Last night's game proved to me that Brent Venables/Mike Stoops and the other Sooner defensive coaches really do scheme well. Do you ever think that a Sooner D would have allowed VY to run for 200+ yards on them? In addition, notice that OU's scheme, even this year, against VY was to leave him in the pocket and make him throw it. Understood he's a much better passer this year than last, but don't you take your chances against his arm rather than his legs?
Example, when Fouts kept squawking about USC's pass rush, or lack thereof, did anyone notice that Texas had 3 points on the board? Many many drives, and all fizzled out. Then USC starts to bring a little heat, and VY goes gaga running the ball. They forced Texas to keep the ball in their BEST PLAYERS HANDS!
How many TD passes did VY throw last night? Zero. All those yards, and none got them into the end zone. VY completed 99% of what he threw underneath the USC D, so as the field gets shorter, his range closes down.
My point is this: USC got impatient, and when they tried to force the action on VY, they played right into his hands. Last night showed me, among many other things, that Venables and his predecessors can still scheme pretty well to give us a chance to win. That encourages me for 2006.
Just my thoughts, and I am not a coach. But it sure looked like Carroll's defensive genius got whupped last night.