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Strong Safety Dylan Haines returns this week after being kicked out for a targeting penalty against California. Haines, a former walk-on, is a gritty player who is always around the ball. He plays with a reckless style and is the most consistent player in their secondary, although not among the most talented. He impacted the game in Stillwater, so he is a player to watch. On film, it appears that his backup was very solid (Kevin Vaccaro). It is still not known if Jason Hall will be able to play or not after leaving the California game with a shoulder injury. Former OSU recruit PJ Locke (a freshman) will slide into the lineup should he miss a start. In either case, expect the Cowboys to attack the free safety. Jason Hall’s strength as a player was his striking ability which would likely be compromised with a sore shoulder. He has had some struggles in pass defense. Obviously, if Texas puts a true freshman on the backend, that invites play action usage. Overall the safeties have been average, and they do not overwhelm with athletic upside.
A different story is playing out at cornerback. Teams better get their shots in on the Longhorn corners over the next 12-15 months, because they have some really strong looking youngsters at the position. Their youth and inexperience has led to some problems in the short zone coverages, but their size and athleticism allows them to physically matchup with wideouts in pass coverage. Once they iron out some tackling deficiencies and zone responsibilities, they should be strong. The Cal Bears isolated Kenny Lawler on John Bonney and found lots of success, but Lawler’s size and athleticism would make him a nightmare matchup for any DB. Duke Thomas is the veteran leader of the group, and he is surrounded by a bunch of high ceiling prospects like Antwuan Davis. That said, watch out for the freshmen (Kris Boyd and Holton Hill) down the line.
With Vance Bedford as the coordinator, you can be assured that Texas is going to fire off a lot of corner blitzes from the edge on the boundary side and in the inside gaps on the field side. Charlie Strong grew his reputation on the 3-3-5 alignment and that influence is seen in how Texas plays defense as they provide multiple looks for only a handful of pressures and coverages. The premise of their defense is to eliminate big plays and force teams to be patient in driving the length of the field. They are very active in their coverage disguises in trying to confuse the quarterback presnap. They are also very multiple in the personnel that they will put on the line of scrimmage and in the box in an effort to create confusion. Since they love to dial up pressure with speed players, they are very quick to rotate to and jump in front of short hot routes, so Mason Rudolph can not make lazy shallow throws against the blitz. On the other hand, if he can make the appropriate read, he will likely have other open options as Longhorn players have not been seen in their coverage drops in those situations.
Overall, it appears that Oklahoma State has the appropriate personnel to effectively move the ball against Texas. Look for the Cowboy backs to play a very important role in both phases of the offense as they get blocks at the second level to pin down undersized players and linebackers trying to cover gaps. If the offensive line can battle to at least a draw, then the running backs should have some solid success between the tackles. If Texas messes things up with speed on the edge, then the Cowboys could always bring in Walsh as a change-up to expose the lack of gap discipline with some veer option looks. Given the tackling issues on the second level of the defense, look for OSU to isolate players in space against the linebackers and safeties in the middle of the field. Also, Texas has really struggled with the corner-hitch route combinations against zone and the corner-post combinations against man. The bottom line is that the maturity of the skill players should give the Cowboys an edge in the passing game, and Mason Rudolph has proven to be exactly the type of patient game-managing quarterback that is tailor made to pick apart the inexperienced defense.
Strong Safety Dylan Haines returns this week after being kicked out for a targeting penalty against California. Haines, a former walk-on, is a gritty player who is always around the ball. He plays with a reckless style and is the most consistent player in their secondary, although not among the most talented. He impacted the game in Stillwater, so he is a player to watch. On film, it appears that his backup was very solid (Kevin Vaccaro). It is still not known if Jason Hall will be able to play or not after leaving the California game with a shoulder injury. Former OSU recruit PJ Locke (a freshman) will slide into the lineup should he miss a start. In either case, expect the Cowboys to attack the free safety. Jason Hall’s strength as a player was his striking ability which would likely be compromised with a sore shoulder. He has had some struggles in pass defense. Obviously, if Texas puts a true freshman on the backend, that invites play action usage. Overall the safeties have been average, and they do not overwhelm with athletic upside.
A different story is playing out at cornerback. Teams better get their shots in on the Longhorn corners over the next 12-15 months, because they have some really strong looking youngsters at the position. Their youth and inexperience has led to some problems in the short zone coverages, but their size and athleticism allows them to physically matchup with wideouts in pass coverage. Once they iron out some tackling deficiencies and zone responsibilities, they should be strong. The Cal Bears isolated Kenny Lawler on John Bonney and found lots of success, but Lawler’s size and athleticism would make him a nightmare matchup for any DB. Duke Thomas is the veteran leader of the group, and he is surrounded by a bunch of high ceiling prospects like Antwuan Davis. That said, watch out for the freshmen (Kris Boyd and Holton Hill) down the line.
With Vance Bedford as the coordinator, you can be assured that Texas is going to fire off a lot of corner blitzes from the edge on the boundary side and in the inside gaps on the field side. Charlie Strong grew his reputation on the 3-3-5 alignment and that influence is seen in how Texas plays defense as they provide multiple looks for only a handful of pressures and coverages. The premise of their defense is to eliminate big plays and force teams to be patient in driving the length of the field. They are very active in their coverage disguises in trying to confuse the quarterback presnap. They are also very multiple in the personnel that they will put on the line of scrimmage and in the box in an effort to create confusion. Since they love to dial up pressure with speed players, they are very quick to rotate to and jump in front of short hot routes, so Mason Rudolph can not make lazy shallow throws against the blitz. On the other hand, if he can make the appropriate read, he will likely have other open options as Longhorn players have not been seen in their coverage drops in those situations.
Overall, it appears that Oklahoma State has the appropriate personnel to effectively move the ball against Texas. Look for the Cowboy backs to play a very important role in both phases of the offense as they get blocks at the second level to pin down undersized players and linebackers trying to cover gaps. If the offensive line can battle to at least a draw, then the running backs should have some solid success between the tackles. If Texas messes things up with speed on the edge, then the Cowboys could always bring in Walsh as a change-up to expose the lack of gap discipline with some veer option looks. Given the tackling issues on the second level of the defense, look for OSU to isolate players in space against the linebackers and safeties in the middle of the field. Also, Texas has really struggled with the corner-hitch route combinations against zone and the corner-post combinations against man. The bottom line is that the maturity of the skill players should give the Cowboys an edge in the passing game, and Mason Rudolph has proven to be exactly the type of patient game-managing quarterback that is tailor made to pick apart the inexperienced defense.
