The Football Brainiacs

—The Sooners had multiple dropped passes, and still Mayfield finished 23 of 33.  If guys catch the ball early on, he’s closer to 30 of 33 and there’s no telling how many yards and scores go on the board.

—In the 1st quarter, the O-Line, like the rest of the offense wasn’t focused on their technique.  Guys whiffed on blocks, dropped their hands in pass protection, let people slide off of blocks, and in general it seemed like they were just too amped up to focus.

—1st four drives went…False Start, punt.  Holding, Punt.  Blown up reverse, Punt.  Mixon Dropped pass in the redzone, Field goal.  Mead Dropped Pass, Punt.

—Baker Mayfield had a record night, but it could have been better.  Like everyone else on the offense, Baker was really amped up.  Three plays in particular jumped out to me early that had everyone screaming at the O Line.  Great wailing and gnashing of teeth was heard across Norman as the woes of the O line were sung, but on those three plays Baker jumped outside the pocket for no reason.  He had good solid pockets to step into, but for whatever reason rolled outside of his protection into trouble.

—As the 2nd quarter rolled around, it seemed like everyone started to calm down.  The thing that is the most encouraging as I watched the game was how much better everyone got as the game wore on.

—On the TD to Westbrook, Baker steps up into the pocket, keeps his eyes downfield and scores.  On the pass to Mixon which was a design rollout right, he steps back into his protection left, keeps his eyes downfield, delivers a strike on the run and he’s off and running.  Subsequently, the dropped passes stopped, the offensive penalties ended and OU started having success.

—To me Dru Samia is your starter this week at RT.  St. John’s struggles with his technique continued, and while Dru is a true freshman and only goes 285, he is very fundamentally sound.  He looks very smooth in protection and combo blocks like a veteran who’s been playing a few years.  Watching both St. John and Farniok when he got in there, they just struggle too much to be technically sound in getting their head across and dropping their hands.   If I’m Coach B, I’m building for the future now and letting my two freshman tackles get better with every rep.  I thought that both Dru and Orlando Brown had really good games, and watching how much better they got as the game wore on gives me optimism.

—A couple of positives that I liked is that even though OU struggled to execute in the running game early, when they needed to get yards in short yardage on 3rd and 2, as well as the 1st and goal at the 2, and on the keeper by Mayfield, they ran the ball and scored or got the 1st down.  How many times in the past have you seen a Sooner team get turned away in the redzone or in short yardage after not being able to pick up a yard or two?

—I think there’s a lot to build on going into this week, and something I really liked about the team is that even though it’s only 3-0 going into the 2nd quarter, nobody panicked, nobody got down on each other, and they just kept playing.

—The theme for me if I’m coaching this week is focusing on details, technique and execution.  Early if OU does’t jump offsides, hold, run the wrong direction, fall down in the hole, drop three passes, whiff on blocks etc, then we’re singing the praises of this team.  So for such a young team offensively (13 freshman and sophomores on the two deep) this may have been the best thing that could have happened to them.

—Coming out of camp the prevailing theme was how everyone was excited, and how many playmakers there were and on and on and on.  I think to a degree guys were really wanting to watch what happened and in doing so, weren’t focused on the details enough.  So a valuable lesson may have been learned this week.  Guys have to do their jobs and focus on the details or the offense isn’t going anywhere.

—Is there cause for concern, to a degree yes, but you’re never as bad as you think you are.  Watching this team improve quarter to quarter is and was very encouraging.  OU has a bonafide leader in Baker Mayfield, and his confidence is contagious.  Trevor Knight’s leadership has and will be a big thing that rubs off too.  The first guy to run down to congratulate Mixon on his long catch and run for a td was Samaje Perine.  So I love the selflessness and how much the guys seem to like each other.  There appears to be good team chemistry.

—OU has had some recent recruiting success. They have some pieces in place that need some time to develop. If OU can win this Saturday they’ll keep the recruiting momentum going and afford themselves time to develop in less competitive match-ups.  The defensive line for the Vols is one of the best OU is going to see in the regular season. They have to be licking their chops coming into this weekend.  While I’m optimistic by nature, OU is not nearly as good on the offensive line as they were a year ago.  The Sooners lost two NFL tackles and some good tough guards to graduation, and now have three 1st or 2nd year players in Samia, Brown and Alvarez starting.

—Can OU beat Tennessee?  Absolutely.  The beauty of the offensive system that Lincoln Riley employs is that you can mask deficiencies up front with getting the ball out quick and dictating matchups.  Tennessee will not give OU big cushions to work with, and I guarantee you’re going to see a lot of tight man coverage.  The Vols staff has to feel like if they can cover for just a little while then they can pressure Mayfield.  We’re going to find out who OU is Saturday night.  We’re going to see how good Lincoln Riley can gameplan, and how good the Sooners actually are up front.

—As always I think that turnovers, penalties and all of the bad things we saw in the 1st quarter will be the difference.  Can OU make less mistakes than Tennessee?  Can OU execute when it counts?  Can OU really go into a hostile environment of over 100,000 people who are hungry and itching for the breakthrough win they haven’t had in the last decade or more and play within themselves to pull off a W?

—We will know without a shadow of a doubt what OU is capable of.  If the Sooners go out and play really well, this could be a special team.  If they go out and lose a close one it still could be a season that brings a great deal of success if the team can stay motivated, together and continue to develop throughout the season.

If OU can survive Tennessee then the Sooners will have seven weeks to get a lot better before the gauntlet of Baylor, TCU and OSU.