Overrated? Star system. Underrated? Quarterbacks as equalizers.
Published: 9/24/2012 8:30 PM
Last Modified: 9/24/2012 8:30 PM
I’ve got a story in Tuesday’s Tulsa World that delves into the issue of how OSU has managed to beat Texas each of the last two seasons despite being out-recruited by the Longhorns every year of the Mike Gundy era.
I showed offensive coordinator Todd Monken the Rivals.com and Scout.com recruiting rankings for OSU and Texas each of the last eight years. I mentioned to him that -- never mind the rankings -- OSU seems to do a good job of evaluating recruits.
And Monken steered the conversation in what I thought was an interesting direction. He said it’s all a matter of getting the right guys at the right spots -- or perhaps just the right guy.
“I think if you have, say, a Zac Robinson or you have a Brandon Weeden, if you have a great quarterback, that’s the equalizer,” Monken said. “I think if you get a couple of good skill players and then (opponents) don’t and they go through a rut where they don’t have them, then all of a sudden it tips it in your favor.”
To be clear, Texas is not in a skill position rut in 2012. Quarterback David Ash seems to be coming of age and the Longhorns produced their second-best total offense figure in school history in their most recent game.
OSU hit a skill position lottery in 2010 and 2011. Justin Blackmon won two Biletnikoff Awards. Weeden walked on after giving professional baseball a shot and rewrote the passing chapters of the school record book. He and Blackmon were first-round NFL draft picks.
Blackmon was a three-star recruit. Monken said the “star” system for rating recruits is based on how many offers you get. (And he didn’t say this, but it’s also based on who the offers are from.) Because of that, the “star” system is overrated.
“But not overrated is having a really good quarterback,” Monken said. “That’s underrated. You can get by a little bit more in college if you are great on defense, but if you want to win at the highest level, you get yourself a really good quarterback and things are a lot easier.”
Written by
Jimmie Tramel
Sports Writer
