Oct. 5, 1998
A flat preformance from both the team and the coaches. We played an uninspired game from the start, and the play calling was rrrreally boring. We just pounded away at the middle of the line even though we had receivers running open. We had a particularly bad time on first down. Our offense is not designed for third and long. Our line could not produce any push, and we didn't audible out of bad plays. O-State had a special defense from the '40s to stop us, but I was very disappointed that we couldn't adjust and defeat it.
Crouch continues to show that he is a real player. To come off the bench and play like he did shows me a lot. His throw to Jackson was perfect. Evans was not himself and we need to try Buckhalter when he's not healthy. Bobby threw pretty well but showed his inexperience with his audibles.
The defense gave up a lot of yards up the middle, but that's to be expected with the way we play defense now. We spread our tackles and play smaller linebackers, so there will be a little room up the middle. But no one including O-State will beat you by doing that all day. The roughing-the-passer penalty was bogus, and without it the game is a rout.
As my old friend Doc says, on certain
days you're set up to be upset, and this
year in KC and last year at Missouri we
survived it. We will learn from this,
and I believe that is the worst
performance you will see this year. And
the coaches must stay flexible with
their play-calling to let us take
advantage of what the defense is giving
us. They failed to do that Saturday and
I hope they learned something as well.
-- The Colonel