CRFF Roundtable Week 3: UTSA

The CRFF staff answers questions that I pose to them every week. This week they tackled the subject of Missouri State, UTSA, and the QB situation.

The Missouri State game was ______________.

• Gerald Tracy: "Disappointing. A D2 school comes in, vandalizes parts of our campus and the team plays like they're still in bed. Should've been a 50 on the board for OSU, least."
• Robert Whetsell: "Intriguing. Definitely flat, but Daxx Garman's emergence could change a lot."
• Gunter Sharp: "Dull...I spent the 2nd half wishing it would end."
• Taylor York: "A let down. The secondary played poorly and even with a pocket passer we all clamored for, the offense couldn't crack 50 points against a lowly FCS team. Ugh."
• Cade Webb: "Forgetful...given the circumstances, I'm happy with a win."
• Steve Dodson: "Boring. Much in the same way NFL preseason games are a waste of time. Unless you're, say, KSU or ISU, playing FCS teams is essentially the celebration of a bye-week in front of your fans."
• Derek Hatridge: "Bizarre. An FCS opponent that, the week before, looked like OSU should decimate turned out not to be the case. Then JW goes down, a unicorn starts taking snaps and we now see that the Pokes have a QB that can throw."
• Josh Poteet: "Disheartening. The team played so well against Florida State and then played poorly against a D2 school. We didn't look excited to be there on either side of the ball."
• Cory Treece: "Concerning. The defense was phenomenal against FSU, but they gave up way too much against a less inferior opponent. I also felt the offensive play calling was pretty bad. Maybe we were just keeping it vanilla."
• Dekota Gregory: "Disappointing. I had more confidence about the season after week one's loss, then I do now after Saturday's win."
• Evan Jones: "Deflating. It's hard to judge a team performance on games against FCS opponents. I wanted to see a 62-10 win."
• Chris Ross: "Clean up on isle 5! In other words, a mess. The Cowboys showed how young they were by struggling to stay motivated. Hopefully it's out of their system, because it could cost them against anyone else left on the schedule."
• Pokelahoma: "Not surprising. This team is young. They're going to be up and down. They have the talent to beat anyone but youth can do weird things during the week of preparation leading up to the game. A bit concerning about the secondary though."

What is your confidence level going into a potential trap game against UTSA?

• Gerald Tracy: "Very high. This team can play, we've all seen it. They want to be ranked and no matter who is the quarterback I expect the offense to roll."
• Robert Whetsell: "I don't think this has ever been a trap game, due to the schedule. If last week, this would have been big trouble. This week the players should get their feet back under them, and again, Garman's presence changes the complexion of the game."
• Gunter Sharp: "I think we'll start slow trying to do too much with the running game and then Daxx will get in rhythm and it will be a double digit victory."
• Taylor York: "Gundy is saying everything he can to make sure the entire program takes this game seriously. My confidence in OSU is medium-high. UTSA is good, but OSU should win. The key will be effort throughout the entire game because it will be closer than we all would like. The Pokes should still pull out a win."
• Cade Webb: "I think we come out with a win pretty easily. They could provide some problems on defense, but I don't see that happening."
• Steve Dodson: "Medium-high. I think the 'trap game' aspect disappeared when UTSA took Arizona to the wire...I expect the team to be ready. UTSA is a sound football team, but let's not confuse them with Alabama. Pokes by two TD's.
• Derek Hatridge: "UTSA is someone who shouldn't be treated lightly. Thy;re an amazingly talented up-and-coming team with plenty of strengths. Cowboys are going to have to be A LOT better than last week to get out of this one alive."
• Josh Poteet: "It's not a trap game. There is nothing to look forward to in order to trap the Cowboys. That being said, my confidence level is still low. UTSA is a well coached and veteran squad. If people think we are going to run away with this game, they need to reevaluate."
• Cory Treece: "Not high. I've been saying for a few weeks that UTSA is going to give us all we want, and I would take the plus side of the line when it comes out. I think we still win, but it will be 10 points or less."
• Dekota Gregory: "I'm about 75% sure OSU will win, but I don't think it'll be pretty. Fans will probably be uncomfortable most of the game."
• Evan Jones: "I think Gundy will have our guys ready to play I'm a little nervous with Daxx starting, but not so much I think we're going to lose. I think we will come out with a W, but not by a big number."
• Chris Ross: "Threat Level Midnight. UTSA has already shown to be a dangerous team. They may have only been playing football for four years, but they have a coach that;s won a National Championship, a decent TV market, and fertile recruiting grounds. We've all seen non-power 5 teams do damage in the Top 25 with much less. I'm not sure UTSA isn't the next Boise State or UCF in the making."
• Pokelahoma: "This team crushed Houston and and almost beat Arizona...I think we have more talent but winning football stars on the lines and their d-line will hurt our uhh...inexperienced o-line. I'm at 40 percent."

What does Daxx Garman add most to the offense?

• Robert Whetsell: "If you don't answer with 'vertical passing threat,' then I can't help you."

What is the biggest thing OSU will miss about JW Walsh?

• Gerald Tracy: "His rushing ability. That's it. I think any quarterback can become a leader and if Daxx has to, I fully expect him to be."
• Robert Whetsell: "It's not the leadership in general, but the kind of leadership. He has what Weeden had...the ability to COMMAND the offense. The ability to step in the huddle, calm and cool, and TELL them what they are about to do. They will also miss his wheels, but remember that the best offense OSU ever had was run by a QB who didn't run."
• Gunter Sharp: "His arm strength..............nah, his leadership."
• Taylor York: "His legs. I wanted to see JW put together a Zac Robinson type year, running all over the place. Seriously I predicted big rising numbers from him this year. Full on zone-read, RG III, Cam Newton type stuff. I kid about JW, but he is a leader and a damn good football player."
• Cade Webb: "We will miss two things about Walsh: 1. His leadership. 2. His ability to create on the run.
• Steve Dodson: "His pocket presence and ability to scramble."
• Derek Hatridge: "His wheels would be one, but I think the RBs can take care of that. The biggest loss is his leadership. Walsh has a cool head about him and knows how to keep his team focused. He might as well don a headset on the sidelines and be another coach while he's injured."
• Josh Poteet: "His experience. It's not that he has 40 games under his belt, but compared to Daxx, JW looks like Peyton Manning."
• Cory Treece: "His ability to win games at all costs. It wasn't always pretty, but his gutsy effort against FSU was amazing. Also, we will miss that QB sneak play. When called at the right time it's so effective."
• Dekota Gregory: "Definitely his scrambling ability. He was able to make plays with his legs and keep that in the back of defenses minds."
• Evan Jones: "His command of the offense, his leadership, and his quick legs behind a young, struggling offensive line."
• Chris Ross: "It'll take a lot more than a bullet to the brain, lungs, heart, back and balls to kill J.W Walsh. Don't rule him out of the game just yet. After all, he heals faster than a normal human being. If he isn't ready to go though, it will be his experience. Missouri State did some things to expose the weakness of the offensive line, and UTSA will look to exploit that. Daxx's arm strength isn't going to mean much if he doesn't have time to make throws, and Walsh at least has the ability to extend plays with his feet."
• Pokelahoma: "His Patton-esk, lunch-bucket-hauling, coaches-kid, workaholic, leadership, enthusiastic effort..."