10 Thoughts on OSU and Texas Tech

Tonight was my first home game to attend this season and the little improvements OSU keeps making to the stadium (ribbon video board, new turf, etc.) continue to impress me.

I only stayed for the first half because I hate OSU because I had to get in front of a computer so you guys could dangerously read about the game and drive on your way back to OKC and Tulsa.[1. Yeah don’t do that.]

Let’s get to work.

1. This is apparently the full Daxx Experience

The term “feast or famine” is an affront on the Daxx Garman Experience. It’s more like “gorging yourself to the edge of gluttony or a type of third world starvation that gets made into 700 Club commercials” with him.

I mean, 17 completions on 30 attempts for 370 yards?! That’s only happened three times since 2000 and it hasn’t happened since 2006 (!)

I don’t think a check down or two would hurt especially with Marcell Ateman and David Glidden running crossing patterns but I guess I can’t be too upset if you’re going to post 45 every time out. Do that seven more times and you might get to 10 wins (again).

Don’t get me wrong, I continue to support Daxx and the howitzer on his right shoulder but he needs to dial it down a little bit.

2. The unis were terrific

I didn’t tweet something disparaging about the ridiculousness of OSU rolling out in white helmets with the black unis before the game started because I, like most of you, had heard that might change before kickoff.

I’m glad I didn’t because they did change into these terrific chrome helmets. I still think the marketing gaffe of pumping Throwback Thursday and then throwing the unis into 2044 should be in my son’s marketing textbook someday as a case study of what not to do but at least they did something.

I’m not big on the chrome and flash over the throwback stuff but OSU did it right. We’ll talk about it ad nauseam on Tuesday in the uni roundtable but I give the chrome on black two of Phil Mickelsons’ thumbs.

3. Tyreek is so real

Yurcich must think that since he’s running Tyreek directionally north-south on a compass that he’s running him north-south on the field.[1. Guys, maybe this is a real explanation. Maybe Yurcich is using a compass and it’s telling him that his running backs are running north-south! Is this totally out of the question?] Unfortunately for him OSU’s field is built east-west and it always takes him a while to get him turned the right way.

But when he does it is just incredible.

Case in point:

The TD dance that followed was just as immense:

And Gundy was fired up (I think he’s always accelerating, coach):

Gundy on Hill's TD: "That's not an easy catch. The speed he was at…looked like he accelerated when the ball was thrown." #OKstate

— Andrew Carter (@Andrew__Carter) September 26, 2014

4. Both defenses were pretty underwhelming

Texas Tech’s secondary is ghastly. I was sitting with OKC Dave in the first half and when Daxx threw his second TD to James Washington I said audibly while the ball was in the air headed for double coverage “I just don’t get that.”

Next thing I know Dave is waving wheat and I’m left wondering how close two Tech defenders got to tackling one another in OSU’s end zone.

Verdict: pretty close.

I wasn’t real thrilled with OSU’s defense either. I’ll take a closer look at the advanced stats on Friday (I know they were on the field for quite a while) but the lack of tackling was at times appalling.

Glenn Spencer might have eaten a clipboard or a grad assistant at halftime.[1. Thoughts on sending Glenn Spencer after ISIS…? He’d at least make it interesting, no?]

5. The offensive line isn’t really improving

Daxx got hit on what felt like every down and 3.8 yards per carry isn’t exactly encouraging when Arkansas averaged over six.

They had their moments — Tyreek got a hole the size of a 747 to run through in the second half — but overall it was just not an impressive performance and hasn’t been all year.

It’s the same reason everybody has been saying (and I agree with) that JW might be better off for this offense for this single year because Daxx scrambling is akin to me doing the Shmoney — nothing anybody wants to see.

6. The penalties, all of them

I thought there were some super soft calls on both sides on Thursday night. Tech threw for 394 yards, OSU for 370 yards, and the refs threw yellow flags for 285 yards on 26 calls which is just the worst viewing experience ever.

This is true:

James Washington needs to watch old Rashaun Woods tape to learn how to push off without getting caught.

— Weston Shepherd (@WShep) September 26, 2014

But it’s also true that the Big 12 crew tried to pull a Joey Crawford on Thursday and make themselves a headline.

This reaction wasn’t to a flag but it was the same as mine every time another piece of laundry was thrown:

7. Marcell Ateman is can be a boss

No. 3 ended up with six for 130 but it should have been seven for 190 and a TD if he hadn’t dropped a long one (they’re all long ones, I suppose) in the fourth quarter.

He’s a man, though, and I think he might be the closest thing OSU has to a “absolutely must have 12 yards in the air right here” guy. Maybe that’s Seales, maybe not, but Ateman has shown me more in the intermediary game of late.

If his QB and offensive coordinator hadn’t burned all the pages of the intermediary plays in the playbook that might be even better news!

8. Youth is young
I forgot who said it and I wish I could remember so I could credit them but this team’s success is going to vary wildly over the course of the season. From game to game, heck from drive to drive, what we think of them is going to change and be all over the place.

The reason, of course, is that young players, inexperienced players, are more unpredictable than house full of Greeks with a couple of kegs.

That doesn’t excuse poor play or approximately 399 penalties and Gundy won’t say anything different from that, but it does help explain it.

9. First half fun

I got a chance to sit with OKC Dave for the first half tonight. It was the first time I’d actually met him in person even though he’s been a contributor to PFB for the last two (or so) years.

It was good fun. I didn’t take notes, didn’t Vine or GIF anything, just sat there with somebody it felt like I’d been real life friends with for longer than two quarters of football and talked about life and work and how we both still think No. 18 is Devin Hedgepeth.

By far my favorite part about OSU.

10. Ryder Cup countdown

Okay, I’m out of here. A quick two-ish hour nap and back at it at 1:30 AM for a little Ryder Cup live blog. Rickie Fowler goes at 1:50 AM. Follow along over here at CBS if you’re awake (so..if you’re a college student).

If not I’ll be back at it on PFB on Friday with some light coverage heading into the weekend (Bullets, notes and quotes, and another satire piece like last week’s).

3-1 feels better with the weekend ahead of us for some reason than it would on a Saturday night.

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