Super Saturday Aftermath

Where to begin? I might as well start with the Sooners. Bradford and Murray looked great. So did Iglesias and Kelly. I think if the new guys can be consistent like they were this time for the rest of the season, they will be very tough to compete with. It doesn't hurt having as deep a roster as we do. A force to be reckoned with? I think so.

I am starting to see the wisdom of the Congrove rankings showing OU at #3. I will have to post again once the AP and Coaches polls get updated. I can see Texas dropping and maybe even USC. I would also expect to see OU bump up and Michigan will definitely drop.

Some will say that North Texas rolled over and they weren't much competition. Whether that's true or not, the performance by our new guys was unquestionably excellent. Especially for their first time out. I am used to seeing a lot more unforced errors and sloppy play in the first couple of games. For them to come out and play this well right out of the chute is truly remarkable.

At the same time, I noticed that Idaho was on a similar level ranking at least. Admittedly, I didn't get to see much of the game, but based on the bits I saw and the outcome I was not overly impressed by USC. Obviously I am biased though.

Texas struggled with a seemingly lightweight opponent as well. I was even less impressed by their performance, but I didn't see any of the game so hard to say much about that.

I did get to watch the Colorado game and thought they did well considering the rivalry factor. I don't think either team was particularly strong, but I enjoyed the game and thought Colorado was at least coached better than Colorado State.

Missouri struggled a bit against Illinois, especially in the second half. I didn't see much of that part of the game. They looked pretty good in the first half for the parts I saw. It looks like Illinois made a strong push at the end but Mizzou was able to rein it in just enough to come out ahead in the end.

Nebraska looked confident and only got stronger in the second half. Nevada scored a bit late in the first half but were shutout after that. I did see a good bit of this game as well and thought they were executing fairly well on most of the plays but made some mistakes that would cost them against a tougher opponent. Overall a great performance by Nebraska though.

Kansas looked good against Central Michigan. I didn't see the game itself, but it looks like they were able to control the ball well for the majority of the game, only allowing a few late points in the final quarter of the game. Again I didn't see the game so I can't say much about their performance but I think the score speaks of a good first outing.

A&M looked okay against Montana St. It looks like the defense was struggling a bit at first but then pulled it together and no further points scored by Montana St. I did notice that Montana State has had some troubles lately and apparently a new coach so they will likely struggle this season. In spite of the score, the Aggies passing game was not as good as the Bobcats. The running game was all A&M however. If their defense can stop the passing game a bit better they will be ok.

K State made a valiant effort against a ranked Auburn team. The Wildcats were doing quite well through the first half and most of the 3rd quarter. It's not quite clear what happened then, but Auburn apparently pulled their act together a bit and managed to start a scoring momentum that managed to save them in the end. I was very impressed by the Kansas State performance and think Auburn will have to make some corrections to stay in the top 25 although they should have a little time before facing some tougher opponents mid season. I think if K State can be more consistent through the whole game they will do well this season.

OSU looked pretty good at first but seemed to falter and fizzle at the end of the first half. They never got back into the game after that. Georgia is a ranked team and while they struggled a bit at first, they seemed to take control for the rest of the game. The cowboys will have to step it up a bit, especially when they start playing in conference games if they hope to salvage the season.

I didn't see the Baylor game, but it looks like they were completely outmatched by a superior TCU team. While it appears it was more of a defensive battle the score might let on, TCU's defense was clearly in charge of the game, holding the Bears to only 52 rushing yards. They also forced 4 turnovers which obviously cost Baylor the game.

I suppose I could mention Iowa State's loss to Kent State, but I didn't see that game either. It wasn't a rout, but the Cyclones clearly have some improvements to make before playing in conference.

I should point out that 7 of the 10 Big 12 teams that played Saturday won their games, some quite decisively. If we throw in the early game that drops to 7 out of 11, but Texas Tech hasn't played yet. If I think of it I may update this after their game. Either way, I think that is a good starting effort and hope that we continue to do well this season. It can only help us having a strong conference.

Update:
Now that Texas Tech has beaten SMU soundly I can say that we have 8 of 12 teams playing so far with wins. I think that's pretty good, don't you?

The Red Raiders actually looked really good. They got off to a bit of a slow start, but from then on they were very consistent, scoring 7 points in the 1st quarter and then 14 in each of the rest. SMU only scored 3 FG's, 2 in the first half and one in the 2nd. The Tech defense just wouldn't let up.

In addition to the 8 wins from 12 teams, 5 of those eight wins were dominant (30+ point spread). I think that sounds like a strong showing to me. Of course OU looked the best of any of the teams this weekend so the rest have some catching up to do. If the Sooners can bring the consistency and make minor improvements here and there, they will be very hard to catch.