Mailbag: Fade Routes and NCAA Tournament Dilemmas

We had a good assortment of mailbag questions to choose from today. Thanks for sending those in via Twitter. No Colin Kaepernick rant from me this week, but I did limit it to three (per the usual). Let’s get on with it.

Kevin G: What happens more this season: rush attempts or throws to fade route?

I actually laughed out loud at this one. Oklahoma State has 96 rushing attempts so far this year so I’d say it’s been about even so far. Seriously though, I think the lack of balanced creativity in the offense is one reason Mike Yurcich gets skewered so often. When you throw six fades in nine plays, well, it feels like you or I could do that for about half the money, right?

I’m not saying he’s making bad calls — I don’t know the intricacies of coverage schemes or matchups well enough to know (and the truth is, most of you don’t either) — and it’s hard to criticize somebody who’s putting up 700 yards a game. I’m only saying that running the same play over and over makes it feel like the entire thing is being being held together with bubble gum and duct tape (especially when it’s just deep balls and fade routes).

Of course then James Washington goes and does something like this, and we have to take it all back.

Brett P: Would you take five to seven football wins as a cap every year to ensure the basketball team made the NCAA tournament every year?

The real question here is “how many wins would you take as a cap to ensure the basketball team made the NCAA Tournament every year?” It’s not 5-7 for me. I’ve been there. It’s not fun. The Dance is awesome, but being great at football is better for a longer stretch of time. After thinking about it for a while, I don’t think I have a number.

At first I thought it was 10 wins because OSU is going to so rarely exceed 10 wins in a given season. But those seasons in which it does are so rife with great memories and incredibly fun games that I’m just not sure I can give that up. I’m writing all this under the presumption that even though my basketball team is not assured of making it to the NCAA Tournament in any given year, it always feasibly could make it.

AS LONG AS BRAD UNDERWOOD KEEPS CROOTIN EVERY. DAY. GUYS.

You don’t have to be perfect, but you need to bring 100% effort each day. “I want EVERY-DAY GUYS!” @OSUCoachBrad. pic.twitter.com/0KyH43at51

— Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) September 9, 2016

Tyler B: If Dallas drafts Mason and we get Mason2Dez will you explode?

I would never leave Dallas. Fine, one more because that wasn’t really a question as much as it was an ingenious idea.

Matt M: Are the players on the o-line not very good or is it a scheme issue? Can’t believe lower quality schools have better lineman.

A terrific question. Let’s go to the recruiting rankings!

• Total recruiting stars for OSU’s five starting five linemen on Saturday: 14
• Total recruiting stars for OSU’s five starting linemen for 2011 Big 12 title game: 13

Regarding that 2011 team, Levy Adcock wasn’t even given any stars by 247 which is where I got all the other rankings. I gave him two because I know some other sites ranked him (and some didn’t). Two seemed fair. Here’s an excerpt from the Oklahoman from 2011:

“When I first got here, I needed to learn to play,” Adcock told the Oklahoman. “Because I wasn’t doing anything right.” But Adcock got to learn from former OSU tackle and current Seattle Seahawk Russell Okung, who, Adcock said, “knew everything,” during his first season. Becoming a pupil of OSU offensive line coach extraordinaire Joe Wickline was also a huge benefit.

Anyway, are those small and unfair sample sizes? Maybe. But the point is that it wasn’t like Oklahoma State was throwing out 20 stars worth of offensive linemen back in 2011 when it ran for 5.4 yards a pop. Was that starting five better? Probably so. But the difference wasn’t that significant. Not to the degree that should make us say the things we say under our breath during OSU games these days.