Oklahoma State Review - Quick Hits

by Beergut on Oct 11, 2009 7:01 AM CDT Comment 1 comment

I was sick and tired of heating about Dez Bryant before the first quarter was over. Funny how we've played without our best WR for the last two games, and no one says anything, but Okie State is a bunch of saints overcoming horrendous privation because they don't have a WR who was dumb enough to lie to the NCAA, and get caught doing it.
Uzoma Nwachukwu is ridiculously talented. Having him and a healthy Jeff Fuller on the same field together will be scary.
Having EZ, Fuller, and Jerrod Johnson behind a competent offensive line is what I dream about.
Our offensive line is keeping Christine Michael from becoming a serious Big 12 Freshman of the Year candidate. I don't think he'll gain enough yards, mostly because our offensive line hinders more than it helps him.
While there are still a lot of times I question what Cromwell is doing in his playcalling, I did love the use of Jamie McCoy as a fullback, and that we gave him several carries. It gives us another weapon to use and something else the defense has to prepare for without changing personnel on the field.
I didn't see us try to run option on State at all today. I know we have it in our playbook, I'd like to see us use it. With McCoy at FB, it is another facet of our offense we can explore.

Von Miller was held without a sack for the first time this season, but had 5 tackles and 1 TFL. Good performance considering he was going up against possibly the best LT in the nation in Russell Okung.
We still need to work on defending the screen pass. A lot.
Joe Wickline has OSU's offensive line executing like a symphony; that is why there isn't a drop-off in production, regardless of which running back is carrying the ball.
That was an incredible interception by Matt Moss; unfortunately, it was also our only interception of the game. I believe we have two interceptions on the season now, and neither of them are from members of our secondary.
Stephen Campbell was okay replacing Jordan Pugh, despite the one play he fell down to give up the long TD reception. He was fourth on the team in tackles, with 8 on the day.
Three of our four leading tacklers in this game were members of the secondary; that is never a good sign.
I liked what I saw of Spencer Nealy in this game. He is a capable backup for us.
I am disappointed we didn't get the ball to Ryan Swope during this game. Because of our weakness on offensive line, I think we should focus more ont he short passing game, and Swope should be a big part of that.
We need to use play-action passes to gain 6-8 yards, not 15-20. A 15 yd pass off play-action takes longer to get there, and is a lower percentage play. We should take the quicker, higher percentage play.
We're also not using Bradley Stephens much as a wide receiver or a running back.
Our next game, on the road against Kansas State, is one of the ones we need to win to become bowl eligible. After their 66-14 loss to Texas Tech, they'll be pissed and ready to play against us.