Burnt Orange Nation

Colt McCoy doesn't worry about injury.

After watching his friend and rival Sam Bradford go down with a shoulder injury, Texas quarterback Colt McCoy could have been excused for having second thoughts about not going to the NFL last spring.

Did the hit that landed the Oklahoma quarterback on the injured list make him worry it could happen to him before he gets a chance to collect an NFL paycheck?

"Not at all," said McCoy, last season's runner-up to Bradford for the Heisman Trophy. "You've got just as much of a chance getting hurt riding in a car as you do playing the game of football."

Mack Brown does not want anyone to become too excited about D.J. Monroe.

"It’s funny, you guys were acting like he played a whole bunch," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "He played 12 plays — that’s counting everything."

Brown and Davis don’t plan to give Monroe too many more touches than that. Concerns about his size (5-foot-9, 170 pounds) and pass-blocking ability don’t make him an ideal third-down back.

Instead, they will expand on the packages that feature Monroe and try not to over-expose him. Davis said his play selection was limited to counter and zone runs, but Monroe also would be used in an empty backfield set.

Dan Buckner likes to talk. A lot.

Ted Dan Buckner likes to talk.

No, like really talk. Like late-shift radio DJ talk. Like talk the ears off a dead man talk.

The good thing is, Dan Buckner also likes to catch footballs.

And he's pretty good at that as well.

Our future. Freshmen are having an impact this year.

Nine true freshmen played in Texas' 59-20 season-opening victory over Louisiana-Monroe. That's typical in the Mack Brown era, as the Longhorns' coach sees the benefit of playing freshmen rather than having them redshirt.

What's not typical is how they played.

"They were better (in the opener) than other freshmen classes since we've been here," Brown said. "I think the fact that they can come in in January or June helps remove a lot of the distractions, like being away from home for the first time and going to class for the first time."

They get ESPN in Laramie and they've seen Sports Center. Wyoming isn't worried about the Horns' size, speed or strength.

"You see that the highlights don't lie," UW junior cornerback Marcell Gipson said. "They're just as fast, they're just as big and physical as the highlights show.

"But I feel like we can play with them. I feel like we can play with anybody, but that's just me being a Cowboy."

Once again, ESPN attempts to be more interactive with the viewers. They have started a Heisman watch and they want your input. Go vote.

They are talking swine in Austin and it has nothing to do with the Razorbacks.

Oklahoma

The NewsOK staff discusses Sam Bradford and Jermaine Gresham.

Landry Jones is known around the OU locker room. It has a lot to do with that mustache.

"We tease him about the mustache all the time," Oklahoma tackle Trent Williams said. "I’m predicting before the year is over, he’ll shave that thing off."

His teammates have quickly gravitated to the redshirt freshman who has been pressed into duty after Bradford’s shoulder injury last week against BYU.

Oklahoma State

Are the Pokes ready for the University of Houston?

Gundy understands. In the postgame euphoria of the Georgia victory, receiver Dez Bryant surmised that the Cowboys had just won the game that would "determine our season." Gundy knows better.

"The toughest game will be the next one for us," Gundy said, reflecting on a Houston team coming off a 55-7 rout of Northwestern State. "Because this team that comes in here next, they’ll be ready to play. They’re not going to be concerned about our victory [over Georgia]. ... We have to move forward now."

OSU is moving out of Big Brother's shadow.

It's not nice to stare, so avert your gaze from Norman, where the spin around Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford's AC joint is in overdrive. Instead, shift your focus nearly 100 miles north to Stillwater, where something amazing and worthy of your attention is occurring.

Oklahoma State, after dumping Georgia, 24-10, is suddenly a big deal — ranked in the top five of The Associated Press' Top 25 for the first time since 1985, star wide receiver Dez Bryant splashed across the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated.

USA Today has more love for the Cowboys.

Oklahoma State, however, is just as capable of offensive fireworks. Quarterback Zac Robinson, running back Kendall Hunter and receiver Dez Bryant pace an offense that mustered 699 yards against the Cougars last season, the second-highest one-game total in school history.

The Cowboys' outburst marked the fourth time in NCAA history that a team had a 300-yard passer, 200-yard runner and 200-yard receiver in the same game.

OSU is on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Again.

How effective are Big 12 offenses and defenses? Tim Griffin keeps track.

I've always been fascinated by the production of offenses and defenses in determining the success of a team over the course of a game or a season.

That's why one of the first things I always look at when analyzing statistics is the drive chart, which gives a handy reading of every possessions along with number of plays, yardage gained, time of possession and whether the team scored or not.

It made me wonder if you could determine a percentage to gauge the overall effectiveness of an offense or a defense, considering how many times they score -- and how they score -- when they have the ball.

The North

Todd Reesing owes his left tackle a dinner. Steak would be a good choice.

Having successfully protected the blindside of quarterback Todd Reesing for one week, Kansas University rookie left tackle Tanner Hawkinson would like to make clear that he is not opposed to a complimentary dinner courtesy of the senior signal-caller.

"Offensive line … they don’t get a lot of credit, and it didn’t really seem like a big glory position," said Hawkinson, who has worked at tight end, defensive end and offensive tackle in his first two years on campus. "At tight end, you catch balls, and on defense you make tackles. But it’s actually a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. It’s a one-on-one battle pretty much every play."

There will be a lot to talk about at the dinner table. Twins Justin and Jeremy Springer ended up playing linebacker for two different schools, Kansas and UTEP. Now they get to play each other.

Darrell Scott was ready. Unfortunately, Dan Hawkins didn't put him in.

Colorado sophomore tailback Darrell Scott said Tuesday he was disappointed and surprised that he drew only one rushing play during Sunday's loss to Colorado State. Scott said he was healthy. He sounded frustrated.

"I was warm. I was hyped. I was ready," Scott said. "Yeah (I was surprised), but if that's how it goes, that's how it goes."

The Buffs' season isn't dead just yet.

No doubt there are questions about Hawkins` fourth team, areas most folks didn`t think would be an issue just a few days ago. The running game, the defense -- everybody has a favorite problem, and they`ve made those thoughts very clear on every message board, chat room and talk show across the state.

Neither is it realistic to believe those problems will be healed overnight. While Hawkins insists that many of the errors committed in the opener can be addressed, we`re still not sure it`s going to be that easy to fix a running game that produced just 29 yards.

But there`s still time -- lots of time -- to address some of those problems and see how this season plays out.

Good luck to the Buffs. Colorado plays Toledo tonight.

The Buffaloes’ embarrassing 23-17 home loss to Colorado State was a downer to start the season. It's the main reason why Geer is excited about Friday’s game at Toledo (ESPN, 9 p.m. ET) -- even as the Buffaloes have only five days between games and will use one of them to travel across the country.

The South

Baylor wants to cut down on some of the mistakes before they play UConn.

Baylor is looking to cut down on penalties after getting hit 10 times 90 yards, including 40 yards in the fourth quarter.

"We made a couple of mistakes that we have to get right for Connecticut," Baylor receiver Ernest Smith said. "We have to get much better. We can’t just be good against Connecticut, we have to be great."

What is it like to coach basketball at a school known for its football program?

There is plenty of evidence that top-flight football and high-end hoops can coexist happily. The embarrassment of riches stuffed in the Florida trophy case serves as Exhibits A through C, after the school went for a back-to-back-to-back tango of men's basketball and football titles from April 2006 to April 2007.

Since 2003, Texas has appeared in three BCS bowls, won a football national championship, appeared in a men's basketball Final Four and thrown in an additional pair of trips to the Elite Eight. Oh, and the Longhorns also had that Kevin Durant guy.

Oklahoma finished as runner-up to Florida in last season's BCS title game and the basketball Sooners went to the Elite Eight. Sam Bradford won the Heisman Trophy, while Blake Griffin won just about every national player of the year award and went as the first pick in the NBA draft.

Billy Zane should take a shot at this one. The Heisman trophy speaks, as told to some ESPN writer.

Then again, maybe McCoy will pull it out. That wouldn't be half-bad. Have you seen the coeds in Austin? Three words: Ooh. La. La.

The University of Houston used to be a member of the Southwest Conference but were not invited to join the Big 12. NewsOK's Barry Tramel wonders what might have been.

And finally...  Some entertainment from the Big 12.

(Music possibly NSFW.)

Barking Carnival discovered the Wednesday weekly letter from Aggie AD Bill Byrne.

Another of the items our staff was monitoring last Saturday was pedestrian patterns around the stadium.

In other words, the staff was watching the Aggie offense. Aw, SNAP!

With the MSC closed for three years, we were unsure if folks would change the path and time frame traditionally used to access the Aggie Fan Zone, and the stadium gates.

One of the great things about Texas A&M is its rich history of traditions. Among the most unique Aggie traditions are the path and time frame that Aggies have used since time immemorial to access the Aggie Fan Zone and the stadium gates. That’s what college football is all about, folks.

Happy Friday