The Football Brainiacs

When Oklahoma Has the Ball

– Against Arkansas, the TCU defense gave up 180 rushing yards, including 137 yards for Razorback sophomore Rawleigh Williams III. Williams is a nice back, make no mistake, but he is nowhere near the talent of Mixon and Perine. Will this be the game Riley decides “Hey, I have two NFL running backs, maybe I should give them the ball…oh, I dunno thirty-five plus times a game combined?”

– I was in attendance at the Arkansas/TCU game and there were a lot of running lanes created against TCU’s front seven by an Arkansas offensive line that doesn’t appear to be near as effective as they were in 2015. One would like to think the OU offensive line is better than Arkansas’ but they honestly have not had an opportunity to actually prove it. See the last sentence of the first bullet point.

– An old coach of mine used to say “You gotta play within yourself” and this is the week Mayfield has to take that advice. He has forced a lot of throws this year. Left passes hanging. Vacated the pocket far too quickly. Taken way too many sacks. If OU loses this game, you can look back and say “He didn’t play within himself.”

– Staying with the quarterback position, TCU allowed a guy for the Razorbacks, making his second career start, to throw for 223 yards and three touchdowns. Nothing against Austin Allen but he should not be on the same plane as Mayfield. Arkansas’ offense is quite a bit different from OU’s but if Riley will attempt to establish the run game early, Mayfield will benefit. **Captain Obvious Moment**

– TCU was down 17-7 in the second quarter and gave up 461 yards against South Dakota State. That should give you great confidence going in to the game.

– Gary Patterson is one of the best defensive coaches in the country. That should give you great pause going in to the game.

– Mixon right. Mixon left. Mixon middle. Mixon in the slot catching passes. Make it happen.

– Speaking of Mixon…there is not a linebacker in the nation who can run with him. Find the mismatch, put Mixon in the slot. Watch him do work. Let the Big Dogs Eat, remember?

– Perine needs to have the type of game people have come to expect. It is not entirely his fault, but he is the kind of running back that simply can not be allowed to have less than 10 carries a game.

– Look to see if Andrews has alligator arms the first time he goes across the middle.

– AD Miller proved he is a gamer against Ohio State. It is time to get him more involved. Look for him to have a sort of “coming out party”.

– Arkansas ran a ton of play action bootleg and naked bootleg. Their guys had all kinds of space in the flats. OU needs to exploit this with some sort of dedicated package of personnel and plays.