Long Ball
There's no rule saying you have to throw deep to win games. USC is 10-1 after all. But when a couple people with close connections to the football program blamed it on opposing defenses (those nasty Pac-10 defense at that), it made me wonder why opponents don't seem to share a similar philosophy with Oklahoma.
Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford averages 15.22 yards per completion and has nine completions of more than 50 yards, all for TDs. I'm sure one of the answers will be, ``Big 12 defenses are terrible,'' so I'll get that one out of the way now. Unlike Washington and Washington State, of course.
Top Five NCAA Passers and Their Yards Per Completion
1. Case Keenum, Houston (4,768 yards) - 12.71 per completion
2. Graham Harrell, Texas Tech (4,747 yards) - 11.69 per completion
3. Sam Bradford, Oklahoma (4,080 yards) - 15.22 per completion
4. Chase Daniel, Missouri (3,880 yards) - 11.72 per completion
5. Chase Clement, Rice (3,812 yards) - 12.88 yards per completion
Perhaps there is a rule that says you have to throw deep to win style points. I'd sure like to see defense count for style points. OU has given up 20 or more points 8 times this year. They lost to UT by 10 points. USC has given up 20 or more points twice this year, and lost to OSU by 6.
OU's deep ball prowess sounds very similar to 2005. We completely shut them down in the NC that year, dominating both sides of the LOS.
I had to watch Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game instead of USC-ND because of a network issue. I dont think any team in Big 12 has a defense. Most of the touchdowns were way to easy.
USC is a long way from 2004. That team was well coached and got better as the year went. This offense is more like the 2000 offense. Big on numbers vs bad teams and little in production.The SC pass offense is predictable and has been since 2005. I was embarrassed the way that bad Notre Dame defense kept jumping our plays.
Its a bit of a chicken or the egg argument, but the Big-12 defenses do suck. 11 of the 12 are ranked in the bottom half of the country and Texas is the bell cow at 50th. You can bring up Washington & WSU all you want, but K. State and A & M are still ranked below them.
Even with your nitpicking, SC still scores 30 more points than it gives up and is 16th in total offense & 13th in scoring offense. Oklahoma on the other hand scores 28.5 more points than they give up. But they have only lost once this year, so they are having an outstanding year.
Another funny note. Oklahoma & Oklahoma St. played Washington & Washington St. this year. So are you saying that their stats are bloated y playing bad defenses?
Evil Robot, outstanding posts...also do you think that Fla and Bama's stats are also inflated because they got to whomp up on dogs like LSU, GA, Tenn,MissSt.,Ark,Ky, etc etc...Oh yeah, The vaunted SEC....LOL
Excellent point Evil Robot. Also WSU was only down 12 in the 4th quarter agaisnt Ok St and it took 2 late touchdowns by the Cowboys to pull away and win 39-13. Zac Robinson had only 193 yards pssing and no TD's vs. the Cougars and he had 245 yards and 3 TDS vs Oklahoma. Man those Big 12 Defenses are tough.
It is a down year for the SEC this year, but this is the worst, top to bottom, that I can remember the Pac-10 being. You could maybe make a case that they got fat off of down opponents, since 'Bama beat Arkansas worse than they bear W. Kentucky, but don't think it is as bad as the defenses in the Big-12.
The one exception to this is the all-mighty LSU Tigers. This year they won most of their 8 home games and after you take away wins against 1AA teams, they are still bowl eligible. Much like Wolf, I think that LSU is the best 7-5 team in history and anyone who can make it past them should be held as an all-time great. Can you rank a team #0, when they are better than everyone else, but their record doesn't reflect it?
What a maroon you are SW! The big 12 does not play defense.
Big Twelve, Big Shelmve. Pac Ten, Pac Shmen.
Just so you know, I am a huge USC fan.
That's why I can say this: Pete Carroll is a conservative and he has been getting more conservative in his offensive philosophy over the past 3 years.
Yeah, yeah, Pete is, or was, the guy who almost always went for it on 4th down-but that's not really a "go for it" philosophy. It makes sense to think of being in four down territory when you cross the 50.
I'm talking about the short dump off passes, the bubble screens, the safe, short passes to the sidelines, etc., etc.
USC has certain patterns they like to run and they seldom deviate from it. Hell, they've even buried Ronald Johnson who got off to a great start and is a weapon, just as a field stretcher.
Not being critical, just telling it like it is.
Pete doesn't want any turnovers, he wants to move the chains and let his defense control the game.
The qb's above have something in common and that is that they are allowed to use the whole field in throwing the ball. Forget the comp, the conference, the offensive system.
I think USC will be less conservative in how they attack next year, FWIW.
Evil Robot is right on about LSU. LSU is amazing. If LSU was an amplifier, they would go to 11.
We need a revision to our offensive system to add in some spread and deep pass schemes. We are now well behind the innovation curve on offense, lagging stodgy old programs like OU and Texas. This is unacceptable.
The entire issue here is that the Big XII is so bad on defense, especially against the pass. The top pass defense in the conference is Nebraska, giving up an average of 231 yards per game. In contrast, the #8 pass defense in the Pac 10, UW, gives up only 219 per game. Washington St. is #5 at 196 per game. I'm not talking about the best defense I'm talking about middle of the road and worst against the pass here.