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| Friday, November 17 It was fun watching OU get job done in College Station By Kirk Herbstreit Special to ESPN.com | |||||||||
OU does it again Oklahoma faced yet another challenge on the road last week. A&M gave it their best shot and their crowd played a big factor in the game. But OU again found a way to get it done. The Sooners didn't play their best game, but they did do enough to win the game. Their defense came up with some big turnovers in the second half. The amazing thing was to be down on the sideline watching the Oklahoma players. They faced a devastating situation. The Aggies had nothing to lose, and their home crowd was hostile and very, very fired up. The Sooners were trailing going into the fourth quarter and there wasn't a trace of panic in any of them. They had a calm demeanor and they knew they could figure out a way to win. If some people (Lee Corso) still questioned who the best team in the country was, once again the Sooners answered the bell. They've beaten Texas, Kansas State, Nebraska and now A&M -- and three of those four have been on the road. And they're so young. I thought eventually their youth would catch up to them. But if you look back at the teams who've won the national championship over the years -- they've always had adversity along the way. There are always games that could go either way, but championship teams always find ways to get it done. And 10. The Aggieland experience GameDay goes to big games every week. On some campuses, we can feel the big-game atmosphere right away. While driving around, going to meetings on Friday, we see people tailgating and getting excited early. College Station is definitely one of those campuses. On Friday night, the school holds Yell Practice at midnight, where 25,000 people practice their yells in a pep rally. It is amazing to see that many people that fired up. They're all doing the same thing, with no megaphone or speaker system to aide them. They have five Yell Leaders, who use hand signals to communicate each cheer. It's an incredible scene that carried over into Saturday's game. Those 85,000 people standing the entire game, waving their 12th man towels -- it's unreal. Kyle Field and the 12th Man lived up to, and exceeded every expectation we had for them. Last Saturday in Aggieland provided, without a doubt, one of the most special memories I'll ever have from College GameDay. 9. Tennessee turnaround I told you about Tennessee four weeks ago. After they moved Casey Clausen to quarterback and beat Alabama at home to move to 3-3 on the season, I thought Tennessee would win its last six games, including a bowl game, and be one of the best turnaround stories in the country. They're certainly one of the more interesting stories in the SEC. They are now 6-3 with Kentucky and Vanderbilt left. Philip Fulmer has had some great teams over the years, including a national championship team. But this might be the best coaching job Fulmer and his staff have done, with a very young team, since he has been at Tennessee. I will continue to say this until next August: you do not want to play the Tennessee Volunteers led by Casey Clausen in in 2001. 8. Last week's surprises And the biggest surprise of all I thought Nebraska would be able to go into Manhattan and beat Kansas State. But the Wildcats have now themselves in a position where they can get back into a BCS game. Even though Nebraska has had Kansas State's number over the years, last week's game gives the Wildcats two straight victories over the Huskers in Manhattan. Bill Snyder's team believes the Nebraska dominance is over. It will be interesting to see the Kansas State-Oklahoma rematch. K-State competed better against Oklahoma than the Huskers did. This win isn't a fluke. Until Nebraska gets more sophisticated with their passing game, it will continue to struggle against teams that play good defense. They are simply too one-dimensional. They can't rely on lining up and running people over to win games. They have to have more diversity in their offense. Their bread and butter will always be option and power football, but they need to add a few wrinkles. They will always be able to blow Missouri, Kansas and Iowa State off the ball. But when you're playing Kansas State, Oklahoma and Texas A&M you have to be able to do some other things. Also, if I was Nebraska, I would go out and recruit four cornerbacks right now. Their inability to play man coverage is killing them. 6. Last week's heroes
The Orangemen thrive on being the underdog at the Carrier Dome. The crowd will be into the game and they always seem to be able to pull off the upset at home. Miami has two games remaining to continue its magical ride to the top of the BCS, and the Canes need to win both of them impressively. The key will be whether Miami's offensive line, especially their tackles, can protect Ken Dorsey. When Syracuse played Virginia Tech, its defense sacked Michael Vick eight times and the crowd noise had a lot to do with it. If the Canes can protect Dorsey, it's all over. Santana Moss will abuse Syracuse's secondary. And keep an eye on James Jackson this week. He's been running with more authority. When Syracuse has the ball, Miami has to be able to contain the running game. James Mungro and Dee Brown have been able to get hot recently. Dan Morgan and the Canes' defense will have to come up with some big plays and force Syracuse to throw. I like Miami. 4. Henson vs Buckeyes D The true battle when Michigan and Ohio State meet will be when the Wolverines' offense is going up against the Buckeyes' defense. The strength of the Wolverines all year has been their offensive play, led by Drew Henson, Anthony Thomas, David Terrell and maybe the best offensive line in the country. They're going up against a defense that has been the backbone of the Ohio State program all year. The Buckeyes D is one sack away from a school record, and they have a huge number of tackles for loss while creating a ton of turnovers. When the Buckeyes have won this year, it has been because of the defense. The crowd, the rivalry and the talent all point to Ohio State winning this game. But Michigan has better leadership and better team character. Sometimes in a rivalry game like this, that's all that matters. 3. 'Giddy' about the Civil War This is the first time in decades people outside the state of Oregon have cared about this game. I, for one, am flat out giddy about it. I've had this game circled since early September because of the way these teams have continued to get better and better. The true story of this game is that it's being played in Corvallis, away from Autzen Stadium. Can the Ducks put together the same kind of game they would at home? If they can, they win. If they can't, they lose. Simple as that. The Ducks seem to be getting healthier, but they'll still need a big day from running back Maurice Morris. Joey Harrington has to be able to get the ball downfield. Everybody wants to talk about Oregon State's offense, but its defense is very good. They're extremely fast on the perimeter and they will test Oregon's passing game. When the Beavers have the ball they love to spread it out and run Ken Simonton and Patrick McCall. Oregon has been very good at stopping the run, but they'll have to beware of focusing on it too much. If they only pay attention to the run, quarterback Jonathan Smith can make the Ducks pay with the deep ball to Robert Prescott and Chad Johnson. If this game was in Eugene I'd pick the Ducks. But with the game in Corvallis, I'm going with Oregon State. 2. Upset specials ... games with the potential for an upset South Carolina over Clemson: If Gamecocks want to rebound from a disappointing loss in Gainesville, Derek Watson needs to have a big day. Election? What election? Everybody in the state of Florida will be watching Florida-Florida State -- primetime in Tallahassee, with the BCS standings on the line. It's going to be tough to beat the Noles under those circumstances. Florida always saves a few offensive wrinkles for this game -- new formations, rotation of quarterbacks, personnel changes, new plays. The unpredictable Steve Spurrier will need those wrinkles if he is to win this game. Offensively, Florida has to get the ball out to playmakers Reche Caldwell and Jabar Gaffney. And they simply must protect their quarterbacks Jesse Palmer and Rex Grossman. Florida allows the second most sacks in the SEC, and this week they'll be tested more harshly than at any other time this year. Jamal Reynolds and company bring the heat as well as anybody in the country. Will Florida have time to throw the football? If they do, Gaffney and Caldwell can get open against the Florida State backfield. The Florida defense has been known to give up big yards but they create turnovers. They'll have to create enough of them to matter if they want to win this game. Chris Weinke gets the ball downfield better than anybody in the country to a great group of receivers. With the injuries to the Florida State backfield, the Seminoles are going to rely even more on the passing game. Snoop Minnis, Atrews Bell, Anquan Boldin and newcomer Javon Walker will make plenty of plays. This will be a high-scoring game decided by which defense forces more turnovers. Florida State, playing at home with a chance to avenge the loss to Miami, should come out on top. Kirk Herbstreit is a football analyst on College Gameday and his First ... And 10 will run every Friday. | ALSO SEE Fowler: Savor these Florida-FSU games | ||||||||
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