Every week here on Cowboys Ride For Free Gerald Tracy and I will be asking our fellow contributors questions about OSU, the Big XII, or college football in general. The best responses will be posted here for your reading pleasure. Without further ado, Week 1: Florida State.
What are you looking most forward to in the game this weekend?
- Gunter Sharp: "Seeing Tyreek Hill for the first time."
- Steven Mandeville: "Seeing if JW can throw more than a slant or stop route OR the start of the Daxx Garman era."
- Taylor York: "I want to see the offense come out looking complete. They don't have to win, I just don't want then to look like a bunch of freshman, even if they are."
- Steve Dodson: "Watching all the new players make the transition from high school (or JUCO) to play against the defending national champions. Equal parts exciting and terrifying."
- Chris Ross: "Watching Kevin Peterson impose a no fly zone will be great, but I'm most looking forward to the leaked video of Gundy's dance moves from the locker room after the game. Maybe a combination of the Gundy, and silly arms?"
- Annice Mcewan: "Seeing how much of a role the experience with the D-line plays into the defense as a whole."
- Josh Poteet: "Tyreek Hill and crab jokes on twitter."
There were a few common themes in the responses. Tyreek "The Freak" was definitely a common theme for most people, wanting to see how he looks. The offense was popular as well, with many people wanting to see how it was catered around both JW and Daxx. Both Annice and Chris took a little different view with wanting to see how the defense preformed and Chris even went as far as to take a guess at Gundy's dance moves. Many want to see how the youth will make the transition to the college stage. And of course, you can never have enough crab jokes.
Do the Cowboys keep their streak of 20+ points? And if so, who does most of the scoring?
- Graham Coffelt: "Yes, but just barely. Tyreek Hill."
- Evan Jones: "Yes. Seals."
- Parker Schultz: "I think so...I'll go JW."
- Robert Whetsell: Yes, Tyreek Hill."
- Steve Dodson: "Yes. If anyone has more than 1 TD, it will be Roland."
- Josh Poteet: "Yes. Marcell Ateman."
Other than OSU-FSU what game are you most looking forward to in week 1?
- Derek Hatridge: "West Virginia vs. Alabama, because, you know, carnage."
- Steven Mandeville: "I think Texas vs. North Texas, just to see how different a Strong led Texas plays."
- Graham Coffelt: "Arkansas vs. Auburn. I feel its obvious why."
- Evan Jones: Baylor-SMU. SMU is getting better and it will be interesting to see if Baylor is the real deal going forward."
- Taylor York: "HOLGO SMASH (headsets)."
- Robert Whetsell: "Air at Kansas"
- Chris Ross: "Oklahoma vs Louisiana Tech. Oklahoma hasn't come out of the gates well the last few years, and has struggled to get up for games they are favored in. Last year was very up and down for the Sooners, but after the big win over Alabama expectations could not be higher. I'm interested to see if those hopes aren't tempered a bit by week 4."
- Josh Poteet: "Wisconsin-LSU"
Obviously games around the Big 12 draw more interest to them. A few people are interested in seeing how OU performs. Lots of people want to see West Virginia get absolutely pooped on by Alabama. Robert wants to get a good first look at just how bad Kansas is going to be this year. Some national games drawing interest are Arkansas-Auburn and Wisconsin-LSU. The latter could end up being the toughest opponent Wisconsin faces this year in some peoples pick to make the playoff.
If OSU is going to pull off the upset how are they going to do it?
- Gunter Sharp: "Keep up with FSU for the first three quarters and try to win it in the fourth. We'll need to manage the clock, avoid turnovers, and keep the ball on the ground."
- Derek Hatridge: "Defense needs to step up in a big way. Also, more diamond formation."
- Graham Coffelt: "If they can not second guess their own bread and butter and stay composed, this program can beat anyone."
- Evan Jones: "Turnovers."
- Parker Schultz: "We aren't, but if we do, FSU would have to shit the bed fantastically. Multiple turnovers, lots of penalties...that sort of thing.
- Taylor York: "Being aggressive on D. Make them make mistakes and cause some turnovers. On the offensive side, we just need to be balanced and mistake free. That's all... The run game has to start strong. We all know we are not going to hear 'Walsh throws another 40 yard bomb!' all game long. The run game has to be on point."
- Steve Dobson: "The obvious answer is Jameis Winston must have a non-Heisman-caliber game. While OSU needs to be creative on offense (see OSU vs. BU 2013), the Cowboy LBs and safeties are my key(s) to the game. If the newcomers don't continually find themselves out of position and are able to shed blocks, the defense will keep OSU in the game."
- Chris Ross: "I believe I've answered this ;)"
- Annice Mcewan: "J.W. will have to come out big, much like last year's Mississippi game and find a way to keep up with FSU scoring. If they can do that, OSU will force FSU to battle with them in turnovers and special teams."
- Josh Poteet: "Jameis gets hurt. Brandon Weeden still has eligibility."
Obviously everyone feels a little different about this. Some feel it's possible, maybe even likely. Others feel like it would take the greatest quarterback in OSU history to come back and that may not even do it. Others had shameless self plugs *cough cough* Chris *cough cough*. Consensus seems to be though that it will take a lot for OSU to pull of the upset.
How many of our predictions will come true? Probably not many. Our crew will be back to answer more questions next week.