Is Utah State Really That Bad Of A Team?
by dishingoutdimes on Sep 6, 2010 10:00 AM CDT
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PrintI know that everyone is a bit peeved that we didn't perform better against Utah State, and I think that a lot of that annoyance comes from the perception that Utah State is a "below average" team. But are they?
Under previous coach Brent Guy, the Aggies never finished with more than 3 wins, but last year they posted a 4-8 record under new coach Gary Andersen, and tied for 6th place in the WAC. Consider that 3 of their 8 losses came by less than a touchdown and they played Texas A&M to an 8 point loss at Kyle Field. I think that it's fair to say that the Aggies have already improved under the new coach.
As a junior in 2009, Diondre Borel threw 17 touchdowns against 4 interceptions, competed 59% of his passes, and had a passer rating of 137.83. This put him at 35th in the nation based on passer rating, ahead of guys like Taylor Potts, Jerrod Johnson, Todd Reesing, Jake Locker, and yes, even Landry Jones. You might even call the 3 picks he threw against OU in the last game as "uncharacteristic". Borel simply doesn't turn the ball over that much. You have to give him credit, he's a pretty talented quarterback.
Also, as has been mentioned on several message boards, Utah State was 12th nationally last year in total offense. The problem with the Aggies was never their ability to move the ball or put up points, but rather on whether or not they could slow the other team down (8th worst in FBS in total defense). This was a huge Achilles heel as they generally protected the ball well (14th in FBS in turnovers).
It will certainly be interesting to see how Utah State performs for the rest of the season. The only ranked teams (currently) that they are scheduled to play are us and Boise State. They get games against FCS Idaho State, Louisiana Tech (who barely scraped out a win against Grambling State), Hawaii (whose defense didn't look like they could stop anything), New Mexico State (possibly one of the worst teams in FBS), Idaho, and San Jose State. If they manage to win those very winnable games, they would be a bowl eligible squad.
Whatever happens, let's at least acknowledge that while we may have underperformed, Utah State is not that bad of a team.
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thanks for putting this together
and i don’t say this as any kind of knock on your post…
but the only thing sadder than our play against utah state is trying to rationalize our play against utah state. i’m going to have heartburn all week thinking about our secondary versus ponder.
let’s hope it was a hiccup, because we’re boned if that’s the best we’ve got.
If It helps
My texans signed matt leinart. So laugh it up guys!
We played terribly, but usu has some talent, and to call them a shitty team is disrespectful. They earned my respect, no doubt about it, and I will be pulling for them the rest of the year, mainly against Boise
by AllenOU on Sep 6, 2010 10:48 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
This is true
Utah State, has put some money and emphasis into their program over the last few years. They wanted to be more competitive with Utah, and BYU in-state rivals. There is some talent there, as well, as very capable coaches.
That said…OU’s 2nd string should have beaten Utah State by 2 touchdowns.
Colorado Rockies correspondent at My Team Rivals (www.mtrmedia.com/rockies) and my own site Rockies Reporter (www.rockiesreporter.wordpress.com) and one of the top Rockies writers at the Bleacher Report.
And it begins...
Maybe, just maybe, Oklahoma is not of the stuff to be ranked 7th in the nation. And perhaps, as we witnessed in all phases of the Noles 59-6 steamrolling of Samford, FSU is quite a few rungs better than merely a Top 20 team.
It’s going to a long week of this. This article might even deserve its own post.
Forwarded on to all coaches and players
"Ronnell is a freak of nature. Anybody that big, powerful and fast shouldn't be allowed on the field. That's Ronnell. You saw in the Kansas game when he knocked that guy out, he changed the whole game."
He probably mis-used dervish
Many associate it with the term whirling dervish and think of it as a crazy sword like thing. Oxford defines it as:
dervish |ˈdərvi sh |
noun
a Muslim (specifically Sufi) religious man who has taken vows of poverty and austerity. Dervishes first appeared in the 12th century; they were noted for their wild or ecstatic rituals and were known as dancing, whirling, or howling dervishes according to the practice of their order.
at any rate it was meant as a compliment that he would be hard to stop.
That's our play by play guy
someone who is paid to speak in hyperbole and be an ultimate “homer”. Many of the rest of us prefer to be know as “objective homers”. So while we are FSU fans, and certainly want our team to be victorious this coming Saturday, we acknowledge that it will be a tough game. We aren’t reading into your team’s first game anymore than ours. We are pleased with how we played and perhaps more hopeful than earlier, but we know the home winning streak* you guys have going and don’t expect your team to play us like they did USU. Forward this sensible post to the coaches and players.
you boys need to stop worrying about that piss poor performance this past weekend
and focus on the next task at hand! See you this weekend.
by CrimiNOLElawyer on Sep 6, 2010 12:32 PM CDT reply actions
Okay, so OU came out flat
Big deal. We won the game. The important thing is how we respond in a crucial game this week. If we look flat again, then I’ll start getting worried about the season. Until then, I’m going to remain positive.
"But we all know that games aren't played on paper...they are played by little men inside our TV sets." --Kenny Mayne
Come out "flat" against Florida St
and OU will lose the game. And a loss…this season, would mean an end to the dream of a National Championship
Also…the team was more than just “flat”
Colorado Rockies correspondent at My Team Rivals (www.mtrmedia.com/rockies) and my own site Rockies Reporter (www.rockiesreporter.wordpress.com) and one of the top Rockies writers at the Bleacher Report.
They'll come out playing with a chip on their shoulder
because they’ll be hearing stuff like this all week. I’m sure they’re already sick of hearing everyone’s worries. It’ll be a good week in practice. We didn’t have any major injuries against Utah State. We’re healthy.
Plus the game is in Norman. That’s a big factor.
Have a little faith my friend ;-) Boomer Sooner!
"But we all know that games aren't played on paper...they are played by little men inside our TV sets." --Kenny Mayne
by dishingoutdimes on Sep 6, 2010 6:28 PM CDT up reply actions
Even though it wasn't a great performance....
….I think a game like this is much more useful than, for example, the Idaho St. game last year. Deep down, Stoops is probably okay with the fact that he has some coaching points to emphasize for next week. He shouldn’t have any problems getting their attention this week.
I was fairly impressed with Utah St. This was obviously a much different team from the one that we throttled in 2007. They have much better athletes now and more of them. Now, Florida St. will bring in even more great athletes and the margin for error will be much smaller.
The problem with this
If we look flat again, then I’ll start getting worried about the season
Is by this point, we’re 1-1 after having lost the longest home winning streak in the country and our season could potentially be over (stressing the word potentially) after just two games.
"Ronnell is a freak of nature. Anybody that big, powerful and fast shouldn't be allowed on the field. That's Ronnell. You saw in the Kansas game when he knocked that guy out, he changed the whole game."
Things are never as good or bad as they seem
USU was definitely better than I expected. Their QB was a legit playmaker. Kind of a Robert Griffin type. Extended plays and got the ball to receivers. That being said I was disappointed with our D-line push, control of the line of scrimage, Tom Worts play (I know it’s his first start and he will get better) and our corners nor being able to make a play on the ball (especially when they seemed to be in position). They are going to be dealing with larger wide receivers all year and we’ve got to get that addressed. Murry and Broyles played great, but you can bet teams will scheme to try to take those guys away. Landry just had a pretty poor outing and I expect him to play much better next game out. Another disappointment was nothing out of the tight end. That position has got to be productive to keep the safeties out of the box. All in all a lot to work on this week with a higher quality team coming to Norman. But, it was a win and some good things come from it. The O-line wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible. They did some good things. Landry needs to improve on his pocket awareness. Held the ball too long 2-3 times and left the pocket too soon a couple of times. Would have liked to see more of the other RB’s but the situation called for Murry and he came though big time. I think Stoops and the guys will clean things up and give OU a chance to win against FSU. Let’s play with some fire guys! Boomer Sooner!
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