The final score doesn’t at all reflect how the majority of this game went down.  To tell the truth, I was in full panic-mode at the end of the third quarter.  And while the fourth quarter was a pleasure to watch, I came away scratching my head and just being thankful we have Baron Batch on our team.  I resolved to put on my Halloween costume, enjoy the win with a few beverages, and deal with the questions today:

Matt Moore’s Dilemma

 We burn LaAdrian Waddle’s redshirt, and then we find out that Marlon Winn can’t play left tackle for shit (actually, he was generally okay, but when he screwed up, it killed us.  Every time).  Now what?  Well, damage control during the game was to put Winn back at RT, send the utility man Olson out to LT, and watch our offense settle down and score four second half touchdowns, including some huge holes for Batch.  Well, that’s good, but we’ve got three games left, plus a bowl.  Surely we’re not going to burn Waddle’s redshirt for a game and a half?  I wouldn’t think so, but either Waddle or Winn need to figure out the LT position over the next two weeks.  If not, I can live with Olson at LT for the rest of this year, but you hate to lose a year with a talent like Waddle.

The Return of the Defense, Sort of 

Great games by Sharpe and Howard, the whole DLine in general.  Funny how good this defense can look when our front four isn’t getting stuffed into the turf or rushing to a point five yards behind the QB.  The schemes looked the same to me, other than Marlon Williams blitzing some.  But I think it goes deeper than that.  This KU offense, which is very effective against a lot of teams (still 11^th in the nation after we held them to 258 total yards), doesn’t match up well against our defense.  We held them to 315 yards last year at their house.  As compared to A&M, which (when executing) can be very explosive (Now 3^rd in the nation, ahead of TEXAS TECH).  If you just look at skill personnel, I would say J. Johnson, C. Michael, C. Gray, and UZI are more dangerous than T. Reesing, J. Sharp, D. Briscoe, and K. Meier.  Not to mention the fact that most of our six sacks came as Reesing was moving to his third read, whereas Johnson was doing the ‘one read and run’ trick.  I’ll buy the ‘not enough effort’ argument to a degree, but what I’m saying is, in hindsight, that A&M offense is pretty damn good.  We should still be depressed about the loss, but not suicidal.

The Return of Potts, Sort of

Welcome back, Taylor!  You still scare me in read progression over the middle, but I have to agree with Leach that you looked more comfortable than Seth.  And maybe the biggest bonus you get with me was Batch complimenting you on checking to the run.  Read me now and understand me later.  It’s been a crazy season for you, and you’ve taken more heat than you deserve, but trust me, if you can go up to Stillwater and get a win for us, we’ll put parentheses around this whole period and insert classic phrases like ‘mid-season struggles’, ‘growing pains’, and ‘taking his lumps’.  Go hunting on your day off, relax, then come back and have two good weeks of practice.  We’re all rooting for you.  Don’t hesitate to launch some fly routes to the outside receivers, and don’t be afraid to ride Baron Batch until you have to personally carry him off the field.

Seth, you’re going to be great.  If we didn’t have Potts and Sheffield, I would be more than happy to ride with you for the rest of this year and expect great things next year.  As it is, keep practicing and improving because I wouldn’t be surprised to see you on the field again this year.

Other Thoughts

-          DJ Johnson keeps getting better, doesn’t he?  He and Will Ford are going to be really special.  I’m going to miss Jamar Wall, but I think we’ll be pretty good with Johnson/Moore at CB next year.

-          Eric Russell’s crew is starting to come around.  I think we’re going to get a clean blocked punt pretty soon.  The fake punt was nice, too.  And by the way, Eric Stephens is about to set records for kickoff returns.

-          We’re 6^th in the nation in sacks, but 106^th in sacks allowed.  Last year we were 18^th in sacks and 4^th in sacks allowed.  Coming in to this year, we worried about pass rush and thought we’d be fine on the OLine.  Hmm.

-          Glad to see Mitchem and Davis back together again at safety.  They’re physical and aggressive, and I think they’ll start to anticipate plays very soon.

-          The shots of Sheffield on crutches depressed me.  Get better, Sticks. 

Right, so not a lot to do this week.  Big XII South race is over, the North is joke, and I suddenly think A&M has a good shot in Boulder this week.  Have I lost my mind?  And I think K-State beats Kansas, setting up the possibility that K-State takes the North and wins the honor of getting smacked around by UT.  With all that up for grabs, do we still have a shot at the Cotton Bowl?  Do we want the Cotton Bowl?  Just speculating on a hypothesis.

And just to finish on KU, I haven’t written about basketball yet, but I will soon, and I’m glad we got this win in football because we go to Lawrence this year.  Yeah, we pull our voodoo trick on Bill Self in Lubbock every other year, but going to Lawrence, we’ve perfected the art of pulling our pants down.

Regarding the next game in Stillwater, from what I’ve seen of the OSU offense, I think Ruff’s group can handle them.  And if we can get some consistent play from the OLine and the QB, we’ve got a good shot to win.

Thoughts?