CFN’s Big 12 Preview
I remember when I loved College Football News, and it was mandatory reading this time of year. Well, no more, as I missed their Big 12 preview for four days. I can see that I didn’t miss much.
Team That’ll Surprise
Iowa State – The team took a step back to possibly take a giant leap forward this year after playing several young prospects before they were ready, and now they have the experience to hit the ground running. Eight starters are back on offense, and that doesn’t include QB Austen Arnaud, who’s ready to take over for Bret Meyer, and hot young back Alexander Robinson and senior J.J. Bass. Seven starters are back on D. The schedule gets a huge missing Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, who’s loaded this year.
Returning starters can be overblown. Sometimes you are rooting for guys to graduate so the younger guys can play. This team over-achieved last year with 2 upsets of Big 12 North opponents on their home field (Kansas State and Colorado) and an upset of their in-state rival. Does anyone believe that they can win 3 conference ball games this year? No, their best chance to win a single conference game is at Baylor. They are more likely to go 0-8 in conference.
One Bold Prediction
Texas will finish third, at best, in the Big 12 South. Oklahoma is good enough to win the national title and Texas Tech is loaded from top to bottom. With the Longhorns having to travel to Lubbock to face the Red Raiders, and with at trip to Colorado and Kansas from the North along with the home game against Missouri, the schedule isn’t a plus.
That is swimming with the current, Pete. Most of the sporting world thinks this is Tech’s year to better their string of more than 3 losses in a season. Bold would be predicting that the Aggies will be playing in the Big 12 championship game this year.
Coach on the Hot Seat
Mack Brown, Texas – Two years removed from the national title, and with Oklahoma taking back the South again on the way to two straight Big 12 championships, the pressure is on Brown to prove that he can win a championship without Vince Young.
Umm, no. Mack Brown is not concerned with his job security or his retirement. Mike Gundy, on the other hand, should have his head on a swivel.
August 19, 2008 at 5:38 am
Texas will finish third, at best, in the Big 12 South.
At best? I guess his real bold prediction is that either Oklahoma State, A&M or Baylor will finish ahead of us.
August 19, 2008 at 5:41 am
Yikes. Our expectations are so low that losing to our biggest rival, year after year, while they win the conference championship again and again, fails to create any pressure whatsoever on the head coach. I remember when we used to expect more.
August 19, 2008 at 5:45 am
Year after year? [richt]We’ve won 2 of the last 3.[/richt]
August 19, 2008 at 5:50 am
What makes it worse is that OU is doing it with a majority of their players from Texas. Mack Brown’s regime has been the most frustrating, unsatisfying and disappointing in my memory, and I go back to Ed Price.
I’ve just about lost the will-to-obsess-over-longhorn-football. And that’s bad!
August 19, 2008 at 6:42 am
you must not remember me at all.
August 19, 2008 at 6:45 am
I’m no Mack apologist, but to place Mack’s tenure below that of Mackovich, Mcwilliams or Akers is stretching it a bit.
August 19, 2008 at 6:45 am
It’s amazing what a few ten win seasons and one national championship [thank you Vince] will do for you. Fat and satisfied, we as fans are pleased to go on like this for another thirty years, until the next Vince comes along. Lose to OU repeatedly while they stack conference championships? So what! Get beat two years straight by our biggest in-state rival when they should not be able to stay on the field with us? Yawn. Pass the chips and salsa. We beat Arizona State!
August 19, 2008 at 6:49 am
Someone is holding your brain for ransom.
August 19, 2008 at 7:07 am
I remember Mackovic well. The difference was that there were no expectations of championships. He was out-recruited by the Agro-Americans every year, but he did turn the tide against them. And he beat OU more often than not.
I will NEVER be content with OU routinely beating UT, which they have done since Stoops’ 2nd year, with the exception of Vince and Vince+ 1.
I have no confidence that MB will ever beat a Stoops-coached OU team again.
August 19, 2008 at 7:12 am
I was absolutely rooting for Nebraska’s well-aged linebacking corps to graduate/quit the team/be killed painlessly last year.
August 19, 2008 at 7:26 am
Well said, BRAGG.
August 19, 2008 at 8:34 am
63-14
65-13
August 19, 2008 at 9:15 am
“Our expectations are so low that losing to our biggest rival, year after year, while they win the conference championship again and again, fails to create any pressure whatsoever on the head coach. I remember when we used to expect more.”
Darrell Royal finished up 0-5-1 against OU. Do you remember anyone calling for his head?
But let’s suppose you are right, and Mack Brown really is Frank Solich. What now?
August 19, 2008 at 9:18 am
“But let’s suppose you are right, and Mack Brown really is Frank Solich. What now?”
Have his pants taken up?
August 19, 2008 at 9:22 am
“I remember when we used to expect more.”
Its funny what time will do to someone’s perception.
August 19, 2008 at 9:27 am
We really don’t go into the fetal position and underachieve anymore against OU. Last year was close, many would say that we played over our heads. We physically whipped them in 2006 — I was at the game and our defense just put the hurt on them and our O-line was pushing them around at the end of the game. We beat them in 2005 pretty badly.
In 2004 we got shutout. But we only gave up 12 points to an offense that was loaded with ridiculous NFL talent and good college players:
Heisman winning QB
Stacked Oline — 1st rounder Jamaal Brown, 1st rounder Davin Joseph, 2nd rounder Chris Chester, 6th rounder Wes Simms, UFAs Vince Carter and Kelvin Chaisson
Stacked backfield — 1st rounder Adrian Peterson, 6th rounder JD Runnells
Stacked receivers — 1st rounder Mark Clayton, 2nd rounder Mark Bradley, third rounders Brandon Jones and Travis Wilson
IMO, our pass protection and running game have improved tremendously since 2002. And our overall conditioning is better than it was the first half of the Mack Brown era — OU used to wear our lines down. OU’s defense is not as dominating as it used to be.
While they deserve credit and they certainly are the conference favorite, they are not the juggernaut they used to be — the last few years I expected us to compete and beat OU head to head. I never expected our Greg Davis/Tim Nunez coached offense to do anything against OU.
August 19, 2008 at 9:34 am
Jesus Christ. Are you really going to make me a Brown apologist? Fuck. Alright.
To compare Mackovic’s tenure favorably to Brown is unspeakably moronic. To justify doing so because he was an inferior recruiter demonstrates a cognitive ability enviable only to most invertebrates. Please go drown yourself.
Mack Brown irritates and frustrates the shit out of me. But he does so while being the most successful coach of the last decade by nearly every measurement save conference championships.
August 19, 2008 at 9:39 am
I dunno. The improvement from McWilliams to Mackovic in terms of talent in the program is about equal to the improvement from Mackovic to Brown. That’s about the only favorable comparison I can make.
August 19, 2008 at 10:32 am
Interesting responses. Some are offended that anyone dare ask how we can recruit so well with so little to show for it. Others have resigned themselves to minor bowl victories over Pac-10 also-rans and “everyone wins” football banquets.
As to what to do with Mack, there is nothing to be done. I do believe he represents the University with class, strives to run the program the right way and raises lots of money. Combined with 10 win seasons, the Big Boys are not going to run him off.
And yes, there was lots of pressure on Royal over his losing streak to OU.
August 19, 2008 at 10:42 am
I thoguht Royal’s losing streak to OU (existence of switzer in general as being offensive) was the main reason Royal retired. Is that not the case?
August 19, 2008 at 11:17 am
August 19, 2008 at 11:23 am
“Interesting responses. Some are offended that anyone dare ask how we can recruit so well with so little to show for it. Others have resigned themselves to minor bowl victories over Pac-10 also-rans and “everyone wins” football banquets.”
That’s a completely dishonest representation of what’s been said here.
August 19, 2008 at 11:53 am
There was a lot of crap Royal had to put up with towards the end. Switzer was cheating and laughing about it. The other SWC schools were trying to paint UT as a reactionary institution. He had horrible, tragic accidents in his family. Basically, he decided that he didn’t have the enthusiasm anymore, and he retired at age 52.
That was six years longer than Wilkinson lasted in his own pessure cooker.
August 19, 2008 at 12:24 pm
“cheating and laughing about it”
really? do tell.
August 19, 2008 at 12:28 pm
OUR STANDARDS HAVE CHANGED. Im just happy 65-10 days are over, maybe not. I can see it happening this year with McCoy not saving anyone’s life during the off season. The guy is no Big 12 QB, he was recruited as a back up. Fact is we are a back seat to OU and nothing can be done about it. So relax and do not get bent out of shape about our 10 wins cus Brown is going no where. The only way to piss him off is to talk shit about about his best friend and God Father to his son Greg Davis.(Thats right never do business with family)
Its like what that senator said a while back when asked about the economy he replied “Well, its like rape and if you can’t do much about it just sit back and enjoy it.”
August 19, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Yes, Royal was 0-5-1 in his last 6 years vs OU, but don’t forget, he was 12-2 in his first 14 years. As soon as Switzer and his cheaters arrived, things went downhill.
August 19, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Royal complained about OU cheating in recruiting (they did) and spying on Longhorn practices (they did). Switzer denied it at the time, and said that OU was fielding a near NFL team because his coaches worked harder than some old coaches who would rather hang out with banjo pickers. That played well with the Okies, and sheds a lot of light on the kind of person Switzer is (btw, Royal is an OU alum, and he told Bellard to help the Sooners install the wishbone when Fairbanks asked him; Switzer was the guy Bellard gave the tips to. That tells you what kind of guy Royal is).
August 19, 2008 at 1:17 pm
It is true that OU cheated extensively during that time period but it’s also equally true that Royal was a lazy recruiter. He didn’t enjoy it and Switzer did.
August 19, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Once I somehow found myself drinking beers at a table with Royal at Schulz’s before a game. The subject of Switzer came up and DKR said that he refused to vote that “son of a bitch” into the College Football HOF. Reading between the lines, I got the feeling that he did not think Barry was the most honorable person.
August 19, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Barry played the race card against Royal. Wasn’t hard to do.
August 19, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Why, in your opinion, was it not hard to do?
August 19, 2008 at 1:24 pm
well …
http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/tex/graphics/1970_national_large.jpg
August 19, 2008 at 1:42 pm
That looks like Scipio’s Sigma Afrikaner Epsilon pledge class.
August 19, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Barry also played the spying card and the money card against Royal. Wasn’t hard to do.
August 19, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Well, if you want to go there, he also played the winning card and some of those wins were Stoops over Mack-type beatdowns.
Seriously … spying on practice? I really think you can get over that one now. It’s not like he had players rolling with weed and guns. That was much later.
August 19, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Practice?
August 19, 2008 at 4:45 pm
“It’s not like he had players rolling with weed and guns. That was much later.”
I thought it was cocaine. Hmm.
August 19, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Oh, sorry weed and guns … that must have been another team.
Thanks for the assist.
August 19, 2008 at 7:33 pm
No problem, pong. Just remember:
80’s = cocaine
90’s = weed
2000’s = 80’s + 90’s + ecstasy
August 20, 2008 at 6:42 am
Royal wasn’t a lazy recruiter; he just didn’t like kow-towing and sucking up to 17-year-old high school boys who were egotistical and disrespectful, and who had their hands out.
WRT racial mix, Royal was NOT a racist. He was head coach at a virtually all-white school and his teams reflected this.
August 20, 2008 at 8:03 am
Yeah, he was just the head coach at a racist school
August 20, 2008 at 8:46 am
A couple of those dudes look like octoroons.