FanHouse Big12

Traffic in South Florida delayed both schools team buses from arriving at the site of the BCS national title game on time as scheduled, a trivial tidbit to the season's final game you'd be excused for not knowing.

Oklahoma's record-setting offensive unit did eventually make it, but if you watched Florida's 24-14 win over the Sooners, you'd be excused for not knowing that either.

Because what took the field was trivial compared to the biblical 702-point offense that burned through the Big 12 and burned out scoreboards.

After a season in which they spent more time scoring in the 60s than Tiger Woods in his best week, Oklahoma's high-octane offense played like it had a pound of sugar in its gas tank, a herky-jerky rendering of a once prolific offense.

It was less like they were playing football and more like every member of the team had been simultaneously asked to recite the alphabet backwards. It was like watching Usain Bolt run the 100-meters only after twirling around enough to make himself dizzy.

And in the end it rendered 360 yards. Two interceptions. Fourteen measly points.

One awfully familiar feeling.

Another year, another bowl loss for Oklahoma. And it only seems to be getting worse.

Oklahoma State's Donovan Woods will line up in his fourth position in as many years this fall. The 6-2, 225-pound Woods has previously been a quarterback, free safety and strong safety for the Cowboys. In 2007, he will line up at the modestly-named "star" position. According to OSU coaches becoming a Star means being utilized as a linebacker/safety hybrid.

"We did it a lot at Ohio State," said new defensive coordinator Tim Beckman following the Cowboys' 94-play situational scrimmage on Friday. "It's just one position where we can utilize him."

Donovan is keeping a positive mindset, which is refreshing in a time of rampant "me first, gimme, gimme" attitudes in college sports.

"Plans change," Woods said. "Only one person has the true plan for us, so I kind of look at it that way." "I knew I had the potential to play a lot of positions," Woods said. "I can look at it and say, 'Wow, I really have played four positions in four years,' but I'm continuing to get an opportunity. I'm thankful for that."

And you can't blame the Cowboys for attempting to utilize Donovan anyway they can. He is after all, the last of the long line of Woods brothers to come through Stillwater. Donovan was preceded at Oklahoma State by siblings Rashaun and D'Juan, who are both in the top five in receptions and receiving yards for the Cowboys.

I'm all for having a realistic outlook on life, and I understand the importance of doing one's best. That being said Nick Nelson, a junior college transfer at Colorado, might be taking things a bit too seriously. This is what he had to say about his battle with Cody Hawkins for the Buffaloes starting quarterback job:

"I think it's real crucial because this is my last chance," Nelson said. "If Cody starts, I'm pretty much done. I'm going to be a backup for the rest of my career. So that puts a little extra pressure on me, but that's OK. I can handle it. I like pressure."

Pretty much done? A little extra pressure? I'm pretty sure this is what psychologists call "catastrophisizing". I understand that you're facing an uphill battle in trying to beat out the coaches son, but relax Nick, you've only been campus since January. It should come as no surprise then that, while Cody and his dad were off spring breaking with Urban Meyer, Nelson was busy criticizing his own play.

"I've got to pick it up a little bit. I can't be making some of the mistakes I've been making."

Nick Nelson – he's so emo.

Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky appears to be bouncing back from the curious medical emergency that he was hospitalized for in February. This is good news for the Huskers' backfield, but even better news for the junior-to-be. Bill Callahan sees a lot of positives in Lucky's play this spring.

"I couldn't be more pleased with his efforts and focus and concentration," he said. "He's really done a terrific job, and it's good to see him doing really well."

Coaches still aren't talking about the incident that led to Lucky's hospital stay and Marlon has declined interview requests so far this spring. While his coaches and teammates avoid discussing the problem head on, given their quotes, one has to wonder whether he might have been dealing with some depression.

Exhibit A:

"I hope the crowd sees a more energetic, more smiling Marlon," said [Randy] Jordan, the Huskers' running backs coach. "We talk about it all the time, that the biggest thing is to enjoy the ride. Don't be in such a hurry to get to the end of the road. Enjoy the journey. So I hope that they see a Marlon that's going to go out and play hard, and I hope they see that in all of our guys."

Exhibit B:

"I see a difference in him on the field," I-back Cody Glenn said. "When he's out here, he's more happy, he's having fun. When we're in the meeting rooms, he's joking, it seems like. I guess he's put everything in perspective. He just seems real happy right now."

Whatever might have caused his distress, the important thing is that Lucky seems to be feeling better. With the departure of Brandon Jackson and injuries to Cody Glenn and Kenny Wilson, the starting job should belong to Lucky in 2007. With his health and a more positive outlook, he now appears ready to grasp this role.

A year ago Graham Harrell (pictured at right) won the starting quarterback job for Texas Tech as a sophomore. All he did was complete over 60% of his passes and throw for 38 touchdowns. One would assume that he had the job for 2007 all locked up. On Friday, his head coach, Mike Leach let the world know that this wasn't necessarily the case.

"Taylor Potts has outperformed Graham Harrell the last two practices, so the quarterback situation's wide open,'' Leach said. "If Taylor Potts is able to continue to outperform Graham the rest of the spring and through camp and some things like that, he's got a shot to be the starting quarterback here.''

Potts apparently did nothing to discourage the quarterback controversy with his performance in the Red Raiders' scrimmage on Saturday. He completed 20-24 passes for 255 yards and four touchdowns. Those numbers surpassed the efforts of Harrell who was 19 of 30 for 165 yards and three touchdowns. Leach now claims that the remainder of the spring's snaps will be split evenly between the two QBs and he apparently feels good about this situation.

"Competition brings out the best in everybody," Leach said, "but you want to make sure it's real and warranted competition, the best you can. I think both are good quarterbacks. Both do good things. Both have some real strengths, and now I think we want to prepare them both so that they can have the best offseason possible, and then see who we're going to go with in the fall."

The emergence of Potts is an unexpected development in Lubbock. Prior to his recent performance, he was probably most known for taking part in ESPNU's televised summer camp-on steroids Summer House. For his sake I'm glad that it looks as though he will soon be able to add something a little more meaningful to his resume'.

Oklahoma State quarterback Bobby Reid is hoping to build on a successful 2006 season. A year ago the athletic junior threw for 2,226 yards and 24 touchdowns. This season he's hoping to improve his control of the offense.

"I expect more out of myself and more control of the game," the junior added. "I want to start dictating things more and I just want to be more efficient than I was last year."

Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy appears to be high on Reid's abilities this spring.

"Bobby is better now than he was at the end of the year. He's doing a better job of engineering and controlling the offense. He's more confident now and if he continues to run the ball like he has in the last four or five practices, he'll be able to create a lot of problems for a defense."

Despite the superlatives, Gundy isn't entirely ready to dismiss the two-quarterback system he employed a year ago. That means fans can expect to continue to see sophomore Zac Robinson.

"We'll have six or eight plays a game with Zac in there because he's a good player and he makes plays," Gundy added. "The more playing time he gets will help him. ... There's no substitute for game experience."

It makes sense to get both quarterbacks on the field, especially given the success the Cowboys enjoyed in 2006. Reid appears capable of carrying the team, but Robinson has also shown the ability to step up, including completing 8/17 passes for 149 yards against Oklahoma a year ago.

Warm up the "so nice they named him twice" references. If things go well Kansas State's starting left tackle this fall just might be named, Alesana Alesana. The 6-6, 295-pound junior-college transfer arrived in December from City College of San Francisco and is already taking snaps with the first-team offense.

"That name thing is a little odd," [quarterback Josh] Freeman said, "but he's got really good feet. He can play."

Alesana comes from Western Samoa, which is known for its double-naming tendencies. Unfortunately the practice is less common here, meaning that no matter how well he plays, he will always be overshadowed by his name. So far, however, Alesana seems to be taking it in stride:

"Oh yes, I get a lot of questions about my name," Alesana Alesana says. "It's normal where I come from. But it's not normal around here. I am proud of my name. I love my name."

The Kansas State coaches won't care what he's called as long as he improves the team's offensive line play. The Wildcats overmatched offensive line gave up 28 sacks in 2006.

Many wondered what Gene Chizik would add to the Iowa State program after the former Texas defensive coordinator arrived in Ames. With two weeks of spring practice completed, the answer is simple – tough physical football.

"It gets physical out there," said [quarterback Austen] Arnaud, a redshirt freshman from Ames. "We go hard. It is guys going at it full throttle."

It sounds as though Chizik is trying his best to change not only the style of football played, but also the attitude that accompanies it. These are crucial adjustments if the team is going to improve on its 2006 performance, which saw the Cyclones finish 81st nationally in total offense and 102nd in total defense.

Overall, Cyclone fans should be excited about these reports, as long as the team survives the spring relatively healthy. The training room is already a busy place after the hard-hitting practices. While many teams attempt to avoid injuries in the spring by preaching "high and hard" tackling techniques, Iowa State is taking it to the next level.

"We are doing a lot more stuff live, where in the past we've done more thud and wrap up," [wide receiver Todd] Blythe said. "Now (coaches) want you to wrap up and see if you can take a guy to the ground. (Receivers) do blocking drills for most of our individual periods every day. That's something we need to be better at."

It's starting to sound like it.

We've reported before (here, here) on Oklahoma's various snafus as it relates to the whole Rhett Bomar little work/big pay deal with a certain auto dealership. Oklahoma felt it did the right thing in catching Bomar in the act and kicking him and teammate J.D. Quinn off the team as sacrificial lambs. But then the NCAA smacked them down some more and now Oklahoma's steamed.

Red meat, please settle nicely onto my plate:

Oklahoma ``strongly disagrees'' with the NCAA's allegation that the university failed to adequately monitor the employment of dismissed starting quarterback Rhett Bomar and other athletes at a Norman car dealership, according to documents released by the university Friday.

``We ... assert that the University met, if not exceeded, industry standards regarding our student-athlete employment monitoring,'' University President David Boren said in a letter dated March 7, which was obtained by The Associated Press through an open records request.

``There were no other reasonable additional steps we could have taken that would have prevented these violations or detected them any sooner,'' Boren said in the letter.

The NCAA has claimed that Oklahoma violated its own guidelines by failing to collect earnings statements from 12 football players who worked at the dealership, and as a result did not detect NCAA rules violations.

Strangely enough, both sides are right. Welcome to the wacky world that is the NCAA ...

The nation's second most-played rivalry game between Missouri and Kansas will have a new home in 2007 and 2008. This year's game originally set for November 24 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, will now be played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. The 2008 game will then be played at Arrowhead instead of Columbia, Missouri. For their efforts, the schools are guaranteed to receive at least $1 million from the game in each of the next two years.

While this isn't the first Big 12 game to be moved to Arrowhead – previously Nebraska played Oklahoma State in 1998 and in 2005 Kansas met Oklahoma at the NFL stadium – switching rivalry games to off-campus sites is a disturbing trend. At some point it becomes a question of how willing a school should be to trade a home-field advantage for a bigger payday. As one Kansas fan notes:

"KU has been great against Missouri at home in the last four years," he said. "We've had their number every time. We've killed them. I'd hate to see that momentum go away just because we want to play at Arrowhead."

But fans aren't the only ones disturbed by the move. Business owners in Lawrence are also upset and a recent economic study concluded the move will cost Kansas, Douglas County and the city of Lawrence a combined $713,000.

(via The Wizard of Odds)