OU scores TD to pull within two scores. 45-31 with 8:28 left.

45-45 with 2:38 left. I almost added in my original post that I expected OU to come back.

Horns won on a late FG. They're back I guess.

It's a little early to say they're back but their remaining schedule isn't impossible. West Virginia at home is the toughest game left for them but Oklahoma State and Texas Tech on the road won't be easy. It's wild to think they're in the national championship picture even with the season opening loss to a head coachless Maryland.

Watching the Carolina game... They just ran the same toss play that Bloomgren likes to McCaffery. It got stuffed for a loss.

Kinda funny given that McCaffery is a former cardinal.

(10-07-2018 02:26 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  Watching the Carolina game... They just ran the same toss play that Bloomgren likes to McCaffery. It got stuffed for a loss.

Kinda funny given that McCaffery is a former cardinal.

I have friends who went to Stanford for grad school and exposed me to this play over the past several years watching Cardinal football with them. None of us have ever seen a logical explanation for using it rather than a traditional hand-off. My guess is that the QB can seal the backside as a blocker (since that seems to be the assignment) in a way that's not possible with a hand-off. The design therefore anticipates that, over the course of the season or seasons, the offense would give away that the tendency on hand-offs is almost 100% HB run, so the backside end would know to abandon contain on the QB and scrape down the line. My issue is that this logic requires that the offense commit to almost 100% HB runs on the hand-off action when that is simply not necessary. If even just 10% of the hand-off meshes lead to QB bootlegs, either to run himself or for a play action pass, then the end will stay home or else expose the defense to a big gain from the QB. If you try to implement both of the dive and the hand-off, like Rice and Stanford seem to, then the hand-off action has a higher rate of being a play action fake than it would if it were the only dive play, possibly allowing the end to take it as a cue to drive directly upfield to head off the bootleg instead of containing at the line. Stubborn refusal to run a bootleg may give away the efficacy of the bootleg when you do run it.

Mike Stoops reportedly out. After years of being the P5 version of Dreisbach/Patterson, junior-much-less-talented Stoops is reportedly out at OU.

He should have been gone years ago, but true to the CFB crony ways.. having a successful brother/connection/money-man and you can suck for decades and keep your job.

Also Texans > Cowboys.

In case anyone forgot, the Texans showed it in OT, winning 19-16

(10-07-2018 11:00 PM)Antarius Wrote:  Also Texans > Cowboys.

In case anyone forgot, the Texans showed it in OT, winning 19-16

A game the Texans should have won by multiple scores in regulation. 1-6 in the redzone is not going to get it done most games. Just some horrible play calling and execution inside the 5 yd line. Still, it's always good to beat the Cowboys.

Seth Payne, former Texan defensive lineman and now analyst on the Houston CBS affiliate, summed it up pretty well after the game - "Bill O'Brien's play calling is bad because his OL is not executing because they are poorly coached by Bill O'Brien."

Nailed it.

(10-07-2018 02:26 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  Watching the Carolina game... They just ran the same toss play that Bloomgren likes to McCaffery. It got stuffed for a loss.

Kinda funny given that McCaffery is a former cardinal.

That's actually a Norv Turner staple. It often works great when you have the Dallas Super Bowl-era offensive line and Emmitt Smith - not so much in a lot of other situations. In theory, you're asking for a RB with good vision, who can see which hole the defense didn't fill, while the line holds its blocks long enough that the back can then get to the hole. In theory, it can be useful, especially in college where gap discipline can be less consistent. But it takes talent in multiple areas to work.

(10-08-2018 07:34 AM)gsloth Wrote:  

(10-07-2018 02:26 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  Watching the Carolina game... They just ran the same toss play that Bloomgren likes to McCaffery. It got stuffed for a loss.

Kinda funny given that McCaffery is a former cardinal.

That's actually a Norv Turner staple. It often works great when you have the Dallas Super Bowl-era offensive line and Emmitt Smith - not so much in a lot of other situations. In theory, you're asking for a RB with good vision, who can see which hole the defense didn't fill, while the line holds its blocks long enough that the back can then get to the hole. In theory, it can be useful, especially in college where gap discipline can be less consistent. But it takes talent in multiple areas to work.

Run to daylight does not work if there is no daylight.

(10-08-2018 07:16 AM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  Seth Payne, former Texan defensive lineman and now analyst on the Houston CBS affiliate, summed it up pretty well after the game - "Bill O'Brien's play calling is bad because his OL is not executing because they are poorly coached by Bill O'Brien."

Nailed it.

That is a good summary, and could apply to a lot of situations. That was a pretty good game, even though I was marginally rooting for the Cowboys. Both teams seem easier to follow than the Broncos for the past two years. Case Keenum is not a good fit for that team right now, and I expect a lot of house cleaning there after the season. At least they have theoretically been within striking distance of winning most games up until losing to the Jets last week, but it's been a pretty rough year for football...