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Big Picture: D keys OK State's first step of three in Big 12 race
One down. Two to go.
Glenn Spencer turned the tables on the TCU offense and made Saturday three and a half hours of “gut-wrenching hell” for Trevone Boykin and the Horned Frogs as Oklahoma State got four INTs and blew out Gary Patterson’s team 49-29.
Spencer, the OSU defensive coordinator, talked about life as a Big 12 DC last week and is looking pretty good these days. For his Cowboys defense this month, the schedule includes the No. 2 (TCU), No. 1 (Baylor) and No. 6 (Oklahoma) scoring offenses in the country.
On Saturday, the Cowboys had to defend 17 offensive series from TCU and 110 snaps. Spencer has shown quite a knack for dealing with Boykin and the explosive Horned Frogs offense the past three seasons. Boykin’s got a 4-8 TD-INT ratio in those three games. In all of Boykin’s other games in the past three seasons his TD-INT ratio is 65-18. That means he has almost half as many interceptions in the past three seasons against Oklahoma State as he does in all his other games combined.
The Cowboys lead the Big 12 in turnovers gained with 23, nine more than they had last season. They’re also the leader in TFLs (78) by a wide margin in the league.
One last note about Oklahoma State: The Cowboys have to go to Iowa State, which cost them a shot at the national title four years ago. If OSU can handle that trip, things will look good for the Cowboys as they get both Baylor and OU at home. Mason Rudolph — the Cowboys talented sophomore QB — completes 68 percent of his passes and has a 13-2 TD-INT ratio in Stillwater. On the road, those numbers drop off significantly to 60 percent and just 4-6 in the all-important TD-INT ratio.
● Alabama had an impressive performance Saturday night in mauling LSU and shutting down Leonard Fournette. What 'Bama did shouldn’t come as a total shock to anyone who has seen the Tide’s personnel up close. As I wrote last April, this front seven is built to dominate the SEC.
The other thing that jumped out at me is how much of a force Derrick Henry has become. He not only upstaged Fournette Saturday night but he also pushed his way to the front of the Heisman race. In Henry’s last three games, he’s run for 689 yards and seven TDs. More impressively, he has faced five teams that were ranked in the top 20 and he’s averaging 174 rushing yards per game against them. And these teams are ranked against the run as follows: No. 6 (Wisconsin), No. 16 (LSU), No. 27 (Ole Miss), No. 29 (UGA) and No. 115 (Texas A&M).
Speaking of the Tide, since some said that Nick Saban’s dynasty was dead in the wake of Alabama’s loss to Ole Miss in September, 'Bama has won six in a row and done so by a combined score of 189-77. The Tide’s also beaten three top 10 teams by an average score of 36-16.
● I won’t jump on the soap box too much more for Iowa than I have in recent weeks, but I do want to point out that the unbeaten Hawkeyes have road wins over Wisconsin and the 40-10 thrashing of Northwestern — two teams that are a combined 15-4. I know people scoff about blowing out Northwestern, but the Wildcats did hold Stanford to six points and shut out Minnesota.
● One of the better defensive jobs by anyone this weekend was Tony Gibson’s WVU D against a very potent Texas Tech attack. The Red Raiders managed just 4.8 yards per play and limited dynamic WR Jakeem Grant to just eight yards on five catches. A big key in that was the play of standout DB K.J. Dillon who was all over the field and had a big part in containing Grant. Tech managed just two plays longer than 20 yards in the entire game and none longer than 32. Tech leads the Big 12 in producing such plays and averaged over seven a game coming in.
I was the sidelines reporter for FS1’s Texas Tech-WVU game. The Mountaineers have an interesting situation on offense where there are times when they can have three QBs in the lineup with starter Skyler Howard, backup William Crest (at WR) and freshman David Sills (also at WR). The two young quarterbacks joke that they’re the “science experiments” just happy to contribute to the team in any way they can. Both still plan on being QBs but are glad that their athleticism can get them on the field right now. The coaching staff is high on both and says the two young guys are both very sharp.
Both QBs told me that they think it is benefitting them as quarterbacks too because they’re getting a unique perspective on defenses now.
Sills’ name may be familiar to many recruiting fans. I detailed his story in "The QB." He had committed to Lane Kiffin and USC as a seventh grader. His family also had spent a fortune on private quarterback coaching with Steve Clarkson over the years. Sills is now 6-3, 200 pounds and folks inside the program gush about his athleticism. Crest and others say Sills, who has caught five passes for 106 yards and a touchdown, runs in the 4.4s and has terrific hands.
● Not sure which is more stunning -- that the Big Ten has two more teams than the SEC in this week’s AP and Coaches Poll Top 25s or the fact that the AAC has as many teams (four) ranked as the SEC?
● Cool small school story about California’s University of La Verne winning its first league championship in 20 years and only its second playoff appearance in a century. The D3 program is one of the sweeter stories in college football this season and has received a boost from new DC Oscar Rodriguez, who has beaten cancer twice in his life.
● Noah Spence, the former Ohio State star DE, I wrote about last month, continues to make lots of big plays for FCS Eastern Kentucky. This weekend, the 261-pound senior had three more TFLs and two sacks to give him 19 TFLs to lead the nation and 10 sacks, which ranks No. 4 in the country.
● Stat of the Day: USC beat Arizona 38-30. Trojan freshmen and sophomores produced 399 of the 472 yards that USC had in the game.
● Stat of the Day, Take II: Michigan’s getting improved QB play from Iowa transfer Jake Rudock, who completed 60 percent of his passes and threw six INTs in the Wolverines first five games. He has completed 67 percent and has thrown just one pick in UM’s last four games.
● Stat of the Day, Take III: Oklahoma State WR James Washington’s last five quarters have been spectacular: He’s had seven catches for 332 yards (averaging 47 yards per catch) and five TDs.
Bruce Feldman is a senior college football reporter and columnist for FOXSports.com and FS1. He is also a New York Times best-selling author. His new book, “The QB: The Making of Modern Quarterbacks,” came out in October 2014. Follow him on Twitter @BruceFeldmanCFB and Facebook.
