Sorry it’s been a while guys, but I’ve been real busy in Nueva York. I was able to catch up with both the Big Cigar and The Asset while sitting in La Guardia, but I’m going to hold off on the Cigar stuff until he gives me the go ahead. So the team report is going to have to do going into KU.
First we’ll start with the QB position where it Ash is still getting the majority of snaps (70/30) but it looks like both he and Case McCoy will play. David Ash seemed to hit the proverbial freshman wall late last week and that carried over into practice early this week where the first year signal caller struggled with some bad read. Overall, he looked like a kid that was starting to get frustrated. The Asset tells us that Ash seemed to right the ship with a great performance yesterday and seems to have his mojo back. He’s still your starting QB, but Case should get snaps against KU, especially if Ash falters.
Our report that Case tapped out against OU has been disputed by some in the Internet media, especially a few of Bellmont’s favorite talking heads. Point blank, we stand behind our report and our sources. We’ve spoken to a person who’s on the headset and heard from players on the team after the Asset's report, and both sets of sources confirmed that Case was so frustrated that he told our staff to play Ash to finish out the game. There were also some four letter words sprinkled in for good measure. Case has since apologized to the team and staff after serving his punishment against OSU. Of course the media outlets disputing our report fail to acknowledge the fact that our information came out BEFORE the OSU game, but that’s par for the course.
We’re not saying Case is out of the doghouse, but if practice reps are any indication, the staff has moved past that blow up knowing they very well might need McCoy this season should Ash get injured or struggle with the vertical passing game. The Asset tells us that Mykelle Thompson is now spending all his time at safety, so the Adrian Phillips’ injury might be a boon to Case’s chances of getting some game action.
To take some pressure off the QB position, it sounds like the coaches are going to lean on a heavy dose of Captain America in the Wildcat look. The Asset tells us that Fozzy’s Wildcat package is much more extensive and the team has installed a couple of redacted wrinkles to counter some things defenses will do against this look. Is Fozzy going to throw it or pitch it? We won’t say. It’s KU afterall.
As for the rest of the position, Brown is going to get his 20 plus carries, but the coaches are hoping Joe Bergeron can break through his own freshman wall. The staff is disappointed that Bergeron hasn’t built on the flashes he showed in August and September and the Asset tells us they’ve been imploring him this week to take the next step. He’ll get his chance in this game if things go according to plan.
On the Oline, Cochran has pretty much ousted Tray Allen at left tackle and it’s making an immediate difference. It’s a more cohesive unit, especially in pass protection but also in the run game. For proof watch Cochran's seal block on Malcolm's first TD run against Okie State.
With Cochran at LT, we don’t need to help as much in pass pro as we do with Allen in the game and that has freed up our TE’s and backs to do some things. Flowers is also vying for time as our third guard. Coach Searels loves the kid and he’ll push Snow now that Espinosa seems to be healthy. The O line is doing a much better in all phases, but they’re still not there yet. They still need another true tackle. It’s the reason Peat, Theus, and Arik Armstead are giving Texas a serious look—they’ll play right away. Oblige Armstead's sincere wish to play defense and see how it works out when he gets on campus. Also, the Asset reports that the coaches are disappointed with Garrett Greenlea’s attitude and conditioning. He needs to prepare to play and get rid of the redshirt mentality. We need him.
At receiver, it’s still Davis and Shipley and cross your fingers. Onyegbule is a plus blocker, but they need him to take the next step as a route runner. Also, if you needed any more indication that Darius White’s days are numbered, look no further than this week’s game plan. You can expect to see…wait for it…a Desean Hales sighting, following up on the 4th quarter glimpse we got against KU. Overall, this group of four should be tailor made for some quick game. Watch for it this week.
In the secondary it looks like this week will be Y2K’s coming out party. With Adrian Phillips sitting out, Thompson will get some valuable time against KU before Seth Doege comes to town. They love the kids range and playmaking ability, he just needs to gain about 15 pounds on his condor like 6’3" frame. The Asset tells us that Mykelle has been attached at the hip with Coach Akina this week as you can imagine.
At the Linebacker position, thing aren't really changing much. Same 3 + Cobbs it looks like for this week. Again, the Asset thinks this is just a dress rehearsal for Tech if practices are any indication. We’ll run a lot of nickel and we hope to Cobb’s feet wet this week as a hybrid LB.
DLINE is still struggling some with their assignments and fits. This group spent the better part of this week getting chewed by Coach Davis. Remember, if we’re going to commit to numbers in the secondary in the next few weeks, these four are going to have to play assignment football, and that’s been preached this week.
Overall, the team is upbeat going into KU. We’re excited about getting back on track and the opportunities to play some top ranked teams in our conference. Again, as the Big Cigar stated last week, this team will continue to improve so if you’re going to get us, you better get us now.