Sooners News Daily 11.17.14
Posted on: November 17, 2014
FOOTBALL
There are times where I feel like Hoover is critical simply for the sake of being critical and also others where I feel like he embraces this whole “people’s champ” gimmick a little too much which, IMO, can have a tendency to influence his approach to a story. But, for the most part, I do respect the job I feel he does most of the time that for whatever reasons no one else in the local media appears willing to do. And I think he (Hoover) absolutely nailed both of these stories. (TW1 & TW2)
‘It wasn’t Heupel’s offense that ran away with the game’ (Transcript)
This is just one of the stories, but trust me when I tell you every single OU beat writer is absolutely convinced Bob would never take the Florida job because he’d have to play his brother Mark every year. (TW)
‘Sooners tend to forget what they do best’ (Transcript)
Bob Stoops would be a “home run hire” for Florida. (ESPN)
Love this.
https://twitter.com/SoCalderoni/status/534120361231540224
Dick move, guy. (Deadspin)
I’m quite sure you’ve heard already, but just in case.
http://t.co/4bXilNU6qk has learned that Will Muschamp has been dismissed at Florida. Story upcoming.
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) November 16, 2014
And there’s this.
— nick (@nick_pants) November 16, 2014
Interesting suggestion, if for no other reason it involves Venables and not Stoops.
One smart plan of action by Florida would be to hire Chad Morris and for him to bring Venables with him.
— Captain Bruisin, cruise director (@Ian_A_Boyd) November 16, 2014
Brutal
#Georgia star RB Todd Gurley reportedly tears his left ACL in his return from suspension –> http://t.co/0hCoRiIW3A
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) November 17, 2014
BASKETBALL
OU cruised to an easy season opening win yesterday afternoon. (Sooner Sports)
And Buddy Hield set a record in the process.
Buddy Hield the first #Sooners player in history to make all 7 of his 3-point hoists. Old mark was 6.
— Guerin Emig (@GuerinEmig) November 16, 2014
TaShawn Thomas changes dynamic inside for OU. (NewsOK)
OTHER
I feel sad for the world that this exists.
49 Comments
Florida should Hire Josh H. And Art Briles, make things easier for us
Actually, if you want things easier for us, they should hire Charlie Strong. If he stays in Austin, Texas will be stout in the coming years. They’re getting better, while we’re getting worse.
I do agree, when Texas was looking for a coach, he was the only one I didn’t want them to get, my father said no way because he’s not a “Good Ole’ Boy” like Mack Brown but he’s what they needed
Strong has already make Texas tough, especially the defense. They will only get better in the off-season.
They should try and get muschamp as the DC and promote Montgomery to co-dc
I don’t think going to Thomas early was so horrible. It’s good to get him some more experience throwing the ball early in a high pressure situation. At worst he doesn’t do all that well, and you can count on your ground game to take it over, which is what happened.
Yeah, but shouldn’t we have turned to the run earlier? Nothing in the passing game was working. When we ran the ball we had success, after INT #2 I would have gone full tilt run.
What happened in the first half saturday was the equivalent of taking a Ferrari to a Baja race.
The running game wasn’t working early, either.
RBs were stoned at the LOS for zero to two yard gains at least 7 times in the first half and that doesn’t even include the two holding calls and a procedure that put the offense in a hole.
But did it have 3 turnovers in the first half? And Samaje was killing them on the first drive and we went to the pass.
Were we running the way we should? No. But the run game doesn’t come to you in one play or one series. TTU has one of the worst rush defenses in the nation. We had WAY more size than them, wear them down, which is what happened in the first half.
Should we run straight up the middle everytime? No. Keep em honest, put Ross in, run some off tackle or sweeps and then hit them in the middle.
And running Ross up the middle is still silly to me. It has worked a few times, but you are asking a One-cut speedster to be a power back, that is what you have Ford and Perine for.
I’m not a coach, but for me the playbook is open. If the opponent doesn’t respect your pass they can load up on the run and vice versa.
TT has one of the worst defenses in the country, which was really embarrassing our rushing game in the first half.
The same people that criticize the coaches for what they did Saturday would also be the first to criticize them if they stubbornly ran the ball with no success.
I am agreeing with you to some extent.
The playbook should be open. But with some reason, Cody Thomas, first road start, hostile environment, inconsistent receivers all year, top receiver out of the game, high winds at parts of the game, etc. All these things need to be taken into consideration.
Did we have SOME success throwing the ball, sure. Did they stop our run on occasion, sure. But the problem is we turned the ball over with the pass. One was very well within scoring range.
So I am not saying we should have had 0 passes, but you have to give the run a chance to work. It slows the game down, it burns time off the clock, gives your defense extra rest, and it wears their defense down. The problem hasn’t been the run, it is the run we call. We hit the middle every time and they will start keying on that. IE Why Thomas has so much success running the ball in the second half is because they keyed to the middle. I will give Josh props for noticing it, but had we played a better team, we would have been in a much deeper hole. But I digress, like I said, get Alex Ross on some sweeps, give him room to work, or even Ford or Perine, Perine is not as quick on changing direction but he is still capable. They crashed the middle almost every single time. Once we spread out run around, they showed they couldn’t defend it, it just took half a game to figure it out.
Second guessing is easy when the passes fall incomplete, but so would it have been if we had run and had to punt a couple more times in the first half to a tech team that was scoring at will–then we would have been in a deeper hole as well. Cody completed some nice important third down throws, and his passing was responsible for getting the ball down the field a couple of times. Nothing wrong with having confidence in his ability to throw under those circumstances.
It’s a game of adjustments.
It’s not only my contention that the passing was necessary in the first half because the running game wasn’t working, but also the OL did a better job in the second half than they did in the first and with no penalties.
Not that it matters but it you really shouldn’t count the third turnover, it was a calculated risk. Second Samaje was stuffed for a 2 yard run on first down before we went to the pass. Then he was stuffed for zero yards before we went to the pass again. After those first two runs, they adjusted and Samaje was ineffective. We didn’t run up the middle every time, although if wearing them down is the goal, that’s what you need to do. Cody had a great week of practice throwing the ball, and with the running plays not working it was perfectly fine to have him throw some, while still returning to the run on first down to try and establish it.
After the slant for a 1st down, Jh called a pass – a jump ball to Neal, which produced a first down in the red zone. Then when TT had just been beaten two plays in a row on passes and was presumably “loosened up for the run,” he called a third pass in a row and it was intercepted. Then after that debacle, he continued to call passes….
Besides, with the ten-yard, matador defense played by MS, there is plenty of reasons to run early to keep the defense on the sideline.
….first I’ve seen it, but you may have hit on the name for mstoops d’s…….the matador defense……….had a good laugh, thxs…….
The first INT was a blown-up play. TT defender got in CT’s face before he could throw the screen pass to Perine who had blockers in front.
Good play call, poor job of throwing the ball away.
Those good runs that Thomas had: y’all think that was zone read or keepers all the way? If they were keepers then JH did a very good job timing those calls. If they were zone read then Thomas did a heck of a job reading and keeping the ball in the RBs belly for a good while.
They didn’t look like reads. They looked like the same kind of called runs TK ran without success earlier in the year.
Heupel said that the boot was called. He also said the pull and run were reads by Thomas. I looks like Thomas runs it better than Knight.
Heupel nearly lost the game for OU…I defended him most of the year but no reason OU didnt run the ball on 90% of the plays in the first half too. Sorry Josh you werent ready for the job when you got it, and you still aren’t.
we think alike
My question which may or may not be answered after the season. Is JH the answer or vision moving forward. We have our opinions but we will know the answer soon.
this
Heupel himself identified his own problem…and a problem I think exists across the staff. He’s over-strategizing (I know that’s not a word). On offense you have the nation’s 2nd largest OL, 2-3 of the nation’s more powerful/talented running backs, along with one of the best blocking FB’s in the country, AND a speedy QB who can run like the wind. And you want to get the QB “involved” in the passing game? Um, ok…yeah, that’s cool…after you’ve dominated on the ground and you’re doing a little play action to keep the defense honest. Beyond that, keep it simple, and make the defense stop you. That’s your strategy. Stop trying to over-think it. Just ram it down their throats. And if that doesn’t work, THEN go to your backup plan. Oh, and by ram it down their throats, I don’t mean run it up the middle every single time.
They ran the ball for 68 yards on 50% of the plays in the first half. That would translate into about 122 yds for the half if they ran 90%. Without CT’s crucial 3rd and eight/3rd and five pass completions for first downs in the only first half TD drive it is most likely OU has no score in the first half.
Had the OL blocked as well in the first half as they did in the second and not committed so many untimely penalties on 1st down the running game would have showed up sooner.
Many of the comments on this site think Heupel made a mistake by throwing 17 times in the first half. But Coach Stoops said that Cody Thomas looked good throwing during the week. Perhaps the commentators not being at practice, have no idea about Cody’s potential to pass the ball or less faith in Cody than the coach Heupel does. Heupel was trying to be balanced as always running and passing. Players make plays or don’t make plays.
I have no problem throwing the ball…..SOME. BUT 17 times with a backup QB on the road against the worst rush defense on the planet. I know what Bob said but I believe it is him protecting Josh. Not to mention all the sudden in 2nd half they ran zone read as well which was not called at all first half.
Mike on the hand can’t do anything about Ahmad Thomas blowing assignments Again. Though he does need to bench him. But his calls weren’t bad it was execution. Josh has only had 2 games in my option where he put guys in position to succeed. The rest of the time it’s like he completely out thinks himself and therefore has ridiculous gameplans.
Perhaps he is thinking that Tech would load the box and he needed to get the LB/safeties to think about coverage. But this would mean that he has no faith in the O-Line to run against Tech’s 8 man front.
Still, we fans see players differently than coaches do. I mean, you called Thomas a back up, but maybe his skills, at least in the coaches minds, warranted 17 passes and 17 runs. If you are a serious OU fan, as I think you are, you’ll recall that in a number of games OU likes to pass to set up the run. Whether that was the right scheme or not I don’t know.
“worst rush defense” That’s why he kept returning to the run on first down, and then threw after the runs got stuffed. Throwing 17 times, (really 16) wasn’t excessive when you consider the down and distance and the fact that he kept trying to run, unsuccessfully.
Going into the season, especially after our performance in the Sugar Bowl, I never thought I’d be saying this, but we need a new OC and DC. The first half play calls and defense vs. Taco Tech were horrible.
The lady that got the ball jacked did get a AJ Green TD ball later in the game though.
That move by the Saints fan was very hard to watch, she was a child you are suppose to be a grown man. Pissed me off.
yeah, Donkey of the Day!!!
sad to think…Start of 4th quarter…OU has only a 4 pt. lead,
against this bunch of slackjawed goat ropers..
.
What is wrong with me…Parl Blart 2 looks awesome!
If OU fired both the OC and DC who would you want in those positions? Muschamp? Mangino?
I would take Muschamp, and probably go after Rhett Lashlee from Auburn.
I don’t want mike fired. What he did last year with a D that should have been dreadful was great. But for whatever reason he has been much more passive this year.
OC my first thought would be either. Norvell or Gundy. Next in line would be Ohio state’s OC. That has taken a team and improved them week after week with the talent he has.
Mike has been calling the game likes he’s scared. JMO
Seems like there has been a slight shift in the wind. Not saying everyone wants Stoops to leave, but I’d say after the last few weeks the number of fans that at least wouldn’t mind if he did has increased substantially. As for JH I consider the debate pretty much closed. I believed in and even defended him up until this year, but by now it’s obvious he just isn’t cut out for this job. Not to sure Mike is either – almost seems like maybe the game has just passed him by. Maybe that would explain the poor defenses he had at Arizona all those years.
Can’t believe OU fans would actually want to see Coach “F-Bomb” Muschamp on the OU sideline.
Mind boggling.
What we have seen from the D this year has been mind boggling.
To me it has been disappointing.
Just the thought of that guy at OU makes me want to blow beads.
LOL Blow Beads.
It seems that the loudest are usually the most passionate and uninformed.
You made me think of Gibran’s The Prophet
On Reason And Passion
Hoover is completely off base in both those articles. In the first one, he shows no awareness of how many times OU did in fact run on first down in the first half and, after the first series, how completely ineffectual the run was. In the second, he loses sight of the difference between early in the season and late in the season, not to mention the difference in defenses, and apparently didn’t notice that Knight was carrying the ball a lot more as the season progressed as well.
Clay Horning who I sometimes think is ok, also is off the mark here. Not to rehash old news but the truth is that in the 2011 Bedlam game, everyone who knew anything, including our coaches recognized that there was no way we could run the ball and win against OSU. We couldn’t run the ball successfully and consistently period, and we weren’t gonna be able to stop OSU’s offense at all. They figured the only realistic chance we had to win was to get into a shootout and hope that Landry could miraculously carry the team. It was really the only choice available and obviously it failed miserably.
The game this week was totally different, and if the reporters refuse to look at what was actually happening on the field in the first half when we ran the ball, it doesn’t surprise me that they come up with wacky conclusions.