Five Thoughts On The First Half

Photo Attribution: US Presswire

Six games have come and gone and I still have no clue how good any team in the Big 12 is.

I have, at different times, thought OU, KSU, WVU, Tech, Texas, and OSU were going to win the conference. Now I wonder if any team outside of KSU and OU is even decent.

We have to be kind of pleased with where OSU sits right now though. Yes, they’ve had a soft schedule but with the black plague of injuries tearing through their locker room, 4-2 heading into the this year’s six-game gauntlet isn’t too bad.

Here are five broad thoughts and a few awards as we close the book on the first half of OSU’s season.

1. Reloading or rebuilding? – I think we’ve all learned that OSU doesn’t exactly just reload and start firing again. But we don’t really completely rebuild either.

We’re that weird middling program that doesn’t totally know what its place in the re-structured Big 12 is yet, the conference wild card (along with West Virginia).

Gundy has played something like 18 freshman and OSU still looked dominant at times. If all these injuries would have happened in 2005 you would have seen intramural all-stars playing Big 12 minutes. We’re deeper, but still not elite.

2. Injuries reign – Can OSU afford to hire an old-fashioned medicane man to its athletic staff? Maybe a rain dancer or a witch? I don’t really care at this point, just somebody to keep the achilles’ held together.

3. Wes vs. J.W. – Let’s be honest with each other for a minute, we (I) keep saying that Wes is the guy, but we don’t even really know what he can/can’t do. We pretty much know what we have in J.W. — similar to or slightly better than Zac, but we’ve all been clamoring for Wes like he’s that much better than JDub. The truth is, we’re not totally sure of that yet.

4. What channel is the starting QB’s uniform on? – That sums up 50% to 60% of my Twitter conversations from the first half of the season. Possibly more.

5. 8-4 is the new 9-3 – I really felt like the ceiling before this season started was 9-3. I think that’s been recalibrated to 8-4. So that would mean wins against TCU, Tech, Baylor, and WVU and losses at KSU and OU. Not ridiculous but would anybody be surprised at 6-6?

Strangest stat – Tracy Moore has more touchdowns in one game than any other receiver has all year. And those are his only touchdowns!

Best player – Calvin Barnett would get a look if he hadn’t violated every human being in Arizona in week 2. I have to give it to Walsh over Randle though.

Biggest disappointment – C.J. Curry without a doubt. I really thought he’d at least be in the top five mix at wideout and he’s done nothing but earn himself a medical redshirt while two other freshmen WR (Webb and Hays) have more catches.

Best play – Randle’s run, punctuated by Gus’s call, was spectacular.

Best game – The Texas game was outstanding though at the time it looked like a much better loss than it does now. Kind of like getting dumped by Lindsey Lohan in 2001.

Best unit – Defensive line. OSU is allowing 3.39 yards per carry (25th in the country), better than Notre Dame, OU, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Oregon. It was good last year (4.39 ypc) but their performance has gone next level this season. Now…let’s see if that keeps up through the next six weeks.

Really the only bump in the first half of last year was that A&M 1st half, this season has provided a whole lot more ups and downs.

But you know what, it’s been fun, the future has been unveiled, and OSU is still in a decent position to get to 8-4 which, while disappointing, would still be a solid year for a program that’s come a long way Gundy took over in 2005.