The coming weekend of games may determine the direction of the season for the programs involved.
By Saturday night, press conferences will have been held with one head coach praising the efforts of his troops in a big win, while his counterpart will bemoan the "what ifs" and "what could have beens." Elation on one side, depression on the other—such is the ebb and flow of the annual fall ritual we call college football.
Four big games are poised on the horizon for this weekend. Three of these you will recognize as being games of great interest. The other is just as big, but for reasons that involve fan-based drama.
The marquee game of the weekend is Oklahoma and Texas in the Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. This is always a huge game where season records rarely have anything to do with the outcome.
Oklahoma and Texas have good defenses and good offenses as well. Both quarterbacks are among the nation's leaders in passing efficiency. OU comes into the game ranked No. 1, while Texas is No. 5.
This will be a classic matchup between two storied programs that will offer one or the other the chance to have a leg up in the Big 12 South Division race, which will most likely lead to the Big 12 Championship game and an opportunity to advance to a BCS bowl game.
The focal point of this game will be the quarterbacks for both teams. Bradford of OU and McCoy of Texas are the guys that make their respective offenses go, and the quality of their play on Saturday will determine how close this game really winds up being.
Bradford has a great arm and a bevy of quality running backs and speedy receivers to back him up. McCoy also has a great arm, but he is also the leading rusher for the Longhorns, who have yet to see a dominant running back emerge in their backfield. The horns have two dominant receivers in Shipley and Cosby.
If McCoy goes down in this game to injury, the Longhorns will find themselves grasping for answers. McCoy's backup, John Chiles, is a shifty runner but does not have the arm that McCoy possesses. This would leave Texas offensively one-dimensional and having to depend on a running game that, with the exception of McCoy, has been virtually nonexistent to this point of the season.
On the other hand, if it were Bradford that succumbed to an injury, his backup would be Joey Halzle, who has been unimpressive in relief efforts the last two years. If you doubt that, refer back to the Sooners' loss to Texas Tech last year. OU would, however, have a solid run game to rely on if the unthinkable happened with Bradford.
With defenses that rank No. 11 (Oklahoma) and No. 28 (Texas) in total defense, the advantage in that regard must go to OU. The weakness on defense for Texas has to be their secondary, which is ranked 96th in the country in pass defense. Having to face Bradford is bad news for Mack Brown's Longhorns. Oklahoma's secondary ranks 15th in pass defense and should be effective against McCoy.
My prediction: OU covers the -7. The only way Texas wins this game is if they put Bradford out of the game early.
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