I started to watch the game and just fast forwarded to late third quarter and part of the fourth quarter. It is a good and bad thing what I saw. I saw kids still busting their tails and playing but the bad part they were going against most of the two's from OU and still struggled.
I was watching closely to some of the Oklahoma back-ups and I mean they are legit. Their second unit had #97 (Walker 6-2, 298) and #93 (Jordan Wade 6-3, 300) and they gave the starting OL fits. It must be nice to have Frank Shannon at LB coming off the bench. He was legit. That Oklahoma team is no joke.
I was walking out of the stadium and I heard two guys in front and one of them said "that was men among boys."
And that guy was exactly right. Oklahoma only started one true freshman on both sides of the ball. They started seven juniors and seniors on defense. Not only was it a mismatch in terms of talent but experience.
I don't know if there is a team in the nation with the one-two punch of those running backs. They are big, strong, and fast. They were running zone read with two backs in the backfield and it also had the option of Mayfield to throw out of it. That Lincoln Riley is doing some good stuff as the OC. The OU OL is young but they have good looking kids out there.
Once again the defenses are setting up to stop the run. They had the box loaded all day yesterday. They just know Willis isn't a threat in the zone running game and they are keying on the RB. I thought the KU OL actually did some good things in the blocking game and had holes opened. But with OU stacking the box the holes closed quickly. I think I counted between the OU backers and Alexander and Shannon (a back-up) they had 21 tackles from their LB spot. The DL from OU really tied up the KU OL to let those LB make tackles.
Willis had a long day. He had a lot of pressure on him all day. But in between those Hughes and McCauley had some good snaps. I think those two kids are going to get better from this and learn from going against that kind of quality. That makes you grow up quick.
Someone mentioned in another thread that McCauley and Hughes look the part. They really do. I know more goes into looks but that's how coaches recruit. Both of those kids have the ideal Big 12 frames that pass the eyeball test. By the time they are juniors I think a lot of people are going to look at them and say "that's what Big 12 tackles should play like."
After the last two weeks I think Mann and Cox have safely moved ahead of Kinner. Kinner just looks tentative. Against the really good defenses you have to be able to fall forward and fight off some tackles. Mann and Cox do that better than Kinner.
Trust me here.... I'm not at practice. We don't get to go. But I have to believe the young wide receivers have to keep playing and get better. I think they should be in there. I'm not knocking kids like Barbel and Moses but they dropped some big passes that hit them right in the hands. Again I'm not questioning coaching. But I would like to see Moore, Sims, Booker, Crawley, Patrick and those type of young kids get the balls thrown their way. Maybe those kids played well and worked hard in practice and earned it. I know Beaty is big on that. But I want to see every young player in the program getting experience and better so in two years we aren't saying all this again.
Once again Tyler Patrick had another solid game. There are young receivers to build with.
They are under-manned on special teams but those kids play hard. I think they play with a lot of effort for Hyman. Matt Wyman has really done a nice job punting since he was forced into that role. He's avg just under 43 yards a game and is fifth in the Big 12. The coverage units played well. I wish I could grade out Oklahoma's punter and the KU punt return game but that can't happen since the Sooners never punted.
On the defensive side the coaches and players are going to learn and will take some time. If you take away Bowen there is one year of Power Five experience on that side. Perry coached one year on the field at TCU. Kane and Thibbs both came from non Power Five schools. That doesn't really mean anything except the Big 12 will be a learning curve for young coaches going up against more experienced. If you watch the sidelines those guys are constantly teaching and learning to coach with each other. This is all of their first years with each other.
This is just me talking but if Tyrone Miller isn't going to get a lot of snaps at corner then I would start looking to get him in practice at safety. Teams are really spreading their offense out and picking on the LBs and safeties in coverage. That certainly isn't the strength of the defense. There isn't a lot of cover skill/ability in some of those groups. It's just not what they are strong at but they are playing with the best they have. I think Miller plays with safety traits. He will come up on run support and not afraid to put his head down. He will also give good cover skills for a safety. But when these good offenses go four wide and start getting match-ups with Shaw, Fish, and Glatczak in coverage against slot receivers it spells trouble. They don't have coverage ability to hang all game long.
This is when Beaty needs to keep bringing the energy and make sure everyone stays focused. It gets tough. I have heard one thing that has been good to this point is the young kids have been focused and stayed into it. You have to find a way to keep that going and take that into the off-season S&C.
I like Ogbebor and Duckworth and their ability to run. Along with Dineen I think those are three LBs to build on the next two years.
I was watching closely to some of the Oklahoma back-ups and I mean they are legit. Their second unit had #97 (Walker 6-2, 298) and #93 (Jordan Wade 6-3, 300) and they gave the starting OL fits. It must be nice to have Frank Shannon at LB coming off the bench. He was legit. That Oklahoma team is no joke.
I was walking out of the stadium and I heard two guys in front and one of them said "that was men among boys."
And that guy was exactly right. Oklahoma only started one true freshman on both sides of the ball. They started seven juniors and seniors on defense. Not only was it a mismatch in terms of talent but experience.
I don't know if there is a team in the nation with the one-two punch of those running backs. They are big, strong, and fast. They were running zone read with two backs in the backfield and it also had the option of Mayfield to throw out of it. That Lincoln Riley is doing some good stuff as the OC. The OU OL is young but they have good looking kids out there.
Once again the defenses are setting up to stop the run. They had the box loaded all day yesterday. They just know Willis isn't a threat in the zone running game and they are keying on the RB. I thought the KU OL actually did some good things in the blocking game and had holes opened. But with OU stacking the box the holes closed quickly. I think I counted between the OU backers and Alexander and Shannon (a back-up) they had 21 tackles from their LB spot. The DL from OU really tied up the KU OL to let those LB make tackles.
Willis had a long day. He had a lot of pressure on him all day. But in between those Hughes and McCauley had some good snaps. I think those two kids are going to get better from this and learn from going against that kind of quality. That makes you grow up quick.
Someone mentioned in another thread that McCauley and Hughes look the part. They really do. I know more goes into looks but that's how coaches recruit. Both of those kids have the ideal Big 12 frames that pass the eyeball test. By the time they are juniors I think a lot of people are going to look at them and say "that's what Big 12 tackles should play like."
After the last two weeks I think Mann and Cox have safely moved ahead of Kinner. Kinner just looks tentative. Against the really good defenses you have to be able to fall forward and fight off some tackles. Mann and Cox do that better than Kinner.
Trust me here.... I'm not at practice. We don't get to go. But I have to believe the young wide receivers have to keep playing and get better. I think they should be in there. I'm not knocking kids like Barbel and Moses but they dropped some big passes that hit them right in the hands. Again I'm not questioning coaching. But I would like to see Moore, Sims, Booker, Crawley, Patrick and those type of young kids get the balls thrown their way. Maybe those kids played well and worked hard in practice and earned it. I know Beaty is big on that. But I want to see every young player in the program getting experience and better so in two years we aren't saying all this again.
Once again Tyler Patrick had another solid game. There are young receivers to build with.
They are under-manned on special teams but those kids play hard. I think they play with a lot of effort for Hyman. Matt Wyman has really done a nice job punting since he was forced into that role. He's avg just under 43 yards a game and is fifth in the Big 12. The coverage units played well. I wish I could grade out Oklahoma's punter and the KU punt return game but that can't happen since the Sooners never punted.
On the defensive side the coaches and players are going to learn and will take some time. If you take away Bowen there is one year of Power Five experience on that side. Perry coached one year on the field at TCU. Kane and Thibbs both came from non Power Five schools. That doesn't really mean anything except the Big 12 will be a learning curve for young coaches going up against more experienced. If you watch the sidelines those guys are constantly teaching and learning to coach with each other. This is all of their first years with each other.
This is just me talking but if Tyrone Miller isn't going to get a lot of snaps at corner then I would start looking to get him in practice at safety. Teams are really spreading their offense out and picking on the LBs and safeties in coverage. That certainly isn't the strength of the defense. There isn't a lot of cover skill/ability in some of those groups. It's just not what they are strong at but they are playing with the best they have. I think Miller plays with safety traits. He will come up on run support and not afraid to put his head down. He will also give good cover skills for a safety. But when these good offenses go four wide and start getting match-ups with Shaw, Fish, and Glatczak in coverage against slot receivers it spells trouble. They don't have coverage ability to hang all game long.
This is when Beaty needs to keep bringing the energy and make sure everyone stays focused. It gets tough. I have heard one thing that has been good to this point is the young kids have been focused and stayed into it. You have to find a way to keep that going and take that into the off-season S&C.
I like Ogbebor and Duckworth and their ability to run. Along with Dineen I think those are three LBs to build on the next two years.
