Trav's Ten Takeaways: Texas Tech Win
Via Travis Rooke-ley
Boy, glad that one is over. I’ve been nervous about that one ever since it was scheduled, and after comparing its feel to WSU 2022 all week, it’s wild how similar the two games ended up.
Some fans really need to have some perspective; that’s a tough gritty win that we lose two years ago. Nice to have a stress-free game this week before a big couple of conference games loom.
- Bo Nix: No play encapsulates Bo more than the 3rd and 11 run late in the third quarter. Down 9, I think it’s safe to assume we lose that game without his amazing run on third and long. Reminded me of the Mariota escape down 9 against MSU in 2014. Bo absolutely willed us to victory in the last 20 minutes of that game, and it was nice to see him take advantage of his legs and make some big plays. I thought he was a bit skittish in the first half, but settled in to find himself firmly in the Heisman chatter as the season goes on.
- Running Back Rotation: Look, I love Whittington and James, and certainly believe they would start for most teams in the conference. That being said, Bucky is a big-time player, and I’d love to see him out there in big moments a tad more. I know it was hot, and I’m sure Coach Lock was trying to keep guys fresh. It’s a valid explanation given our depth. Nonetheless, Bucky is so tough to tackle that I think we need to use him more in those red zone and 3rd and 4th down situations where we struggled.
- Offensive Line: Cornelius and Conerly are really good. I mentioned this last week, but I think they may already be the best tackle tandem we’ve had in my lifetime. In pass protection especially, they are big-time and it would be amazing if we could get Cornelius to stay another year alongside Josh. Having said that, I think our IOL struggled at times Saturday, and has been inconsistent at best this year. Hopefully, the return of Strother by Colorado will help, but either way, I think we’ll see continued tinkering at G until we can get it right. It was pretty crazy seeing Poncho, a true freshman, getting the big drives in the second half at RG. Between him, Strother, and Harper, I hope we can get this unit dialed in the next few weeks.
- Chasing Points: Texas Tech served as a great example of why you don’t chase points early in a game where offenses will continue to score. Down 15-13, Tech went for two and failed, in what turned out to be a big stop for our defense. That single point loomed large later and was a perfect illustration of why I always advocate for taking the points until the 4th.
- Camden Kick: I didn’t notice it much at the moment, but a hat tip to my buddy Sky for noticing a small coaching win for Coach Lorig and Lanning. With Camden lining up from 29 yards on the hash to put the Ducks ahead, the Ducks took what initially seemed like a dumb delay of game. Having re-watched it now, it seems obvious that they not only wanted to give Camden a better angle, but more so, they timed the delay so that they were essentially able to get a real-time run-through of the snap, hold, and kick. Moments later, Camden banged through a game-winning 34-yarder. I love how Lanning and the entire staff continue to find little wins like this on the margins.
- Defensive Back Play: I think the characterization that our DBs were torched is totally wrong having watched the replay. Our problem continues to be at LB, and generally speaking, I think our entire defensive backfield was solid Saturday. Tech made some contested catches, and you’re going to get a beat a few times against good teams. Tech averages over 40 points at home, and if our offense played like it should have, they don’t get over 30. I think Addison, Williams, and Johnson will develop into a good safety room, and our corner room is deep and will get better each game. Colorado and UW will get us our answer ultimately, but I like the trajectory of this group. This defense needs to be top-50, not top-10.
- Play-Calling: Didn’t love what we saw from Stein Saturday, especially in some big moments. I thought we went to the short boundary toss a few too many times, including the last offensive play. I just hated taking the ball out of Nix’s hand there, and I especially hated running to the short side when we needed to stay in bounds. More generally, I thought we could push the ball down the field more, and hardly utilized the middle of the field. I really like what we’ve seen from Tez in the slot and hope we will find more chances for him to get touches.
- Pick-6 Slide: Bassa has to know to slide, dive, run out of bounds or anything else but score there. I know the bettors appreciated it, but I hope our coaches were telling the guys that prior to the drive. Up one, you have to know scoring doesn’t end the game, taking a knee does. Good learning opportunity that didn’t hurt us, but we added five minutes of stress that I certainly didn’t need.
- Hawaii Preview: Stanford beat Hawaii on the road by 13. USC was beating Stanford by 46 at the half. Transitive property doesn’t apply in football, but safe to say this better not be a game. Hoping to clean up the execution and penalties from this week, continue development for our defense, and make it out injury-free for the Buffs.
- Conference and National Takeaways: Continue to feel it’s an open year nationally to compete for the CFP, but a brutal year in the PAC-12 to get there. We are up to eight teams ranked in the conference, a tall task for any team to come out unscathed. That said, the early season success of the conference has almost guaranteed that a one-loss conference champion will have a seat at the table. As long as each team gets through their last non-conference game undefeated, Oregon, UW, SC, and Utah each have one mulligan in the conference season. Will be interesting to see if Oregon State or UCLA can use their favorable schedules to sneak into Vegas. For the Ducks specifically, win 2 of 3 versus SC, Utah, and UW and you’ll find yourself in Vegas playing for a likely trip to a playoff game in Pasadena.
