Thoughts about Houston

[CoachOSU]

Ok, the coach is back again for his pre-game thoughts...

Things that worry me..... 1. Houston's passing attack that seems to be pretty solid vs. an improved BUT unproven defensive backfield...

2. O-Line seems to be solid from all accounts... can our D-Line stay fresh enough to constantly have to rush up field after QB??

3. Houston seems to be really pumped about this game, a "circle the calender" type game for them.... wonder if we come out with that kind of mindset??
Remember- cats are most dangerous when cornered or motivated to attack ;)

Yup the coach does stop on the ole Animal planet once in awhile for useless facts.

Now....things that don't scare me... 1. They played Southern U. -give me a break.. I can slap together some old coaches and still drop at least 30 on Southern ourselves..... so 50 + points against Southern doesn't mean a thinG to me....

In fact I think Southern might have gotten beaten last year by Midwest City High School ... hehe

Another thing that doesn't scare me.... the big numbers QB put up... refer back to opponents talent level... I would hope AND pray that OKie State defense is a little more competitive... plus.. I would hope the PASS RUSH will cut down on some passing opportunities..

Finally- watch the LB's for Okie State... if they can help with run support and still cover the middle and the flats of the field.... then we will be all good

So prediction.... OSU-38 Houston- 28

P.S.- :ousucksnana:

[CaliforniaCowboy]

Things that don't scare me....

Houston tends to double the best opponent receiver.... so look for Zac to have big rushing numbers this week.

[PokesFanatic]

Things that don't scare me....

Houston tends to double the best opponent receiver.... so look for Zac to have big rushing numbers this week.

In that case, look for Pettigrew to have a big day. They can't double cover them both. Even if they do, we'll throw it to Bo Bowling or Damian Davis. We'll be fine.

It's our D versus their O that scares me. I think Coach knows best here, and I agree with him that our pass rush is one of the main keys to us shutting them down. Air raid offenses don't run the ball particularly well, so I would expect to see a good bit of Beckman's 3-3-5 alignment. Sexton will be the star, but covering the middle of the field using his speed and nose for the ball in run stopping. He did that well enough at safety...

EDIT: Cali, I just now saw that it didn't scare you. Consider my first point an addendum to your point. I agree that our O will find a way to score on these guys.

[rodbakeriii]

That game was an odd game a couple of years ago.

We had very little trouble offensively, and killed them with the long pass. We're light years ahead of that point right now.

But another thing, and this is NOT trivial, was the officiating crew. Remember that a man lost his job for the blatant call against us in that game. It DID change the course of the game.

Even with our road woes, even with poor officiating, even with that awful defense, we STILL had a pretty good shot at winning that game.

We are a)playing at home, b)probably not going to have a horribly officiated game, c)the defense is at least marginally better.

I think we blow them out, I really do.

[Poohness]

It appears as if the best game plan would be to try to pound them with the running game - keep the ball away from their offense, shorten the game by burning the clock, and use our big ole' line to wear them down. This would seem to keep the score lower than everyone is predicting, unless we break a long run on alot of the possessions, kinda like last week when we kept breaking open on the punt and kick returns and giving ourselves a short field. But, if that happens, I'll take it.

[Verb]

Ok, the coach is back again for his pre-game thoughts...

Things that worry me..... 1. Houston's passing attack that seems to be pretty solid vs. an improved BUT unproven defensive backfield...

2. O-Line seems to be solid from all accounts... can our D-Line stay fresh enough to constantly have to rush up field after QB??

3. Houston seems to be really pumped about this game, a "circle the calender" type game for them.... wonder if we come out with that kind of mindset??
Remember- cats are most dangerous when cornered or motivated to attack ;)

Yup the coach does stop on the ole Animal planet once in awhile for useless facts.

Now....things that don't scare me... 1. They played Southern U. -give me a break.. I can slap together some old coaches and still drop at least 30 on Southern ourselves..... so 50 + points against Southern doesn't mean a thinG to me....

In fact I think Southern might have gotten beaten last year by Midwest City High School ... hehe

Another thing that doesn't scare me.... the big numbers QB put up... refer back to opponents talent level... I would hope AND pray that OKie State defense is a little more competitive... plus.. I would hope the PASS RUSH will cut down on some passing opportunities..

Finally- watch the LB's for Okie State... if they can help with run support and still cover the middle and the flats of the field.... then we will be all good

So prediction.... OSU-38 Houston- 28

P.S.- :ousucksnana:

Thanks, Coach. I always look forward to hearing (well, reading...) your insights on Cowboy football. Hope your prediction is dead-on!

[CanadianCowboy]

It's our D versus their O that scares me. I think Coach knows best here, and I agree with him that our pass rush is one of the main keys to us shutting them down. Air raid offenses don't run the ball particularly well, so I would expect to see a good bit of Beckman's 3-3-5 alignment. Sexton will be the star, but covering the middle of the field using his speed and nose for the ball in run stopping. He did that well enough at safety...

I am really, REALLY looking forward to this game just to see how much improvement we have made in the pass defense...ALL phases of it. I really think that if Price, Moore, Lacey, and Cox play to their abilities, O-State has as good a secondary as anyone. Then add in the headhunting of Antoine, Martin, Bell, Sexton, Lemon, and Booker, then we have a FRESH defensive secondary on the field most of the time that can separate a ball carrier or receiver from the ball at any time. I LOVE a ball-hawkin' headhuntin' D...:music-smiley-005: As for the front four (or three), I was encouraged about the pursuit and containment of ours in Pullman, with the safety in the first half, and the forced fumble by Price as evidence of my optimism. I see much more of the same or better in Game 2. I've always been intrigued with the 3-3-5, and hope that it shows well.

Our O can score. From here. From there. You name the field position, the orange O has the recipe for a TD.

Much the same with our special (receiving) team, but I'd like to see our envelope blockers not push so hard that they are taking stupid chances with illegal-blocks-in-the-back on the gunners - too much of that went on against WaState. On the other side of the kick, I'd like to see more containment on our punt and kickoff teams, too.

My prediction....HoustonCougs have a tough day in the air, and worse on the ground. Headhunting in the secondary will leave the red-cats receivers hearing LOTS of footsteps in their head and dropping lots of balls...and they will have less than 200 in the air and 2 picks by the Cowboys. We will get 3 sacks via DT press & DE contain and 2 more from S & Star blitzes. The good guys will also get 2 fumble recoveries. D scores once, gives up a TD and a FG. ST scores once on a return, and 2 FG's. O takes it to the house 4 times and settles twice with FG's. End score....O-State 48, UH 10. Go Pokes! :pete::cowbell:

and maybe more than a little :koolaid: haha