Desert Sapper
1/22/2007, 12:09 PM
I wonder what everybody's thoughts are about OUr schedule for next year.
Here's how I see it.
North Texas should (better) be a cake walk. It's in Norman and that dude from Southlake Carroll (Todd Dodge) that everybody is talking about is in his first year. I don't think he'll turn the corner with them until his third year, if ever (it is UNT, after all).
At least we get Miami in Norman. This team was not as bad as their record. They lost to a Florida State team that struggled, lost four straight down the stretch and almost lost to Nevada in the MPC Bowl, but the talent is definitely there. Randy Shannon is going to right this ship fast, IMO. He was a great DC. Their D will be awesome with 8 returning starters. DT Kareem Brown and CB Brandon Meriweather were seniors and LB Jon Beason declared early. They have playmakers and talent across the board, including DE Calais Campbell, LB Tavares Gooden, and Kenny Phillips and Glenn Sharpe in the secondary. Patrick Nix (former Auburn QB) was a pretty good OC at Georgia Tech, and he will get 8 starters back on the O. Only WR Darnell Jenkins and C Anthony Wollschlager were seniors, and only TE Greg Olsen left early. Kyle Wright will be a senior QB, Javarris James (little brother of Edgerrin) is the next great Miami RB, and they get 4 of their 5 OL starters back (sound familiar?). This will be OUr litmus test, and it will be a huge game.
Utah State only won 1 game last year, and got obliterated in most of the games they played. We get them in Norman.
Tulsa has a new coaching staff. We get to see our former signee, Courtney Tennial, in action. This shouldn't be too hard even if we have to travel all the way to Tulsa for the game.
I don't like that we play Colorado the week before saxet. I think CU will be much better this year (Dan Hawkins second year) than they were last year, and we have to go to Boulder to play them. They have 8 returning on O and 6 on D. Yes, they lost to a Div IAA team last year. Yes, they only went 2-10. I saw fire in that team when we played them in Norman last year, and it scares me. Hawkins is an offensive genius. This team will be good soon. It's scary that we have to go to Boulder. Lest we forget, we were clinging to a TD lead with 2 minutes left in 2003 (the bestest team evar) -- the last time we visited them -- after not having beat them in Boulder since 1988 -- before JW hit Mark Clayton on a 59 yard TD to seal it. It's about twice as scary that we have to play them the week before saxet. It could give us trouble with one, the other, or both. Yikes.
Saxet is always a tough game (except when we get up early and they quit). QB Colt McCoy, RB Jamaal Charles, WR Limas Sweed, WR Billy Pittman, WR Quan Cosby, OT Tony Hills, OT Adam Ulatoski, and TE Jermichael Finley all return on O. Losing Blalock, Sendlein, and Studdard on the Line will hurt them -- hopefully really bad. On D they lose Crowder and Robison on the edges, and all but Marcus Griffin in the secondary. The bad news is that they have very competent ends and talented DBs to replace the graduating seniors and they get their entire depth back at the tackles and the LBs.
We get Mizzou in Norman, which is good, because they get 9 back on O and 7 back on D. We will have our work cut out for us with QB Chase Daniel and RB Tony Temple now a Junior and Senior respectively.
We travel to Ames to face Iowa State, now coached by Gene Chizik. Their D will improve, but not this year. Their O loses all but QB Bret Meyer, WR Todd Blythe, and G Tom Schmeling. That translates to the D being on the field a lot. Which translates into being good for us.
We get osu in Norman. They lose two OL, WR D'Juan Woods, and their D-Line. They will probably be good, but homefield advantage is always a big factor in this game.
We get aTm in Norman. Their O returns 9. Their D returns 6, thanks to Jason Jack going pro. Losing him, Justin Warren, and Melvin Bullitt will sting a little on D. See osu and the homefield advantage bit.
We get Baylor in Norman. This is a much nicer schedule than last season. They have 6 on O (including Szymanksi, their QB at the end of the year) and 7 on D returning. Losing Sepulveda will hurt them.
Which brings us to Tech and a trip to Lubbock. Hopefully we will be on a tear by then, so the officiating won't matter. They only return 4 on O and 4 on D (now that Brock Stratton has declared).
Right now, I am concerned about Miami, Colorado, and Texas. Depending on the QB situation, those could be very dangerous games. The rest looks pretty manageable. We only have 4 true away games, which is great. I'm going to say the worst is possibly 9-3, but more likely 10-2 or 11-1 (maybe 12-0?) heading to the Big XII CCG at the Alamodome. What are your thoughts?
Here's how I see it.
North Texas should (better) be a cake walk. It's in Norman and that dude from Southlake Carroll (Todd Dodge) that everybody is talking about is in his first year. I don't think he'll turn the corner with them until his third year, if ever (it is UNT, after all).
At least we get Miami in Norman. This team was not as bad as their record. They lost to a Florida State team that struggled, lost four straight down the stretch and almost lost to Nevada in the MPC Bowl, but the talent is definitely there. Randy Shannon is going to right this ship fast, IMO. He was a great DC. Their D will be awesome with 8 returning starters. DT Kareem Brown and CB Brandon Meriweather were seniors and LB Jon Beason declared early. They have playmakers and talent across the board, including DE Calais Campbell, LB Tavares Gooden, and Kenny Phillips and Glenn Sharpe in the secondary. Patrick Nix (former Auburn QB) was a pretty good OC at Georgia Tech, and he will get 8 starters back on the O. Only WR Darnell Jenkins and C Anthony Wollschlager were seniors, and only TE Greg Olsen left early. Kyle Wright will be a senior QB, Javarris James (little brother of Edgerrin) is the next great Miami RB, and they get 4 of their 5 OL starters back (sound familiar?). This will be OUr litmus test, and it will be a huge game.
Utah State only won 1 game last year, and got obliterated in most of the games they played. We get them in Norman.
Tulsa has a new coaching staff. We get to see our former signee, Courtney Tennial, in action. This shouldn't be too hard even if we have to travel all the way to Tulsa for the game.
I don't like that we play Colorado the week before saxet. I think CU will be much better this year (Dan Hawkins second year) than they were last year, and we have to go to Boulder to play them. They have 8 returning on O and 6 on D. Yes, they lost to a Div IAA team last year. Yes, they only went 2-10. I saw fire in that team when we played them in Norman last year, and it scares me. Hawkins is an offensive genius. This team will be good soon. It's scary that we have to go to Boulder. Lest we forget, we were clinging to a TD lead with 2 minutes left in 2003 (the bestest team evar) -- the last time we visited them -- after not having beat them in Boulder since 1988 -- before JW hit Mark Clayton on a 59 yard TD to seal it. It's about twice as scary that we have to play them the week before saxet. It could give us trouble with one, the other, or both. Yikes.
Saxet is always a tough game (except when we get up early and they quit). QB Colt McCoy, RB Jamaal Charles, WR Limas Sweed, WR Billy Pittman, WR Quan Cosby, OT Tony Hills, OT Adam Ulatoski, and TE Jermichael Finley all return on O. Losing Blalock, Sendlein, and Studdard on the Line will hurt them -- hopefully really bad. On D they lose Crowder and Robison on the edges, and all but Marcus Griffin in the secondary. The bad news is that they have very competent ends and talented DBs to replace the graduating seniors and they get their entire depth back at the tackles and the LBs.
We get Mizzou in Norman, which is good, because they get 9 back on O and 7 back on D. We will have our work cut out for us with QB Chase Daniel and RB Tony Temple now a Junior and Senior respectively.
We travel to Ames to face Iowa State, now coached by Gene Chizik. Their D will improve, but not this year. Their O loses all but QB Bret Meyer, WR Todd Blythe, and G Tom Schmeling. That translates to the D being on the field a lot. Which translates into being good for us.
We get osu in Norman. They lose two OL, WR D'Juan Woods, and their D-Line. They will probably be good, but homefield advantage is always a big factor in this game.
We get aTm in Norman. Their O returns 9. Their D returns 6, thanks to Jason Jack going pro. Losing him, Justin Warren, and Melvin Bullitt will sting a little on D. See osu and the homefield advantage bit.
We get Baylor in Norman. This is a much nicer schedule than last season. They have 6 on O (including Szymanksi, their QB at the end of the year) and 7 on D returning. Losing Sepulveda will hurt them.
Which brings us to Tech and a trip to Lubbock. Hopefully we will be on a tear by then, so the officiating won't matter. They only return 4 on O and 4 on D (now that Brock Stratton has declared).
Right now, I am concerned about Miami, Colorado, and Texas. Depending on the QB situation, those could be very dangerous games. The rest looks pretty manageable. We only have 4 true away games, which is great. I'm going to say the worst is possibly 9-3, but more likely 10-2 or 11-1 (maybe 12-0?) heading to the Big XII CCG at the Alamodome. What are your thoughts?