I like what I saw from #87 TE Lawrence Wilson. I hadnapos;t really noticed him before even though heapos;s a senior. He made a very key block to spring Pryor for 32 yards on the second play of the game. On the next play, he made a tremendous catch for a few yards. What impressed me wasnapos;t the catch itself (sometimes a good catch or a easy drop is nothing but dumb luck one way or the other), but the way he literally looked like he was trying to RIP the ball out of the air. He was playing the game like he had something to prove. Gotta love that.
Unlike OSUapos;s somewhat overrated linebacking corp, CB Malcolm Jenkins deserves his accolades. On the rare times his receiver made a catch, heapos;s got very tight coverage. He made a great open field tackle. And on the play where DE Thaddeus Gibson returned the fumble for a TD, Jenkins made the tackle that forced the fumble, fell down, got back up, chased down Gibson (who had a good head start because he never had to leave his feet), and blocked Javon Ringer enough so he couldnapos;t make the tackle. The stats will give the TD to Gibson, but that play was all Jenkins from beginning to end.
How predictable is OSUapos;s offense? On third and one at the 50-yard line, MSU put 11 guys in the box...and stuffed the inevitable run. Shouldnapos;t any college QB be allowed to audible if they see 11 in the box? In 2002, trailing Purdue in the fourth quarter and looking at fourth and one, QB Craig Krenzel threw a long bomb when his TE was covered. Somethingapos;s changed, Tressel would never do that today. Pity.
Playaction passes (fake the run to draw in defenders then throw a pass behind them) only work if the defense respects an offenseapos;s ability to run the ball. For years the Indy Colts had some of the most effective playaction pass plays around because defenses had to focus so heavily on stopping Edgarrin James or Joseph Addai. Draw plays work similarly but in reverse. The QB pauses, pretending go through his progressions, before handing the ball off to the RB. This should freeze the linebackers momentarily to give the RB a little more running room. However, this misdirection is only effective if the defense respects the pass. OSU has thrown the ball for less than 145 yards in each of the last five games and only has three completions for more than 30 yards during that span. Seven QBs in the Big 12 do that almost every game. Who the hell fears OSUapos;s passing game? OSU would be much better served with counters (where defenders are very likely to overpursue) and playaction passes than with draws. I think throwing in two or three counter sweeps and playaction passes a game would boost the offense tremendously.
The scary thing about Colt McCoyapos;s numbers at Texas is that his backup, John Chiles, has a higher completion percentage, yards/attempt, TD/INT ratio, and of course QB rating. Now that Texas finally has a productive #1 RB, Chris Ogbonnaya, it has the yearapos;s top offense. (Tulsa, which is the only team that has scored more, doesnapos;t count. On that note, the Tulsa QB, David Johnson, is on pace to finish his bowl game with 57.6 TDs, which will contend with Colt Brennanapos;s record of 58 in a season.)
In USCapos;s five wins this year, they have given up a total of 20 points. (Along the same lines, Boise State has only given up more than seven points once.) If teams were allowed to mulligan one game a year, USC would have like five of the last six championships. I know everyone is gushing over Texas right now but personally I think USCapos;s defense shuts them down.
Week 8 picks: 0-0
Season: 1-5
Predicted top 5 (pre bowls):
1) Alabama/Florida
2) Oklahoma
3) Ohio St/Penn St
4) USC
5) Alabama/Florida
My conference rankings:
1) SEC
2) Big 12
**big gap**
3) Big 10
4) ACC
5) Big East
6) PAC 10
camus death, capital of el salvador, capital of el salvadore, capital of el savador, capital of equatorial guinea.
