Sports Extra - Blogs - Gameday Instant Analysis Taking it easy for Week 3

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Gameday Instant Analysis: Taking it easy for Week 3
Published: 9/16/2012 12:49 AM
Last Modified: 9/16/2012 12:49 AM

With Oklahoma off this week and Oklahoma State and Tulsa doing some light lifting, it's a pretty easy week to offer our instant analysis.

So to make it a little more challenging, I've added a few items.

1. If I'm an OSU fan, I'd be more worried about the health of the defense than Wes Lunt

You never like to see anyone hurt, so we feel for OSU freshman quarterback Wes Lunt, who left Saturday's win over Louisiana in the first series with a knee injury.

Mike Gundy played the sneaky coach card after the game, saying he wouldn't talk about Lunt's injury until right before the Texas game in two weeks (Just a guess here, but I don't think Texas is too scared).

If you believe the Fox Sports folks, they said during the game telecast Lunt's injury was serious enough to cost him a few games but not season threatening.

That's good news, although J.W. Walsh looked plenty capable against a Louisiana team that should have enough athletes to make the Cowboys work.

A long-term absence for Lunt would be more of an issue for his development than for this year's won-loss total.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The final win total for this OSU team comes down to defense. If the Cowboys can prove the Arizona game was an aberration, then this team might go places. If a defense built on turning people over continues to be unable to force turnovers, the losses could start piling up.

2. Two thumbs up for Tulsa taking care of business
It's been a rough two weeks for TU football.

First, the Golden Hurricane suffered through a disappointing loss at Iowa State. The next week, Tulsa watched Tulane's Devon Walker go through a real-life tragedy.

So full credit to Tulsa and coach Bill Blankenship for handling its business with efficiency Saturday night against Nicholls State.

If you don't have anything to do next Saturday night, think about heading out to Chapman Stadium. Tulsa faces Fresno State next week at 7 p.m. Fresno State took former Big 12 and current Pac-12 member Colorado to the woodshed Saturday night, 69-14.

In fact, with the meltdown going on at Arkansas and Conference USA's less-than-stellar start, Fresno might be the toughest game left on TU's schedule.

3. TCU: Welcome to the Big 12... sort of
TCU is one of the Big 12's two new members. It's a reason to celebrate, right? So how does the Big 12 roll out the red carpet? By sending the Horned Frogs to Kansas for their conference opener.

I guess TCU should be thankful for being allowed to work itself into the new league. But wouldn't Saturday have been a good time to celebrate? I'm happy to cast a critical eye the way of the all-powerful SEC (more on that next), but you have to give that league credit for the way it introduced its new teams.

Texas A&M and Missouri got nationally-televised home conference openers against perennial league powers ranked in the top 20.

TCU gets to open at Kansas at 11 a.m. on FX, then plays road league games against defending champ Oklahoma State, West Virginia and Texas.

Welcome to the Big 12. Glad you guys could join.

4. Even the SEC isn't immune to college football parity
Look, I get that the SEC produces the best teams in college football.

You've got the trophies, I know.

But can we finally quit pretending the SEC schedule is this weekly NFL-esque gauntlet?

Alabama is great. LSU looks pretty good. Georgia, South Carolina and Florida too.

But just like every other conference, the SEC has its dogs. In back-to-back weeks teams from the Sun Belt Conference have overtime wins over the SEC.

Louisiana-Monroe nearly swept Arkansas and Auburn on consecutive weekends. A Texas offense that could only manage 37 points against Wyoming hung 66 on Ole Miss.

A&M and Missouri weren't even in the conference last year. If they weren't all that tough in 2011, sticking a SEC logo on their fields this year doesn't change that, right?

The defending champs maybe be headed for a repeat, but that doesn't mean the rest of their league mates are perfect.

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The Editor's Desk

Tulsa World Sports Editor Michael Peters has nearly 20 years of daily newspaper experience. A 1993 graduate of Texas A&M, he worked at papers in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Beaumont, Texas, and Galveston, Texas, before joining the Houston Chronicle as High School Sports Editor in 2008. While in Houston, he coordinated coverage of the 2008 Texas Class 5A state football championships and the 2011 NCAA Men's Final Four.

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