What a Saturday of college football! In part I think I watched twelve games and part of the St. Louis Cardinals 6-5 loss to the pathetic Chicago Cubs.
Before I get to OU’s 37-31 road win at K-State..I’m giving out my No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 helmet stickers.
No. 3 goes to Texas running back Bijon Robinson who is back on my Heisman watch list after his scintillating performance over TCU on the road. I sincerely hope the OU linebackers understand what they have in front of them next Saturday in Dallas. The tackling will need to be much better than it was in Manhattan.
No. 2 goes to Cincy QB Desmond Ritter who got his team a Top 15 resume win on the road in South Bend against Notre Dame. Kudos to that young man and the entire Bearcat program.
No. 1 goes to Auburn quarterback Bo Nix who was one of the very reasons beyond El Boutte that I picked LSU to win in Death Valley. Bo Nix after being benhed last week for his abysmal performance against Georgia State and then being benched again last night for a period of time responded with one of the guttiest performances I’ve seen in a while in college football.
Nix brought his team back from a 13-0 hole on the road in the toughest stadium in the country to be playing a road game. LSU fans are noriously nasty. I wouldn’t surprise me a bit if most of them have ‘Hang Mike Pence’ T-shirts in their trucks. But Bo Nix on this night was my Player of the Week in college football.
His father was crying in the stands as the final seconds ticked off and it was a reminder of what competition is supposed to look like in college football beyond the transfer portal and NIL deal.-
I gotta tell you…it put a lump in my throat. You saw in the father’s face how tough the past week was for the entire Nix family.
Now…OU’s 37-31 road win over K State. First off it was Lincoln Riley’s first win over Wildcat coach Chris Klieman… so that’s a positive.
In fact I would describe most of the second half as positive with the exception of Tyrese Robinson’s boneheaded personal foul penalty which gave K State the opportunity for that last kickoff return touchdown. Stupid football plays won’t get it done in Dallas. Just an incredibly stupid football play. There’s a time and a place to hit someone in the mouth. That wasn’t the time.
As Pat Jones said to Garrett Limbrick back in ’88 when his team choked in Bedlam, ” Son…you can’t play like an unchained idiot out there.”
Otherwise mostly positives:
Spencer Rattler was sharp and played like the best quarterback in the Big 12.
Kennedy Brooks ran like he did two years ago before missing last season to COVID precautions.
Bill Bedenbaugh’s offensive line played its best game of the year. I think it helps that Raym and Morris now have more defined roles at center and tackle.
Gabe Brkic was excellent as usual.
WR receiver Mike Woods continues to evolve and Marvin Mims became a factor again in the offense.
Jaden Hazlewood’s block on the goal line took out three Wildcats and enabled OU to score an impressive late rushing touchdown.
Lincoln finally seems to be of the thought Eric Gray is a finesse runner and receiver outside the the tackles while Kennedy Brooks will be the main guy between the tackles running back.
It was nice to Jeremiah Hall see get involved carrying and catching the ball again. He needs to be a sigfificant piece of the offense moving forward. I would love to see the wheelhouse route out of the backfield in Dallas for an early touchdown.
I thought Brandon Willis made a few big catches as well. Spencer Rattler will need both Brandon and Austin Stogner to bring their best games of the season in Dallas in the Red River Rivalry.
For all of you who booed because Caleb Williams didn’t replace Spencer Rattler last week…how did you feel when Caleb couldn’t catch a somewhat tough snap on the one yard-line and in essence gave K State four points. Would you have booed him if this game was in Norman?
The game in Texas like it used to be back in the Wilkinson, Switzer, and Stoops days will literally be the crossroads game for this OU football season.
The one thing which I cling to most is that Texas got gashed on the ground to the tune of 330 rushing yards in their loss to an Arkansas team which got tossed around like little girls in Athens yesterday.
It should be a great game and possibly a preview of the Big 12 Championship Game at Jerry’s World showcasing the two best quarterbacks in the conference in Spencer Rattler and Casey Thompson.
I would think OU will be somewhere around a Vegas 2.5 favorite. Spencer Rattler has played in this game…Casey Thompson hasn’t. That’s where I get the 2.5 point spread otherwise I would call it pick em’. You’ll recall Spencer had a few Bo Nix moments last year in Dallas which caused Lincoln to sit him for a bit of time.
The last positive is that despite not hitting on all clyinders—this OU team to date has shown an ability to make plays late in games in tight fit one possession games. Plus, OU has the best placekicker in college ball. So there’s that.
BOOMER!