The Football Brainiacs

On the second day O’Trenchin ol’ JY gave to me…Two Overtimes and a beer…in a tree.

 

Sorry it’s so late guys, but it’s been a heck of a day.  Been goin at it since oh five hunnit, and I just can’t seem to get caught up.  Been fightin my tail off though, and the more I think about it the more it reminds me of week two when the Sooners went to Knoxville.  The guys were playing hard all game long, but for whatever reason couldn’t make things quite click until it seemed like it was almost over.  There were a lot of penalties at the most inopportune times, and the defense had to spot em 17 right out of the gate.  What was crazy though is I felt like they’d claw their way back into it…Kind of like the day I’ve had today.

 

On the very first possession the guys were able to open up running lanes.  If you can have some success early in the game it’s a good indicator of how well you’re going to do later on.  This was the second or third play that the Sooners had offensively, and with the counter trey, Alvarez #68 and Big O #78 came around and gave Samaje the exact kind of look he wanted to see.  It’s a nice crease right at em, and early on it appeared that the Sooners were going to come out clickin…

 

 

Drive after drive seemed to stall however, but the guys kept hammerin.  There were plays like this that looked picture perfect, and then there were headscratching drops, pre-snap penalties, a pick, and it seemed like the good guys were gonna do everything they could to give it away.  The old saying goes that you can’t win a game in the first quarter but you can darn sure lose it.  Looking at this play below, with 12 minutes to go in the 2nd, the Sooners are already down 17-0, and a lot of people were probably thinking that maybe the Vols had finally turned the corner.

 

 

On this drive in particular the guys were able to run the ball off of their own goal line and move the chains pretty good.  I was thinking that they were finally gonna get it going, but they just couldn’t get untracked.  The first six drives went Interception and then five punts, before they finally got a field goal.  If you look here, the guys were opening up some good lanes, and Samaje and Joe were able to get em moving.

 

 

It was clear early that Baker was really struggling.  A lot of that was due to the pressure he had in his face, and I was hoping they’d keep running the ball.  There’s a shocker right?  All the way up until the fourth quarter, the guys would have success early in the drive, then drop a pass, have a penalty or turnover, and then give it back to em.

 

 

Once it became money time, Sterling started playing out of his mind.  You can check the highlights for a refresher, but with about 8 minutes to go, the Sooners were still down 17-3 when Samaje got open in the endzone on Baker’s scramble.  Then with time ticking away, Sterling catches a jump ball fade to tie it and send it to overtime at 17 all.  I couldn’t believe it.  The defense had played lights out for about 42 minutes, so I thought it was game over, but on the first possession they go score.  Then on fourth and game at the one, the Sooners go trips left, tight right.  If you check where Darlington is, and then where the official is standing on the checkers, there are only four guys to the right side of the offensive formation.  With the D-End lined up on the inside eye of Connor Knight, it’s clear he’s going to slant…and the corner on the outside has contain.

 

 

The guys had em outnumbered 5-4 with Baker running the ball, and the d-end did exactly what I thought he’d do.  It’s crazy to think that had Connor not fought his tail off on this play, along with St. John at right tackle, then these guys get upfield and blow up the play.  Watching this play over and over, Baker could have given the ball to Samaje and he still scores.  Nevertheless, it was a heck of a design on the goal line, and Samaje being aware and getting out to kick out the last guy on the end for the score to tie it at 24 all and send it to double O.T.

 

Sterling made another great play on a catch and run during the final drive to win, and the thing that really stood out to me is that as ugly as the game was for the Sooners, they made the plays they had to when they had to.  Baker and Sterling really willed the team forward at the end of the game.  With their success they were able to keep the defense playing inspired and found a way to get it done.  The team screwed up a lot, but ultimately they got it done.  When Sanchez picked it off to end the game I thought to myself that this team was for real.  To come back and win like that just doesn’t happen.  It did though and the Sooners were 2 & 0