The Week That Will Be (TX/OU 2013)

Last Week: 3-3 ATS 6-0 SU
For the Year: 19-15-2 (.559) ($210) ATS 6-0 (.833) SU

What we learned last week:

• We learned that as long as Carlos Hyde doesn’t turn into Carlos Jekyll, Ohio State has a chance to make a run for Pasadena. Okay, obvious bad joke to start off the column. We’ll recover, I promise.

• We learned that Texas isn’t alone anymore for most-lopsided loss as a ranked team as Maryland exited the national scene stage left.

• We learned that Steve Sarkisian is a bad loser, which we already knew. Perhaps you need to spend more time on special teams in practice, Steve (Ty Montgomery: 204 on four kick returns), and less time praying against replay.

• We learned that Kansas State can go into Stillwater, turn the ball over five times, commit 12 penalties and still almost pull off the victory. OSU might not be who we thought they were.

• We learned that TCU can go without a first down for the first half plus and still almost defeat Oklahoma in Norman…but more on that later.

• And finally, we learned that Ames, Iowa is a tough place to play on weeknights…ahem. Narrative. It is fun. And often times ridiculous.

Anyhow…

You knew the moment. Even if you weren’t one of those fans who always stayed until the Eyes, you stayed until the end of this game, just to be able to join in with 90,000 others.

"BEAT OU! BEAT OU! BEAT OU! BEAT OU! BEAT OU!"

In the last home game before Oklahoma, the players got into it. The band got into it. The cheerleaders got into it. Hell I think I even saw Bevo once move his horns.

But not anymore.

Now it is resignation that resides over the 40 Acres, people that haven’t as much bought a lottery ticket in their life calling that shady friend of theirs to see if they know any bookies, because OU -14 is just too generous to pass up.

We saw a quarterback with a knee brace run for about 500 yards on us. We saw a very average Ole Miss game do their best Alabama impersonation on us. We saw our team struggle against an Iowa State squad that will end up winning about two games on the year, and we watched a coaching staff do their best job to make sure that upset happen.

And we had to hear our coach defend that load of garbage.

Nope, the thrill of Texas/OU week is at least temporarily gone.

Thanks, Mack.

I’ve had to send to the trash bin several emails trying to sell me "FACE VALUE" Texas/Oklahoma tickets. Whereas I remember sitting on level 10 of the ramps at Belmont in the TX/OU draw, students this year returned tickets. I can go on different ticket broker websites right now and find seats on the North End of the Cotton Bowl for about $50 less than those on the other side.

That is what several "give-up" years by a coaching staff, three straight losses and giving up 118 points in those last two losses will do.

In what very well could be Mack Brown’s final Red River Shootout Rivalry, apathy couldn’t be higher, the feeling of playing out the string starting to sink in. If indeed this is his last year, a significant part of Brown’s legacy will be his failure in Dallas.

Bob Stoops, out of respect for this rivalry, has always brought his team to Dallas ready to play. Even though you can certainly argue that Texas has been more talented in the Stoops/Brown era, Stoops has been blown out once in fourteen years, while Brown has been blown out four times in that span.

Stoops will have his team ready to go to battle. Brown will have his guys ready to have fun.

They might be the only ones in burnt orange having any fun.

On to the games...

Texas A&M -6 @ Ole Miss:

Ole Miss apparently treated the Texas game as a bowl game, as they have gone 0-2 since and didn’t even look competitive against Alabama. The Aggies, meanwhile, have scored at least 40 points in eight straight games and play on the road for the last time until the weekend before Thanksgiving.

The Rebels had better get it together quickly, but I don’t see that happening here.

Texas A&M 44 Ole Miss 27
ATS – Texas A&M
SU – Texas A&M

Florida @ LSU -7:

Florida might have found them a quarterback, as Tyler Murphy threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns in a 30-10 victory over Arkansas. LSU can’t play defense this year, Florida can, this game is usually close…

LSU 24 Florida 21
ATS – Florida
SU – LSU

Missouri @ Georgia -8.5:

Missouri is catching Georgia at the right time, as they are reeling with injuries and coming off two dog-fight (no pun intended) games against LSU and Tennessee. The Tigers are 5-0, James Franklin is playing great, they have three receivers 6’4" or taller going against a porous Bulldog defense…don’t be surprised to see an upset here.

But Mizzou has to do it first before I believe in them.

Georgia 38 Missouri 34
ATS – Missouri
SU – Georgia

Oregon -13.5 @ Washington:

This is the beginning of the meat of the schedule for Oregon, as they play three top 15 opponents in the next five weeks. Washington came close last week, but that doesn’t win anything. However, Keith Price was impressive, and with the distinct home-field advantage that a game in Seattle provides, this one could get interesting for Oregon.

Oregon 44 Washington 38
ATS – Washington
SU – Oregon

Baylor -17.5 @ Kansas State:

This has been an adventurous game in recent years, with final scores of 52-24, 36-35 and 47-42 the final scores since 2010. We all know the video game numbers that Baylor has been putting up, but will Kansas State be able to keep up?

In a word, no.

Baylor 55 Kansas State 28
ATS – Baylor
SU – Baylor

Texas vs. Oklahoma -14:

Let’s do this a little differently:

WHY TEXAS WILL WIN

The Sooners have looked so-so on offense, certainly not the high-powered attack of Sam Bradford or even Landry Jones. They only rank 88th in the country in passing offense, 57th in scoring offense, 59th in third-down conversions and 41st in first downs.

They only scored 16 points against a West Virginia team that had 56 put up on it by Baylor in a half. They languished for most of that Notre Dame game, coasting after the two early Irish turnovers. They looked very mediocre against a TCU team that looks average at best.

Simply put, this is the worst OU offense we have seen in a long time, sure, they can run the ball, and Blake Bell creates a nightmare match-up for a Texas team that can’t stop quarterbacks from Iowa State from running with the football.

Their defense is fast, ranking 6th in the country in scoring defense and 9th in total defense. But Notre Dame was able to rush for 220 yards on them, averaging 7.5 ypc. And linebacker Corey Nelson is out for the year, leaving a massive hole in their front-seven.

Keep the ball on the ground, don’t panic if you fall behind, and Texas can run on this team.

WHY OKLAHOMA WILL WIN

They have Bob Stoops.

We have Mack Brown.

Oklahoma 38 Texas 13
ATS – Oklahoma
SU – Oklahoma

For entertainment purposes only. Save your money for a lot of beer in wax cups.