Iowa State choked with a chance to clinch the North against Kansas losing 23-20 in OT. Therefore it's going to be... UT vs. Colorado, Dec. 3 @ Noon; Reliant Stadium.
Colorado with the worst backing into a championship game ever. yikes. Texas with a comprehensive victory.
I'll be back in Houston next weekend for this game. The North Division should send an All-Star team to play us this weekend. The Horns will bounce back after an abysmal performance on both sides of the ball against A&M. Colorado played even worse though, and this game will be a cakewalk en route to the Rose Bowl.
This should pretty much be a home game for UT. I doubt many Colorado fans will be excited to travel to Houston after the Nebraska game and what happened last year. I hope Colorado continues to test our defense so we're forced to make the proper adjustments for USC.
I would like to see Young stay in the pocket and not give the USC scouts anything consequential to take home.
Our offense is a known quantity. If teams choose the Ohio State method, we throw the ball. If teams play a standard package, Vince scrambles or fakes the dive and runs the keeper. We've beaten teams running and throwing the ball, especially against man coverage on our WR's and David Thomas. Our defense is an unknown quantity. except for the Ohio State and A$M games, we weren't tested. I hope Colorado runs wide. I hope Colorado runs reverses and QB rollouts. I hope Colorado play action pass and throw deep to keep our corners and safeties honest. I hope our LB's actually can attack the offense without relying on Huff and Griffin to bail their arse out because against USC, they'll have to play it honest. I hope we don't gloss over the A$M game and pretend that beating Colorado means we're fine and dandy for USC. If Chizik doesn't address these issues, he will be exposed and his dream for a lucrative head coaching job will go *poof* in the air. He's motivated. Let's hope he's really as good as advertised.
I'd say this game will be about 90% Horn fans. Unless CU installs an option attack, this will be a cakewalk. A&M did expose some weaknesses yesterday: - Poor Tackling: we kept trying to hit Lane high, resulting in many missed tackles; Tarrell Brown missing McGee several times - Poor LB Play: Aaron Harris didn't get his first tackle until the 4th quarter; he was avoiding blocks and easily taken out of the play; Rashad Bobino was AWOL - Larry Dibbles: #92 was a total non-factor yesterday
I think the USC strategy will be to contain Vince. He has proven he can throw against crappy DBs... I'll be curious to see if he can throw against really talented DB's that can stay with their men though. Even if he can, if I'm USC, I know Vince can move the ball running. He may or may not be able to passing. This game will come down to pre-game strategy and turnovers, I think.
We've got more issues than that. Reggie Bush will run wide on you all day long if you let him and he will beat you to the corner. He can take a crease and go all the way. The key to our defense will be our front four. We get absolutely no penetration. To beat USC, our front four must pressure Leinart to allow our LB's to drop back in coverage or spy on Bush. Our front four has been very disappointing because they are talented. And our LB's - we need to pray because they don't have the vision and instincts to find the ball. How many times did our LB's tackle the RB when McGee faked the handoff or they get blocked into a big pile allowing the RB to run right past them. And Orapko. Someone needs to tell him what containment means because he overpursues every play for some unknown reason. It isn't a secret you should always funnel back to the middle and yet our lineman take terrible angles allowing a scrambling QB or the RB to avoid the tackle and bust to the outside. I still believe our best option is to throw short passes and control the clock and play every possession as though it's a 4 down set. We must control the clock to prevent USC from getting a good offensive rhythm.
Heh...I'm confused now. Is it a good thing that Vince is throwing completions to receivers who are not entirely open?
