Colt McCoy is looking for more success.
It’s frustrating more than anything," McCoy said on a Monday teleconference. "I had the flu against Texas Tech, just wasn’t myself in that game. This game (Saturday’s 16-13 win against Oklahoma,) I was a little sick late Wednesday, all-day Thursday and Friday, it kind of nagged at me. I kind of messed up my thumb in the second quarter. Those things are just frustrating."
"It’s not been an disappointment at all," McCoy said. "There’s been a lot of ups and downs. I’m very thankful for the way that I’ve been able to respond to those things. When I set my goals at the beginning of the year, at this point I wanted to be 6-0. And we are 6-0, so I can’t be more proud of that."
Do the Horns need to make a statement?
And after beating Oklahoma, Texas dropped from No. 2 to No. 3 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll.
Why?
Because their offense didn't score enough.
"If this was a statement game for the nation's No. 3 team, Texas didn't state much of a case," wrote Pat Forde, the national football columnist for ESPN.com.
ESPN's Tim Griffin has a mid-season analysis of the Horns.
Defensive MVP, S Earl Thomas: He’s the poster child of Texas’ transformation into a nasty defensive unit in its second season of work with Will Muschamp. Thomas has already produced five interceptions over the last four games, earning a share of the national lead.
In lab tests, Mack Brown causes waves of disbelief, annoyance, confusion and anxiety.
Mack’s demeanor and candidness have changed a lot since Muschamp’s arrival. Accordingly, I no longer take what he says with a grain of salt. Some Longhorn Fans have read these comments and it has made them respond, "Yes! They get it! They see that we are struggling and they’re going to fix it!" and it has given them hope for the offense the rest of the season. For me there’s a lot more to the story here.
We have a brand new offense.
It’s an odd thing when a 6-0 football team decides midseason before its two biggest road games to bench three offensive starters, modify its base set, demote 2/3 of the starting receiving corps, change the best WRs position, tacitly admit a failure of offensive philosophy, and all but confess that late last year and over the summer defenses did the scouting on us that we should have been doing on ourselves.
Who could possibly guess that teams would play pass-first and develop specific packages for us? Averaging 307 yards per game against three Big 12 defenses is a cold slap of reality. So now we begin to do the work we should have started in April.
CBS Sports has a Texas-Missouri preview.
This week's opponent: Missouri
Blaine Gabbert would appreciate it if people would stop asking about his ankle.
The owner of the most talked-about ankle in Columbia is tired of talking about that particular body part. Asked repeatedly yesterday about his sprained right ankle, Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert insisted he is healthy enough to play, even against the suffocating defense No. 3 Texas brings to town Saturday night.
Gabbert, coming off consecutive three-turnover performances, also diffused any conjecture that he should sit out MU’s homecoming game against the Longhorns (6-0, 3-0 Big 12).
"That’s not the kind of person I am," he said. "People can think all they want. They really have no idea what’s going on. I’m fine and good to go."
Note to secondary... Receiver Danario Alexander is known for being a big playmaker.
"He’s a Jeremy Maclin big-play kind of guy," Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel said afterward.
Like a week ago against Nebraska, Alexander became involved early. Quarterback Blaine Gabbert threw his way on two of Missouri’s first four plays from scrimmage — Alexander snatched both for 41 yards.
But unlike a week ago, when he and the rest of Missouri’s offense later disappeared into the rainy night, Alexander continued to deliver big play after big play.
Gary Pinkel isn't too thrilled about Big 12 officials right now.
inkel had another zinger, this one for the officials. Pinkel said the No. 1 thing on his Monday morning checklist is evaluating the officials' performance in the previous game and sending the Big 12 Conference footage of any calls he believes were missed.
"There's a process you go through in our league," he said. "I think, overall they do a good job. Make sure they found out I said that, OK? Whether it's true or not ...
"But overall, they do do a good job," he continued. "But you're going to get some bad calls. Both teams are. We don't talk about that. Life's tough."
Cornerback Munir Prince is listed as questionable for Saturday's game.
Barking Carnival previews the Tigers.
The Aggies play Tech this week. We should probably just end it right here.
The Aggies head to No. 21 Texas Tech (5-2, 2-1) for a 6 p.m. start Saturday, not having won in Lubbock since 1993. The most lurid statistic highlighted this week will be the 100-point differential between Texas Tech beating Kansas State, 66-14, the week before the Wildcats pummeled the Aggies by 48 points.
Oklahoma State
Zac Robinson, Heisman trophy candidate?
Yep, Zac Robinson is having a heck of a year.
The Oklahoma State quarterback probably won’t be confused with Florida quarterback Tim Tebow in this year’s Heisman Trophy debate.
But maybe he should be.
The Pokes' pass rush has really improved this season.
In 2008, OSU was averaging one sack per game thru six weeks. This season, the Cowboys are averaging two sacks per game including three sacks apiece by linebacker Donald Booker and defensive end Richetti Jones.
"Our pass rush is coming along pretty good,” senior defensive end Jermiah Price said. "But we still aren’t playing to the best of our ability.”
Oklahoma
Were you waiting for the 5:30 press conference? Well, it was canceled.
He was expected to announce his next step after re-aggravating his throwing shoulder against Texas last weekend.
According to a school spokesman, Bradford still wants to gather more information before making a decision about whether to undergo season-ending surgery.
More on the offensive travels of Brody Eldridge. He is back at left guard. For now.
Coach Bob Stoops and offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson were vague as to how much tight end Brody Eldridge will play at left guard this week against Kansas.
DeMarco Murray is hurt. Again.
The Sooners may return to Dallas? Here are OU's bowl possibilities.
Then, OU’s hopes of winning a fourth straight Big 12 title and reaching another BCS bowl took a major hit last weekend at the Cotton Bowl.
But with a strong finish to the season, the Sooners could be heading back to the Dallas area again, this time for the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic.
The Sooners would never stoop to lobbying on their own behalf...
Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe talks about that new bowl game in New York City in December.
Bo Pelini wants a to be a calmer, more gentle coach.
The men in the striped shirts this past Saturday might not endorse this, but Husker coach Bo Pelini says he’s a calmer coach than he was even a year ago.
Pelini was irate at officials for most of the second half of Nebraska’s 31-10 loss to Texas Tech a few days ago, some choice words on display.
Pelini’s fire has played well with many Husker fans, but there have been some critics — media included — about his sideline demeanor."You know what the interesting thing is, I think this year I’ve been pretty tame with the officials," Pelini said.
Stay the course. There are no quick fixes for what ails the Cornhuskers.
Coach Bo Pelini made that clear at his weekly Tuesday news conference, saying coaches and players need to stay focused on hard work, fundamentals and technique.
"It’s about staying with your beliefs and your principles and continually stressing those things," Pelini said. "Eventually, over time, it wins out. That’s just what I believe in. That’s the only way to have success over the long term."
Texas Tech expects a good game from A&M.
Tech figures to take everybody’s best shot, beginning with an A&M team desperately wanting to rebound from what might have been its most embarrassing loss. And if you’re wondering how the Aggies could possibly compete after being blown out by Kansas State last week, keep in mind the Wildcats were coming off an equally embarrassing defeat against Tech.
Leach said historically successful programs like A&M "tend to respond" from such setbacks, so he expects the Aggies to "come out swinging."
Kansas State is at the top of the North. Can they stay there?
"We’re in the same position we were two weeks ago," Hartman said. "We’re on top of the North. It’s really up to us. I hope we learn from our mistakes and don’t get complacent or content from being there and say we’re where we need to be when obviously we weren’t. We just need to keep pushing forward and getting better."
Still, staying in first place gives them added motivation.
"People will take it as a target on our back," senior wide receiver Brandon Banks said. "We’ve just got to stay in that position, take control and understand that in order to stay there, you have to win more games."
The Bears really need to beat Oklahoma State.
Baylor hasn’t beaten a Top 25 team since the memorable 35-34 overtime upset of No. 16 Texas A&M in 2004 that ended with the fans tearing down the goal posts at Floyd Casey Stadium.
If the Bears are going to salvage this season, they need another shocking win now.
Following an uninspiring loss at Iowa State, the Bears face a monumental challenge to become bowl eligible.
And finally...
Just a little humor at Missouri's expense.