- Someone yesterday mentioned not much talk about the spring game, so I thought I would post my thoughts, I personally think the reason for not too much conversation yesterday simply was because we saw what we expected to see, no surprises and a very competitive showing by our team.
- I feel like Gundy has closed the chapter on his career at OSU after the OU game and has fully rebooted himself, never seen anything like it and not certain I care what has changed or why. It is like he is literally a first year coach, except now with the experience of successful HC. Gundy is doing everything he can to win over fans, generate ticket sales, create a positive atmosphere, etc... It is working, the turnout to the Spring game was unlike anything I have seen and it was a very positive crowd (except for one guy sitting behind me, more on that later). Seems to me Boone, Holder, and Gundy have all turned the page, I think as fans most of us have and we should. The past is the past, everyone seems to be on the same page and the momentum is obvious, no reason to analyze it or lay blame, what lies before us more important than what lies behind us, if we can stay healthy the next couple of years we are going to have some fun so I vote for just enjoying it and not worry about who gets the credit for winning or who gets the blame for the past. We are in it together and Gundy right now looks good to go for another 10 - 15 years and hopefully we enjoy success and that is what happens.
- I thought it was almost a perfect scrimmage, neither side totally dominated over the other, offense and defense both had big plays. Our back-up QB's looked more than serviceable and competent, I was really surprised how well our 3rd and 4th team QB's looked, good job by Yurcich. One fan behind me was complaining about everything, how bad the QB's looked because of the Int's, how bad the OL was because of the sacks, how bad the secondary was for giving up big plays, etc... Did not ruin the scrimmage for me but I really wanted to have a conversation with this young man, that was a very hard played scrimmage on both sides with big plays generated on both sides. We also had several guys out. I was thinking during the scrimmage, man - can you imagine how well the first team is going to look when it is fully together and we have all these back-ups that can come in and provide breathers? I was very happy with I what I saw.
- Offense is exactly what I expected, I was pleasantly surprised how up tempo the team was at times. This offense is going to be a load, if we can pass against a team for 500 yards they will do it, if they can rush for 500 yards against a team they will do it. After the breakout I did for the 1st half of the Washington game by formation and play, we are seeing a continuation of it, except with better players, better coaching, and more tempo. I love the direction of this offense, and after breaking down that Washington game and seeing Ohio St play in the title game, I saw some similarities. We are going to be able to do it all on offense, pass out of spread formation, run out of the spread, going jumbo and use motion to create mis-matches at the LOS and run over teams, go jumbo and confuse teams and hit them in the seams with the Cowboy backs, we integrate the Cowboy backs with the spread that is not a full bore jumbo package but creates a pass / run dilemma by formation, we can bring in a relief pitcher at the QB position that is going to test you and see if you can stop option football and zone read concepts while at the same time protecting the back-end of your defense to not get hit by the pass. We will find a weakness or two in your defense, and we will have the formation, the concepts, and the skill players to exploit it. We will challenge the defense to make real time decisions after the snap to properly attack the QB reads. Yurcich said something very significant after the game, he said it was not about have plays A, B, and C. It was about giving the same exact looks and having plays A-1, A-2, and A-3. We have QB's that can make those reads real time, Bleacher Report had a nice article (late season offense under Mason last year) showing how OSU has multiple options out of the same plays that requires the QB to make the read and execute and these reads include ran/pass options, when the QB executes properly is very difficult for a college defense to defend. Spencer also said in his interview that if he had to face the OSU offense he would have to change things up from a normal game plan to defend the typical spread, said OSU creates so many match-up problems that it creates a very difficult challenge. I liked the size of our OL and they looked conditioned, no big bellies out there. Receiver group is deep and Childs is faster and ran well.
- Defensive line is going to be fine, we will generate a rush and we will not be easy to run against in the middle. Our linebackers are active and they will be good for situational blitzing and combining that with our DL is going to cause some problems for some QB's. Secondary depth looks good, particularly at corner and this coming year we will be able to go to 4 CB's for both depth and also put them on the field at the same time like we did against Baylor 2 years ago and sell out on coverage for the typical Big 12 spread that has been around now for some time. If we can stay healthy, going to be interesting to see how Boykin and TCU responds to a defensive style and effort OSU gave Baylor at home 2 years ago and if we can pull it off, TCU better have more than Baylor did 2 years ago and they better be able to run it very well and force us out of that game plan. This is where I think our offense has the advantage and is much more flexible and multiple, you take something away from this OSU offense and OSU will go with the formation, players, and plays needed to attack that defense and force that DC to make a change in his game plan, if he has the personnel and the coaching to make the change on the fly.
- Ended the day making an emotional purchase, purchased the game authentic flat black helmet with the orange brand from the silent auction at the spring game, can not wait to have it my office. BTW - Went to the Edmond Schools Foundation and HOF banquet Friday night at Oak Tree, they had a game authentic orange chrome pete helmet (Worn in Washington game) that was auctioned, it went for $750 (I bid up to $500, I wanted it and it was a good cause), the OU item was framed memorabilia, had mini prints of the Oklahoman covering each OU national title with some other OU emblems, etc.... The table I was at was all OU fans and they were certain the OU item would go for much more than the OSU helmet, it went for $500! Not near the bidding for the OSU helmet.
This post was edited on 4/19 12:25 PM by OKSTATE1
- I feel like Gundy has closed the chapter on his career at OSU after the OU game and has fully rebooted himself, never seen anything like it and not certain I care what has changed or why. It is like he is literally a first year coach, except now with the experience of successful HC. Gundy is doing everything he can to win over fans, generate ticket sales, create a positive atmosphere, etc... It is working, the turnout to the Spring game was unlike anything I have seen and it was a very positive crowd (except for one guy sitting behind me, more on that later). Seems to me Boone, Holder, and Gundy have all turned the page, I think as fans most of us have and we should. The past is the past, everyone seems to be on the same page and the momentum is obvious, no reason to analyze it or lay blame, what lies before us more important than what lies behind us, if we can stay healthy the next couple of years we are going to have some fun so I vote for just enjoying it and not worry about who gets the credit for winning or who gets the blame for the past. We are in it together and Gundy right now looks good to go for another 10 - 15 years and hopefully we enjoy success and that is what happens.
- I thought it was almost a perfect scrimmage, neither side totally dominated over the other, offense and defense both had big plays. Our back-up QB's looked more than serviceable and competent, I was really surprised how well our 3rd and 4th team QB's looked, good job by Yurcich. One fan behind me was complaining about everything, how bad the QB's looked because of the Int's, how bad the OL was because of the sacks, how bad the secondary was for giving up big plays, etc... Did not ruin the scrimmage for me but I really wanted to have a conversation with this young man, that was a very hard played scrimmage on both sides with big plays generated on both sides. We also had several guys out. I was thinking during the scrimmage, man - can you imagine how well the first team is going to look when it is fully together and we have all these back-ups that can come in and provide breathers? I was very happy with I what I saw.
- Offense is exactly what I expected, I was pleasantly surprised how up tempo the team was at times. This offense is going to be a load, if we can pass against a team for 500 yards they will do it, if they can rush for 500 yards against a team they will do it. After the breakout I did for the 1st half of the Washington game by formation and play, we are seeing a continuation of it, except with better players, better coaching, and more tempo. I love the direction of this offense, and after breaking down that Washington game and seeing Ohio St play in the title game, I saw some similarities. We are going to be able to do it all on offense, pass out of spread formation, run out of the spread, going jumbo and use motion to create mis-matches at the LOS and run over teams, go jumbo and confuse teams and hit them in the seams with the Cowboy backs, we integrate the Cowboy backs with the spread that is not a full bore jumbo package but creates a pass / run dilemma by formation, we can bring in a relief pitcher at the QB position that is going to test you and see if you can stop option football and zone read concepts while at the same time protecting the back-end of your defense to not get hit by the pass. We will find a weakness or two in your defense, and we will have the formation, the concepts, and the skill players to exploit it. We will challenge the defense to make real time decisions after the snap to properly attack the QB reads. Yurcich said something very significant after the game, he said it was not about have plays A, B, and C. It was about giving the same exact looks and having plays A-1, A-2, and A-3. We have QB's that can make those reads real time, Bleacher Report had a nice article (late season offense under Mason last year) showing how OSU has multiple options out of the same plays that requires the QB to make the read and execute and these reads include ran/pass options, when the QB executes properly is very difficult for a college defense to defend. Spencer also said in his interview that if he had to face the OSU offense he would have to change things up from a normal game plan to defend the typical spread, said OSU creates so many match-up problems that it creates a very difficult challenge. I liked the size of our OL and they looked conditioned, no big bellies out there. Receiver group is deep and Childs is faster and ran well.
- Defensive line is going to be fine, we will generate a rush and we will not be easy to run against in the middle. Our linebackers are active and they will be good for situational blitzing and combining that with our DL is going to cause some problems for some QB's. Secondary depth looks good, particularly at corner and this coming year we will be able to go to 4 CB's for both depth and also put them on the field at the same time like we did against Baylor 2 years ago and sell out on coverage for the typical Big 12 spread that has been around now for some time. If we can stay healthy, going to be interesting to see how Boykin and TCU responds to a defensive style and effort OSU gave Baylor at home 2 years ago and if we can pull it off, TCU better have more than Baylor did 2 years ago and they better be able to run it very well and force us out of that game plan. This is where I think our offense has the advantage and is much more flexible and multiple, you take something away from this OSU offense and OSU will go with the formation, players, and plays needed to attack that defense and force that DC to make a change in his game plan, if he has the personnel and the coaching to make the change on the fly.
- Ended the day making an emotional purchase, purchased the game authentic flat black helmet with the orange brand from the silent auction at the spring game, can not wait to have it my office. BTW - Went to the Edmond Schools Foundation and HOF banquet Friday night at Oak Tree, they had a game authentic orange chrome pete helmet (Worn in Washington game) that was auctioned, it went for $750 (I bid up to $500, I wanted it and it was a good cause), the OU item was framed memorabilia, had mini prints of the Oklahoman covering each OU national title with some other OU emblems, etc.... The table I was at was all OU fans and they were certain the OU item would go for much more than the OSU helmet, it went for $500! Not near the bidding for the OSU helmet.
This post was edited on 4/19 12:25 PM by OKSTATE1
