Open Post | Weekend, September 3rd – 5th
Posted on: September 3, 2021
Know Your Opponent | Tulane Green Wave
– Charlie S – Posted on: August 31, 2021
Head Coach Willie Fritz – 2016 – present
Defensive Coordinator Chris Hampton
Offensive Coordinator Chip Long
On Offense…
Willie Fritz’s teams are known for one thing when it comes to offense…they like to run the ball and in 202o they led the AAC in rushing.
With that said, in 2021 Tulane may be undergoing an overhaul in regards to how the Green Wave approaches offense as Fritz has brought in Chip Long to be his new offensive coordinator.
Against the Sooners, I would expect them to try to control the clock as well as they possibly can by running early and often, but with the Sooners penchant for stopping the run, you may see them test the passing waters more often than you would think in part due to necessity, and in another part due to Long bringing in a new philosophy.
Sophomore (or 2nd-year freshman if you prefer to call him that) Michael Pratt is the starting QB and he threw for 1,806 yards and 20 touchdowns to go along with 8 interceptions in 2020. He also accounted for 229 yards on the ground on 115 carries (roughly a 2.0 ypc average).
Pratt does have his 6 leading receivers from last year returning to give him some weapons. Tyrick James is his TE and offers a big target for Pratt. In 2020 James caught 18 balls including 3 touchdowns. Last season, wide receivers Duece Watts and Jha’Quan Jackson each caught 31 balls. Watts is a big veteran who pulled 8 touchdowns and Jackson is a Swiss Army Knife type who hauled in 6 touchdowns in 2020.
At running back Cameron Carroll is a 225-pound bulldozer who averaged better than six yards per carry with 12 touchdowns to his credit in 2020. Tulane added former Utah running back Devin Brumfield as well.
As far as the offensive line goes…they can run block well enough, but they struggled mightily in 2020 in pass protection. The good news for them is they return 4 starters from the 2020 squad so the hope is they develop some better pass protection.
On Defense…
In 2020, the defense allowed 422 yards and 28 points per game, which was not great obviously. However, they were pretty effective at getting behind the line and creating tackles for losses.
Last year, the Green Wave defense recorded 101 tackles for losses and getting to the QB for 37 sacks which was good for 6th and 13th in the nation and were tops in the AAC for both categories.
They lost their top two linemen in Patrick Johnson and Cameron Samples who combined for 15 sacks and 22 tackles for loss. Tulane did add transfer Joseph Dorceus from Memphis.
On the surface, their best weapon in creating a pass rush this season will come from the linebackers. Dorian Williams is the standout. Williams is a safety who spun down to LB and is a 220 pound menace. In 2020 Williams led the team in tackles with 98. Kevin Henry is a more traditional LB on the inside and he recorded close to 50 tackles last year.
The secondary was ok in 2020 but they have some pieces they need to replace. One name to watch is Larry Brooks. Brooks appears to be a solid safety who recorded 58 tackles along with three interceptions. Jaylon Monroe broke up nine passes at corner last year, but some youngsters will need to step up to fill out the remaining spots. Macon Clark is a bit of a do it all type who will work at both safety and the nickel.
My Take: It’s probably going to be a long day for the Green Wave as they will likely struggle to run the ball with any consistency. I think the OU defensive front will control the run game and dictate the terms of the game which will force them to throw more often than they may be prepared to do…which in turn leads to potential turnovers.
On offense, I think Spencer Rattler will have a big half a game. I don’t see him playing too deep into the second half and you will likely get your first extended look at Caleb Williams in a Sooner uniform. I also believe you will likely get a long look at walk-ons, Knowles and Hudson, in the backfield once the game is in hand.
I’ll go with a final score of something around 49 – 13 in favor of the Sooners.
Quick Hitter | Theo Wease Injury Update
– Charlie S – Posted on: September 1, 2021
Just wanted to pass along a note from James…
***Sources tell James the injury is to Theo’s foot…the same foot that was previously injured.
***Sounds like he will be out for an extended period of time.
Looks like you all will get an opportunity to see Mike Woods and some of the young guys a bit more than anticipated early on in the season.
2023 Austin Westlake OL TJ Shanahan Hopes to See Norman Soon
– CJ Vogel – Posted on: September 2, 2021
There is a new name in the 2023 class to be aware of on the offensive line and it is Austin Westlake’s TJ Shanahan.
Shanahan recently moved to the Austin suburb just a handful of weeks ago from Florida and suited up for the defending state champions for the first time on Friday. Off of my first encounter with Shanahan, my biggest takeaway is that he is a dude.
Recruiting has already started for the 4-star offensive lineman. He went in-depth about the process so far following Westlake’s 54-13 blowout win over Temple.
With September 1 a few sleeps away, Shanahan says he plans on hearing from a great number of schools from around the country. He mentioned – Notre Dame, USC, Georgia, LSU, Florida, Ohio State and Texas. Over the summer, Shanahan said he visited close to 20 schools and has a good idea of campuses standing out.
One school that Shanahan has had his eye in the past is Oklahoma.
The history of development and producing NFL offensive linemen is something that has caught the attention of Shanahn about Sooners’ OL coach Bill Bedenbaugh.
“(Development) is really important to me,” Shanahan said. “That is kind of where I want to be and if my position coach at a school can help me do that, then they are going to be one of my top schools.”
Since receiving his offer from the Sooners in June of 2020, Shanahan and Bedenbaugh have been in contact for quite some time.
“I think Coach Bedenbaugh is a great coach,” Shanahan said. “I am really excited to see how they do in the Big 12 this year.”
With the SEC move pending, Shanahan said he is taking note, but ultimately wants to see another proven offensive line on the field this year before making any brash decisions moving forward. “I think the SEC is one of the best conferences right now.”
During the game, Shanahan was plugged into the right guard position for Westlake. I think that is where he plays at the next level. Some of his pulls and anytime he reached the next level, it was a violent collision. Impressive lineman who can move very well.
Shanahan said he hopes to drop a top schools list somewhere towards the end of his junior football season. I expect the Sooners to make the cut.
One on One | Tulane | What I will Be Watching
– Charlie S – Posted on: September 1, 2021
The Sooners open their season on Saturday against Tulane!
I began this post with every intention of picking out some ‘One on One’ matchups for the game, but there really aren’t many intriguing options that I see.
Yeah, I could single out a LB who will be tasked with tracking Tulanes’s QB (Michael Pratt) with the purpose of limiting his movement outside the pocket, but we can talk about that in generalities.
When OU is on offense, I don’t see an extremely interesting matchup either. Aside from whoever is playing center for OU matching up against transfer Joseph Dorceus from Memphis. But again…eh, anyone OU rolls out at center should be able to handle that assignment.
So, instead of one on ones, I’m gonna talk about some things I want to see in what will likely amount to a glorified scrimmage in Norman.
So let’s get to it!
1. The first thing I will be watching is the temperament of the team. There were lots of moving pieces this week with the game being moved to Norman. The Sooners know they are the better team and I am curious to see the intensity they bring to the game. Not so much in the first quarter, but let me see a third-quarter fired-up team when the game is probably well in hand. Yesterday, coach Grinch spoke about the team needing to be hyped to prepare for the game, not just play in it. That tells me he was poking the guys to try to keep them focused. So while I think there will be a bunch of offensive reserves in the game by the time the middle of the third quarter rolls around, I want to see Riley allow that unit to continue to press. I want to see Caleb Williams be allowed to run the offense the way it is supposed to be run. Even more importantly, I want to see the defensive depth on display and see guys fighting their way into a talk for more reps in the next game. Just really want to see the intensity last through 3 full quarters at the very least. At some point, it wanes, and that is normal, but keep the pressure and focus on point for a full 3 quarters.
2. In my opinion, the Sooners 2021 season goes as the offensive line goes. It’s that simple. Yesterday, Lincoln Riley laid out what he wants you to know about the offensive line…he told you that Hayes will play LG, Murray will play RG, and TRob will play RT. He then mentioned that Harrison/Morris/Swenson could work at LT and Congel and Raym will work at center. I am here to tell you I still am taking all that with a grain of salt. So I am going to be paying close attention to the line that begins the game and perhaps more importantly, the second configuration of the line. At any rate, this is a game that the OU offensive line ‘should’ dominate. Show me that you can keep the QB upright with little pressure. Show me that you are in good enough shape to effectively beat your man to the corner when running the counter. Show me the willingness to finish the play on every snap. Show me you have leadership in the line (I think that will eventually come from Chris Murray actually) by being disciplined and relatively penalty-free. Show me a desire to break the opponent’s will. All of those things which I want to see should come rather easily to the Sooners offensive line in this matchup…they should have come easily through most of the year last year as well and we saw how that worked out. Show me.
3. The wide receivers need to come out and set the tone for their season early. First, I will be looking for the guy that steps up to be ‘1B’ to Mims’ ‘1A’. Could it be ‘guys’ that step up? Sure, but I want to see who will be the first guy to step up and make a big play when the game has not yet been decided. It will be very important for the Sooners to have reliable weapons not named Mims and if it happens to be that everyone has stepped up…great. The rotation will be something I keep an eye on as well. I don’t want to see a ‘Rambo’ type situation where things were forced too, and through him at times, particularly early in the season. I would actually like to see a general rotation early on which would afford guys equal opportunities to go out and make plays. OU will be helping themselves down the line if they can get a decent amount of game film on all the guys so they can see who is getting separation, who is hitting their blocking assignments, and who is putting themselves in a position to help the team. We have heard they have had a good camp. Come out and show me.
4. Of course I will be watching the quarterbacks. I do not expect to learn much about them overall as I would expect Spencer to come out and play well and put up some decent numbers. What I want to see from Rattler is leadership and body language. I want to see him stay positive when things don’t go his way (dropped balls, wrong route etc…) while also holding his guys accountable when they mess up. It’s a fine line, but it is a captain’s job. As far as Caleb goes, I want to see him display that hunger we have heard about since the minute he stepped on campus. Chances are he will not be playing much with the top skill guys or offensive line…I want him to show me that while he may not be given the cream of the crop that he will still go out there and push himself and the guys he is with to keep getting better with no let up. Would love to see Riley run the full offense through him for a while before shutting things down in coast mode also.
5. Defensively speaking, I really will be initially keying on one thing…the rotation at safety and nickel. We know about the depth at DL, LB, and corner. Show me your plan for safety and show me early before the game gets out of hand, please. I would like to see the second line take the second series. Use a true rotation to put the guys in situations where they feel the pressure of an actual game rather than throwing them out there when the score is out of hand. It is the only way you will see how they react under fire. Grinch is always talking about consistency and proving ones self…they have to have an opportunity to be consistent and prove themselves in order to do so. We know Pat Fields can make the calls for the defense…show me that Key Lawrence or Bryson Washington can do the same in a game where it has not yet been decided. You have two consecutive weeks here (really three after Nebraska’s offensive display) where you know you are going to win the game…do everyone a favor and make it an open competition where the guys get the opportunity to be consistent and make plays.
6. Lastly, show me a defensive end not named Isaiah Thomas who steps up. I want to see what happens when IT is not on the field. Has Reggie Grimes made a jump here? Has Ethan Downs made enough of an impression to get on the field? Do we get to see Redmond slide over to the end from time to time? Show me how you are replacing Ronnie Perkins snaps. Right now, that is probably the biggest question on the DL. The interior has 7-8 guys who can go out there, but the numbers are a little light when it comes to proven defensive ends. The RUSH rotation will be fascinating as well with Caleb Kelly getting more and more looks there. I could see a scenario where OU runs out 2 DL and 2 RUSH guys as you have a lot of talent in that RUSH room. Bonitto, Stripling, Kelly, Smith, and Walker will all be looking for snaps.
So, those are some of the things I will be looking at come Saturday.
What about you? What are you going to be paying close attention to?
