First thing to worry about is the OSU fan base apparently doesn’t have an SB Nation website.  I find that curious in the first place and worrying in the second?? Like no Cowboy fans around this neighborhood  WTF?

For  a while when Tech was down and we didn’t play them I was fan of theirs  - Barry Sanders,Thurman Thomas and other great running backs etc etc. Now that they are one of the up and comers like us seeking to dethrone OU, ut and or sometimes NU, now not so much.  I have seen 6 out of the 9 games they’ve played and it’s been in a word impressive.

   I worry our O line won’t be able to whip the OSU def line. Another game and another Raider combination of blockers. If ever we need a senior like S. Byrnes to show out and lead this unit it is this game. Minimize pressure on the Tech QB folks. OSU Def Coordinator is readying a pin your ears back pass rush on T. Potts et al.

Pokes are playing solid defense and pretty neat special teams’ execution. Most worrying is the dreaded balance of the run and pass combo. Its kind of funny to me as a fan of a team led by a nonconformist, trend setter to watch Mike Gundy cling like a zealot to old school principles of playing the game. IE run first.  He is definitely a product of Coach Pat Jones and others whom he grew up under. Only one funny comment about his style – he must be hell to have in the house. Just think about it everything must be balanced.  Big cans opposite little cans in the cabinets. Furniture equidistant from the walls. Grass mowed in a single direction with no overlap. Conformity. Whew. I will give this to Mike Gundy he doesn’t play around with people who can’t stay on the straight and narrow as it concerns team rules. Pelini and Leach are like minded. Good on you fellows.

The team he coaches though is downright good. I was impressed how they jumped up off the mat after being slugged by Houston. We found out about those Cougars didn’t we?  And with the exception of the ut game OSU executes very good football on all three sides of the ball. Early in the year I pooh poohed their defensive scheme. Not so much today. They had trouble with Houston and ut’ s passing game but so did the Raiders secondary .  

It’s the running attack the Raiders defense must worry about. Mr. K. Toston and Z. Robinson are fast and the linemen are committed to run blocking. If the front 4 of the Raider D line doesn’t knock somebody’s wang in the dirt from the get go it’s going to be a brawl. Clogging up the middle and funneling the runners to the Raider line backers is job 1.

Fan Participation.  For the Ut game the OSU athletic admin put up a series of white plastic tarp barriers to keep the fans away from the horn bench. I guess I should worry about small liquor bottles flying thru the air. I wonder if we get the same treatment or that’s just a #2 team in the nation amenity?  I remember Antonio Huffman saying an OSU fan reached over and popped him on the helmet during a game. Just so someone says it  Boone  P.  stadium - it’s a noisy bellicose, crowded place and the Raider defense needs to take the crowd out of it.  5 x  OSU  turnovers forced by the Tech defenders would just about do it.

Who starts? Why worry ? After the  refreshing and over blown news that Sticks was "healthy" I quickly came back down to earth. It just doesn’t matter.  By that I mean it’s a position on the unit, the other 10 players have to up their game to compensate for whatever intangible  "we"  fans feel isn’t on the field. So stop worrying about it. My feelings on the Tech QB situation is just this: manage the game. Check to the run.  No turnovers.  Week before last vs. the Jayhawks we had 3 serious mistakes on offense, the  3 x turnovers and 5 sacks. I don’t think we can give up 3 x QB miscues and win in Stillwater. Quoting a  previous post or just reinforcing an earlier thought /statement on this game the Raider offense needs to score on every possession. It’s a lot like the Austin game from that perspective.  I do think the Raider O line can win this fight. Just enough time delivered for the short pass, just enough screen execution and blocks on shovel passes to keep the OSU offense sidelined.  My worry is we start to press. The Raiders have enough talent on offense to score 35 to 50 points. As a unit they just need to make routine plays and score on every trip to the Red Zone. OSU is actually the tight ones. IMO. They are just trying to hold onto their top 25 ranking.  Seriously I think the Pokes are tight as a drum.

The special team play for the cowboys is pretty darned good. I  think they have 4 punts or kick offs returned for TDs.  3 plus x blocks?  And no dropped or muffed balls by returners ?  I worry we will need 4  x FG’s to win this one. It would alleviate my bad stomach if the Raider coverage teams could get the ball loose from the Cowboys once per half.

I worry we will see the Raiders field the same lackluster defense  that they showed against aTm, up in Stillwater. I would love to see the Raider defense which corked Nebraska. Though it’s not likely for Coaches R. McNeil, C. Sadler or C. Mainord to be lackadaisical after all this is the scene of the crime from 2007. The place where L. Setencich lost his job. Folks usually remember where they got their asses beat. So no worries on defense fellow Raiders. Wreck em Baby!