Three-point stance: Spurrier, OUs bumble, UW on rise
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I hate it, absolutely hate it, when teams have a chance to step on the throat of a bitter rival and then lay a complete egg. I went off on Georgia for doing so against Alabama a weekend ago, but that wasn't nearly as unexpected as Oklahoma's effort against Texas this past weekend. Georgia's rival is Florida or Georgia Tech or Tennessee, but Alabama is certainly an SEC rival. Oklahoma and Texas and the Red River Shootout, that's clear cut hatred between the teams. And following one of the worst losses in Texas history and one of the most embarrassing weeks in recent memory for any coach, Charlie Strong and Texas were ripe for a beatdown.
And Oklahoma, you blew it. Let's give credit where credit is due. Texas played much better than it did against TCU, that's for sure and showed immense pride. And what did Oklahoma show? They are not ready for prime time and tackled like Pop Warner kids. Big Game Bob Stoops was ready for a big year, or so I thought. I was impressed with the moxie and guts of this team against teams like Tennessee and West Virginia and felt quarterback Baker Mayfield was going to be a guy who willed his team to win.
This was an awful loss that will be used against Stoops in recruiting. Stoops is now 6-6 in his past 12 games against Power Five teams, he's lost nine games since 2012 at home or on a neutral field and it's the second time in three years he's lost to Texas as a double-digit favorite. Watching losses like this is like watching the bad guy in a movie let the hero live, walking away and expecting his henchmen to finish him off. OU had a chance to stomp on Texas, continue the negative media frenzy in Austin and focus on TCU and Baylor down the stretch. Now? Could be a three- or four-loss season and another disappointing year.
3. Wisconsin making some noise
How about the recruiting at Wisconsin, especially in-season where kids don't pull the trigger that often? A 4-2 start may not be what fans had hoped for, but losses to Alabama and an undefeated Iowa team aren't bad at all and the win over Nebraska this past weekend was a thriller and very important.
But it's the recruiting I'm jazzed about. Since the season started, the Badgers have landed three four-star recruits and a three-star from some key areas. It started with defensive back Ke'Shan Pennamon from Florida, who chose the Badgers over Georgia Tech, Utah, Colorado and a few others and then the double dip from Arizona came with commitments from 2016 four-star DT Garrett Rand and 2017 four-star OL Kayden Lyles (above), who had offers from Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, Nebraska, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and others. And just this week they went into Maryland and pulled away four-star DB Eric Burrell who had offers from Virginia Tech, Virginia, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and others in the region.
Recruiting at Wisconsin, with very few home-grown standouts, isn't easy, so hats off to Paul Chryst and his staff for a strong start to the second half of the 2016 cycle. The Badgers are currently No. 15 in the country and it's hard for me to remember the last time they were this high so late. That's probably because the highest they have ever finished in Rivals.com history is 33rd in 2005 and 2015.
Mike Farrell
National Recruiting Director