Texas' Brutal Gauntlet Continues...

[Coach 3]

..just returned through a spectacularly beautiful drive through the west virginia and western maryland mountains after a roadtrip for UK-south carolina ( god bless SEC football, but this was a sloppy game and kentucky's offense was/is abysmal- the QB IS NOT EVEN 1-AA caliber). my question/point to make the week is: after texas manned-up and pulled away from oklahoma ( i told you last month colt mccoy was excellent and heisman cailber), most programs would be in celebration mode and playing with a letdown of emotion the next week. yet here is #1 texas facing 3 straight upcoming games of top15 opponents! we rant and rave about how tough the sec gauntlet is. in the past , we've discussed the psu/osu/michigan round robin. but can anyone recall any team playing 4 straight top 15 teams mid-season in conferecne like texas will be doing? i was neversold on mizzou- marginal line play there, and okla. st surely is still a sleeper. you might even argue tex tech is still mostlya gimmick team ( there d is improved). but with all thsoe qualifiers, hwo in the hell does texas win 4 straight vs this unrelenting level of competition???...just wathed their excellent performance on delay, but this is nto a great defensive team. does mizzou catch them spent and flat on saturday???...

[EvilVodka]

..just returned through a spectacularly beautiful drive through the west virginia and western maryland mountains after a roadtrip for UK-south carolina ( god bless SEC football, but this was a sloppy game and kentucky's offense was/is abysmal- the QB IS NOT EVEN 1-AA caliber). my question/point to make the week is: after texas manned-up and pulled away from oklahoma ( i told you last month colt mccoy was excellent and heisman cailber), most programs would be in celebration mode and playing with a letdown of emotion the next week. yet here is #1 texas facing 3 straight upcoming games of top15 opponents! we rant and rave about how tough the sec gauntlet is. in the past , we've discussed the psu/osu/michigan round robin. but can anyone recall any team playing 4 straight top 15 teams mid-season in conferecne like texas will be doing? i was neversold on mizzou- marginal line play there, and okla. st surely is still a sleeper. you might even argue tex tech is still mostlya gimmick team ( there d is improved). but with all thsoe qualifiers, hwo in the hell does texas win 4 straight vs this unrelenting level of competition???...just wathed their excellent performance on delay, but this is nto a great defensive team. does mizzou catch them spent and flat on saturday???...

I think the Texas D is better than you think...they'll be playing with more confidence on saturday IMO...I think Chase Daniels will get hammered all day

[Hail to the Victors Valiant]

Winning as the favorite against these capable teams can not be overlooked. There are good teams that know how to win as an underdog. What we have not seen in cfb over the past few years are teams who rise to the top as underdogs then hold their spot when playing as the favorite.

Last month I thought Oct 19 was a week or two late in releasing the first bcs poll. Now with upsets weekly, I am happy with the date.

[billy]

Missouri right now is running the ball a little better than OU. Different style of run game.

I think this turns into a shootout much like OU Texas. Mizzou comes out on top and then Texas probably won't lose the rest of the way.

[aufan59]

Call me when the Big 12 makes a defensive stop.

The argument goes both ways.

[Blue Hen]

They must have made a bunch of em over the years in PSEGs vs the SEC. The current SEC teams have only been able to win 39 bowl games vs current B12 teams in 90 tries.

[billy]

Call me when the Big 12 makes a defensive stop.

The argument goes both ways.

Believe me dude, anytime somebody hold Auburn to 10 pts or less a game, it's not because they have a good defense. It's because Auburn stinks.

Also doesn't hurt that that #96 offense, #103 Offense, #104 Offense, and the #108 Offense all reside in the SEC. And that's by yardage. If I go by points scored it's much worse.


SEC has NO Offense. The Big 12 has at least a little defense when needed.

You tell me Okie State and Mizzou didn't play some defense?

[Coach 3]

...interesting point you are making..big 12 seems like a "defense optional" conference and sec seems dominated by fast, physicla defenses - although the argument can be made that good defensive teams like tenn, ky, auburn simply stink on offense this year...so, which style do you personally prefer- smahsmouth 16-13 final score games or wild 38-35 type shootouts...my own preference is for the aggressive passing game......mike leach is my favorite coach of the offenses and give the guy credit for what he has accomplished with largely second tier talent. but there is soemthing to be said for the game with bludgeoning d on both sides and offenses struggling just to generate 1 or 2 scoring drives a game as a result...right now, the big 12 qb's stats are just gaudy and incredible collectively. i think at this point in the seaosn the passing numbers are even better than the old wac programs of the 1980's. is this a refleciton of their perfecting wide open offensive schemes or is the d just that bad in the big 12 overall ????

[billy]

Let's look at Arkansas

309 yards and 14 pts on Alabama
361 yards and 7 pts on Florida
191 yds and 10 pts on Texas (7 of those points came from a fumble returned for a TD)
416 yards and 25 pts on Auburn (That stings)

[billy]

Let's look at who the #3 South Carolina Defense has played:
NC State #113 Total Yardage Offense
Vandy #117 Total Yardage Offense
Georgia #23 Total Yardage Offense
Wofford
UAB #48 Total Yardage Offense
Ole Miss #46 Total Yardage Offense
Kentucky #96 Total Yardage Offense



Now let's see who Bama (Next Highest Ranked SEC Defense) has played:
#73 Clemson Offense
#34 Tulane Offense
Western Kentucky
#64 Arkansas Offense
#23 Georgia Offense
Kentucky #96 Offense



Now you can say "Well, those teams are all low because SEC teams shut them down" . I will let you go back and look at those if you'd like. I think you'd find the results rather surprising aufan.

Alabama UGA game had 71 Total Points ......LSU Florida had 72 total points. Probably the 2 biggest games in the SEC this year so far.


Texas Oklahoma 80 total points....Oklahoma State and Mizzou 51 total pts combined and those were arguable the two biggest Big 12 games so far.


My point is the big 12 can play defense when needed. SEC teams can't all of the sudden throw 500 yard 50 pt offense out there like the Big 12 can.


Basically it all boils down to this, The difference in the Big 12 offenses and the SEC Offenses is huge.

The difference in the defenses aren't all that great. SEC does have superior defense but it's not really by that much.

[billy]

By the way, I'd put some serious money on LSU this weekend.