Uncategorized Articles
Scouting OSU
Posted by dedfischer on November 10th, 2009 under Uncategorized
I don’t really feel that using a team like Texas for comparative analysis is accurate for a program like ours. Instead, I prefer to use the most recent opponent method not including Texas. It’s not fair to our players to expect them to make the same plays as other guys with more talent. A more conservative approach might be to look at what Okie State does well against marginal talent to give you a clear aspect of what you should respect. I like to call it, The Aggie Contingency Analysis. A critical component of this perspective is a look at what the most recent competition, Iowa State, brought to the table. This will only take one sentence. Basically, the Cyclones consist of one dominator in sophomore DT Stephen Ruempolhamer and a bunch of dudes. It doesn’t matter which side of the ball you choose, #97 is the only one for whom you must account. This could also be an indictment against the new Cowboy guards, Noah Franklin and Lane Taylor.
Offense
QB – #11 Zac Robinson – Nothing has changed about Robinson. Stop the run, contain or blitz, and he’s more or less a liability. I actually think the loss of Dez Bryant has made him a better QB.
RB - #24 Kendall Hunter - Still a dude than can beat you, if your perimeter defenders can’t beat blocks.
RB - #5 Keith Toston - A bigger guy, who is better at YAC than Hunter. Not a burner, but will wear you down, if not stopped around the line of scrimmage.
TE/WR – #86 Wilson Youman/#14 Justin Horton/#87 Tracey Moore/#83 Dameron Fooks – With Bryant out of the lineup, these are the big play threats Gundy is deploying. Not in the receiving capacity, but more in a formational chess match to tempt DCs into allocating more DB personnel to the playing field. This could cause us some problems. Everyone of these guys is a mis-match in coverage for Marlon Williams or Bront Bird, and Will Ford or D.J. Johson will in all likelihood, struggle in the run game unless they are a lot better as true freshman than we think.
Defense
DT #90 Swanson Miller - He’s the best player on the Cowboy defensive unit and must be accounted for, if you desire to run or pass the ball successfully.
DE #50 Jamie Blatnick – Solid run defender with decent pass rushing skills. A guy that will look good chasing Potts and bad chasing Sheffield. Quality technician.
ILB #42 Justin Gent - I’m a fan, which that and a nickel will get you a cup of jack squat. If you can’t get guys to the 2nd level, Gent will clean up a lot of plays in the 2-4 yard range.
OLB #20 Andre Sexton/#4 Patrick Lavine – A couple of guys you wish you had on the field in perimeter run defense, but if you’re a Tech fan, you like your chances with either of them guarding Detron Lewis or Tramain Swindall.
Share This
8 Responses
Leave a Reply
Related Articles
-
1
Scouting the Kansas Defense
By dedfischer on October 23rd, 2008
captbunch said:
November 10th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Ded—
Can we run our 4-2-5 with Ford or Johnson and have them line up over the slot WR if OSU goes 3 WR, 1 TE, and 1 RB? Leaving Marlon and Duncan to contain the TE and the Run game?
How would you defense this? Would you load up against the run?
dedfischer said:
November 11th, 2009 at 6:19 am
The biggest challenge the Cowboy offense presents is the personnel mis-matches Gundy creates in the run. All those TE/WR dudes can block. Well. Gundy will try to use various combinations to gain outside leverage on DEs/LBs for his perimeter run game with Hunter and Toston. They’re very dangerous blockers and OSU prefers to run a lot of crack blocks, so having our head on a swivel and communication will be key to getting under or over the top. You’ve read enough around here, capt, to know I’m a 4-2-5 advocate. I would definitely overload the box with Marlon and Duncan between the tackles, and use Ford on the perimeter. You’ve got to take the running game out of the plan and force Robinson to throw. He’s still not good enough to beat you throwing 40 times a game. If the run game is clicking, then he becomes dangerous in playaction and rollouts.
Tim said:
November 11th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Right or wrong I looked at this game as a “how have the matchups changed since last time we played this team”, game.
Last year I thought Tech’s defense controlled Oklahoma State’s offense very well. Oklahoma State started out strong after a Graham Harrell fumble and Hunter had a long run then punched it in. After that Tech’s defensive line started controlling Oklahoma State’s offensive line, stuffed the run, and took the play action away and the game was over.
This year Oklahoma State has the same O-line minus Brandon Pettigrew, minus Dez Bryant, and a gimpy Kendall Hunter. While Tech has less experience at Safety, but it’s not like Davis or Micthem have been burnt deep all year, on paper you would have to consider the Safety position weaker from last years team that went against OSU, but on the field that hasn’t played out. Tech returns the exact same LB crew that shut down OSU, but the biggest difference comes on the D-line. Brandon Williams and McKinner Dixon played a huge role in shutting down OSU last year. The argument can be made that Brandon Sharpe has picked up the torch and run with it, and I would agree from a pass rush standpoint I think he is right there with B. Williams. I think where Sharpe falls off a little bit is against the run game and outside containment. He has come a long way from last year, but I still think this area is a weaker unit going against OSU’s running game than last years crew.
In summary I feel like the Oklahoma State offensive vs the Tech defense is a push from last years game. Tech has lost Brandon Williams, Mckinner Dixon, Daniel Charbonnet, Darcel Mcbatch, but young guys like Cody Davis and WIll Ford have really picked up the slack, and Brandon Sharpe has been a welcome surprise. Where as I don’t think Oklahoma State has replaced Pettigrew or Bryant with anyone who has picked up that slack, and while Toston has been good lately, he doesn’t scare me as much as Hunter.
On to the Tech offense vs. the Oklahoma State defense. The difference he from last years group is really noticeable from Tech’s standpoint, but Oklahoma State has something like 9 SRs on this years starting defense, so they are almost the same from last years group. Even if Sheffield is 100%, no one can argue that the offense Tech will take to Stillwater Saturday is any where near as strong as the Tech offense that torched Oklahoma state last year. Just too many injuries and inconsistencies to have really clicked so far, all we can do is hope that Sheffield is back and everything clicks like it did against K-State and Nebraska.
You have to give the edge to Oklahoma State here, Tech is without a doubt weaker offensively at this point than they were last year.
So, with the game last year, I think Tech went into the game with the clearly better offensive and defensive unit matchups. This year I have to think it’s a push on defense and Oklahoma State has a matchup advantage on offense. It will be a tough game, a game that Tech really needs to win to salvage this season.
captbunch said:
November 11th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Thanks for the reply ded….in your opinion, do you think Ruff goes 4-2-5? That is my question. I sure as heck hope so. I think Ford/Johnson will be able to get around a block….
redraiduzz said:
November 11th, 2009 at 11:41 am
ded,
I see eye to eye with you on about 90-95% of your assessments. However, I don’t agree that Bryant out has made Robinson a better QB. In fact, I think the opposite. Case in point is the Texas game where he threw four picks, two that were of pick-six fashion!
I don’t think he does that if Bryant, his safety blanket, is there!
Also, you don’t mention Hubert Aniyam at all. I’m a bit surprised, as I think he’s about their top threat on offense, either equal to that of or right behind Toston.
I think we can win this game, but you’re dead on about having to contain a QB draw threat, like you’d mentioned in another article!
And that does in fact mean more blitzing and more crowding the box with 8 or more!
Chris said:
November 11th, 2009 at 11:46 am
You forgot to talk about OSU’s two primary receivers. #84 Hubert Anyiam who is the fastest player on Oklahoma State’s team and has a 38 inch vertical. His hands aren’t anywhere as good as Dez Bryant but he will burn your secondary if you aren’t careful. He had two huge games against Mizzou and Baylor. #81 Justin Blackmon is a redshirt freshman who is supposed to be a future mini version of Dez Bryant. Same build, athleticism and hands, he just lacks the confidence right now and his ceiling isn’t as high. On defense you didn’t talk about our team leader in sacks and tackles, #44 Donald Booker. A senior who has been a huge impact player with the preseason injury to Orie Lemon. Bill Young has taught Perrish Cox how to be a true CB this year and has lead the nation in passes defended. He shut down AJ Green from Georgia and has dominated the rest of his opponents. #23 Terrance Anderson was a big time prospect coming out of high school at CB and has played solid except for a few games. This years defense returned some of its key performers from last year but has 7 new starters at positions. They are ranked in the top 35 in the country in total defense, and held Texas to 275 total yards, including 176 through the air. Zac just happened to play his worst career game that night. Lucien Antoine, Terrance Anderson, Markelle Martin, Donald Booker, Jeremiah Price, Swanson Miller, and Derek Burton (Moved to DT from DE) were either injured, redshirted, inexperienced, or played a different position last year. So really this defense is brand new for you to face, and we added Bill Young as Defensive Coordinator. It will be a good matchup Saturday night in Stillwater, if you head this way for the game be sure and visit with all the OSU fans at their tailgates, we are very friendly and generous people.
dedfischer said:
November 11th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Good stuff floating around here and I’ll address some of these issues in some gameplanning features. For shits and giggles, I looked up Robinson’s best game this year which was arguably a 23-27 for 250 yards with 3TDs and no interceptions. Pretty solid by anyone’s standards. What was interesting to me from the box score is that Youman, Fooks and Bassett were the recipients of those TD passes. If I were an Okie State guy, I might be pining to my own breed for Robinson to start checking the ball down and work within the frame of the offense versus forcing the it downfield into coverage to a guy who is not Dez Bryant.
Mark Price said:
November 11th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Zac’s biggest mistake against Texas was forcing it down field, and I hope he doesn’t try to do it against Tech. I don’t think Tech is as good on Offense as they were last year, and I hope they aren’t as good on Defense as they were last year, or we’re in for a long night. OSU is definitely better on Defense, so it ought to be a great game, I can’t wait.