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Can Texas Be a Big12 Top Dog?
2005-08-23
Posted by: badanov

AP sports writer Jaime Aron writes that Texas this season is strong enough with enough talent that Mack Brown could beat OU this year and go on to win it all.

And that certainly seems to be the consensus amongst sports writers and analysts, including us.

Texas has it all. A fast quarterback on his feet as well as an accurate passer; one of those players that leave head coaches tearing their hair out. Texas has an outstanding offensive line to help Vince Young in his quest to derail Oklahoma.

Did the reports mention Oklahoma? Of course, they did. Oklahoma seems to be the measure by which all success in the Big 12 is matched.

Oklahoma has some problems. They are returning very few starters from last year and breaking in a new quarterback, something that Florida State and LSU has to deal with this year.

Yet, even with all those problems, sports writers can't bring themselves to lower Oklahoma's ranking to 7th or more. Gotta be a reason, right?

It's Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops. This coach has had the magic touch with Oklahoma, going to a championship three times, winning once.

Stoops' system both on offense and defense has been speed of execution. When you see a quarterback take a step or two back after a snap from center then throws a bullseye, defenses can't adjust in tim. That is a system that is hard to beat without an aggressive defense. It seems that such a system would require a lot of training and conditioning to make that happen even with a returning starter.

The main reason is you can't count Oklahoma out of any game with Stoops in charge. The man's got a bag full of tricks he can empty on any team, even one as good as Texas.

We are no fan of Oklahoma, but we know how good Stoops can be in the clutch.

This season, Oklahoma's fortunes ride firmly on Stoops' shoulders, and we fully expect Stoops to be up to the challenge.

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