Black Widow
11-07-2008, 06:12 PM
Jim Ross' Blog: OU- Texas A&M (from OUInsider.com)
Editor's Note: Here's Jim's weekly pre-game blog. Jim Ross of course is a member of the WWE Hall of Fame, owner of J.R.’s Family BBQ, but a life long Sooner fan who has written three best selling books and has appeared weekly on national TV for over 25 years.
A road game in the Big 12 Conference, to quote the Eagles, does not give me a “Peaceful Easy Feeling”, especially at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas in the Texas A&M Aggies last home game of 2008.
Make no mistake about it; the Sooners should win this game without too many strains or pains unless mental errors and turnovers sneak onto the OU charter for the short flight south. Coach Mike Sherman has his team 4-5 which is much better than yours truly would have predicted prior to this season but the youthful Aggies should be no match for OU.
Sherman is a good coach and is playing a load of young players in hopes of rebuilding the Aggies much “Sooner” than later. A&M starts 7 true freshmen and plays a load of redshirt freshmen and sophomores. That sounds good for the future but what about this Saturday afternoon at 2:30 on ABC? Let’s put it this way, the next time OU travels to College Station to play Texas A&M, the Aggies will not remotely resemble the team we will see this Saturday. Nonetheless this young, Aggie team that has won two in a row over hapless Iowa State and an unraveling Colorado and A&M has suddenly discovered the magic word…hope.
Last week it is estimated that Kyle Field had over 10,000 no shows against Colorado. Apparently some Texas A&M fans don’t have much faith in the 2008 Aggies which brings me to this point. Coach Mike Sherman has a bunch of 18 and 19 year olds playing for him. These young men are impressionable and have no doubt seen the empty seats which were not what they saw on their game day recruiting trips. Sherman, his staff and his team have circled their wagons in an “us against the world” mentality. (Hey, it worked for Coach Switzer.) Young athletes are impressionable and they often times play fueled by emotion. They live and breathe off “hope” and the “chance” for an upset that in turn creates a lifetime memory for each of them.
Stoops Troops has to take the “hope” out of the young Aggies early and not allow Sherman’s team to get back up after being knocked down. The Sooners occasionally have decked an opponent and then have not followed up with the knockout blow that ends the fight. Saturday’s fight needs to end by K.O. in the early rounds.
In a perfect world, the Aggie Band will be the highlight of the day for Texas A&M followers and not their football team.
The Sooners should be able to move the ball Saturday as Texas A&M is ranked 104th in the nation in total defense. They are allowing 32 points per game. Kevin Wilson’s potent Oklahoma offense might score north of 50 Saturday by half time….again. However, turnovers, mental mistakes and the Aggie “hope” could paint a much different picture.
Offensively, A&M is lead by an athletic sophomore QB, Jerrod Johnson, and a pair of 6’4” wide receivers in Jeff Fuller and Ryan Tannehill who have caught 44 and 42 balls respectively this season. The Sooners recruited Fuller hard and if he had signed with the Sooners, Fuller would be having a great season playing catch with Sam Bradford. Remember these two players are blue chippers and will challenge the Sooner secondary with their physical attributes (6’4”).
True freshman running back Cyrus Gray carries the load on the ground but the Aggie’s rank last in the Big 12 Conference in rushing offense at 110 yards per game which puts them near the bottom of the national rankings at # 102.
If injured running back Michael Goodson plays for A&M then business picks up as Goodson can make plays but has never played up to his potential and let’s hope that trend continues through the weekend.
Having no Auston English doesn’t do OU any favors defensively but if we are lucky #33 will be back by the Tech game. DE Frank Alexander can be a great one and DE Jeremy Beal has proven many times that he can make plays so the cupboard isn’t bare without English who’s tougher than a $2 steak. The Sooners have the usual bumps and bruises most football teams have this time of the year but getting by A&M without any more injuries and then getting a week off to prepare for Texas Tech is a nice luxury. Hopefully, I have spoken more about Tech in this one paragraph than the Sooner players have all week.
The Sooners know that A&M will do all they can to pressure Sam Bradford and to disrupt #14’s rhythm just as every team this season has attempted to do. So, once again, a viable key to this game is the play of the O-Line and how well they perform and how clean they keep their MVP QB.
Another key to this game is, as always, the defense, which I think has played much better than some fans, especially the gamblers who have lost money due to the Sooners giving up a few late, meaningless TD’s. I like the speed of this defense and the fact that they seem to be getting better each week. The one area of concern may be the tackling. Tackling with authority and finality is an important element to this or any game. I’m guilty of having Sooner bias but I do think that the team can tackle better overall.
It’s kind of funny isn’t it that so many games come down to the same things, blocking and tackling and the team that executes them the better usually wins.
The Sooners cannot allow their special teams to bite them in the backside and allow the Aggies to make the big play that keeps their hopes alive. It seems as if the special teams play, specifically the kickoff coverage team, has played better over the past few weeks. There is always room for improvement with any unit but it seems as if the right personnel is on the field now which are primarily defensive players which was not the case at the beginning of the year.
Finally, Texas A&M is a team that led Texas Tech 23-20 at half time which is worth noting. How do the Sooners respond if that is the case this Saturday down in hostile territory?
Bottom line is that our Sooners are still “in the hunt” which is all that matters and which means that we cannot afford to lose another game. It’s as simple as that. I’m not impacting or over thinking my weekend worrying about the BCS system or any other game on the docket….OSU @ Tech….Alabama @ LSU, this weekend. Regarding college football, I care about only one thing this weekend and that is an Oklahoma win.
Every thing else will take care of itself.
OU 56 Texas A&M 28.
My thanks to those of you who have stopped by our J.R.’s Family BBQ Restaurants, in Moore and in Norman. I hope that you will make “J.R.’s” a part of your Sooner weekends and keep us in mind for your catering and tailgating needs. You can find our more about our two restaurants including our menu, phone numbers, etc at www.jrsbarbq.com as we are located at I-35 and Main on the east side of the interstate in Norman and at exit 116 (19th street exit) in Moore on the west side of I-35 just south of the Warren Theatre. Both stores open at 11 a.m. daily. Come see us.
Boomer Sooner!
J.R.
Editor's Note: Here's Jim's weekly pre-game blog. Jim Ross of course is a member of the WWE Hall of Fame, owner of J.R.’s Family BBQ, but a life long Sooner fan who has written three best selling books and has appeared weekly on national TV for over 25 years.
A road game in the Big 12 Conference, to quote the Eagles, does not give me a “Peaceful Easy Feeling”, especially at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas in the Texas A&M Aggies last home game of 2008.
Make no mistake about it; the Sooners should win this game without too many strains or pains unless mental errors and turnovers sneak onto the OU charter for the short flight south. Coach Mike Sherman has his team 4-5 which is much better than yours truly would have predicted prior to this season but the youthful Aggies should be no match for OU.
Sherman is a good coach and is playing a load of young players in hopes of rebuilding the Aggies much “Sooner” than later. A&M starts 7 true freshmen and plays a load of redshirt freshmen and sophomores. That sounds good for the future but what about this Saturday afternoon at 2:30 on ABC? Let’s put it this way, the next time OU travels to College Station to play Texas A&M, the Aggies will not remotely resemble the team we will see this Saturday. Nonetheless this young, Aggie team that has won two in a row over hapless Iowa State and an unraveling Colorado and A&M has suddenly discovered the magic word…hope.
Last week it is estimated that Kyle Field had over 10,000 no shows against Colorado. Apparently some Texas A&M fans don’t have much faith in the 2008 Aggies which brings me to this point. Coach Mike Sherman has a bunch of 18 and 19 year olds playing for him. These young men are impressionable and have no doubt seen the empty seats which were not what they saw on their game day recruiting trips. Sherman, his staff and his team have circled their wagons in an “us against the world” mentality. (Hey, it worked for Coach Switzer.) Young athletes are impressionable and they often times play fueled by emotion. They live and breathe off “hope” and the “chance” for an upset that in turn creates a lifetime memory for each of them.
Stoops Troops has to take the “hope” out of the young Aggies early and not allow Sherman’s team to get back up after being knocked down. The Sooners occasionally have decked an opponent and then have not followed up with the knockout blow that ends the fight. Saturday’s fight needs to end by K.O. in the early rounds.
In a perfect world, the Aggie Band will be the highlight of the day for Texas A&M followers and not their football team.
The Sooners should be able to move the ball Saturday as Texas A&M is ranked 104th in the nation in total defense. They are allowing 32 points per game. Kevin Wilson’s potent Oklahoma offense might score north of 50 Saturday by half time….again. However, turnovers, mental mistakes and the Aggie “hope” could paint a much different picture.
Offensively, A&M is lead by an athletic sophomore QB, Jerrod Johnson, and a pair of 6’4” wide receivers in Jeff Fuller and Ryan Tannehill who have caught 44 and 42 balls respectively this season. The Sooners recruited Fuller hard and if he had signed with the Sooners, Fuller would be having a great season playing catch with Sam Bradford. Remember these two players are blue chippers and will challenge the Sooner secondary with their physical attributes (6’4”).
True freshman running back Cyrus Gray carries the load on the ground but the Aggie’s rank last in the Big 12 Conference in rushing offense at 110 yards per game which puts them near the bottom of the national rankings at # 102.
If injured running back Michael Goodson plays for A&M then business picks up as Goodson can make plays but has never played up to his potential and let’s hope that trend continues through the weekend.
Having no Auston English doesn’t do OU any favors defensively but if we are lucky #33 will be back by the Tech game. DE Frank Alexander can be a great one and DE Jeremy Beal has proven many times that he can make plays so the cupboard isn’t bare without English who’s tougher than a $2 steak. The Sooners have the usual bumps and bruises most football teams have this time of the year but getting by A&M without any more injuries and then getting a week off to prepare for Texas Tech is a nice luxury. Hopefully, I have spoken more about Tech in this one paragraph than the Sooner players have all week.
The Sooners know that A&M will do all they can to pressure Sam Bradford and to disrupt #14’s rhythm just as every team this season has attempted to do. So, once again, a viable key to this game is the play of the O-Line and how well they perform and how clean they keep their MVP QB.
Another key to this game is, as always, the defense, which I think has played much better than some fans, especially the gamblers who have lost money due to the Sooners giving up a few late, meaningless TD’s. I like the speed of this defense and the fact that they seem to be getting better each week. The one area of concern may be the tackling. Tackling with authority and finality is an important element to this or any game. I’m guilty of having Sooner bias but I do think that the team can tackle better overall.
It’s kind of funny isn’t it that so many games come down to the same things, blocking and tackling and the team that executes them the better usually wins.
The Sooners cannot allow their special teams to bite them in the backside and allow the Aggies to make the big play that keeps their hopes alive. It seems as if the special teams play, specifically the kickoff coverage team, has played better over the past few weeks. There is always room for improvement with any unit but it seems as if the right personnel is on the field now which are primarily defensive players which was not the case at the beginning of the year.
Finally, Texas A&M is a team that led Texas Tech 23-20 at half time which is worth noting. How do the Sooners respond if that is the case this Saturday down in hostile territory?
Bottom line is that our Sooners are still “in the hunt” which is all that matters and which means that we cannot afford to lose another game. It’s as simple as that. I’m not impacting or over thinking my weekend worrying about the BCS system or any other game on the docket….OSU @ Tech….Alabama @ LSU, this weekend. Regarding college football, I care about only one thing this weekend and that is an Oklahoma win.
Every thing else will take care of itself.
OU 56 Texas A&M 28.
My thanks to those of you who have stopped by our J.R.’s Family BBQ Restaurants, in Moore and in Norman. I hope that you will make “J.R.’s” a part of your Sooner weekends and keep us in mind for your catering and tailgating needs. You can find our more about our two restaurants including our menu, phone numbers, etc at www.jrsbarbq.com as we are located at I-35 and Main on the east side of the interstate in Norman and at exit 116 (19th street exit) in Moore on the west side of I-35 just south of the Warren Theatre. Both stores open at 11 a.m. daily. Come see us.
Boomer Sooner!
J.R.