Full Oklahoma State Preview

[The Croom Diaries]

Should be a great game.

http://www.forwhomthecowbelltolls.com/2013/7/24/4520082/2013-schedule-breakdown-oklahoma-state

[SignalToNoise]

Great assessment.
I agree with your statment about the defense. They gotta do something-- be it hold them a FG here and there, get some 3rd down stops, force turnovers -- to give us a chance.

[MSUDawg4Life]

Interesting read.

In the match ups between the receivers and secondaries, I think Oklahoma State is the clear winner both ways. Their receivers over our secondary and their secondary over our receivers. I know that it's possible for our receivers to have a really great day and come out on top over their secondary, but we have no way of knowing they will at this point.

I think we win the battle of the trenches. I think both our OL and DL are better. People say the game is won in the trenches and I hope that's the case in this game because those are battles that we can win.

[Coach34]

good work. We have to win with our DL and WR's. Should be a helluva game

[CadaverDawg]

Our secondary against their WR's worries the shit out of me. We have talent, but it's not like they have been practicing against elite WR's with great technique. OSU keys on their WR's being great at technique and getting off the line. If we aren't getting pressure, we are going to need Nickoe and Jay to be a big help to those youngsters in the passing game. I think our WR's and TE's will do fine against their secondary, plus Tyler should have time to throw against that DLine with young ends.

[Coach34]

Our secondary against their WR's worries the shit out of me. We have talent, but it's not like they have been practicing against elite WR's with great technique. OSU keys on their WR's being great at technique and getting off the line. If we aren't getting pressure, we are going to need Nickoe and Jay to be a big help to those youngsters in the passing game. .

If we arent getting pressure- it doesnt matter if you have Banks and Slay back there covering- you are going to get roasted. We watched that last year all season.

We have to get pressure or we will get beat

[The Croom Diaries]

Our secondary against their WR's worries the shit out of me. We have talent, but it's not like they have been practicing against elite WR's with great technique. OSU keys on their WR's being great at technique and getting off the line. If we aren't getting pressure, we are going to need Nickoe and Jay to be a big help to those youngsters in the passing game. I think our WR's and TE's will do fine against their secondary, plus Tyler should have time to throw against that DLine with young ends.

Hate to say this phrase, but we have to bend but don't break in this game. Not as a defensive philosophy - because I think we should be aggressive and take some chances, but just in terms of figuring out how to hold them to some field goal attempts instead of touchdowns when they get in the redzone. They have a great offensive scheme and will move the ball on pretty much anyone, our secondary only compounds the problem. But if we can keep them out of the endzone a few times it could be the difference between them scoring 42 and 30.

[CadaverDawg]

One thing about it...our young secondary could make a big name for themselves with a solid performance against those guys. Hopefully they take it as a chance to immediately prove themselves. I am really high on Jiles, and Cox should be pretty good but we'll see. I think Love COULD be good, but for some reason I am just not that high on him, and I think Jiles and Redmond are going to surpass him on the depth chart this year. And I haven't even mentioned Calhoun, and he is the one that the coaches seem to really like. We have some options, it's just a matter of who steps up. Jiles seems to have that swagger...I like that and think we need that on D.

[Coach34]

one thing that helps is that our DB's is that they get 4 weeks to get ready for OK State- not the usual 1 week. That's big for inexperienced DB's

[CadaverDawg]

one thing that helps is that our DB's is that they get 4 weeks to get ready for OK State- not the usual 1 week. That's big for inexperienced DB's

I agree. I like that we have probably focused the entire offseason on them.

How do you guys think OSU has been preparing for us? Do they know that we are making supposedly "significant" offensive changes in how we run things? We have an entire new WR core, so I wonder if they are basically not worried about our passing game. What about offensively? Are they just looking at our inexperience at CB?

My guess would be that they come out trying to cram the box and eliminate our run game to force us to try and throw to inexperienced WR's. Hopefully we can hit a few passes early to keep them from stacking the box.

Offensively, I think they come out slinging and try to take advantage of our corners early. Quick hitters so we can't get pressure, and then try to hit the HR ball occasionally.

Thoughts?

[FlabLoser]

Well in theory you can't cram the box against a spread. If they do, I hope we burn them with some kind of quick play that can hurt them. A quick throw, one juke, and touchdown. Or a deep fade to these tall guys we have at WR.

[maroonmania]

While I consider this game winnable I wouldn't categorize it as a swing game. I consider our swing games this year to be @Aub, @Ark and OM which are games I expect to be fairly even and could go either way. We are a 14 point underdogs in this game for a reason so if we win it will no doubt be an upset and put us ahead of the game as far as what we should expect for the season.

[CadaverDawg]

Well in theory you can't cram the box against a spread. If they do, I hope we burn them with some kind of quick play that can hurt them. A quick throw, one juke, and touchdown. Or a deep fade to these tall guys we have at WR.

Good point.

Hopefully if they try cramming the box, we will put Tubby on one slot, Holloway on the other, and RoJo or Morrow outside, and either hit the quick hitters to the speedsters or the deep ball.

I feel like for us to be successful this season we are going to have to be able to run the ball. BUT, I don't think we can successfully run the ball out of shotgun or pistol with Russell. How do you guys see us getting the run game going? Are we going to go with a single back pro style set occasionally? Will most of our hard nosed running come with Dak in there? How can we become a more physical team AND keep Tyler in the game without a Fullback? Not saying we can't, I just want to know how we are planning to do it.

[CJDAWG85]

One thing to remember about the lines in the early weeks is that they aren't as sharp as in the later weeks. Vegas knows public perception of MSU isn't high after the way they finished last year and how dynamic OKST's offense always is.

[MSUDawg4Life]

One of the misconceptions about the Oklahoma State offense is they rely on short timing patterns. They do throw short timing patters, but they also throw intermediate and deep patterns. There are a lot of opportunities during the game to pressure the QB and get sacks. Just remember that when Chelf is in the game, he will take off when the pocket breaks down and run for big yardage.

They also run the ball a lot. A lot. If I'm not mistaken, they averaged 200 yards per game rushing last year. Lots of draws. This is an opportunity for our front seven to shine. They need to step up and challenge this running game.

I watched the Oklahoma State vs. Oklahoma game from last year. Very exciting game that Oklahoma pulled out in overtime though they trailed most of the way. It's the full game. but if y'all have time check it out. I think we'll see a lot of the same things Oklahoma saw.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u-hZqnek4s

[HancockCountyDog]

One of the misconceptions about the Oklahoma state defense is they rely on short timing patterns. They do throw short timing patters, but they also throw intermediate and deep patterns. There are a lot of opportunities during the game to pressure the QB and get sacks. Just remember that when Chelf is in the game, he will take off when the pocket breaks down and run for big yardage.

They also run the ball a lot. A lot. If I'm not mistaken, they averaged 200 yards per game rushing last year. Lots of draws. This is an opportunity for our front seven to shine. They need to step up and challenge this running game.

I watched the Oklahoma State vs. Oklahoma game from last year. Very exciting game that Oklahoma pulled out in overtime though they trailed most of the way. It's the full game. but if y'all have time check it out. I think we'll see a lot of the same things Oklahoma saw.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u-hZqnek4s

I watched that game this weekend and all I thought was how OSU was not going to be able to do the things they were doing against OU. Our defense is simply faster than the one OU put on the field last year.

[MSUDawg4Life]

I watched that game this weekend and all I thought was how OSU was not going to be able to do the things they were doing against OU. Our defense is simply faster than the one OU put on the field last year.

When I watched it, I could easily see where Chris Wilson got his defensive philosophy from.

I hope we play defense differently. I believe that we can. It's just a matter of seeing what they do. If our defense plays well, I feel good about this game.

[The Croom Diaries]

While I consider this game winnable I wouldn't categorize it as a swing game. I consider our swing games this year to be @Aub, @Ark and OM which are games I expect to be fairly even and could go either way. We are a 14 point underdogs in this game for a reason so if we win it will no doubt be an upset and put us ahead of the game as far as what we should expect for the season.

The reason we are 14 point dogs is because Vegas knows what the perception (there's that word again) of OSU and MSU are going into the season. The lines aren't made to try to come up with exactly how the point spread will be, they are made and adjusted for bets. There is no doubt it would be an upset for us to win, but I won't consider it an upset because I think both teams are relatively equal.

I really think we are underrated and they are overrated. They may end up being a top 10 team but they would be around 4-4 in the SEC I believe. If I was going to set my own spread for this game based on what I think the actual score will be I'd probably say MSU +4.

[CadaverDawg]

The reason we are 14 point dogs is because Vegas knows what the perception (there's that word again) of OSU and MSU are going into the season. The lines aren't made to try to come up with exactly how the point spread will be, they are made and adjusted for bets. There is no doubt it would be an upset for us to win, but I won't consider it an upset because I think both teams are relatively equal.

I really think we are underrated and they are overrated. They may end up being a top 10 team but they would be around 4-4 in the SEC I believe. If I was going to set my own spread for this game based on what I think the actual score will be I'd probably say MSU +4.

I think it's a little high...I would have it at OSU -9 or -11

[The Croom Diaries]

Point spreads are kind of tricky to look at when determining the difference between the teams.

By 14 points is common belief that the game will be close but OSU will pull away late? Is it that OSU will be up by 2-3 touchdowns the entire game? There's a big difference. But if you're going to bet on a team -14 then you probably think they are going to win by 3 touchdowns which is a beat down when talking about a matchup between two BCS teams. If someone thinks the game could be close they aren't going to bet on OSU scoring a late TD to barely beat the spread.

People think we are going to get killed in this game. We might, but it's not a slam dunk. I'd say there is a 90% we cover the spread. 45% chance we win straight up.

[MSUDawg4Life]

I agree with that.

[maroonmania]

The reason we are 14 point dogs is because Vegas knows what the perception (there's that word again) of OSU and MSU are going into the season. The lines aren't made to try to come up with exactly how the point spread will be, they are made and adjusted for bets. There is no doubt it would be an upset for us to win, but I won't consider it an upset because I think both teams are relatively equal.

I really think we are underrated and they are overrated. They may end up being a top 10 team but they would be around 4-4 in the SEC I believe. If I was going to set my own spread for this game based on what I think the actual score will be I'd probably say MSU +4.

Bottom line is that, for the moment, I would put OSU more on the level of LSU, TA&M and SC than I would Aub, Ark and OM. It may turn out that OSU is not as good as their hype but right now more people than not have them as the B12 favorite.

[The Croom Diaries]

Bottom line is that, for the moment, I would put OSU more on the level of LSU, TA&M and SC than I would Aub, Ark and OM. It may turn out that OSU is not as good as their hype but right now more people than not have them as the B12 favorite.

Lesson to be learned from the last 7 years: Any SEC team that wins more than 10 games > any team from another conference. In other words LSU, Bama, USC, A&M all > Okie State.

Auburn and Arkansas are only swing games because they are on the road. If it was in Starkville we'd all be saying we should win those games. OSU is on a neutral site. It's a swing game unless you can somehow come up with a list of NFL caliber players OSU has that come close to that of LSU, Bama, USC and A&M and determine that we should, in fact, lose this game unless we play over our heads or they play under theirs.