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How Good Are The Horned Frogs?

Last week provided a handful of highly anticipated matchups between top 25 college football programs, with five games featuring a pair of ranked teams going head-to-head. This Saturday seems to be lacking in that category. Among the best games slated for the weekend: No. 13 Penn State at Michigan, Oklahoma at No. 25 Kansas, No. 3 Texas at Missouri, and Oregon State at No. 7 USC. Not exactly a power lineup.

But, for college football fiends, all eyes should be on the small town of Provo, Utah on Saturday night. Frankly, if the game was happening in a conference with BCS Bowl affiliations, you’d probably have heard all about it by now. The matchup?

No. 8 TCU at No. 16 BYU.

Maybe not the long-standing rivalry or storied programs most college football slugfests boast, but these two are serious. And for Gary Patterson’s undefeated TCU team, it’s a chance to make a statement.

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The Evening After: Texas 16, Oklahoma 13

The great thing about a top-notch college rivalry is that regardless of which players are there, and what kind of year the teams may be having, it still gives you some football that will stick in your memory banks for a while.

Was the game crisp? Far from it. Was it well-played? Depends if you like your offense or your defense. But, clearly, this was a game that was both chippy and tense. Frustrating and Electric. I think that I would not want to see it every Saturday, but if the last year’s Texas win was a masterpiece from both QBs, then this year’s Texas win was just the opposite. In both cases, a worthy 4 hours of your time.

In many ways, the game went from a “Dream Match-up” to an eventuality in one big play early, as an Aaron Williams blitz knocked Sam Bradford on his throwing shoulder again and out of the game. The common details of the play with the same scenario 6 weeks ago are hard to avoid, and regardless of who you root for, I hope you see how college sports in general loses when a kid gambles on himself and his school rather than the fruits of the pros and loses big. I cannot guarantee how much money Sam Bradford lost yesterday, but know that being injured once is not a big deal, but to be injured twice in 3 starts has NFL executives wondering if that shoulder will hold up at the next level for 12 years. A quick glance at the pay rate for the 1st round picks demonstrate that Matt Stafford was guaranteed $41m for #1, Mark Sanchez got $28m for #5, and Josh Freeman, the next QB off the board at #17 was promised $10.25m.He will still be a very rich man, but this weekend might have cost him at least half of his enormous pile of money.

And in many ways, that means all college fans lose. If Tim Duncan, Sam Bradford, Peyton Manning, and friends hang around in college and it works out, more will do it. If it doesn’t work out, then future studs will see the error in their ways. Sam Bradford may or may not be a future cautionary tale – time will tell, but Matthew Stafford and Bob Stoops are very, very rich men this morning. Sam Bradford is not. Yet.

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Red River Report Card: Grading Out The OU/UT Matchup

If you own a television, or computer, or radio, or read a newspaper, or even just have eyes or ears, you probably already know this. But just in case you still own a phone with a hand crank and get your stock tips from ticker tape — in which case, I’m not sure how you ended up here — allow me to break some news to you. There’s a big football game in Dallas tomorrow. No, it doesn’t involve the Cowboys. Amazingly enough, it doesn’t even involve JerryWorld either. It’s the annual Red River Rivalry game between the University of Texas and Oklahoma University at the Cotton Bowl.

Now, I know most of Dallas never attended either school, but considering it’s the biggest sporting even in town tomorrow, we have to say something about it. Does the fact that I’m a UT fan have anything to do with my unabashed interest in this game? Maybe. Does that mean that this post is a little biased? Possibly. But to the average fan of college football in Dallas, it’s a big game that’s happening right in your backyard, and with apologies to SMU, that’s something that doesn’t happen around here all too often. For the rest of you, this can just serve as yet another reminder to stay away from Fair Park tomorrow morning. Here we go…

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On T.O., Texas and TCU, Stars’ Start, Etc.

While the Cowboys’ defense was seemingly setting new lows for offside penalties, Terrell Owens’ new offensive unit had 11 false starts.

While Miles Austin was setting the Cowboys’ record for receiving yards in a game with 250, Owens was piecing together a season high in catches with four. He doesn’t have 250 receiving yards this season. His team gave up six points and lost by three. Wonder if he texted Austin with congratulations.

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Big 12 Conference Question of the Week: Does the League Need a New Football Travel Agent?

I realize we might not be having this discussion if Mike Leach’s whiz-bang offense could move straight ahead for one yard when necessary. But Texas Tech’s 29-28 loss at Houston on Saturday night was just the latest example of what can happen when BCS schools visit non-BCS campuses. Especially Big 12 teams. Wins often don’t mean much, losses too much.

Tech at Houston (loss). Kansas State at Louisiana-Lafayette (loss). Colorado at Toledo (loss). Texas at Wyoming (more difficult for a half than it should have been).

The Big 12 will play more games at non-BCS schools this season than any other BCS league. More than the Pac-10 and Big Ten will play combined. You tell me whether the Big 12 is to be congratulated or criticized in its non-conference scheduling.

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Week 2: Rick Perry Republic of Texas Football Poll

Obviously, these rankings are going over like Kanye West at an awards ceremony. Exactly one person volunteered to be a pollster (and, thank you for the offer). I wasn’t kidding. If you want to vote and you’ve got way too much free time on your hands, like I do, contact me. Also, I could use more email.

We’re moving forward one way or another. It was a big week in the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry. Sure, Houston pulled the big upset, but why can’t Texas A&M (OK, A&M-Kingsville) and Angelo State get in on the act, too?

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The First Republic of Texas Football Rankings

Back in April, our dear leader, Gov. Rick Perry, made some veiled secession remarks and it made us think about all the important issues of Texas returning to being a republic. Like, how would it impact the BCS?

Would Texas schools even be eligible? Or should we just thumb our noses at the Texas-less NCAA and have our own National Championship free of those fouled up computers? Hey, it’s one way to eliminate that silly tie-breaker that the Longhorns lost to Oklahoma. So in the interest of Texas Independence, we prepare for the future with the first RP Poll. I’ll give you three guesses what RP stands for. And it’s not Rensselaer Polytech.

Jump for the poll. If you want to be a pollster in future weeks, just email me. Oh, and be prepared to document your multi-generation Texas legacy. I may be kidding about that second part.

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