The first half of the season has come and gone, with RELATIVELY little shakeup in the Big 12, barring last week. All of the teams hyped up before the season are still hanging around their original rankings, with Missouri suffering the most after a letdown against the surprising Cowboys of Oklahoma St, who many would call the surprise of the year...
Let's get to the power rankings.
No. 1 Texas Longhorns
Coming off a very tough sophomore season, Colt McCoy could have locked himself in his room for the time off, eaten tubs of ice cream, and pouted, all while watching "Air Bud: Golden Receiver" wishing he could get that type of support from his crowd. But he didn't, well, at least I don't think he did.
He has come out in 2008, and led the Longhorns like a changed man, at least for the time being. He showed composure, and made few mistakes in an upset of No. 1 Oklahoma last weekend in the Red River Friendship (Come on! They changed the name from shootout to rivalry to be more polite, pretty soon, it could be the RRF, complete with slumber parties between the two quarterbacks).
Completing passes at nearly 80 percent, McCoy's efficiency has been his greatest asset, regardless of who the games were against. Chris Ogbonnaya showed promise in the OU game, and Cody Johnson is the new Ron Dayne perhaps. But what frightens me much more than the UT passing offense excites me, is their pass defense.
You know that McCoy guy I was telling you about, blonde hair, great stats (1557 Yards, 17 TD, 3 INT)?
Well, the stats of opposing quarterbacks against UT are startlingly good as well (1607 Yards, 10 TD, 4 INT, the worst defensive TD/INT ratio in the big 12)...
Yes, McCoy has been out-passed by his competitors, all six games being wins. In a conference full of quarterbacks that are known to pick sub-par defenses apart like cornbread, the Longhorn secondary is looking mighty flaky right now...
High Point- McCoy's maturity.
Low Point- Pass Defense.
What's Ahead?- Missouri. Texas Tech. A bill from Blockbuster regarding a late fee on a certain air bud movie which was never returned. Colt...?
No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners
The near-unanimous number one after manhandling their out of conference opponents, Oklahoma came into the annual Red River game with high hopes. But those hopes were crushed, along with the punter, Mike Knall.
What!? You didn't see it? Mike Knall took an absolutely MONSTER hit, I was surprised he was even able to get up after bone-tickling, err, rattling knockdown. Here's to you Mike, it took a lot of heart to walk off the field before the audience threw flowers at you.
Sam Bradford played well enough to warrant a victory, yet unfortunately for him, the rest of the team was nowhere to be found as the game wound down. The route running was shabby at times, the running game was missing all day, and the defense took a big hit when Ryan Reynolds left the game.
Oklahoma has a lot going for them, Sam Bradford, Bob Stoops, a Tony-Nominated punter, and, following this weekend's game against Kansas, a three week stretch against Kansas St, Nebraska & Texas A&M, followed by a bye week to prepare for back-to-back games against Texas Tech and Oklahoma St. to end the season. Here's to hoping that everyone else in the Big 12 beats each other up before then.
High Point- Sam Bradford is only a sophomore, and WILL be the best quarterback in the Big 12 very soon.
Low Point- The safety allowed against Chattanooga, they were lucky they snuck away with that win...
What's Ahead?- They need to flex their muscle and pound Kansas into the ground, hopefully developing a running game along the way... Let's hope Mike Knall doesn't jet the Sooner State for Hollywood just yet either, has anyone seen him lately...? Mike?
No. 3 Texas Tech
The anomaly of the conference it would seem, Tech breezed through conference play, if you can call it that, and silenced most critics after an offensive clinic at the expense of Kansas State on the road. They followed that up by almost choking away their homecoming to an inspired Nebraska team.
Tech was out-gained by Nebraska in a game that saw Tech run 32 plays less than Nebraska. It's not that Tech had a bad game offensively, it's just that Tech saw the field less than Joe Paterno when he takes his glasses off. Harrell had another efficient game, and proved he is a leader capable of taking Tech to the next level this season.
Mike Leach called a memorable play on 4th-and-4, though it is still being disputed whether they would have actually run the play had the defense not jumped. Regardless, it worked out, and Jamar Wall let Donnie Carona off the hook by intercepting the second play of overtime to seal the victory.
Baron Batch is proving every week that he should touch the ball more often, and Crabtree is always hiding somewhere ready to make the big play. As long as Leach goes against the grain, and Tech doesn't have to rely on their kicking to win games, they are in good position.
High Point- Harrell-to-Crabtree. Crabtree has caught half of Harrell's 20 touchdown passes. Not to mention the play of Baron Batch (2nd in the Big 12 in yards per carry.)
Low Point(s)- Extra Points. This week Tech announced that senior Cory Fowler would handle extra point duties for the time being. Bad news for referees. Honestly, it has to be the greatest feeling in the world to be able to look towards a kicker after an extra point and wave your arms adamantly NO GOOD to kill his self esteem even more.
What's Ahead?- After A&M, Tech faces a killer stretch, @ Kansas, Vs. Texas, Vs. Oklahoma State, and @ Oklahoma. As long as Harrell and Crabtree are here though, the unexpected can happen... Hey, why is Crabtree wearing a Rams hat? Michael...?
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