Texas vs. Oklahoma

[HB Pony Dad]

Texas vs. Oklahoma

By Scouts, Inc
Insider

Friday, October 10, 2008



Texas offense vs. Oklahoma defense
Texas QB Colt McCoy is a changed man from a year ago. In addition to being bigger and stronger, he is running more and forcing the ball into double coverage less. The Longhorns have a few solid backs in Vondrell McGee, Cody Johnson and Chris Ogbonnaya, but none comes close to offering the kind of game-breaking skills that Jamaal Charles (Chiefs) provided last season. As a result, McCoy has become a much bigger factor in the ground game. Texas will frequently work out of the shotgun and allow McCoy to run the read-option with a back to either his right or his left. This game plan has been successful against the likes of Florida Atlantic, UTEP, Arkansas, Rice and Colorado, but it will be interesting to see if McCoy can operate the option game efficiently enough to consistently move the chains versus an Oklahoma defense with outstanding speed.

The Sooners will give Texas a lot of different looks defensively. Coordinator Brent Venables uses a 3-4 front on some plays and a 4-3 front on others. DE/OLB Jeremy Beal is the hybrid player to monitor, as he's strong enough to play with his hand in the dirt as an end, yet athletic enough to drop off into underneath coverage as an outside linebacker. That versatility up front will make line calls and pre-snap reads very difficult for the Longhorns. The Sooners' linebackers were a question mark coming into the season, but MLB Ryan Reynolds and WLB Travis Lewis have been solid and junior SLB Keenan Clayton is an emerging star. Clayton lacks ideal size at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, but he uses his instincts, athleticism and speed to stay off blocks and pursue ball carriers from sideline to sideline.

As far as the pass rush is concerned, Venables will use a lot of zone blitzes to keep Texas guessing. Lewis has proven to be an instinctive pass-rusher and DE Auston English is always a dangerous pass-rusher, even though he hasn't recorded a sack since the season opener. With that in mind, Longhorns offensive coordinator Greg Davis will certainly look to maximize McCoy's mobility as a means of neutralizing the rush. A good portion of Texas' pass plays include McCoy rolling out to one side. The negative is that it can shrink the field for the defense, but the positive is that McCoy has become dangerous when executing the run/pass option. He is quick to break contain and throws accurately on the run, often forcing an individual defender to choose to either pursue McCoy or maintain coverage responsibilities underneath.

Quan Cosby and Jordan Shipley are not flashy but they make up a very good starting wide receiver tandem. Cosby is far and away the better athlete and vertical threat, which is why he typically garners more attention. While not as explosive, Shipley is an outstanding route-runner with some wiggle after the catch. The Longhorns like to put Shipley in the slot and roll McCoy to his side, and because the two have an excellent rapport, many of their connections occur when Shipley comes back to his quarterback after the initial route has broken down. Oklahoma's secondary as a whole is big and physical but lacks elite cover skills. Look for Texas to exploit that weakness with a lot of quick-hitting routes, double moves and crossing routes. Finally, Oklahoma's defense should be prepared for a pooch punt. McCoy has punted once and placed the ball inside the 20-yard line.

Oklahoma offense vs. Texas defense
No. 5 Texas vs. No. 1 Oklahoma
Texas vs. Oklahoma

When: Sat., Oct. 11, 12 p.m. ET (ABC)
Where: Dallas
Preview: Red River Rivalry renewed
Don't get this Texas defense confused with those of years past. Under first-year coordinator Will Muschamp, this year's version is noticeably more physical, intense and aggressive than we've seen in recent years. Muschamp employs a 4-3 front and Cover 2 shell as his base alignment, but where he goes from there is anyone's guess. The Longhorns are tough versus the run, and while Texas will surrender some size up front against Oklahoma's massive offensive line, NT Roy Miller is quick, powerful and disruptive in the middle and DEs Brian Orakpo and Henry Melton are disciplined veterans with outstanding overall athleticism.

RB DeMarco Murray has not fully recovered from offseason knee surgery, and while he is a strong runner with adequate speed he does not possess the quick-cutting ability or breakaway speed of an elite back right now. Chris Brown is a very good between-the-tackles runner with vision and toughness to cash in on short-yardage and/or goal line situations, but neither he nor Murray appears capable of making a huge dent versus Texas' speedy and aggressive defense.

Oklahoma's biggest strength is its passing attack and the Longhorns appear to be most vulnerable versus the pass, so handing over the keys to sophomore QB Sam Bradford seems logical. Muschamp will mix it up in the secondary by using a lot of different man and zone variations. CBs Ryan Palmer and Chykie Brown are doing an outstanding job so far this season holding up in man-coverage but Oklahoma's top four receivers -- Juaquin Iglesias, Manuel Johnson, Ryan Broyles and Quentin Chaney -- are better than most they've faced to this point. Muschamp won't back down but he needs to pick his spots wisely. Texas likes to play a lot of man-free coverage when it blitzes, so Palmer and Brown may or may not get vertical support from the safety playing centerfield. S's Earl Thomas and Blake Gideon are very important to Saturday's outcome. Both are very good athletes for the position but Thomas is a redshirt freshman and Gideon is a true freshman, so bet on Bradford to test the deep middle of the field early and often.

To that end, TE Jermaine Gresham is a dangerous pass-catching weapon that Texas did not have an answer for in the red zone last season (two catches, both for scores). SLB Sergio Kindle needs to do a good job of slowing Gresham off the line of scrimmage, and the rest of the Texas linebackers and safeties need to communicate well in order to avoid similar breakdowns in coverage this time around.

Special Teams
Key individual matchup
Oklahoma LOT Phil Loadholt vs. Texas RDE Brian Orakpo

Loadholt is using better technique and looks quicker on his feet this season. He has a four-inch and 77-pound size advantage over Orakpo, which will come in handy when the Sooners run over the left side. However, Orakpo is one of the more explosive pass-rushers in college football right now. He possesses the upper-body power, quick first step and fluidity to give Loadholt some problems off the edge on passing downs. Muschamp will find ways to apply pressure with the blitz on occasion, but he also needs to rely on a front-four rush at times. If Orakpo doesn't come through with a huge individual effort versus the bigger but slower Loadholt, Texas' secondary will be in for a long afternoon versus OU's deep corps of receivers.
Texas has an edge in the kicking game. Junior PK Hunter Lawrence has connected on all three of his field goal attempts thus far and two of those came from 40 yards out, so he has shown adequate range to go along with accuracy. Oklahoma PK Jimmy Stevens has attempted and made just one field goal, so the jury is still out on this 5-6, 156-pound redshirt freshman. Neither team does much punting, but Texas seems to have the edge if the punting game becomes a factor. The Longhorns rank fifth nationally in net punting thanks to the solid leg and directional skills of P John Gold, combined with an excellent cover unit. Gold is averaging 42.1 yards per attempt and has placed four of his 13 punts inside the 20-yard line. On the flip side, Oklahoma ranks 102nd nationally in net punting. Derek Epperson is averaging 39.6 yards on seven attempts, including two that landed inside the 20-yard line. Epperson needs to do a better job with his directional kicking and the Sooners' cover teams need to be on high alert versus Cosby.

Both teams have been more potent returning kicks than punts. For Texas, Cosby is capable of breaking a long punt return, but he's averaging a modest eight yards per attempt. Cosby and Shipley share the kickoff return duties, but Cosby is averaging nearly four more yards per touch. For Oklahoma, Broyles and Dominique Franks are averaging nearly seven yards on nine combined punt returns. The Sooners' kickoff return team ranks 15th nationally thanks mostly to Iglesias and Murray, who have combined to average 25.3 yards per return this season.

Scouts' Edge
McCoy is playing like a man possessed and the Longhorns defense is more physical and aggressive than in recent years, making it hard to pick against Texas. But the Bradford-operated Sooners offense is too diverse and dynamic to be stopped. Bradford will get enough time in the pocket behind his massive offensive line to exploit an inexperienced Texas secondary, which will be overmatched by Iglesias, Johnson, Broyles, Chaney and Gresham.

Prediction: Sooners 31, Longhorns 21

[Pony Soup]

Be there in 12.5 hours. WHAT WHAT

[ponyboy]

Hope they both lose.

[Hoop Fan]

i'd ask who cares, but the answer is everybody. Maybe we should just rent out the boulevard to UT fans. And we are 25 point dogs to tulsa which is just flat out pathetic and inexusable.

[Pony Soup]

I think the winner will likely be playing in the last game of the season

[ponyboy]

i'd ask who cares, but the answer is everybody. Maybe we should just rent out the boulevard to UT fans. And we are 25 point dogs to tulsa which is just flat out pathetic and inexusable.

Whiner.

[HB Pony Dad]

i'd ask who cares, but the answer is everybody. Maybe we should just rent out the boulevard to UT fans. And we are 25 point dogs to tulsa which is just flat out pathetic and inexusable.

Whiner.

That's both Bob Stoops and Mack Brown.

So the Biggest Whiner ends up in Miami!

[Hoop Fan]

i'd ask who cares, but the answer is everybody. Maybe we should just rent out the boulevard to UT fans. And we are 25 point dogs to tulsa which is just flat out pathetic and inexusable.

Whiner.

Who do you think you are exactly? If you woundn't say that to somebody's face, you probably shouldn't say it here.

[Pony Soup]

i'd ask who cares, but the answer is everybody. Maybe we should just rent out the boulevard to UT fans. And we are 25 point dogs to tulsa which is just flat out pathetic and inexusable.

Whiner.

Who do you think you are exactly? If you woundn't say that to somebody's face, you probably shouldn't say it here.

whoa kids, chill out

[mr. pony]

GO SOONERS!! (or whoever Texas is playing each week. )

[smupony94]

5 minutes come on UT

[Stallion]

interested to see how the bowling in of the upper deck affects the atmosphere at the Cotton Bowl. 46,000 Texas Fans and 46,000 Okies. You just never see this in Football as Super Bowl and Bowl Games are really more corporate events.

[White Helmet]

They shouldnt even play this game per rivals recruting rankings since 2004

OK
8,3,9,14,6
Avg 8

TX
10,20,5,5,14
Avg 11

Obviously OK is going to win

[indianmustang]

you are right so far OU leads by 7

They shouldnt even play this game per rivals recruting rankings since 2004

OK
8,3,9,14,6
Avg 8

TX
10,20,5,5,14
Avg 11

Obviously OK is going to win

[smupony94]

They shouldnt even play this game per rivals recruting rankings since 2004

OK
8,3,9,14,6
Avg 8

TX
10,20,5,5,14
Avg 11

Obviously OK is going to win

Um, you are not allowed to use Rivals data without Stallion's prior written approval.

There you go Stallion