There are seven regular season games remaining. Two are probably gimme's (Kansas, ISU) but Ok State thought ISU was a gimme a few years ago too. Let's just say they are both wins.....but they are on down the road, which brings us to......KSU.
The KSU game is a team probably of pretty equal talent and mindset as the team that pretty much dominated all phases of the game this past weekend. They have a two game losing streak and are desperate. They are playing at home. They are somewhat one-dimensional with that dimension being that they run the ball. They are always a tough defensive team that normally blitzes a lot and get lots of hits on the QB. We're going into this game with the confidence of our players dashed. We're a team that has issues protecting the QB, can't run the ball to keep the game balanced and cannot stop the run...most certainly not with a running QB. We've heard all about how Stoops is undefeated in Manhattan, 11-1 following a loss, no back to back losses since 1999, etc, etc..... If we come out on top this weekend, no matter how large or narrow, it will provide a glimmer of hope that what we saw last weekend was an aberration. It was an exception. It will be a quality win by any measure and should show whether or not we have the mettle to potentially win all remaining games.
Now for the flip side..... If we lose this game, in any way shape or form. Nearly every game this season will be a complete and utter question mark....and you'll have to question the mentality of the team and their resolve to remain competitive....because we saw it diminish last year as well down the stretch. A simple loss would be the writing on the wall for the state of the program and it's future and a blowout would be a complete disaster.
A loss could be a precursor for future losses to:
1) A Texas Tech team that has played us tough the last two times we've played them.
2) A Baylor team that we haven't even been particularly competitive with for several years.
3) A TCU team that has been a dogfight just about every time we play them.
4) An Ok State team that is .500 against us over the last 4 seasons and has honestly had better personnel 3 of those 4 years.
A loss this week and it's completely realistic to finish 7-5 (or worse) with losses to UT, KSU, Baylor, TCU and Ok St. There is almost no way to spin it any other way and we won't be favorites in any of the last 3 games.
This week is the STATE OF OUR PROGRAM. If we are truly in decline, we'll lose and it will likely signal more losses down the road this season which will be detrimental to our already struggling recruiting. If we win, we'll likely take a deep breath and recognize that the RRR was just a horrible spot for us, riding high of a big home win against a better than advertised UT team that was desperate and had their backs against the wall. It will signal hope for us against our November opponents who KSU lost narrow-margin battles.
The KSU game is a team probably of pretty equal talent and mindset as the team that pretty much dominated all phases of the game this past weekend. They have a two game losing streak and are desperate. They are playing at home. They are somewhat one-dimensional with that dimension being that they run the ball. They are always a tough defensive team that normally blitzes a lot and get lots of hits on the QB. We're going into this game with the confidence of our players dashed. We're a team that has issues protecting the QB, can't run the ball to keep the game balanced and cannot stop the run...most certainly not with a running QB. We've heard all about how Stoops is undefeated in Manhattan, 11-1 following a loss, no back to back losses since 1999, etc, etc..... If we come out on top this weekend, no matter how large or narrow, it will provide a glimmer of hope that what we saw last weekend was an aberration. It was an exception. It will be a quality win by any measure and should show whether or not we have the mettle to potentially win all remaining games.
Now for the flip side..... If we lose this game, in any way shape or form. Nearly every game this season will be a complete and utter question mark....and you'll have to question the mentality of the team and their resolve to remain competitive....because we saw it diminish last year as well down the stretch. A simple loss would be the writing on the wall for the state of the program and it's future and a blowout would be a complete disaster.
A loss could be a precursor for future losses to:
1) A Texas Tech team that has played us tough the last two times we've played them.
2) A Baylor team that we haven't even been particularly competitive with for several years.
3) A TCU team that has been a dogfight just about every time we play them.
4) An Ok State team that is .500 against us over the last 4 seasons and has honestly had better personnel 3 of those 4 years.
A loss this week and it's completely realistic to finish 7-5 (or worse) with losses to UT, KSU, Baylor, TCU and Ok St. There is almost no way to spin it any other way and we won't be favorites in any of the last 3 games.
This week is the STATE OF OUR PROGRAM. If we are truly in decline, we'll lose and it will likely signal more losses down the road this season which will be detrimental to our already struggling recruiting. If we win, we'll likely take a deep breath and recognize that the RRR was just a horrible spot for us, riding high of a big home win against a better than advertised UT team that was desperate and had their backs against the wall. It will signal hope for us against our November opponents who KSU lost narrow-margin battles.
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