UTEP Recap – Three Studs and Three Duds

Reggie Grimes had himself a day, and was easily the biggest positive on Saturday. Racking up 2.5 sacks, as well as a QB hurry. He was in the backfield nearly every play, and was a huge disruptor against both the pass and the run. He absolutely took me by surprise, and proved why he won the starting job over Marcus Stripling. He was just fantastic.

Number Two – Brayden Willis

If there’s anyone that comes close to what Reggie Grimes did, it’s absolutely Brayden Willis. The sixth year senior hauled in three catches for 40 yards and two touchdowns, but where he really shined is his run blocking. He beat his man nearly every play, and played with tons of effort and intensity. On Gavin Freeman’s 46 yard touchdown run, he sprinted down the field and made a phenomenal diving block to give Freeman the space to get into the endzone. All in all, Willis had a great performance, and showed us that he’s ready to take on the responsibility of being TE1.

Number Three – Danny Stutsman

Danny Stutsman was all over the field Saturday, plain and simple. With nine total tackles, two pass deflections, as well as a QB hurry, Stutsman did it all. He played with tons of physicality, piledriving the UTEP RB after they met in the hole. He displayed great fundamentals, and was solid in coverage as well, mere inches from two interceptions. After hearing BV talk about him all off-season, he definitely lived up to expectations.

Three Duds

Number One – Jalil Farooq

Jalil Farooq comes in as our first dud of the day. He only had one catch for nine yards, and after hearing him being talked up all off-season, I expected a bit more from him. However, I will cut him some slack here. Lebby seemed to have ran a very basic, vanilla offense against UTEP. This won’t be the offense that we see later in the season. No reason to panic yet folks. I still expect Farooq to be a big part of this offense later down the road, however, his performance Saturday was less than ideal.

Number Two – Aaryn Parks

Before I get too far into this one, let me preface this by mentioning that Parks didn’t play a whole heck of a lot this game. However, when he was in, he got beat badly in pass protection, allowing one of only two sacks on the game. In the run game he was much better, but he has to get better protecting the passer.

Number Three – The Student Section

This one isn’t a player, but it definitely still applies. The OU student section is lackluster yet again. I understand that it was extremely hot down by the field, but if we want to be SEC ready, we have to show up in all aspects. Our student section already has a reputation of being mediocre. That has to change as soon as possible. I won’t be too hard on them today for not sticking around for a blowout in the heat, but if this continues there may be some serious issues.