All the Big 12-2 Conference news that is and isn't fit to read...
And some other stuff.
Be sure you are sitting in an area with no sharp objects before you read this one. Here's the Ole Miss defense post-mortem. [Barking Carnival]
This is better. Ole Miss game offense post-mortem. [Barking Carnival]
The defense has issues that can be fixed. [Inside Texas]
"The good news is these are all things we can fix," Brown concluded. "We’ve got two weeks to do it."
The Horns are 3-0, but far from perfect. [AAS]
David Ash's confidence and decision making ability have improved this season. [The Daily Texan]
This means Ash is making excellent judgements when moving through his reads. He’s doing it quickly, too. He looks at his first and second options and doesn’t force the ball anywhere; if they’re not open, he hits his hot read or takes off for a few yards on the ground.
"He’s made good decisions," co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin said. "He’s made very good decisions in our run game with some of the checks and things like that that we have to do and getting us out of bad situations."
Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno. The Horns are in this together. [ESPN]
"Well, you know, it's amazing what a team can accomplish when no one cares who gets the credit," quarterback David Ash said.
Things to be happy about... [Barking Carnival]
This is just mean, Robert Whetsell. [Cowboys Ride For Free]
But the Davey O'Brien National QB of the Week? Ash hasn't even shown up on the radar that tracks low flying aircraft, much less any kind of QB watch list. There must be a complete lack of candidates because I watched the Ole Miss game, and that was NOT a performance worthy of that award. Folks are glowing over 15 completions in a row? King could do that sober (drunk is a given) no farther than they are asking him to throw the ball. Shovel passes...screen passes...WR screens...short hooks. And I don't want to hear about the 2 long TD's...both were HORRIBLY underthrown. The WR & DB bailed him out on one and the Ole Miss DB fell on his ass on the other, which should have been an easy interception. Did you see how badly he missed Shipley with his 2nd attempt of the game? Jaxon could have been Wilt Chamberlain and would still have had to jump out of his shoes on a play that was WIDE OPEN if he leads him just a little to the back corner of the end zone, and was only about a 20 yard throw. Please. I can just hear the morning coffee shop chatter from the "koolaid" set waxing poetic about Ash's "breakout" performance.
And then there's this. [Cowboys Ride For Free]
Having your own network has its drawbacks. [Des Moines Register]
"Obviously, the Longhorn Networks’ objectives are different that mine," Brown told the Associated Press.
Among the things Brown had to consider at the time: If an assistant coach is wired during a practice, would they say anything opponents could use against Texas?
Stoops is a bye week god. [Blatant Homerism]
Bob Stoops is the greatest football coach in Oklahoma history... coming off a bye week during the regular season among coaches with more than one year coaching in Norman. In his 13 years as the Sooners' skipper, Stoops has won 16 of 20 games coming off a bye week.
Good reason to keep playing the Land Thieves in Dallas. [ESPN Big 12 Blog]
Landry Jones is a hometown hero. [Tulsa World]
No one in Austin contributed to the Norman's travel diary? [ESPN Big 12 Blog]
Something like this? Everyone should go right now and upload photos for the new Sooner Instagram account. [Sooner Sports]
Can K-State QB Collin Klein pass? [Tulsa World]
The Sooners could be bad news for the Kansas State secondary. [NewsOK]
Four questions about OSU football answered. [NewsOK]
What ever happened to Lache Seastrunk? [Rant Sports]
Texas Tech has the second best defense in the country. [Times Union]
The Red Raiders (3-0) have the highest defensive ranking of the past 12 seasons. At No. 2 nationally they're giving up just 120 yards per game. Last season, they finished 114th in total defense (485 ypg).
What do we know about Dana Holgorsen that we didn't know before? [West Virginia Metro News]
He knew that scoring 42 points was enough. He did not worry about trying to impress the pollsters by scoring in bunches. He was not worried about building Geno Smith's Heisman resume against an FCS opponent. He knows there is plenty of opportunity to do that later in more meaningful games and venues, not against an outmanned opponent in a more than half-empty stadium.
Give Holgorsen credit. He did the right thing. I realize that most other coaches would have done the same thing. But, not all of them.
We're looking at you, Bob Stoops.
So, what is more impressive? Oklahoma State's conference record or their police record? [Cowboys Ride For Free]
If this is true, then the conference needs a new name. [NewsOK]
The news is, they're not going to expand. At least not for a few years. The Big 12 will sit back and see how the new playoff system works before it considers expansion. That's not good news for Louisville, but that's just the way it is.
That SEC is coming to a station near you. [Sports Business Daily]
The SEC’s negotiations with ESPN about a new channel are nearing their final stages, and a glimpse inside the talks reveals that three issues are close to being resolved before the channel’s expected launch in August 2014.
Barking Carnival is all over this SEC Network issue. [Barking Carnival]
Ah yes the dreaded "S" word, that ESPN loves. They will approach this network like the LHN -- and really any and all of its properties -- by making it available across multiple platforms that in turn will make the network more attractive to potential sponsors.
IMG College holds the marketing rights to the SEC (as they did with Texas) and and it is expected that ESPN will make a similar deal here where IMG will retain a portion of the revenue for helping to oversee sales. But ESPN will own the network and control the SEC marketing rights. This means more cross-promotion and more sponsors buying into not just the TV network but also corporate sponsorships on the ground at each school and no doubt also working deals for "bundles" of advertising that include radio and internet as well.
What bad economy? [Sports Business Daily]
There are seven college football programs unveiling new or heavily-renovated stadiums this season, with a total construction costs reaching $495.3M.
The SEC is God's country and don't you forget it, Vols. [Knox News]
Everything is new at the Cotton Bowl. [Dallas Morning News]
The Hispanic demographic even counts in college football. [Business of College Sports]
"We are thrilled to work with the Big 12 and Pac-12, and proud to expand our event portfolio by offering the biggest sports brands that reflect and serve today’s U.S. Latino," said Vincent Cordero, executive Vice President and General Manager, Fox Deportes. "U.S. Latinos are the New Face of America, representing the largest minority at our nation’s colleges, with 2.1 million students enrolled. Latinos comprise 74% of the growth in totalU.S.collegiate enrollment since 2010."
The Good, The Bad, The Sanctioned
The student-athlete is in jeopardy. [ESPN]
Recently released emails could be bad news for the NCAA in the anittrust lawsuit. [AL.com]
Nebraska Chancellor Harvey Perlman, writing an e-mail to Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe and Texas President Bill Powers in July 2009 after the O'Bannon lawsuit was filed, appeared to disagree that the NCAA could sell athletes' publicity rights without compensating them.
"This whole area of name and likeness and the NCAA is a disaster leading to catastrophe as far as I can tell," Perlman wrote. "I have asked that it be placed on the agenda for the Board meeting on August 6th. I'm still trying to figure out by what authority the NCAA licenses these rights to the game makers and others. I looked at what our student athletes sign by way of waiver and it doesn't come close."
There's absolutely nothing wrong with this. [Forbes]
So does anyone see a problem with allowing a broadcaster of a college game from making significant money from endorsing the same for-profit company that has a major contract with one of the teams playing the game he or she is broadcasting? Isn’t it at least the appearance of impropriety? Isn’t it at least a temptation waiting for the right person with a wrong weakness?
It may seem initially far-fetched because a sportscaster cannot have any real adverse effect on a game in progress. After all, sportscasters cannot influence the game as it is played. They only cover a play after it happened.
But the way a sportscaster speaks about a team is highly influential with millions of fans.
What do we have to do with Wisconsin football? Great sports writers at work. [USA Today]
Wisconsin
Death.TexasTaxes. Strong Wisconsin running game. Those are three things we have been able to count on in recent years. Death and taxes aren't going anywhere. The Badgers running game, however, has disappeared.
And here is another outstanding piece of prose from the annals of The Bleacher Report. [Bleacher Report]
Weltschmerz
You are sooooooo welcome, America! May I just say that the University of Texas was happy to be the conduit where more people get to know the strangeness that is Texas A&M. [TAMU Insider]
Texas A&M’s opening football weekend in the Southeastern Conference generated more than $6.5 million in media exposure and significant social media buzz for the university, according to an analysis conducted by an independent media firm.
Our thoughts and best wishes...
Good news for Tulane's Devon Walker. [Saturday Football]
Earl Campbell is undergoing nerve treatment. [Dallas Morning News]
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