Daily Mullets (November 26)

Washington State failed, and now the Big 12’s hope comes down to either Virginia Tech beating Clemson or Utah beating Colorado and three-loss USC winning the Pac-12 (although at this point I’m not convinced an Big 12 champ would even get in over them).

What Makes Oklahoma State tick?

Good stuff on the OSU passing game here by Ian Boyd.

Oklahoma State is really at their most dangerous allowing Rudolph to make quick decisions and relying on his accuracy and the athleticism of their skill players on the perimeter. On passing downs they’re a nightmare because of Rudolph’s accuracy and the quality of those receivers. Additionally, while neither Washington (6-1, 205) nor McCleskey (5-10, 170) are big targets, the ‘Pokes have some other options such as TE Blake Jarwin (6-5, 248). [Football Study Hall]

I kind of feel like Jarwin is going to have a big Bedlam game.

Remembering Mike Hamilton

Classic Gundy line here when describing the man whom Justice Hill is about to take down.

Barring injury or other unforeseen circumstances, Hill is certain to break Hamilton’s freshman record. It’s longevity is no less impressive, though, considering the tailbacks come and gone since. Eleven years later, Gundy is still appreciative of Hamilton’s role in building the program into national prominence. “Michael was not a really talented player, but he ran extremely hard,” Gundy said. “He gave us a lot that season.” [NewsOK]

Weird that Hamilton didn’t respond to the interview request for this article. I’d love to hear what he’s up to — those “where are they now” interviews are always so fun to ready. We probably need to do more of them for PFB.

How fast is OSU

I have posted on this before so it’s cool to see someone go more in-depth on time elapsed between plays in college football.

So, I’m measuring pace slightly differently than most but, hopefully more accurately. Who are the fastest teams this year using this metric? Well by time between plays, Missouri is literally off the charts so far this year. They’ve run a play every 17 seconds, the next closest since 2007 is Houston in 2012 at 17.8 seconds and after that is Marshall in 2012, a full 1.5 seconds more at 18.5 seconds between play. [Football Study Hall]

Oklahoma State is No. 34 at 23 seconds between plays. This would be one of the slower teams since Dana transformed things in 2010.

Bedlam Moving

This will absolutely happen.

But what about October Bedlam? I suppose it’s possible, but with OU-Texas in a permanent spot that falls somewhere between Oct. 8 and Oct. 14, it sure seems unlikely that the Big 12 would bunch the Sooners’ two biggest games into a two- or three-week span. So, Bedlam in early November seems the strongest possibility.

It’s a bit of a bummer not having our teams guaranteed a late-season showdown, but the good news is, if these two programs continue to be successful, we’ll see a new norm that is even more spectacular. [NewsOK]

It is hilarious to me that the Big 12 is so silly that now it’s going to have to try and guess which teams are going to be good the following year as to not schedule them on the final week of the season. This is maybe why a 10-team league shouldn’t have a conference title?

Cormier out of UFC

I don’t really know what this means, but I know a lot of you care about it.

Light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier has been forced to withdraw from his Dec. 10 title fight against Anthony Johnson due to an injury, MMA Fighting has confirmed with multiple sources. The promotion is currently working on a new headliner, however, nothing is finalized just yet. The hope, as of right now, is to keep Johnson on the card. [MMA Fighting]

Carson?

Nooooooooooooooooooo https://t.co/sbFgUX2jgR

— Carson Cunningham (@KOCOCarson) November 25, 2016

Improved Pass Defense

Excellent stuff here from Mark Cooper.

After allowing 12 pass plays of 30-plus yards in its first four takes, Oklahoma State has surrendered only seven in the last seven games — all wins. There were none against the Horned Frogs, who rank 32nd in the statistic with 20 entering this weekend’s games. The week prior, Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed only one pass for 30 or more yards. The Red Raiders lead the nation in the statistic with 36. [Tulsa World]

It does seem like OSU hasn’t been getting beat over the top as much which strikes me as a philosophical change by Gundy more than anything. Like, maybe at the beginning of the season they thought they had the athletes to press hard at the line of scrimmage, and then after the Baylor game they realized they didn’t?

The Wild Journey of Caylin Moore

This on TCU’s Rhodes Scholar is pretty amazing.

For those who have never experienced the hardships that Moore and his family have faced, it can be difficult to truly appreciate how much he’s overcome to become the second Rhodes Scholarship winner in TCU history. [Fox Sports]

Not really much you can add to that.

Tom Herman Love Triangle

LSU. Texas. Herman. Strong. Jimbo. What is going on?

LSU has zeroed in on Houston’s Tom Herman as its next head coach and could have a deal in place as early as Saturday, sources said Thursday. But another source said Herman hasn’t ruled out an offer from Texas, which has been expected to make Herman its top choice if Charlie Strong is fired. [ESPN]

My best guess? LSU is getting played pretty hard. Herman gets Texas. LSU gets … Ed Orgeron? And we all get nine months of wondering what the Horns can be with Herman at the helm. Here are some tweets on the matter.

So Tom Herman has lost three times this year as a double digit favorite — to Navy, SMU and Memphis — and he’s a coaching genius?

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) November 25, 2016

I don't doubt that Charlie Strong's players love him, but they ought to love him enough to score a TD at home vs. CFB's No. 71 defense.

— David Ubben (@davidubben) November 25, 2016

Texas coach Charlie Strong said the record doesn't speak to how good they are. Said they're good enough to win a national championship

— Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) November 26, 2016

Jimbo has jilted LSU so many times that Taylor Swift is going to write a song about it.

— Skip Foster (@skipfoster) November 25, 2016

More PFB

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