Coach Gundy for doing your job! Now, please do the right thing and ask Coach Stoops to give you D.J. Wolfe back for next year. If you're going to coach like this, Wolfe could be a monster.
Runners-up
Defense: Reggie Smith, S/CB
Comment: The guy did what we expected him to do. Before Lendy was put into the lineup permanently, he was trying to do too much. Picking Lendy over Reggie was like a 50.01% to 49.99% deal. Both were excellent, but without Lendy, Reggie couldn't have kept holding the whole deal together.
Offense: The Terrific Trio - Allen Patrick, Chris Brown, and Jacob Gutierrez, TBs
Comment: I count myself among those who doubted we could win out without AD. The three dudes, with the help of coach Gundy, proved me wrong. If loving these guys' performance with AD out is wrong, I don't want to be right! Keep those wheel turning, boys, two more games to go.
Special Teams: Juaquin Iglesias, KR
Comment: 10 returns, 299 yards, 29.9 per return, 1 touchdown. They never should have taken this guy off the kick return team. Yeah, I know they wanted to pump up AD's number for Heisman purposes, but Iglesias is the real deal back there. Some of you will say, why not Reggie here? Reggie only average 8.4 per punt return. Subtract his one punt return for touchdown and he's only at 6.6 yards per return - less than Curtis Fagan's average in 2001! Reggie's a good punt returner, but still has yet to learn fully that discretion is the better part of valor in that role. Iglesias had better kick return numbers than Reggie by 6 yard per return, and he's further along in that role than anyone on the team. The nod goes to Juaquin.
Coach: James Patton, OL
Comment: The guy did an amazing job with the woeful lack of experience thrust upon him. It's scary to think what this guy will do in the future...if Schmidt doesn't run off more of his players during the offseason.
Eye on the Future
Defense: Nic Harris, S/CB
Comments: A Brandon Shelby/Roy Williams/Antonio Perkins-hybrid? What doesn't his guy do? He blitzes. He hits...and tackles. He covers pretty good. With a lot of hard work, this guy will be a freak on patrol back there in the secondary for the next couple of years.
Offense: Trent Williams, T
Comments: After Branndon Braxton was lost for the season, Williams entered the picture and may have outperformed Braxton! In one of the pre-game radio broadcasts, Merv Johnson said Williams was as far along as Davin Joseph was at this point in his career. Anyone else happy that we may have another Davin Joseph on board? Yeah, me too.
Special Teams: Michael Cohen, P
Comments: After a shaky start, the kid was booming kicks by the end of the season. If he can get his accuracy down, we'll be pinning people deep and forcing them to work the long field all day long like we did in the Fergusons Eras.
Comment: Look at our record with Lendy playing corner versus Lendy not playing corner. Lendy. Lendy, Lendy, Lendy. Thank you for saving our 2006 defensive bacon, fella!
Offense: Paul Thompson, QB
Comment: ENA. Screwed in 2005, but enough of a team player to play wide receiver and keep his mouth shut while Rhett Bomar compiled a 1:1 TD to Interception ratio, then piled up tons of bad off the field publicity in the off season. In 2006, ENA was given the choice to return to QB. He did so and led in quiet, classy, yet tough way. In an era of "Throw Me The Ball" jerkwad athletes, we may not see too many Paul Thompsons. ENA, you da man!
Special Team: Garrett Hartley, K
Comment: The kid put 17 of 18 of his field goal attempts through the uprights. No other kicker in the history of OU football has been that accurate in a season with that many kicks. The only miss was the block in the freakishly ending Oregon game. The dude was a lineman's successful blocking assignment from being 18 of 18 ... and making us 11-1. If there was ever a true "Ice Man", it's the 2006 version of Garrett Hartley.
Coach: Cale Gundy, RB
Comment: No one has flamed Gundy more on these boards than me. Year after year of only having one back ready, or not having a back that could run, catch a pass, and block all in the same season now seem to be a thing of the past. Gone this year were the "this guy can't block yet" or "we're working on his hands in the passing game" bullcrap. In 2006, Gundy actually delivered tailbacks who could do it all. Watching Allen Patrick not only run, but successfully pick up blitzes was a joy! Thank you, Coach Gundy for doing your job! Now, please do the right thing and ask Coach Stoops to give you D.J. Wolfe back for next year. If you're going to coach like this, Wolfe could be a monster.
Runners-up
Defense: Reggie Smith, S/CB
Comment: The guy did what we expected him to do. Before Lendy was put into the lineup permanently, he was trying to do too much. Picking Lendy over Reggie was like a 50.01% to 49.99% deal. Both were excellent, but without Lendy, Reggie couldn't have kept holding the whole deal together.
Offense: The Terrific Trio - Allen Patrick, Chris Brown, and Jacob Gutierrez, TBs
Comment: I count myself among those who doubted we could win out without AD. The three dudes, with the help of coach Gundy, proved me wrong. If loving these guys' performance with AD out is wrong, I don't want to be right! Keep those wheel turning, boys, two more games to go.
Special Teams: Juaquin Iglesias, KR
Comment: 10 returns, 299 yards, 29.9 per return, 1 touchdown. They never should have taken this guy off the kick return team. Yeah, I know they wanted to pump up AD's number for Heisman purposes, but Iglesias is the real deal back there. Some of you will say, why not Reggie here? Reggie only average 8.4 per punt return. Subtract his one punt return for touchdown and he's only at 6.6 yards per return - less than Curtis Fagan's average in 2001! Reggie's a good punt returner, but still has yet to learn fully that discretion is the better part of valor in that role. Iglesias had better kick return numbers than Reggie by 6 yard per return, and he's further along in that role than anyone on the team. The nod goes to Juaquin.
Coach: James Patton, OL
Comment: The guy did an amazing job with the woeful lack of experience thrust upon him. It's scary to think what this guy will do in the future...if Schmidt doesn't run off more of his players during the offseason.
Eye on the Future
Defense: Nic Harris, S/CB
Comments: A Brandon Shelby/Roy Williams/Antonio Perkins-hybrid? What doesn't his guy do? He blitzes. He hits...and tackles. He covers pretty good. With a lot of hard work, this guy will be a freak on patrol back there in the secondary for the next couple of years.
Offense: Trent Williams, T
Comments: After Branndon Braxton was lost for the season, Williams entered the picture and may have outperformed Braxton! In one of the pre-game radio broadcasts, Merv Johnson said Williams was as far along as Davin Joseph was at this point in his career. Anyone else happy that we may have another Davin Joseph on board? Yeah, me too.
Special Teams: Michael Cohen, P
Comments: After a shaky start, the kid was booming kicks by the end of the season. If he can get his accuracy down, we'll be pinning people deep and forcing them to work the long field all day long like we did in the Fergusons Eras.