Scouting Tulsa
Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 1:55 pm
I DVR'd the Tulsa-Rice game this weekend and got a chance to watch it last night. Here are my observations about Tulsa (admittedly after only seeing them one time).
Tulsa strikes me as an average C-USA team. They are decent enough to compete in our conference and they have some nice players. But they do not appear to have the athletes or the depth that SMU has. I expect SMU to be the physically superior football team. Tulsa was better than Rice, but they didn't dominate at all. Despite their notable deficiencies, Rice was able to hang with Tulsa for most of the game and made some nice plays.
Tulsa's O-line struck me as very weak. They did not protect well at all. The Rice blitzers were in the backfield on numerous plays and it looked like the Rice D-line was winning the battle up front. I think the combination of Kinne's athleticism and the corresponding lack of athleticism of the Rice D helped to mitigate that problem for Tulsa. Kinne was often able to get away from guys by rolling out or scrambling. I think our D-line will be able to push the Tulsa line around and get some penetration. I expect our linebackers to be in the backfield all day. Kinne won't be able to get away from Davis and Reed like he did against Rice. I might be looking at this through red/white/blue goggles, but I think the combination of our defensive strength and speed with Tulsa's weak o-line could get really ugly for Tulsa.
Tulsa's secondary is also very weak. There is a noticeable lack of athleticism and speed at the corner and safety positions. If JJ is accurate, there is the potential for some really big plays over the top of the defense.
Our O-line is not as good as I had hoped. I think Stallion said at one point that "very experienced mediocre talent will only take you so far." But I think our O-line is good enough to win the battle up front against Tulsa. There isn't anyone in Tulsa's front seven that struck me as a significant threat. JJ should have time.
Kinne is a nice player, but football is a team sport. He just doesn't have the athletes around him to really make things happen. I could certainly be wrong, but I see the Ponies winning this one big.
SMU 38 Tulsa 10.
Tulsa strikes me as an average C-USA team. They are decent enough to compete in our conference and they have some nice players. But they do not appear to have the athletes or the depth that SMU has. I expect SMU to be the physically superior football team. Tulsa was better than Rice, but they didn't dominate at all. Despite their notable deficiencies, Rice was able to hang with Tulsa for most of the game and made some nice plays.
Tulsa's O-line struck me as very weak. They did not protect well at all. The Rice blitzers were in the backfield on numerous plays and it looked like the Rice D-line was winning the battle up front. I think the combination of Kinne's athleticism and the corresponding lack of athleticism of the Rice D helped to mitigate that problem for Tulsa. Kinne was often able to get away from guys by rolling out or scrambling. I think our D-line will be able to push the Tulsa line around and get some penetration. I expect our linebackers to be in the backfield all day. Kinne won't be able to get away from Davis and Reed like he did against Rice. I might be looking at this through red/white/blue goggles, but I think the combination of our defensive strength and speed with Tulsa's weak o-line could get really ugly for Tulsa.
Tulsa's secondary is also very weak. There is a noticeable lack of athleticism and speed at the corner and safety positions. If JJ is accurate, there is the potential for some really big plays over the top of the defense.
Our O-line is not as good as I had hoped. I think Stallion said at one point that "very experienced mediocre talent will only take you so far." But I think our O-line is good enough to win the battle up front against Tulsa. There isn't anyone in Tulsa's front seven that struck me as a significant threat. JJ should have time.
Kinne is a nice player, but football is a team sport. He just doesn't have the athletes around him to really make things happen. I could certainly be wrong, but I see the Ponies winning this one big.
SMU 38 Tulsa 10.
