Spotlight #1: Oklahoma WR Ryan Broyles
Spotlight #2: Oklahoma DE Frank Alexander
1st quarter
14:32: Broyles catches one in the flat, can’t do much with it.
12:24: Broyles wide open in space after a play fake, good speed, able to catch it and make the lunge for the end zone, but just steps out of bounds.
11:03: Alexander just misses a deflection at the line.
10:06: Broyles with a sizeable punt return in space, but it’s brought back by a hold away from the ball.
8:19: Broyles does a nice job of catching a low underthrow by Landry Jones.
4:36: Broyles catches a nice throw in a tight window for 27 over the middle.
4:21: Broyles catches a short one, can’t do much with it.
3:52: Broyles catches a short underneath pass.
2:31: Alexander pushed around on a run play.
1:06: Alexander with a very nice pass rush against a double team.
0:39: Alexander whiffs on an unblocked tackle up the middle.
2nd quarter
14:46: Broyles may be small, but a nice block after another receiver catches a short pass helps the play go for a few more yards after the catch.
14:15: Broyles takes a short one for a few yards. Nice run after.
13:40: Kansas State cornerback Nigel Malone with his 5th pick of the year. He’s made a few nice plays today and covered Kenny Stills well, though he was not on Stills here. Malone is a junior and at 5-10 175, he’s unlikely to come out early, especially since he’s only been at Kansas State for this year. He was a JuCo transfer. A note on Landry Jones, he really stared down his receiver here, leading to the pick. Bad play.
12:54: Alexander can’t chase down a guy off the edge.
12:32: Broyles catches one short, good play in space for a first down and more. 16 yards.
12:17: Broyles short for 4 yards.
6:24: Alexander can’t change direction in the open field as Kansas State’s mobile quarterback jukes him out.
5:05: Quarterback run to Alexander’s side. Small gain after a tackle by stud sophomore safety Tony Jefferson.
3:21: Broyles catches one short for a first, can’t do anything afterwards as the defense was right there.
2:03: Malone with his 2nd pick of the game, his 6th of the season, this time he was covering Kenny Stills. Bad throw by Jones and a great play by Malone again. Malone is having a great game, 2 picks and Kenny Stills has been held to 2 receptions.
1:17: Alexander can’t quite recover a fumble on the sideline in bounds. Nice effort, but nothing to show for it.
0:19: Alexander into the backfield, gets in on a combined short tackle from behind. The back fumbled on this play
0:14: Broyles can’t pick up the ball in the air in time to catch it deep. He was also well covered.
0:10: Broyles jammed well at the line. He is small.
3rd quarter
11:58: Alexander inside move and a sack.
10:54: Broyles targeted, but nice play by the defensive back to bat it out.
10:22: Broyles catches it in space, nice run after, especially his tightrope alone the sideline to score a touchdown. 29 yards.
9:33: Alexander disengages, can’t quite make the ankle tackle on the quarterback.
6:18: Broyles 11 yards on a slant. Caught it in stride well.
4:21: Sack by Oklahoma’s other defensive end, Ronnell Lewis. The former linebacker is making plays today. He projects as a 3-4 outside linebacker at the next level.
2:05: Jones underthrown to Broyles, incomplete.
1:59: Broyles goes up and gets one in stride against tough coverage. He catches it well. A natural pass catcher, he doesn’t use his body first to catch. He uses his hands.
0:55: Alexander hits the quarterback as he throws.
0:48: Alexander in on a sack with Tony Jefferson, who was a blitzing safety.
4th quarter
14:11: Alexander gets into the backfield, but Kansas State’s mobile quarterback dodges the sack.
13:47: Alexander double teamed, a good job to get off the block. Oklahoma is up 51-17 so Alexander is getting a chance to show his pass rushing abilities on every play. He looks good.
11:44: Broyles gets the short pass and takes it for a solid gain and a first down.
11:03: Oklahoma has a huge lead, but Broyles doesn’t care, he still gives it his all blocking downfield with a strong motor on a long touchdown run by Oklahoma’s fullback.
0:00: I always love discovering new players I had never heard of. Nigel Malone did a great job in this game, picking off 2 of Landry Jones’ passes, to give him 6 on the year, 2nd in the FBS. He also did a solid job on Kenny Stills, limiting him to 4 catches, his lowest total of the season. Malone may be undersized, but if he has a good senior season as a good finish to this sack, he could be a fairly high draft pick.
With Stills well covered by Malone, Landry Jones leaned on Ryan Broyles early and often and Broyles didn’t let him down. Broyles caught 14 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown. He caught a lot of short stuff and was able to use his open field abilities to get a lot of yards after the catch. He’s a natural receiver and looks very fluid. He knows how to get open inside and he’s got solid speed.
He might not have the size or the athleticism to be a #1 receiver at the next level, but he can be a nice possession #2 receiver or a slot receiver and he has return ability as well. He also showed an impressive motor and a lot of fight as a run blocker. He’s small and might have some trouble with jams at the line, but I think his motor makes up for this some. I would be very surprised if he wasn’t a productive player at the next level.
Powered by Ryan Broyles, Landry Jones went 35 of 47 for 505 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 2 picks. However, as I mentioned, a lot of Jones’ stuff went short to Broyles. In fact, he was just 5-11 on throws on 15+ all night and he did have those 2 ugly picks. He’s got a lot to work on, but he’s still in the running to be the 2nd quarterback off the board behind Andrew Luck, though after a rough week against Texas Tech and this game, his stock is slipping just a bit.
On the defensive side of the ball, Frank Alexander showed great pass rush ability. For some reason, the stat sheet doesn’t show it, but he was in on at least one sack. He also had a quarterback hit and a sack that was missed because Kansas State has one of the most mobile quarterbacks in college football. He has 7.5 sacks on the season and got consistent pressure in this one and showed impressive pass rushing moves. However, he did struggle against the run, which makes sense because he’s just 255 pounds. There’s no denying his pass rushing ability with 7.5 sacks this year and 7.5 last year, but he might just be a 3-4 linebacker at the next level and we didn’t see him in coverage at all in this one. I’d say he’s a 2nd rounder.
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