Open Post | Tuesday, December 8th
Posted on: December 8, 2020
Quick Hitter | Weekend Recruiting Notes
– Charlie S
Couple quick notes on how the visits went for Tristan Leigh and Emeka Egbuka…
*** On offensive tackle Tristan Leigh…not a ton to add here. Leigh and his family really sound like they enjoyed the trip.
Once again they got to spend a lot of time with Caleb Williams and that is always a bonus for OU. Leigh was able to watch the game with Caleb and Emeka and a few Sooner commits (Clayton Smith and Cullen Montgomery).
I touched base with a couple people around the situation and one source told me ‘He’s gonna look good in the crimson and cream’.
Source tells us OU feels very good about where things stand with him. His plan is to announce his decision publicly on January 2nd, but I would not rule out an early silent sign as we have seen in the past.
Also of note, K touched base with an Ohio State source and they do not have a lot of confidence in their chances with Leigh. Add that information with the way things are going at LSU and you start to feel even better about OU’s chances with the priority tackle.
*** As we have talked about in regards to wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, it would be all about the visit. I told you all that if the visit ever took place, I would really like OU’s chances here.
Well the visit took place and I’m not here to disappoint you. Oklahoma is right there in this thing.
James is set to speak to Emeka later this week, but K and I have touched base with multiple sources and they all feel like the visit has definitely paid off to the extent that OU is a legit player here for his signature.
One source told us that Egbuka’s father was very impressed with OU. Source said ‘The trip has definitely given them something to think about’.
Another source I spoke with tells me ‘I think they get him. Everything clicked on the trip. The time he got to spend with Caleb Williams early on really paid off. Felt like they had been friends forever’.
You all know Ohio State and Washington are the main competitors for Egbuka and it sounds like a decision is not far off. A separate source tells us Emeka told him that he will be making a decision ‘pretty soon’.
Quick Postgame Thoughts | Baylor
– Charlie S
Oklahoma returned to the field tonight following a week off and a pausing of all football activities due to COVID protocols and precautions.
They looked like a team that had not been very active in regards to football activity on the offensive side of the ball.
However, they did what they needed to do to clinch a spot in the Championship game against Iowa State.
Conversely, on the defensive side of the ball, where they were more affected by the COVID issue personnel wise, they looked fantastic as they forced 2 turnovers and gave up less than 25 yards rushing.
*** Baylor…is not a good football team, let’s be clear…particularly offensively.
*** The OU Offense struggled in every facet and Spencer Rattler looked like it was his first start.
*** Rattler was sketchy in the pocket, indecisive in his decision making, hesitant to get rid of the ball, and made some incredibly poor decisions in regards to forcing the ball into places he should never have even been looking. I was actually a little surprised Riley didn’t give him a couple series on the bench. He HAS to be better if OU hopes to win their sixth straight Big 12 conference title…in all facets of his game.
*** In the 4th quarter it was announced Shane Beamer will be the head coach at South Carolina…thats how the night went. He was not at the game this evening.
*** The offensive line was soft. They were the healthiest group coming into the game and the most veteran group and they were flat out bad. Bedenbaugh has some work to do there both personnel wise and attitude wise in my opinion.
*** The wide receivers were not good. Drake Stoops was your best option it felt like and Theo Wease dropped another touchdown. I thought he had potentially overcome that issue with the pair he caught last week, but alas, it does not appear to be the case.
*** I expected Rhamondre to have a big night. I was wayyyy off base and it wasn’t solely the lines fault. Stevenson looked slow and hesitant, not something we are used to seeing, and Pledger actually looked like the better back. Stevenson did himself no favors in regards to his NFL potential as he not only looked off running the ball, but he had a couple drops and missed blocking assignments.
*** Offense was bad all around. Not much more to say.
*** Defense played very well considering their personnel issues.
*** The run game was shut down and without the last drive of the game, they really contained the passing game as well.
*** OU tipped about 5 million balls tonight and got a lot of pressure on Charlie Brewer.
*** Ronnie Perkins was a stand out as was Isaiah Thomas and Perrion Winfrey.
*** Like JMT a lot, but he will never be mistaken for Nik Bonitto. Bonitto was missed.
The secondary held up pretty well and I want to give a shout to Robert Barnes who displayed what a tremendous team player he is as he flipped back to defensive back after spending the entire year at linebacker and he played a pretty decent game at first glance.
OU has a lot of work to do between tonight and the Big 12 Championship game and I would imagine they are hoping they get to play next week to work some of these things out.
Sooners Sunday Brunch | Abbreviated Big 12 Rankings, Last Night, LincUpXXl
– Charlie S
Let’s start with my Big 12 Conference Rankings…
1. Oklahoma
2. Iowa State
3-10 don’t matter.
Pretty simple. OU and Iowa State (as Ryan Lewis correctly predicted prior to the season) will battle it out for the conference championship in two weeks.
OU will have a chance to bring home their sixth straight championship and Iowa State will be looking to get Matt Campbell one before he is inundated with offers from other programs, both collegiate and professional I would imagine.
Should be a fun game and at this time I still give the Sooners the edge. We will see how I feel as the game gets closer.
It was a wild night in Sooner Nation following a pretty ‘Not so Wild’ game on the field.
Sooner fans were fit to be tied following Oklahoma’s 27-14 Big 12 Championship Game clinching victory over the Bears.
Let’s take a moment to let that sink in, shall we.
*** Oklahoma started the season 0-2 in conference.
*** Pretty much everyone had written them off as they pursued their 6th straight conference championship.
*** OU ran the table and had a few things they needed to happen to other teams, happen to them.
*** Following the first half of the Texas game, right up till kickoff of last nights game, the Sooners went on perhaps their most dominant run in Lincoln Rileys tenure as head coach as they won the game against Texas, and dismantled TCU, TTU, Kansas and Oklahoma State in successive weeks.
*** Each performance was more impressive than the prior one.
*** Last night, it didn’t come easy. Baylor confounded the offense and Spencer Rattler looked like a true freshman.
*** However, the one constant for OU over that stretch I mentioned above had been the defense. In the previous 4 games, OU had allowed 14, 28 (14 garbage time points against TTU), 9, and 13 points respectively.
*** Last night, a very shorthanded defense allowed 14 points to Baylor.
*** Defense, in this case, wins (or gets you to play for) championships. Helluva thing to say for Oklahoma and it’s very refreshing.
*** As for last night…Super K and I were on the phone until the wee hours of the morning talking about what we had witnessed following touching base with our sources to get their opinions on the game.
*** I’m not here to make excuses for anyone. OU did NOT play to the level they were expected to. Period.
*** However, one cannot simply discount the hurdles they had to overcome following the Oklahoma State game. OU played Baylor with a severely depleted roster following a two week period where they did very little in the way of football activities.
*** Following the Oklahoma State game, the Sooners had a flurry of positive COVID tests, lost a chunk of their coaching staff on both sides of the ball for extended periods and didn’t get them back until Thursday or Friday of this week.
*** Oklahoma ran out a guy, who had fallen so far down the depth chart in the secondary that he was moved to linebacker, as a starter back at safety last night. Robert Barnes was a hero last night. Really happy for him.
*** In this case, the best thing that can be said for last night is…’A win is a win and OU will now have the chance to defend their crowns’
*** As far as the offense goes…If you don’t think Lincoln Riley can, and will, fix the issues, then I really don’t know what to tell you.
*** As K and I compared notes, it basically all came back to preparation (or lack thereof) which is pretty much what Lincoln Riley said following the game when he said he didn’t feel like the guys were coached ‘worth a damn’ all week.
*** Creed mentioned that Baylor threw some things at them that they had not seen on film all year. Not an excuse, but when you don’t get solid practice, chances are you won’t be prepared to adjust in real time.
*** I didn’t see one position group on offense who had anything close to a ‘decent’ night (by OU standards). I believe that is the first time in Riley’s tenure that you can say that. So does he not get a mulligan at some point? Based on the hurdles they faced and the uncertainty around the game itself…I am prepared to give him that mulligan.
*** OU is scheduled to play West Virginia this coming week…and I for one hope they get to play. They need to wipe this taste out of their mouths ahead of their rematch with Iowa State.
*** We will get into the Iowa State matchup down the line. As I said at the top, I still believe that OU is the better team….and I believe it is by a wide margin. But if OU does not take this mulligan against Baylor (wild that I can call a 13 point win against a conference opponent a mulligan) and learn from it, they could be fighting an uphill battle against a very solid opponent when the championship game rolls around.
*** I will get into the ‘why’s and how’s’ around the Baylor game this week, it likely won’t be pretty. But imagine how the players and staff will look at it once they watch the film on the game. I have little doubt they will be much more prepared when they take the field against West Virginia or Iowa State.
Last bit for brunch…
Don’t worry about how the priority 2021 recruits (Emeka Egbuka and Tristan Leigh) who were at the game felt about the performance.
As many of you saw on social media, the Sooners staff was pumping up the ‘LincUpXXl’ mantra with videos and sweatshirts. Was a good look.
We have heard from multiple sources, both close to the recruits and around the program, that they all were enjoying themselves and there was no disappointment for all parties involved.
Caleb Williams played host, and he played that role very well once again. We will get additional reaction from the recruits throughout the week.
Nobody is going to tip their hand this close to signing day, but OU getting visits from them this close to signing day can only be viewed as a positive.
I will add, while Savion Byrd told me earlier in the week he was trying to get to Norman, he did not make it in. I still feel good about where OU stands with him, but we will continue to gauge his situation as December 16th (his announcement day) draws closer.
Replacing Beamer
– Super K
You all know by now that Sooners TE/ST coach, Shane Beamer has taken the head coaching position at the University of South Carolina.
He was very well thought of by the OU staff, administration and the players.
Really hope he has a lot of success at South Carolina. I’ll be rooting for him.
Lincoln Riley now has the tall order of replacing Shane Beamer. I’ve been out on the east coast a number of times visiting various programs from Georgia, to the Carolinas, to Virginia and into Maryland. I heard Beamer’s name up and down the coast. I can’t remember how many times I heard a coaching staff or players talk about Beamer.
He really opened a lot of doors for the Sooners on the Atlantic coast.
With the Sooners already having both an inside and outside WRs coach, and just by the nature of the position, the TE coaching and recruiting doesn’t require the kind of detail and grind some other positions require. As such, this position really needs to go to someone who can help recruit other positions.
Beamer wasn’t on the east coast simply recruiting TEs. He’s the first guy to be in contact with a number of offensive and defensive players up and down the coast. And, he had previous relationships with a ton of coaches out there.
Now, I’m not saying that OU needs to necessarily find another east coast tie (though I wouldn’t hate that). I’m simply saying that recruiting prowess needs to be a priority here. That could be in the form a help in Texas or in Cali or in the Midwest or in the Deep South or wherever. Pick a location and find someone who can help the Sooners advance their recruiting presence there.
I emphasize this because last time there was talk of Beamer leaving, the name floating around the office was not the name of a person who opens up any recruiting doors for Oklahoma. I won’t mention the name and hopefully it won’t become relevant.
I can tell you that there are a few names already being mentioned inside the building, a couple of which I heard that I really like. I think they would help the Sooners with recruiting. Once we get a better sense of which of these names are actually going to be under consideration by Lincoln we will pass those along.
I will say that an obvious name is that of Rashaad Samples. I don’t know if it’s a name Lincoln will consider but Samples would not only land the Sooners talent and strengthen their recruiting in DFW but Samples works with Garrett Riley (Lincoln’s brother) and I’m told Garrett holds Samples in high regard. Samples and Lincoln Riley also share agents. So, Lincoln wouldn’t have to go very far to get an assessment on Samples.
More to follow.
