|
|
|
|
 Saturday, September 29, 2001
The Sooners have many holes
By Gary Danielson
Special to ABC Sports Online
NORMAN, Okla. -- If you are going to win on the road against a good football team, you can't spot the other team penalties, a touchdown on a punt, a blocked extra point and a mishandled punt that puts you back on the 1-yard line. Those things were big in this game as Kansas State gave up too much to Oklahoma.
The key play of the game may have been the blocked extra point by Rocky Calmus. That forced a different mindset to what Kansas State had to do.
Nate Hybl proved to his teammates and to Oklahoma that he might not be as polished yet as Josh Heupel -- he might be a year away from that or if ever -- but he has proven that he's tough enough and that he will hang in there. That drive towards the end of the game when Oklahoma needed at least a field goal was the best drive of the season for Nate Hybl.
Although Kansas State came back, Hybl's 75-yard TD pass to Antwone Savage that made it 35-14 when he was rocked in the chin was a big play.
Kansas State had a good blitz scheme for Hybl. It took a while for Oklahoma to figure it out, if they ever figured it out. The Wildcats took away Quentin Griffin and it was very obvious that they had the protection number. It was obvious that Hybl was going to be hit a lot. That means that some of their corners had to play well. There were a few that did. I was particularly impressed with Terence Newman, who had two interceptions and a number of breakups.
Ell Roberson is not going to be a polished quarterback yet, especially against a great defense like Oklahoma's. But you saw the potential he has. He gives K-State the option game and has a live arm. That last pass he threw to Ricky Lloyd was a 50-yard strike downfield. I doubt he'll ever be a high completion quarterback, but he gives K-State a lot of weapons. Bill Snyder has a QB who will get better and better.
|
Player of the Game:
|
|
Antwone Savage: He threw a touchdown, caught two touchdowns. He did well on special teams. He played very well.
I have to give a lot of credit to Nate Hybl. He had to take a hit. He knew he was going to take a hit the entire game. He stood in there and took them. He got rocked, came back and I really think that Oklahoma survives this game, but also comes out of it with a bruised, but a leader in Nate Hybl.
--Gary Danielson
|
The Sooners' defense is as advertised in the country. They have athletes on both sides of the ball. Oklahoma overloaded to stop Josh Scobey (45 yards on 15 carries). It opened up things for Roberson and he took advantage of it.
Oklahoma showed it has some holes. The safeties are very athletic, but you have the ability to throw the ball on them. The Sooners showed that if they want to take away Griffin, OU has trouble finding other players to make big plays. They have receivers that continue to drop passes. This is a solid team and absolutely a top 5 team, but people will watch this film and find schemes that will work against them.
Heading into next week's Red River Shootout against Texas, the Sooners need to find different ways to run the ball and to protect their quarterbacks. They have to find different ways to get the ball, so that they take some of the pressure off of Hybl. They might look at a bit of an option package, so they can run that back into the blitz. They might be able to have a couple of sprintouts, where they can run away from the pressure and force teams from lining up with a lot of pressure.
Kansas State lost this game, but comes away from this game gaining stature.
|
|
|
|
ESPN.com:
HELP |
ADVERTISER INFO |
CONTACT US |
TOOLS |
SITE MAP
Copyright ©2001 ESPN Internet Group. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and Safety Information are applicable to this site. Employment opportunities at ESPN.com.
|
 |
 Nate Hybl hangs in the pocket and finds Antwone Savage for a 75-yard touchdown (Courtesy: ABC Sports).
avi: 1016 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Oklahoma's Antwone Savage finds Hunter Wall on the QB-throwback for a 33-yard TD (Courtesy: ABC Sports).
avi: 1564 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Antwone Savage scores on the 64-yard strike from Nate Hybl (Courtesy: ABC Sports).
avi: 1012 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Ell Roberson is hit while making the pitch and OU's Roy Williams returns the fumble 18 yards for the score (Courtesy: ABC Sports).
avi
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Ell Roberson connects with Ricky Lloyd for six, then executes the two-point conversion with time running down (Courtesy: ABC Sports).
avi: 1168 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Ell Roberson weaves his way for a 22-yard touchdown on the QB keeper (Courtesy: ABC Sports).
avi: 1010 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Jon McGraw comes up from the safety position and delivers a crushing hit (Courtesy: ABC Sports).
avi: 1009 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
|
|
