If for no other reason than to get my essay of Friday off the top of the blog, here are some random links from Saturday’s day in the sport:
Lebreton ponders the win in Norman for TCU …By the way, TCU rarely, if ever, makes Bob’s Blog. I am a sports elitest, and that means in a given sport, I only follow the top level of that sport(usually). Therefore, when it comes to college football, TCU, North Texas, and SMU don’t make the cut at the expense of the Big 12 schools. But, yesterday, since TCU whipped THE Big 12 program of record, enjoy your day TCU. You made us all proud. Finally, someone knocked OU off its high horse. Amazing that the Longhorns had to wait for the Horned Frogs to get it done!
The dusty archives show that it was the biggest TCU upset since the 1961 team shocked No. 1 Texas 6-0, a contest that precipitated Darrell Royal’s legendary quote about the Frogs being like cockroaches.
Stoops was far kinder Saturday. His team has a lot of growing to do, especially in the offensive line and at quarterback.
“They outplayed us and outcoached us as a whole,” Stoops said. “They deserved to win the game. They came in here and beat us and that is it.”’
That ’61 cockroach game was memorable, but this one is bigger, because it came at the expense of the Stoops-era Oklahoma, a perennial national-title contender and the unofficial measuring rod of the Big 12 Conference.
The Frogs, in the end, measured up Saturday in every way.
They dominated the time of possession. The defense held OU running back Adrian Peterson to 63 yards rushing. The Frogs, likewise, pressured Sooners quarterbacks Paul Thompson and Rhett Bomar into three sacks and only 128 passing yards.
And it all came in front of a partisan, increasingly restless Oklahoma crowd of 84,332, the third largest ever to see TCU play.
OU dude complains about the Sooners players …I really don’t care about this stuff, but I did want to make sure you saw it.
The Sooners displayed little class after Saturday's 17-10 upset loss to TCU on Owen Field.
No more than a dozen Oklahoma players shook hands with the Horned Frogs. The Sooners' remaining players headed straight for the locker room.
Those spotted offering congratulations included running back Adrian Peterson, quarterback Paul Thompson, tight end Willie Roberts, cornerback D.J. Wolfe, safety Lewis Baker, wide receiver Lendy Holmes and, the head classman, fullback J.D. Runnels.
TCU wide receiver Cory Rodgers forgave the Sooners' snub and said, "Me and (OU receiver) Travis Wilson are real cool. Me and (OU linebacker) Clint Ingram are real cool. I'm not holding a grudge against them for being upset, being mad and running off the field. I understand that, so I don't think we looked at it as an insult, a slap in the face or anything like that."
OU fans weren't much better.
Roughly 90 percent of Sooner supporters refused to chat when approached by Oklahoman reporter Brandon Chatmon after the game.
Aggies really, really bum out their faithful …
Somehow, somewhere, someway, Franchione lost his 2-point conversion chart on the trip from College Station to Clemson.
Last season, we marveled at Franchione gameday's genius as he called fake punts and field goals with a clairovoyant's touch, but he made his worst gameday call in 25 A&M games Saturday.
It's always a mystery when this stuff happens because to you, me, every Aggie fan watching on TV and every noisy one of 'em decked in maroon in the Memorial Stadium stands, it seemed so obvious.
A&M quarterback Reggie McNeal found Chad Schroeder for a 31-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter that put A&M up 23-22 with 9 minutes, 22 seconds left. The obvious call is to go for two - and for obvious reasons. Percentages say one more point won't do you any good in that situation. Two points puts you a field goal ahead, which means a field goal by itself can't beat you.
Imagine what hundreds of thousands of people screaming in unison sound like. We almost heard it in the Memorial Stadium press box as, about 1,000 miles away in Texas, every 12th Man Foundation member, former A&M student and Aggie football fan watching on TV and listening on the radio saw and heard A&M - to their horror - sending out Todd Pegram for the extra-point kick after McNeal's TD pass to Schroeder.
The 2-point call was just one of many annoying things of Aggies loss …
Against a backup quarterback. When Clemson had little choice but to run.
Is this the team that some thought was on the verge of a breakthrough?
Dennis Franchione will hear about this one, since he just added to his road failures. Death Valley is loud and large, every bit as impressive as anything College Station offers. But going 2-9 thus far on the road as the Aggies' coach suggests a pattern.
He also will hear about a decision, too. When Franchione elected not to go for the two-point conversion with just over nine minutes left, he opened up the chance he would lose exactly the way he did.
Baseball Prospectus asks why Edison has been rushed …
I know, Orel Hershiser commands respect as a pitching coach, because he's Orel Hershiser, and that used to mean something. It helps that he's articulate and intelligent, a man who's given more thought to pitching than I could ever hope to. I'm impressed that the decisions to first put Joaquin Benoit, Juan Dominguez, and Kameron Loe in the big league bullpen seems to have prepared them to step into starting roles and give the Rangers the first thing to resemble a top-to-bottom rotation in years.
But I'm little less sanguine about the point of having two pitchers barely out of A-ball up. Volquez has given up 4.5 runs per nine in a season split evenly between the high-A California League and Double-A Frisco. While the strikeout per inning he's logged is nice, and a 126-29 strikout to walk ratio over 125.1 IP is great, is he really someone you bring up now, to pitch in Texas in a hot summer? Feldman at least has more excuse, being a big reliever with sixty good innings at Frisco to boast of. I'm simply concerned that this could be like the Rangers of the mid-80s, forcing young talent onto their staff because they got tired of looking at used-up old men. (Which does sound awfully familiar, come to think of it.) Obviously, Benoit and Dominguez are reason for hope going forward, but so was Kid Correa once upon a time. Of course, that approach did give the Rangers the success stories of Jose Guzman and eventually Bobby Witt, so maybe throwing enough stuff at the wall might just be the answer after all.
Peerless Price: 1 year, $2.5 million …
Vollers, Walter cut …Quincy Morgan not…yet…
14 comments:
as a devoted longhorns fan, this was indeed a glorious sports weekend.
Great move by the Cowboys to get Peerless Price. I think that improves the offense quite a bit with the depth that will now be there at wide receiver. Patrick Crayton's been great in the preseason, but still unproven. With some solid receivers and a rising star in Witten at tight end, Bledsoe will have another option. I think the running attack looks pretty good too. Hopefully the line holds up.
The trade for Scott Fujita looks good on paper, if that can strengthen the linebackers, I think we've got a more improved defense that has the potential to do some real damage.
Great weekend for football that's not over yet. Did anyone that wasn't an Aggie really think that A&M was anywhere close to being considered for the Big 12 title? And to any TCU fans, enjoy your win against the worst OU team of the Stoops era. I just hope they hurry up and lose one so we won't have to endure BCS buster talk from the Telegram and the TCU faithful. No way they get through the Mountain West without a loss.
Longhorns fans: damn yall looked good last night. I know it's early, but how big is the Tech game shaping up to be? Could be one of the best of the season.
How big is the Tech game shaping up to be? Not that big. I hate to tell you, but nobody who went to Texas thinks about the Tech game until the week that it appears on the schedule. I know that Techies consider UT to be their big rival, but the feeling isn't mutual. We think about OU, Texas A&M, and this year Ohio State.
I respect Texas Tech as an opponent, and they are always dangerous. On any given Saturday, they can beat UT. However, it's just not that likely. I'm sure it'll be a big game--for Tech fans. However, the real big game is this weekend against Ohio State. That's a bona fide loseable game that can ruin our season and our hopes before they really get off the ground. Hopefully we'll still be undefeated by the time the Tech game rolls around so you guys have your shot to spoil things and make a big splash in the Big 12.
Well... that was embarrassing.
Here are a few comments from a die-hard Sooner fan about the whipping we took from TCU:
1. Based on the way we played Sat. this could be the year that OU gets swepped by all of the Texas schools that remain on their roster. (Tech, A&M, UT)
2. Chuck Long (OU offensive co) needs either to go, or Stoops needs to have a private talk with him about sweeping changes made to the offense. Based on the play calling yesterday, it was Jason White back there all over again without his talent. YOU NOW HAVE THE FASTEST QUARTERBACK OF THE STOOPS ERA BEHIND CENTER. TREAT HIM LIKE IT. (SEE VINCE YOUNG) Stop having Paul Thompson spend 80% of his time handing the ball off and run some keepers, bootlegs, anything!! BE creative Chuck. This is an embarrasment. By the way, keep Rhett on the bench for heaven's sake. He's anything but ready!!
3. Has our secondary improved ANY since the ass beating by USC last year? The answer is simply no. If everyone would have caught most of the passes thrown by TCU's QB yesterday, he would have thrown for 280+. Stop letting the receivers catch the ball, and then go to tackle them. Be agressive at the line of scrimmage!! please. this is not a good sign.
4. No pass rush whatsoever. Looks like Dusty Dvoracek has lost a step since rehab forced him out of last year's squad. No other playmakers up front on D.
5. Finally, a prediction. Best case scenario: We lose one more game (A&M) because we may right the ship in time, and you never know if UT gets beat by OSU. Worse case scenario: 5 losses this year by Stoops' boys. Unthinkable but very likely.
This is coming from a Sooner. This may be a very long year... oh boy!
Thanks for not trashing the Sooners too bad. As a die hard Sooner fan, I am shocked and saddened by the loss to TCU. You have to give them credit, the Frogs came ready to play. I knew going in we would have some rust and rookies to break in, but it was a sad day indeed, to realize how much those 10 draft picks and J. White really meant to this team. I never thought White was all that, I just knew the receivers were open and he had all day to throw. Turns out it really was a group effort, the O-line and 3 really good receiver are hard to replace. I am glad we lost when we did. The team looked lathargic and down even walking out of the tunnel, they did not run, or bounce like a national contender. They need this to wake them up and realize they have a lot of work to do to salvage this season. If they keep it up, they are looking at 6-5. But I think Stoops will wake em up and motivate them and contend for the South title, it won't be easy, but they really have a lot of talent, they just need to get their head right with ball and stop worrying about what people think and just PLAY TO WIN THE GAME.
Does TCU's little dance put a bit of pressure on the 'Horns?
cheers,
gary
ditto, matt in dallas
eric in keller
i'm gonna just say, all those kids i partied with tonight in san antonio are right on about you bob... i hate all texas schools except for smu, texas and tu... go tigers
Check the domestic violence numbers in greater Norman/OKC area for Saturday night.
Women's shelters probably had a few extra visitors with black eyes after the loss.
Congrats to the Frogs on their upset. While I'm a Sooner fan first and foremost, I do like to see some of the local teams do well. And for their sake, I hope TCU doesn't suffer a letdown for the remainder of the season.
Otherwise, Gary Patterson will be proven right when he said '9 times out of 10, Oklahoma wins this game.'
Don't make us look back in a few months Frogs and point to this one as a fluke. Prove that you're for real.
"as a devoted longhorns fan, this was indeed a glorious sports weekend."
Gotta love a Horn fan that lives vicariously through other teams.
"Check the domestic violence numbers in greater Norman/OKC area for Saturday night.
Women's shelters probably had a few extra visitors with black eyes after the loss."
Like Sooner fans haven't heard that before. Go back to the drawing board, son.
What a bad weekend for me. Now in addition to facing the fact that I am nothing but a failed Godon clone I have to live with knowing that my adopted college football team was defeated at home by my alma mater that I discarded like a soiled condom out the window of my car during post-coital cuddling with Danny. Guess I'll have to make up some more un-funny fart jokes to tell on the Hardline. Oh well, I'll laugh at them at least, and then maybe I won't come to the realization that I'm destroying their show.
C'mon corby, the Hardline is at least 25% as good as it was when Cat and Gordon held our positions.
And by the way, I take offense to your characterization of TCU. When was the last time we used a condom?
The 'OU dude' you referenced is a national columnist, John Rohde. He gets play in msnbc.com, among other places, and has been the Tim Cowlishaw of OKC for the past 20 years. I'll start calling you the Fallwell dude since you went to Liberty.
As for OU-TCU, gotta give props to TCU. Nothing to diminish their win, BUT that was an ugly game all around. TCU honestly didn't look that good; however, they clearly looked superior to OU.
No doubt.
Ryan
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