Texas/OU weekend forecast hits ‘The Red Zone’
The Leap.
It happens in sports, movies and music when a single performanceerases all doubts about a team or person. One moment they are asolid dependable performer and the next they are seen as asuperstar because of one stellar act.
One week Russell Crowe is the semi-familiar face giving strongperformances in L.A. Confidential and The Insider,the next he’s Maximus in Gladiator and the whole worldwants to know who Crowe beat up in the bar last night.
Sadly this leap also included having to hear songs from hishorrible band, I mean you’re a great actor but don’tever pick up a guitar again Russ, thank you.
Why bring up The Leap? Because two teams made the jump last weekand a couple have the opportunity to do so this week.
Last week Auburn and Purdue went from well-regarded teams to”holy-smokes-the-national-title-chase-just-got-a-little-bit-deeper-because-of-stellar-road-wins”teams.
The Tigers were led by Jason Campbell, (yes I was wrong, but theJason Campbell bandwagon before this week only had Jason on it andI think even he was considering jumping ship) who threw for 240yards and two touchdowns in the first half against the then No.8-ranked Tennessee.
If Campbell puts those numbers up for an entire game, let alonea half, its enough with Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams in thebackfield.
The Auburn defense made the Vols’ quarterbacks look likethe freshman they are for the first time as the Tigers forced fiveturnovers and Auburn absolutely dominated in their 34-10 victory inKnoxville.
Auburn went from a flawed group to a team whose Novembershowdown against Georgia is a national title chase eliminationgame.
Purdue continued to run wild on offense, but for the first timeit was against a team that was actually good. No one questioned theoffensive firepower of the Boilermakers but it was the defense thatstepped up and stopped someone that could actually score. If KyleOrton is not the Heisman favorite, you aren’t payingattention.
On Saturday he threw for 384 yards while completing 68 percentof his passes. His four touchdown passes against the Irish makes 17on the season against no interceptions. A favorable remainingschedule (Ohio St., Wisconsin and Michigan all play at Purdue)means the Boilermakers leap may take them all the way to the BCSchampionship game.
This week Minnesota, California and Texas all have similaropportunities to make the leap.
Big Games
No. 7 California at No. 1 USC 2:30 p.m.
Cal’s Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback in the Pac-10.If that means that a Puma can challenge a lion, well that’swhat it means. (Where is that Gameday monkey to bang the gong?)
Matt Leinart is possibly the best leader in the land and has themost versatile, explosive, downright unfair athlete in the nationin RB/WR/KR Reggie Bush, but he doesn’t have the arm strengthor athletic ability of Rodgers.
USC seems to have a stronger defensive unit on paper, but theymust deal with a more diverse attack as Cal’s J.J. Arringtonhas been great on the ground while USC has yet to find a dependablereceiver besides Bush.
Motivation is something that may decide this game, and althoughCal has national respect to play for USC has something more:revenge.
The Trojans shared a national title last season because theBears upset them in Berkeley. This year USC gets the game at homeand the Los Angeles Coliseum should be rocking.
USC makes a couple more stops, Bush does something incredibleand Leinart does what he does best, finds a way to win.
The Pick: USC 24-20
No. 5 Texas vs. No. 2 Oklahoma 11 a.m.
Oklahoma did something last week that they should have done theminute Adrian Peterson got to campus.
They started him.
The freshman sensation ran for over a 100 yards in his firstthree games despite coming off the bench and the usually astute BobStoops finally felt the need to let Peterson be the focal point ofthe attack.
All Peterson did was go for 146 yards on 22 carries againstTexas Tech as he showed why he was the number one recruit in allthe land.
Every Peterson highlight run is a kick to the stomach of theLonghorns faithful as Peterson is from Palestine, Texas, and hisfinal decision was between the Sooners and the Longhorns.
Peterson is on record as saying that a major part of hisdecision was based on the fact that the Sooners own the Longhornsas the Sooners have won the Red River Shootout the last four yearsin a row.
Texas has had their manhood questioned due to the fact thesegames are rarely close and the ‘Horns seemed to never havewon a big game in the Mack Brown Era.
The knock on Brown is that he has proven he can recruit betterthan anyone, but he has trouble motivating that talant with therecent big game losses to OU, Washington St., Arkansas andColorado.
The most noise Texas fans will make in Dallas is Friday nightduring the wild festivities in the West End.
Stoops is a big game coach, he has more weapons with Peterson,Michael Clayton and Jason White, and his defense is dominant. Ohyeah, and Stoops in no Mack Brown.
The Pick: Oklahoma 42-17
No. 13 Minnesota at No. 14 Michigan 11 a.m.
Marion Barber III is eighth in the nation in rushing yardagewhich is amazing for a player that was recruited to Minnesota as asafety. Not to mention the fact that Coach Glen Mason overruled hisown assistants just by offering him a scholarship, the last one theGolden Gophers had available in the 2001 recruiting class.
The more amazing idea is that Barber may be the second best backon the team behind Laurence Maroney. Maroney is fifth in Division Iin rushing and the two runners combined make Minnesota the thirdbest rushing team in the country at 323.4 yards per game.
The best friends bring their 5-0 Golden Gophers to Ann Arbor tobattle the 4-1 Wolverines.
Michigan has been a disappointment but aren’t they always?They should not have lost to Notre Dame, and should have lost to aSan Diego St. team that dominated the lines on both sides of theball.
Minnesota has to be thinking about how their undefeated seasonended last year when they blew a 21-point fourth quarter lead tothe Wolverines.
The Gophers roll up yards on the ground and their defense getsto the young Henne as the Gophers make the Leap to national titlecontender.
The Pick: Minnesota 28-21
Last Week: 1-2; Season Record: 7-4
