Finally :-p
Here it is- The Red River Rivalry from your man on the field Stephen.
First impressions:
The cotton bowls was not quite as big as I expected it too be, and its no surprise the schools would like a few upgrades to keep the game here. That said, they need to keep it here. What a great and unique feel to a rivalry game we get to experience every year. I got there early enough to catch some of the Texas players hanging out on the field dancing around and tossing the ball.
Humorous events of the day:
Fans yelling at coaches for using instant replay. (in the NCAA coaches don’t make the call)
Freebie missing a bad snap and being the hard core person he is, simply picked it up and launched it 55 yards
Rhett Bomar outplaying Heisman QB Jason White, who went 0/1 in the halftime win a free trip gimmick.
Bevo looking like he had been using some grass other than the field turf.
The media accidentally keeping Vince and Jamaal Charles from getting to the trophy cause they were too busy getting pictures of Mack.
That one guy who didn’t get the memo and showed up in a bright teal colored shirt.
Better yet- the one girl in the front row of the Texas student section wearing crimson, but she was a Texas fan... I guess orange just doesn’t go with her hair :-p
Now for the Game:
TEXAS
Texas Offense
Running: The running game was solid, but I was surprised we didn’t run more. Any time Selvin Young is averaging 4+ yards a carry you know the running game is going well for two reasons. 1) 4 ypc is very respectable and 2) Selvin Young is in the game.
Passing: 241 yards and no interceptions is a great day for Young. On the other hand, too many dropped balls. The receivers are really stepping it up, especially Pittman. This was by far the most even offensive performance of the season.
Overall: 444 yards is a pretty impressive number, but a decent chunk of that was a few blown long plays. I’ll give the offense an A-, mostly because of the fumbles. The line was its typical solid self.
Texas Defense
This is why I love Chizik. The Defense is so much faster this year, and has already scored and caused safeties twice. They hit Bomar. A lot. A decent amount of that had more to do with OU line problems. There really isn’t much excuse for allowing your QB to be sacked by 5 players at the same time. The secondary had a few ESPN highlight reel style knockdowns. Any time one of the big boys takes it all the way you are having a good Defensive night. UT is holding opponents to around 11pg, a dominating number.
Texas Special Teams
The special teams weren’t special, but they didn’t need to be this week. No mistakes, but not big plays either.
Texas Coaching It was amusing to watch the throngs of photographers attempting to document the Gorilla being lifted of Mack’s back. Nothing much else to report about him.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Offense
Passing: Not exactly hot. Bomar tends to throw down when he is being hurried, but the receivers aren’t helping him out too much. After watching him in person I think Rhett will be much more effective when the o-line shores up a bit. He did an excellent job under the circumstances of getting rid of the ball and avoiding sacks. There was that one fumble, but when you get hit that much in game I personally can’t blame him. The center was having a hard time hiking the ball to Bomar as well and tended to favor a little to his left which slowed Rhett’s movement and was part of the reason for the late game fumble.
Rushing:
Didn’t get very far, but they can help that Peterson was hurt. Once again, O-line needs to be stronger to make some holes.
Oklahoma Defense
The secondary needs the most work here, Vince is improving, but not enough to get away with some of those passes he did. D-line is definitely better than TCU game, and got some penetration off a very good Texas O-line
Oklahoma Special Teams
The only part of the game OU outdid UT on. I can’t help but be impressed by kicker Freebie (sp?). The man is hardcore, the 55 yard punt while scrabbling was NFL worthy. OU definitely outdid on returns as well, 126 yards, that’s compared to the 176 total net yards for the whole game!
Oklahoma Coaching
Stoops did what he could with what he had. The game plan was very similar to the previous year, stop Vince and the running game and force a throws. The personel just wasn’t there. The 4th down conversion was a good call.
Officiating
Not a perfect day, but in general a strong showing by the refs. They got the calls right for the most part. Texas needs to limit their penalties though, they had twice as many as OU. As far as the whole interception that got called back, the refs made the right call. Feel free to check out the Dallas Morning News, the OU defensive coordinator agreed with the call.
Fans
Fans will be fans. There were just as many drunk Texas Frat guys as OU had. Overall they weren’t too bad, I didn’t see any fighting going on between the two sides along the fifty. The police had a problem with someone on OU corner across from where the sooner band was sitting throwing some stuff, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. On the other hand, one Texas Alum was about ready to fall on the field behind me by the 10 yard line. I wasn’t expecting as many burnt orange shirts on OU’s side of the field, especially in the student section.
Halftime
And now in the general effect category:
Bands: UT’s show was pretty standard, here to hopping they pull Zelda out next week at CO. OU marching gets bonus points for playing The Incredibles Theme.
Some people you might know:
Mascots: Bevo must have been really really drugged. He didn’t even flinch when the cannon went off 20 ft from him. I have to say I liked the OU horses (ponies? they aren’t very big).
Exploding stuff: The cannon definitely beats the shotguns. I mean come on, it’s a cannon :-p
What these guy need to do next week:
Texas:
Don’t underestimate a surpisingly improved CO team. Special teams needs to step it up and limit penalties.
OU:
OU can beat KU but the line needs a lot of improvements both ways. Only when they are protecting Rhett will he be able to effectively move the team forward.
For more pictures check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/26458511@N00/
First impressions:
The cotton bowls was not quite as big as I expected it too be, and its no surprise the schools would like a few upgrades to keep the game here. That said, they need to keep it here. What a great and unique feel to a rivalry game we get to experience every year. I got there early enough to catch some of the Texas players hanging out on the field dancing around and tossing the ball.
Humorous events of the day:
Fans yelling at coaches for using instant replay. (in the NCAA coaches don’t make the call)
Freebie missing a bad snap and being the hard core person he is, simply picked it up and launched it 55 yards
Rhett Bomar outplaying Heisman QB Jason White, who went 0/1 in the halftime win a free trip gimmick.
Bevo looking like he had been using some grass other than the field turf.
The media accidentally keeping Vince and Jamaal Charles from getting to the trophy cause they were too busy getting pictures of Mack.
That one guy who didn’t get the memo and showed up in a bright teal colored shirt.
Better yet- the one girl in the front row of the Texas student section wearing crimson, but she was a Texas fan... I guess orange just doesn’t go with her hair :-p
Now for the Game:
TEXAS
Texas Offense
Running: The running game was solid, but I was surprised we didn’t run more. Any time Selvin Young is averaging 4+ yards a carry you know the running game is going well for two reasons. 1) 4 ypc is very respectable and 2) Selvin Young is in the game.
Passing: 241 yards and no interceptions is a great day for Young. On the other hand, too many dropped balls. The receivers are really stepping it up, especially Pittman. This was by far the most even offensive performance of the season.
Overall: 444 yards is a pretty impressive number, but a decent chunk of that was a few blown long plays. I’ll give the offense an A-, mostly because of the fumbles. The line was its typical solid self.
Texas Defense
This is why I love Chizik. The Defense is so much faster this year, and has already scored and caused safeties twice. They hit Bomar. A lot. A decent amount of that had more to do with OU line problems. There really isn’t much excuse for allowing your QB to be sacked by 5 players at the same time. The secondary had a few ESPN highlight reel style knockdowns. Any time one of the big boys takes it all the way you are having a good Defensive night. UT is holding opponents to around 11pg, a dominating number.
Texas Special Teams
The special teams weren’t special, but they didn’t need to be this week. No mistakes, but not big plays either.
Texas Coaching It was amusing to watch the throngs of photographers attempting to document the Gorilla being lifted of Mack’s back. Nothing much else to report about him.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Offense
Passing: Not exactly hot. Bomar tends to throw down when he is being hurried, but the receivers aren’t helping him out too much. After watching him in person I think Rhett will be much more effective when the o-line shores up a bit. He did an excellent job under the circumstances of getting rid of the ball and avoiding sacks. There was that one fumble, but when you get hit that much in game I personally can’t blame him. The center was having a hard time hiking the ball to Bomar as well and tended to favor a little to his left which slowed Rhett’s movement and was part of the reason for the late game fumble.
Rushing:
Didn’t get very far, but they can help that Peterson was hurt. Once again, O-line needs to be stronger to make some holes.
Oklahoma Defense
The secondary needs the most work here, Vince is improving, but not enough to get away with some of those passes he did. D-line is definitely better than TCU game, and got some penetration off a very good Texas O-line
Oklahoma Special Teams
The only part of the game OU outdid UT on. I can’t help but be impressed by kicker Freebie (sp?). The man is hardcore, the 55 yard punt while scrabbling was NFL worthy. OU definitely outdid on returns as well, 126 yards, that’s compared to the 176 total net yards for the whole game!
Oklahoma Coaching
Stoops did what he could with what he had. The game plan was very similar to the previous year, stop Vince and the running game and force a throws. The personel just wasn’t there. The 4th down conversion was a good call.
Officiating
Not a perfect day, but in general a strong showing by the refs. They got the calls right for the most part. Texas needs to limit their penalties though, they had twice as many as OU. As far as the whole interception that got called back, the refs made the right call. Feel free to check out the Dallas Morning News, the OU defensive coordinator agreed with the call.
Fans
Fans will be fans. There were just as many drunk Texas Frat guys as OU had. Overall they weren’t too bad, I didn’t see any fighting going on between the two sides along the fifty. The police had a problem with someone on OU corner across from where the sooner band was sitting throwing some stuff, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. On the other hand, one Texas Alum was about ready to fall on the field behind me by the 10 yard line. I wasn’t expecting as many burnt orange shirts on OU’s side of the field, especially in the student section.
Halftime
And now in the general effect category:
Bands: UT’s show was pretty standard, here to hopping they pull Zelda out next week at CO. OU marching gets bonus points for playing The Incredibles Theme.
Some people you might know:
Mascots: Bevo must have been really really drugged. He didn’t even flinch when the cannon went off 20 ft from him. I have to say I liked the OU horses (ponies? they aren’t very big).
Exploding stuff: The cannon definitely beats the shotguns. I mean come on, it’s a cannon :-p
What these guy need to do next week:
Texas:
Don’t underestimate a surpisingly improved CO team. Special teams needs to step it up and limit penalties.
OU:
OU can beat KU but the line needs a lot of improvements both ways. Only when they are protecting Rhett will he be able to effectively move the team forward.
For more pictures check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/26458511@N00/