No Big Cigar this week because of some of the heat he took from the Case McCoy disclosure so we’ll take a respite from the humidor. Look, especially for those that don’t know, we were told that there were some issues with how Case handled the OU game down the stretch and we hinted at that in "Mondays In The Humidor" last week in accordance with the Cigar’s wishes to stay vague. When Saturday rolled around, the specificity of the matter was not only apparent but it was mentioned in other places on the interwebs. If you got your copy of the secret email, you were already in the know. (I kid!) In any event, we were sitting in the suite with the Cigar and he gave us the go ahead, albeit a hesitant approval, to tweet the specifics of the issue, which is to say Case tapped out of the OU game because he was angry at snap allocation versus David Ash. Point blank, Case was pouting and refused to go back in as the game was winding down in the Cotton Bowl.
Not good.
We also heard that Coach Harsin went into what seemed to be a minute long cussing streak at Case’s dereliction in Dallas before the game had even ended, and the results were evident the following week against OSU. Fast forward to the bye week, and Case has seemed to smooth things over with the team according to The Asset, although he’s not sure if Case will play versus Kansas but the situation is not as dire as it was the week leading up to OSU. With all that typed, let’s get on to The Asset’s report to see how the team is handling the two game skid.
First off, according to our well placed source on the balance sheet, the coaches aren’t saying anything other than they will play people who give us the best chance to win. From true frosh to senior, if you perform in practice, you’ll play. It’s not just lip service either especially when you consider the remainder of the report, but more on that in the moment. The coaches have a plan in place and the two losses won’t make them deviate from it. In some respects they’ll play for the future, but first and foremost they’re playing to win right now.
At the QB spot, it was Ash again getting snaps over McCoy at an 80/20 clip this week. The Asset tells us that the vibe for Case was much better this week when compared to the week leading up to OSU when it was evident Case was not only going to sit but he may also pack up and leave. The feeling here is much better this week. Make no mistake, Ash is still the man, but McCoy is being prepped as if he’s a play away, instead of a future ACU enrollee.
At the running back position, they’re doing more things to get DJ Monroe the ball in space including a couple of redacted plays, but for the most part the same guys are playing in the backfield. Fozzy Whitaker is the king of the Wildcat and don’t be surprised to see more of him and Malcolm in the backfield together in this set. It’s a good thing too, because The Asset tells us that the conventional I formation stuff we’re doing against the first team defense didn’t work too well.
In fact, when asked about ones versus ones, The Asset was resolute in his answer. "The Defense is winning. The Oline is getting beat up pretty bad out there." The answer makes sense considering true freshmen like Josh Cochran and to an extent Sedrick Flowers are getting significant snaps in starter's roles.
Cochran is now a fixture at left tackle and The Asset tells us he’s getting perhaps 70% of the first team snaps with Allen. Sedrick Flowers continues to get better and he seems to be blossoming into a really good guard right before everyone’s eyes. The Assets says, "he makes LEAPS of improvement every day. Searels loves him." As for the rest, we have few answers at RT and the freshmen, well, they’re still freshmen in some instances.
At receiver, Shipley and Davis are still the lead dogs while the staff waits for Onyegbule to take the next step. Darius White continues to be an enigma—an enigma that has the potential to corrupt other players, which isn’t lost on the coaches. Don’t be surprised to see White transfer as we’ve hinted at all along.
Defensively, the real story is Thompson and Edmond getting increased reps. Thompson is getting a lot of reps in the first team secondary and he's doing really well picking up the coverages and making plays in team drills. Edmond is getting more reps as well and he's performed this week at a level that has wowed coaches in flashes all season long. The key is conditioning, and The Asset tells us it’s getting better. According to our source, both young men have been a focal point of the Staff during the bye week. It seems as if they’re both being prepped for more playing time.
Along the D line, "the starters seem to be listening to Bo when he talks about what they should do instead of all the fancy moves that got us killed against OSU" is what The Asset says. Apparently Davis is preaching run fits, assignment, and team defense instead of "Ima do what I do, Corch." Davis has been all up in their ass this week and the offense has been victimized as a result.
Overall, the coaches seem upbeat and keep talking about sticking to "the plan". Going into the year the coaches explicitly told our sources that they thought 8 wins was the high water mark with vast improvement occurring between September and November and they are encouraged that they’re ahead of schedule in that respect. One person on the offensive headsets during the games told The Asset the following, just after the OSU game. He said, "We were overwhelmed by OU and that was disappointing. Coming out of the OSU game though, we felt we were the more physical team and should have won if it wasn’t for the experience gap. Experience comes with reps and when we get those reps under our belt we’re going to be a bitch to play against, on both sides of the ball. You better get us while we’re young this season, or you won’t get us. The team playing right now isn’t half as good as the team that will be playing in 2012, and not nearly as good as the squad that will be playing in November this season. We’re excited."
I don’t know about you but that excites me too. Now if only we had a key to the humidor.