IT'S ALL ABOUT CLINT
A lot of talk about Clint Bowen this week. I've been debating this one all year with the tailgate crew. A vote against Clint Bowen is a vote against Bill Young. This outfit runs the same this year as it did every previous year. As Young himself notes in a Wednesday KC Star article, we had a weak pass defense in 2007 -- we just didn't play against strong passing teams. When Nebraska scored all over the place, that was a warning sign and we saw it on full display against Mizzou. Nothing new has occured this season.
BILL YOUNG ON TALENT
It was interesting to note that Young would now acknowledge the talent gap for KU vs Texas and OU (even Tech) in that KC Star article. Our best "D" surfaced in 2005 with transfers Charlton Keith and Jermail Ashley at DE. I'm not advocating a purely JUCO infusion of DE talent but I'm wondering if we need to uncover a new area to mine defensive ends rather than taking the players that UT, OU, OSU, A&M and Tech pass on. It's clear that you have to have big-time athletes at DE to play the spread. How are the Russian and Chinese high school football programs coming along?
STILL
Texas Tech and OU have great O-lines. It will be interesting to see how the front four play against mid-level Big 12 teams over the next two weeks. As I mentioned before, I really liked the fire the d-line showed after getting left on the field for virtually four straight series to start the third quarter. Jamal Greene in particular looked like a man who had had enough. Maybe it's time to stop thinking about technique and just start thinking about destroying the guy across the line.
THIS YEAR'S KANSAS
The last true "TYK" team fell when OSU couldn't get it done against Texas. I guess you could throw Tech in the mix, but too many people were calling for them to be legit in the offseason. Still, a great place to be for Red Raiders fans
Full list of perfect teams and next opponent:
Penn State 9-0 at Iowa
Texas 8-0 at Texas Tech
Texas Tech 8-0 vs Texas
Alabama 8-0 at Arkansas St
Ball State 8-0 vs N. Illinois
Utah 8-0 at New Mexico
Boise State 7-0 at New Mexico St
Off the List:
OSU lost to Texas 24-28