First, to the OP, my compliments. OUtstanding question.
I'm with CTO on this. And some others' points.
Yesterday during the second half we had Brown Jr at left tackle, playing in his third college game.
We had Farniok playing his first game ever at guard. He's been a back up tackle for four years. I think he might be better than the starting guard for two previous games, who couldn't play there yesterday, because he was starting his third game ever, but his first game at the position, at center. That center was Alvarez.
We were playing a captian at right guard, but for only a couple of series. Kasitati, After that, it was Dalton, who was thought to be the backup at left guard.
And we played St John, also a senior, but only starting his third game after very little previous playing time at right tackle, until in the fourth, the true freshman, Samia, entered for the first time since Akron.
I know this is a D eval thread, but against teams like Tulsa, and especially Baylor, you'd better scored a bunch to keep up. TCU had a great defense last season. They scored 58 and Baylor and it wasn't enough.
Michigan State beat Baylor coming in with a nationally heralded defense. They gave up 41 points through less than three quarters, but outscored Baylor 21-0 in the fourth, through a variety of breaks, turnovers and officiating help and won 42-41.
You can be a really terrific defense, but you aren't going to shut down Baylor. I'm not sure about the details, but they are doing something in terms of play combinations, that somehow allows them to snap the ball quicker than just about any spread no-huddle team I've ever seen. Tulsa is doing the same thing. My suspicion is that there are subtle differences in their alignments which gives their offense automatic routes based on defensive alignment. So they don't have to call a play. Most of it is based on strong safety location. If he's playing well off the LOS, then they run it and if he's up close enough for run support, the routes are already determined, just by the formation.
It causes two problems. Getting the calls in based on their personnel is hard. And then the defenders recognizing formation and getting lined up is really tough. After five plays, they're gassed, but can't leave the field. Baylor is prone to mistakes causing penalties, but last year in Norman, they didn't get called much.
Baylor is a whole lot more talented offensively than Tulsa, though TU's best two receivers are pretty solid. And number three was really good Saturday. But Baylor's OLine will be a lot better. The good news is that Baylor won't be quite as spectacular at quarterback this season. And I wouldn't get too excited that SMU put up some points on them, because the Bears were missing their best players.
I think that Saturday was a non factor in whether OU was exposed or not, because the offense was basically a whole new OLine three games into the year. And they will be better. And that the Sooners can be a lot better on defense when they're not playing a true freshman corner who had one previous QUARTER of college experience, and who didn't know he'd be playing, much less starting until 24 hours earlier. And the Sooners' defensive backfield will do a lot of growing between now and mid November.
I still believe that the key to beating Baylor is to be really good offensively, so that when you send your D out there, they've had sufficient rest to be solid. And I also think that they'll go to something pretty simple, where there will be one simple takeoff on every defense, which will be based on the offensive alignment.
THe best thing about Baylor's offense is that their pace and alignments make it really hard to create changeups. So you kind of know what's coming. You're not going to beat Baylor 35-34. But you can beat them 40 something to 40 something. And you have to have an officiating crew that doesn't overlook their physical junk, and who has the guts in Waco to call linemen illegally downfield when they are.
If OU gets there with a loss and especially with two, it won't happen. So what happens in the next seven weeks is really important to how the game gets called. XII officials take care of their ranked teams.
