It's Friday, which means another Q&A from Chip Brown at the Dallas Morning News. As usual, I think Chip touches nicely on a lot of the key points for this week:
*If there's any doubt about McCoy's health, he shouldn't play. Concussions are serious business. (Chip notes that if John Chiles were to start, it could be 1994 all over again. Remember that year? Shea Morenz is on the sidelines with a concussion and freshman James Brown leads Texas to an improbable 17-10 win?)
*Beat the dead horse: play Norton and Muck. Period.
*"Let it all out" on offense. Davis is talking about wanting to 'simplify' the overall package, but there's no question the way to beat OU is to soften them up with big plays in the passing game.
*Justin Moore has replaced Trevor Gerland as the punter on the team. On the year, Texas is 115th nationally in net punting average. Chip's right: it's been a disaster.
Here's a bit of good news: there are no players listed on the week's injury report. If accurate, that means Orakpo and Kindle are back, Ulatoski is available, and, presumably, Colt is totally ready to go. I have to admit - I'm nervous for the kid. Here's to hoping the offensive line gives him time to work.
Not fired up about the game yet? This should help.
Kirk Bohls tries the Stoops-Brown comparison column, which is a bit of a tired angle. They're different, but the story's never quite black and white enough to make for a great column. It'd take a lot more than 800 words to adequately describe each coach's strengths and weaknesses. As always, beware of snapshot comparisons; they rarely tell the whole story.
Listeners in the Brownsville region can catch me on 96.9 FM news radio this evening at 6:30 p.m. as I preview the Red River Shootout. I also offered my thoughts on this week's game for this week's CFB Weekly radio program (13:30 mark of the podcast).
I'll have Friday Four Questions up here shortly. As always, keep your eye on SMQ for the weekend preview of all of CFB's biggest games.
If you're driving to Dallas today or tomorrw - be safe, friends.
--PB--