WTKA Roundtable 9/17/2026: The Otter, The Weasel, and The Rat

Things Discussed: Offense: The things they did made sense; that's an unusual thing for us. I'd take all five WMU starters over Oklahoma's. Huge respect for Venables. Defense: You could tell Jay Hill learned to coach at Weber State not the NFL. Can we run a 3-3-5 as a base? Only if you can get away with it. Jay Hill put on a coaching clinic. Lea'ea gets his laurels. He balled out in 19 snaps. Have to see if this holds up for Iowa because the true freshman RG was their best IOL. Only a few of those were runs. Might work as a 3-3-5 end because Nichols isn't quite there yet vs the run. Hat tip to Rocky Beers. That dude can play ball. Put Chase Taylor in hell all game, got Bracy too. Offense: execution was much better. Bryce is Vince Young-level runner. Hiter was ruining some of the zone reads by seizing the ball. Issues with guards: some of that is OU DTs are great. Issues with kickouts: some of that was OU is super aggressive. Manuel Beigel: plays heavy, doesn't combo through guys. Promising but not a pass protector. A year away from being not just a Rhino. Difference this year is they were willing to run Bryce and willing to take a shot downfield. Bryce progression: big step forward but they were still giving him half-field reads. Sometimes didn't have anybody because Venables knew the stopgap was coming. Comp for him was Vince Young, who redshirted as a freshman. Being rich doesn't suddenly change the fundamental rules about developing a quarterback. UTEP gameplan? System defense, so you have to climb and get to your second block. Keep having Bryce carry the ball.