Scouting Notebook: #6 Oklahoma State @ #22 Texas

During games periodically, I'll write down thoughts about games as they take place, and share them with you, the readers, to help break down major plays in the games, as well as familiarize you with the players you'll see all season and potentially on Sundays in the NFL.  All the thoughts are in chronological order.

Oklahoma State – Texas:

-          A huge run up the middle by Texas RB Malcolm Brown followed by a 20 yard run and catch off a quick curl in the middle of the field on Texas’ 2^nd drive.  Oklahoma State’s linebackers are nowhere to be found right now.

-          Oh hey, there they are.  Poor read by Texas QB David Ash who throws it right to a linebacker in what’s clearly a Cover 2 defense for his first interception.  Great ball skills by OSU LB Caleb Lavey.

-          Beautiful throw over the top of double coverage by Brandon Weeden to Josh Cooper.  After two runs, the Texas defense was sucked up close to the line of scrimmage.  The Cowboys’ up-tempo offense really forces defenses to cheat a lot or play vanilla coverages; there’s no time to keep switching personnel.

-          David Ash hits Mike Davis on another short curl route and throws to him again on a comeback route on the next play.  It’s clear Mike Davis is Ash’s go-to receiver.  Oklahoma State should really be double covering him at this point.

-          Oklahoma State’s defensive line is getting great push so far, Ash hasn’t looked all that comfortable in the early going here.

-          Malcolm Brown is a load to bring down, he runs upright, but still breaks a lot of arm tackles.  He brings back memories of Cedric Benson, as he doesn’t have breakaway speed but runs through quite a bit of contact.

-          Brandon Weeden forced a deep ball to Justin Blackmon, silly decision.  Texas’ DB Carrington Byndom catches it and barely lands out of bounds, so Oklahoma State gets a lucky break.  Weeden makes the same decision the next play, and Byndom almost picks it off again.  Texas looks comfortable putting Byndom 1-on-1 against Justin Blackmon.  No matter how good a receiver is, you can’t force it to him this badly.  I understand what they’re doing though.  Texas will eventually pay for leaving Blackmon single-covered.

-          AGAIN, Texas WR Mike Davis runs a comeback/curl route and gets a first down.  It doesn’t seem that complicated to anticipate, but Oklahoma State can’t seem to stop it.

-          Blackmon gets the ball on an end around and takes it for 23 yards, Oklahoma State will get the ball in Blackmon’s hands, however they can.

o   Including a 4^th and 9 conversion later on the drive on a 17-yard pass.  He’s already got 5 receptions with about 40 minutes left in the game.

o   Three straight throws to Justin Blackmon, and I think the single coverage on him is about to end. 

-          Mike Davis has 6 of Texas’ 7 receptions thus far, this is getting a bit ridiculous.  He’s open 8-10 yards downfield constantly.  Texas may be trying to set up a deep ball to Davis. 

o   Davis catches a screen.  Make it 7 catches. 

-          David Ash looks like he runs a legit 4.5 40, he’s got serious speed for a QB, and he’s been quite accurate on his short throws actually.  That 23 yard scramble was big to keeping their drive going.

-          Weeden has a gun for an arm, and is really a pro at running this spread attack.  He goes through his progression so quickly, and has so many reliable options.  Justin Blackmon, Tracy Moore, Josh Cooper, and Hubert Anyiam are all reliable receivers.  Outside of LSU, I don’t know that any defense can stop this group of playmakers and Weeden for four quarters.

-          4^th and inches from the Texas 30, and Oklahoma State loads up a Heavy Pistol formation to go for it.  Somehow, Texas’ defense wasn’t ready as they had less players in the box than Texas in the box than Oklahoma State.  Oklahoma State very rarely runs from any formation other than the Pistol, so why the Longhorns were so baffled beats me.  One linebacker that was at the line botched his assignment and Jeremy Smith took the ball 30 yards for a TD.

-          Oklahoma State CB Justin Gilbert returns the 2^nd half’s opening kickoff for a touchdown, his second kick return TD of the year.  Yet another playmaker on this team.  He already has 4 kickoff TD returns in his career, and he’s only a sophomore.

-          Are you kidding?  Fozzy Whittaker returns Oklahoma State’s kickoff for a TD!  What an answer to the Cowboys’ big special teams play!  Also shows a lack of discipline on both special teams units.  3 Oklahoma State players took bad angles on Whittaker and converged 5 yards behind him as he raced to paydirt.  This is Whittaker’s second consecutive game with a kick return TD.  What a fun start to the second half.

-          Oklahoma State starts the half with two 3-and-outs on offense.  Texas has been able to get pressure to Weeden recently. 

-          Malcolm Brown shows exceptional balance on the sideline to stay in bounds for the long rushing touchdown.  This is his best game of his collegiate career thus far with over 100 yards and 2 rushing TDs.  David Ash carries out a great playfake as well on the Statue of Liberty play.  Texas offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin got Boise State on the national scene with the same play against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl a few years back.

-          Weeden stares down WR Hubert Anyiam on a crossing route in double coverage, and fires an absolutely perfect pass to get the first down conversion.  Can’t emphasize this enough, he’s really got a strong arm.  

-          Josh Cooper makes a phenomenal catch on a ball thrown behind him by Weeden.  Josh Cooper, Hubert Anyiam and Justin Blackmon may all get drafted in 2012, it’ll be interesting to watch.

-          Texas is getting far more pressure on Brandon Weeden here in the second half. They make a big goal line stand and hold Oklahoma State to a field goal, 31-24.

-          To continue on Malcolm Brown, he’s not hesitant whatsoever today. He’s hitting the right hole every time he gets the ball.  Decisiveness is often a problem with freshmen, so that’s good news for Texas.

-          Jeremy Smith inserts himself into the runningback conversation, helping Oklahoma State score on two straight carries, the second of which was a 74 yard TD run.  Texas’ defense was really spread out, no one had a chance to catch him.  Smith and Randle have done an admirable job of replacing RB Kendall Hunter, who’s now in the NFL with the 49ers.

-          Texas goes for it on 4^th and goal, and David Ash underthrows Fozzy Whittaker on a flat route, who fell inches short of the goal line.  Oklahoma State runs the ball and barely gets out of the endzone, then Brandon Weeden takes a shotgun snap 7 yards deep in the endzone, and in his drop back, he steps out of the endzone.  38-26 Oklahoma State, so Texas gets some points out of their drive, and will get the ball back.  Texas really needs to get a TD here to make it a one possession game.

-          Texas’ CB Quandre Diggs makes a fantastic play on a Weeden pass on 3^rd down, and nearly picked it off, but didn’t.  Texas needs to finish these types of plays if they want to win big games like this one.  They’ve got an outside shot at taking down Oklahoma State, which would be the fourth upset of an undefeated team today.

-          David Ash is making a living on these short routes, and is averaging under 3.3 yards per attempt, which is pretty pitiful, but understandable in his first start.  He’s really settling in though as Oklahoma State is playing prevent defense.  They look far too comfortable giving Texas short completions, as Texas is moving the ball pretty efficiently.  Oklahoma State has only scored 10 points on offense in the second half, so it’s not crazy to think Texas can get the ball back. 

-          Ash is 7/8 for 48 yards on this drive, he’s looked far more comfortable, as the Longhorns are getting the ball out of his hands quickly.  ESPN just showed his passing chart, which showed that Ash is 23/32 on passes under 15 yards, but 0/5 on any pass longer than 15 yards.  Right on cue, he throws a deep seam route to a spot on the field where no one is. 

-          Ash fumbles, and the game may be over.  A nickelback blitz on Ash’s backside got to him, and had he seen the blitz, the backside slot WR was wide open streaking down the field on a seam route.  Texas’ hopes of winning are dashed now, but they still can hang their hat on staying close with Oklahoma State all game. 

-          Oklahoma State will take some worries away from this game, as their offense was completely stagnant in the second half other than Jeremy Smith’s two carry TD drive.  Texas got far more pressure on Weeden in the second half and forced errant throws.  On the defensive side, they let the Longhorns run all over them on the ground, and David Ash actually looked fairly efficient towards the end of the game, although that was probably more by Oklahoma State’s design.  They were playing a mild prevent defense, giving up the short 5-6 yard routes to Texas in exchange for time burning off the clock.  Overall, the pass defense was solid against the freshman Ash, but the run defense which surrendered 217 rushing yards is a major problem.