Agreed. At least OU can back up the smack that they talk every year. UT on the other hand........ Plus, I'm praying OU is flying high and just forgets they play CU this year, giving us our only shot at a victory on the 25th.
For the following two reasons, I hope Texas wins: A) my sister and a lot of my high school friends go to UT, and I'm sure they'd like to have them beat the Sooners once this century. B) the parties will be a lot more hype if the team from Texas wins. That's the best way to look at it from a Dallas-point of view.
How so? Both teams have had back-to-back two loss seasons. How much smack did UT talk before those last two seasons?...not much, really. The hype really started two years ago when Simms started as a junior. And, since then, OU has done little more than UT has, so I don't see the basis behind your statement. I hear this a lot(I live in an area with a high concentration of Aggies, so it is expected), but I wouldn't expect this from such an unbiased fan.
'little more than texas?' OU the past 3 years: 2 Big 12 titles National Championship Cotton Bowl win Rose Bowl win Texas the last 3 years: 0 Big 12 titles Holiday Bowl Loss Holiday Bowl win Cotton Bowl win
Which is why I spoke specifically about the last two seasons(As the real hype didn't start until Simm's first full year as the starter)...what a difference a year makes... OU the past 2 years: 1 Big 12 title Cotton Bowl Win Rose Bowl Win UT the past 2 years: Holiday Bowl win Cotton Bowl win
If Young plays, Texas wins 31-28. If Mock plays (more), OU wins 35 - 24. The win w/Young, of course, assumes that his ankle is healthy.
If Young starts and gets 90 percent of the snaps then Texas will win by 20 or more. If Chance Mock gets more than 10 percent of the snaps then The Sooners will destroy us and I will release another song.
Totally depends on Brown and whether he has the blinders off and is finally seeing what every UT fan can see...V. Young is special...C. Mock is a good backup. DD
Greg Davis has downs syndrome. As such, his predictable playcalling will be an Achilles heel in our 4th consecutive loss to OU this year. There's a number of reasons why OU has the upper hand in this year's matchup. 1. Poor O-line Play Former 5-star Offensive Tackles, Jonathan Scott and Justin Blaylock looked horrible against KSU. They showed poor footwork, and were consistenly beaten by a simple 4-man pass rush. Then there's our Center, Jason Glynn, who probably couldn't start at Rice. Will Allen continues to start at RG over Mike Garcia, despite playing with a cast on his right hand. At LG Tillman Holloway has been subpar at best. The Sooners D-line, anchored by Tommie Harris, Kory Klein, Dusty Dvoracek, and Jonathan Jackson will have their way with our O-line all day long unless McWhorter can get our guys ready this week, which is highly unlikely. Fortunately, we have a QB in Vince that can make plays when flushed out of the pocket. 2. Predictable Play Calling "It's not Simms, it's their offense." That's what Bob Stoops said after last year's game. According to Teddy Lehman, it was easy to stop us because we "ran basic formations all game long." The ultra-conservative East-West passing offense will be on display once again in this year's Red River Shootout. It's never good when your fans are calling the plays from the stands before the ball is snapped. 3. No Running Game Luckily, VY has been able to succeed in this area despite poor play calling by Davis. Vincent has not been shy about tucking the ball away and running when his receivers are covered. Cedric Benson has turned out less than stellar performances against KState and Arkansas. OU's defense will stuff the former Midland Lee standout every time he dances around in the backfield looking for a hole. Texas has shown the inability to run the ball on Mike Stoops' defense in each of the last three years. The "rocket pitch," "Tony Jeffrey end around," and the "HB iso" will not work against a speedy Sooner defense. 4. Bad Run Defense Although we mugged much less frequently against KState than we did against Arkansas, our LBs are not put in a position to make plays. Our 4-corner secondary tackles poorly, which doesn't bode well against hard runners like Reynaldo Works and KeJuan Jones. Our D tends to give up big running plays at times. And you have to look back to the Shaun Rogers/Casey Hampton days to find the last time we had a good push from the front 4 on a regular basis. 5. Strength and Conditioning Our S&C is in the bottom half of the Big 12. Longhorn players have consistently failed to meet expectations at the NFL combine, whereas Aggy players are in much better shape. In the last few years, our defense got tired in the 2nd half after being out in the sun too long. Meanwhile, OU appeared to wear us down as the game continued. Mad Dog Madden seems to view football as a weight lifting contest. You'd never guess he'd be the guy in charge of getting our players into shape.
I'm not sure I'm ready to give a score, but I do know that Mack Brown needs to go ahead right now and declare Mock the starter for the Blow-U game on Sat. Now before I get flamed, follow me on this, Brown comes out now, says Mock has the experience and the ability to beat OU, then on gameday, Brown starts Mock for the first 2 series or so and then bring on V Young. I figure that oklahoma will prepare for Mock's style of game only to have to be confronted with Young and his completely different style of quarterback play. Texas needs to keep the OU defense guessing, because for the past 3 years, oklahoma has known exactly what Texas was going to throw at them. With that being said... Texas 21 OU 17 (Please God) <i>-Turbo</i> Hook 'em
Texas needs much better blocking out of the O Line this week or it won't matter who starts at QB. For that matter, Ced Benson's lack of production can be attributed to that same mediocre offensive line. Chance Mock played well vs. K-State, by the way, especially considering how little time he was given to set his feet. I want to see Young get the majority of the snaps because he's going to be something very special, but Mock hasn't been the cause of our struggles. UT 20 OU 18
OU- 27 UT- 14 Those 3 yard passes on 3rd and long will only help OU dominate UT's offense. UT will not be able to run the ball well, forcing Young and Mock into obvious pass situations. I think UT will get half of their first downs by VY's scrambling. Of course, VY will only play in like 2-3 series.
Good breakdown all in all. I might add that a huge factor will be the return teams, namely the punt returning by both OU and UT. Since both teams will likely struggle offensively, field position is a huge factor. This might go down to Vasher vs. Perkins. UT will struggle to make any big plays on offense, because of a combination of UT's 3 yard passes coupled with the fact that OU's defense is very good at tackling. I can see OU managing a few big plays, since UT's LBs and DBs cannot form tackle to save their life. OU needs to be very careful when VY is in the game. OU should not go totally after VY , just stay in your lanes and force him to throw the ball away/force an INT, rather than going for the sack, which is really really really hard to do. Once one DL is out of position because of overaggresiveness, VY has the running ability to turn the would be sack into a 30+ yard run. The OU DEs need to make sure they stay in their outside lanes, while the DTs need to make sure to collapse the pocket. Basically, OU needs to make sure they keep VY in front of them, and checked. UT should utilize play action to use OU's speed and aggresiveness against them. I think running plays such as the one wehre Mock runs one way, then hands it off to Robin, who goes the other way, could be a play that would be succesful against OU. I don't expect OU to blitz too much. It's really ineffective against UT's short passing offense, and would help trigger YAC by Roy Williams.
I can't, in my right mind, predict Texas to win at this point. I can hope and wishfully think, but not predict. However, I do think one big factor in this year's game will be OU's inconsistent running game. Quentin Griffin was a motherf***ing thorn in the side of UT the past couple of years, and I'm ecstatic to see him gone. His quickness just killed the UT defense. I think that the Horns will be able to handle Jones and Works a little bit easier because they lack that overall speed and elusiveness. Obviously, a healthy Vince Young could be the x-factor, as could special teams. Which makes me wonder....A healthy SELVIN Young could make a difference, too. Sure would be nice to see another UT back who hasn't evolved into a fumbling machine suddenly. And his return skills could come in handy.
