Tonight is the kick-off of the NFL’s season with 2009 Super Bowl Champion the New Orleans Saints facing the 2010 Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers. And what a perfect opportunity to go to a sports bar, because at the same time, there is college football! And while you need to watch the NFL for fantasy and office pool purposes, you want to watch college football to see the Pac-12 vs Big 12 match-up and make some smart observations, which may include but not be limited to the following:
Arizona Wildcat
Arizona’s inexperienced offensive line vs Oklahoma State’s inexperienced defensive line. You will not be surprised if Arizona struggles to run the ball on offense. How can their offensive line stack up against Oklahoma State’s defense when they have ZERO starters return? Sure, they have skill positions back, but without the big guys up front paving the way for the ground game (and also protecting the quarterback when he drops back to pass), how are they going to accomplish anything?
However, if by some miracle, Arizona is able to run the ball, you will note that it is due to Oklahoma State’s inexperienced front seven (just one starter on the defensive line and one starter at linebacker return this year).
If this were 2010, you would expect to see a lot of passing from both teams. But because it’s 2011, you will smartly observe that you don’t know what to expect. And for anyone who says they do, you can respond that teams change and to just look at Auburn. And when they said they didn’t expect defending National Champion Auburn to be good this year, you agree with them because you don’t either, but your point is simply that one year can make a world of difference so it can’t be based entirely on the previous year’s performance.
With that said, you assume that the new offensive coordinator for Oklahoma State will continue what the old one (Dana Holgorsen who is now the head coach at West Virginia) did well last year, which is passing the ball. And likewise, you might guess that Arizona will pass the ball a lot because that’s really their only weapon, but this is a new year and perhaps given Oklahoma State’s strength in passing defense, they may try to find themselves a ground game.
The Oklahoma State Cowboy (he scares me)
Finally, every time they mention T. Boone Pickens, the billionaire who the stadium you are watching this game played in was named after, you will think of Anna Nicole Smith and how she didn’t have to go work at a stupid job that she hated every day because she found her own T. Boone Pickens.
