The Football Brainiacs

– First of all have to give credit to the defense. I know it’s been said but with the injuries this team is incredibly young. 3 freshman LBs. A sophomore and RS freshman linemen. A freshman corner and a first year starter at SS. That is a lot youth!

– And while the young guys played well at times, the youth certainly showed. For the most part the defensive issues were tackling, busted assignments, and Jace Amaro (Tech’s Tight End). After watching the game through the first time the defensive issues were a little unsettling but after going back and rewatching I think there were definitely some things that can be corrected from now until Baylor.

– Jordan Evans was great for a true freshman and in my opinion is going to be an excellent LB for Oklahoma.

– Jordan Evans looks really natural in coverage. Certainly had issues with spacing in zones. He and Alexander both had issues with spacing on a trap and gave up a unnecessary critical completion to Amaro. But he will get better at that. Loved seeing him make that diving play in coverage on the ball to bat it down. Also, he looks great checking receivers and not giving them a free release.

– Jordan is very physical. He knows how to attack blocks correctly and just has a good feel for things near the line of scrimmage. You don’t see Olinemen getting their hands on him very easily because he uses his athleticism and is decisive. I’d like to see him understand that once he’s in the hole he can blow a play up by simply squeezing the space and spilling the runner but again, that will come.

– Another sort of subtle point about Jordan Evans that impressed me was twice I saw him get blind sided on blocks and he didn’t even budge. Well put together kid. He will be dominant next year. He’s going to give you a true 3-4 LB presence with the athleticism of a smaller LB. Despite the mistakes I’m really excited about this kid.

– Dom Alexander is starting a play a little faster. The offseason weight training will do him good though.

– Defense in general looked really dialed in early but after the offense had trouble early it just looked like they lost some wind from that long stretch on the field. Losing Shannon didn’t help.

– D-line owned the LOS for most the game; though Tech isn’t exactly the most physical team.

– I’ve been saying it for a while now but you can see Dimon continue to get more and more comfortable. He and a lot of the young guys are an offseason away but this year of early PT is definitely helping.

– First TD could have been avoided. Torrea had Tech’s QB and couldn’t bring him down. And then on the very next play we had the running back cornered and Sanchez came off his assignment to give Tech a wide open receiver. Youth rearing its head.

– A lot of the busted assignments came from motion/pre-snap motion. We’ve got to be better at handling that against a team like Baylor.

– We really need a nickel back that can blitz the edge. Its just not something Julian excels at. Wouldn’t mind seeing a kid like Tito Windham there in the future. Curious to go back and see if Marcus Green might have a knack for pass rushing as well.

– Second TD came in the second half. This one was also on Sanchez. He got beat on the double move earlier in the drive to give up the deep ball. And then got beat again for the TD. Sanchez has played incredibly for such a young kid. This is just part of the process.

– We need better awareness in the zones on those underneath passes.

– Special teams had some blunders in the 3rd quarter. Cost us about 10 points; gave them great field position on one play and then gave them the onside kick.

– A couple of annoying plays in the second half with some atrocious tackling. Rallying to the football and tackling well has been the key to this defense and they need to recommit to being fundamentally sound in their tackling.

– Another busted assignment in the second half cost us a TD; motion play

– That 4th and 2 on Julian that ended up leading to a TD on the next play was tough. Julian expected a shorter route and just couldn’t recover.

– I don’t think it can be stated enough how tough a matchup Jace Amaro was on those young LBs and on our safeties. He know how to find the spots in the zone and really take advantage of our youth in the middle. In going back and watching he was their money anytime they needed a play. Without him Tech probably only scores 7 or 14 points.

– Did we seriously lose Millard? We’re not down two captains and our monster in the middle of the DL. Wow. Best wishes to all of them.

Below are a few thoughts JY had right after watching the game:

– 50 runs vs. 22 passes was great to see.

– Need Ford back in there. He’s a difference maker.

– 272 rushing yards! We will need all the time of possession we can get next week against Baylor.

– We’ve got to continue the PA pass game, but I’ve got a feeling we’re saving some of our TE passes. We might see those real soon *wink wink*

– Coach Bedenbaugh is an absolutely tremendous addition to the staff. He should be the team MVP

– Defensively we’ve got to be more disciplined in alignment and assignment!

– Gotta play the man and stop peeking in the backfield.

– We’ve got start running more twists and stunts. Start looping Tapper and get more creative there.

– Tapper might be more effective at the 5 tech on 3rd downs.

– Jordan Evans played well first time out. He’s gonna be good!

The Football Brainiacs note to the reader: This play analysis is meant solely as an attempt to bring our readers closer to what’s happening on the field. This is not intended to demean or deprecate any player or the coaches. We all made mistakes and we all made plays just like any one of these fine young men. It’s part of the game and it is part of life and we wish them nothing but the best on the field and off.