The B12 (XII) Forum, home of the 'Front Porch, y'all' at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Right now, oSu should rate on Texas' schedule as an average to slightly above average test. They don't have known glaring holes like WVa or Kansas, but they don't feature a sure-fire attack like OU and possibly Baylor. They're an all around competent team.

Texas out-talents them everywhere, but Texas has out-talented a lot of teams over the last decade and managed a feeble record. The Cowboys always seem to have one guy who out-shines everyone else. How many years did some WR (Blackmon?) simply out-jump an All-American secondary to come down with a high pointed lofted pass?

Texas can dictate terms if their heart is in it. That's why I like our OL. Cosmi, Braun, and Kerstetter take it personally. Angilau and Okafor are learning to. It's been a long time since I've seen a Texas OL go dig their RB out of a pile when they think the defense is getting rough. Angry people (not rage-tilted people) win football games.

I'd like to think my posts, when taken together, reflect my history of watching Texas/oSu. The Cowboys usually don't have Texas' caliber of athletes across the board. They just manage to use that one special talent so effectively that it throws all the advantages Texas has out the window.

This should be a game where the Cowboys complete some longer passes to a talented receiver, have some yards by a determined RB, but ultimately find themselves bogging in FG range while giving up TDs to a versatile Texas offense. What could easily happen, though, is the Texas defense gets jittery after the WR and RB get off a couple of talented plays. Then, they start over-correcting - which leads to busted assignments. Instead of giving up a couple of 1st downs and a punt, they give up 60 yard instant TDs. The Texas offense feels the pressure to compete point for point, someone presses too hard, and turns the ball over. At the end of the game, Texas is hoping to grab an onside kick for a final gasp at the tying points.

I believe this Texas team is tough - in the materials engineering sense. A material can be strong. Glass is strong, but ultimately fails because its brittle. One crack propagates through the entire material and makes it fail. Steel, properly made, becomes tough. It becomes tough when its inherent strength is reinforced by being beat on. Cracks form, get heated and sealed, and it gets beat on again. Through this process, the material becomes able to flex and give. A small crack is prevented from causing the entire material to fail because it is intercepted by more of the material.

oSu possesses the capability to defeat Texas, but only if Texas helps. I believe this Texas team, in addition to being talented and capable, has learned to be tough when the cracks occur - only because they've been beaten on in years' past.

My vision of oSu football is a 23-year old QB throwing tall ropes to some guy named Blackmon.  Not always true, just the vision I get.

That's what I'm remembering. Roster to roster, Texas was much more talented. They had a fantastic pass defense on the back end. They'd tackle Mr. Blackmon immediately, but it was still a 25 yard gain.

It wasn't usually even a very good pass. He just played the game over the head of the defense like schooling your little brother.

Any time you have a good RB and a good WR, you have the potential to get a defense panicking. Panic negates talent. oSu has exactly that mix.

Texas has more talent on the defensive side than the Cowboys have on the offensive side. I'm positive that oSu will hit some shots and move the chains. I'm trusting that the Texas defense won't freak out and will be able to keep their composure and the Cowboys out of the endzone enough times for the offense to keep up.

Crowd should be good but it definitely won't be the same as it was 2 weeks ago against a Top 10 opponent.  

Horns lead 21-20 at halftime.

So far, a very close game statistically.  Which team will make the better adjustments at halftime?

OSU radio guys speculate that the Pokes' mistakes in the first half might be a case of the youngest team (in terms of freshman starters) in the country being a little jittery in its first conference road game.

Texas dominated the 2nd half, even though oSu's late score sort of hides that reality.

Mike Gundy made some questionable coaching decisions that came back to bite him.  Maybe too willing to settle for FGs in the 1st half, too unwilling to settle for them in the 2nd half.  In particular, his decision to fake the FG really sabotaged him.  That was responsible for the delay of game penalty that moved the ball back 5 yards.  Then he stuck with it on 4th and 6 with a call that seemed to fool no one in all of CFB-land.

Texas made some mistakes too.  Ehlinger's pick.  Two muffed punts.

It all makes the stakes higher for the RRS.

I can't tell how good Texas is.

The Horns have played two tough games, going 1-1.  But the defense hasn't looked very good at times.  And the offense might be over-dependent on Sam Ehlinger.

Then there's this?  Vandy scored 38 on LSU today, same as UT did back in Week 2.  So how good is LSU's defense?

I don't know the answers to the questions I'm posing.

I'm sure of this.  The Horns will be well-prepared for the contest in 3 weeks.  They have been every year for a decade now.