Open Post | Monday, September 24th By: TFB Posted on: September 24, 2018

Quick-Hitters | Those Who Did Not Play vs Army | Tre Brown, Sutton & More
– Super K

*** Tre Brown in concussion protocol

*** Marcelias Sutton suited up for the first time Friday. Was banged up this past week.

*** Waiting to hear back on Barnes but I know a couple weeks ago he was in concussion protocol.

***Lack of rotation on defense? I’ll make a separate post about that but the defensive staff better start holding their players on the field accountable or there are going to be some very unhappy folks in that locker room.

 

 

David Ugwoegbu | In-Person + Recruiting Update
– Super K

As I mentioned earlier in the week, 2019 DE/OLB, David Ugwoegbu is a key target for the Sooners. Last night, I had a chance to see him again, in-person. The more I’m able to observe him, the more I like what I see.

Size, again, is prototypical for a WDE. Might be a little taller than you’d expect in a stand-up OLB but he plays with good pad level. One of the things the Sooners need is more length across the defensive line. Certainly helps to have that length for leverage when you want a guy to set the edge.

If you’re looking for an every down guy that can play in multiple fronts, this is what he should like.

Four things/plays that stood out to me in particular were…

1. David is a natural pass rusher. He doesn’t look stiff. He closes well. Again, he has that size and length. He has all the God-given gifts. But he’s still an effort guy. First, three things I like to see in defensive linemen are size, quickness off the ball and a motor.

David’s a guy who could get by on his natural ability, alone. But, he doesn’t. He’s always working and looking for work. It paid off in a fumble recovery. The ball was fumbled on the opposite side. Despite the fact that he didn’t start on the play side, he ended up with the ball.

2. Another play that caught my attention was…

What I didn’t mention is the fact that David caused this INT. It was a screen play and I think his closing speed surprised the quarterback. Yes, he closes very quickly.

Let me describe what David did. He attacks the quarterback. He realized it was a screen and gets going in the opposite direction. Ball is picked off and he instantly turns back towards the end zone and throws his body in front of a would-be-tackler to help ensure that INT went back to the house. And when I say he threw his body, I mean he was parallel to the ground. That’s a football instinct and an effort instinct.

3. David is mature. I mentioned in a previous post that while at practice I saw him telling one of the younger players not to walk on and off the field, rather to run. During the game, he doesn’t pout. His teammates seem to like him. He appears to have a great attitude.

But there was a particular play that caught my attention. Once again David was pressuring the quarterback. He was closing very fast. Ball was thrown and somehow he managed to pull up at the last minute and not the hit the quarterback. If I recall correctly, pass was incomplete. David pulling up ensured that his team didn’t get a penalty. And to be honest, he was coming so fast and was so close, I don’t know that it would’ve been a penalty at all, anyway.

Either way, he didn’t leave it in the referee’s hands and his team got off the field. It’s probably something he wouldn’t think about after the game but it matters in my book.

4. David can run. He’s a natural runner. If I had one note that he’ll want to continue to improve on it’s his pursuit angles when he gets in space, especially on outside runs/passes or on balls that get bounced.

He trusts his speed, as he should but when he’s attacking the line of scrimmage and the ball goes outside, he’ll round his directional change and then attack the ddownfieldshoulder (instead of the upfield) of the runner. But again, don’t get it twisted, he can run.

Recruiting

A few things of note here…

***He tells me that he has changed his visit date from Bedlam to the OU vs. Kansas game, “The date of the Oklahoma State game falls on the same day as one of my games”.

Not ideal since the Bedlam game is likely to be far more raucous but I’m sure the Sooners staff are just excited to get him on campus.

***Texas A&M and the Sooners continue to be the teams to beat. Texas A&M is in the lead. No surprise there, though. He’s been to Texas A&M on numerous occasions. It’s only about an hour and fifteen minutes or so from Katy. He’s been to OU only once.

***He’s looking at a December decision timeline.

 

 

Post Game Notebook | Army vs OU
– Michael Kinney

Sooners defeated Army 28 -21 in overtime 

Throughout the week, the Oklahoma coaches tried to hammer into their player’s heads that Army was a different team. Despite not having a roster full of five-star recruits and running a throwback offense, they knew what type of fight the Black Knights would bring if they were allowed to hang around.

Even though the players said they headed every word, it wasn’t until they face Army on the field that reality set in and they found themselves in an all-out battle.

It took a takeaway in overtime before the fifth-ranked Sooners (4-0) were able to call it a night with a 28-21 victory over the Black Knights. At Memorial Stadium Saturday.

“This army team, them boys were tough. You can say what you want,” OU linebacker Curtis Bolton said. “It’s a little outdated, the triple option. But at the end of the day, them boys are out there trying to win a football game. They did a good job. They played a hell of a football game. I’m glad we came out with the W.”

Tackling machines

Bolton ended the night with a total of 23 tackles, which broke the school record. However, he still didn’t even lead the team. Middle linebacker Kenneth Murray smash the record with 28 tackles, which is the highest total in the FBS since 2000.

Murray said he knew coming into the night he had a chance to have a special game.

“That’s the first thing I thought as soon as I saw them on tape,” Murray said. “They obviously like the run the ball. Coach told me as soon as I got done with the Iowa State film, he said they had the ball for like 40 something minutes last week. I was like it’s going to be an opportunity for me to go out there and make plays. I just went out there to make tackles and stuff like that. I just honed in on what I needed to do, paid attention to my keys and made plays.”

The 52 combined tackles between Murray and Bolton are the most ever for an Oklahoma duo. The only other time two OU teammates posted at least 20 tackles in a game was in 1974 against Texas when Dewey Selmon and Rod Shoate combined for 43. Tackles.

“We knew it was going to be a slugfest, we knew we were going to come in here and it was going to be a boxing match,” Bolton said. “We knew they were going to come out and try and punch us in the mouth. I like to think of myself as a tough guy. K9 (Murray) is the same. We’re not going to come out there and let anybody roll over us.”

Clock control

Army held the ball for 44:41 against a tired Oklahoma defense. The Sooners offense was only on the field for 15:19. Their 40 plays were the third-fewest in recorded program history.

“We kind of knew what kind of game this was going to be going into this,” OU quarterback Kyler Murray said. “It’s really frustrating being an offense and having to watch the defense all night. It’s frustrating. You have to make the most of your possessions. I think we did that first half. They did a good job on offense. I don’t know how you prepare for something like that. It’s almost like it’s not really football. Fullback dive, option right, option left.  It’s tough when you’re sitting there and they are driving the whole length of the field. They take off 10 minutes. And you’re sitting over there waiting to get the ball back. I wasn’t tired at all,” Murray said. “What did we have the ball, like 16 minutes or something like that. It felt like four.”

Murray attempted only 15 passes and completed 11 of them. He threw for 165 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. He also carried the rock for 84 yards and another score.

Trey Sermon paced the Sooners with a season-high 119 yards rushing on `18 carries. It was his second career game with more than 100 yards rushing.

“The key is just trusting my coach and trust my reads,” Sermon said. “The offensive line was doing a great job getting some good push. Even the receivers blocking on the perimeter, it was really good.”

 

Stoops defends defense

Army rushed for 339 yards on 78 carries. They averaged 4.3 yards per carry on the night.

“It was a short game. It was really tough night just to get them in manageable situations for us,’ OU defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. “We always knew the third and shorts were always gonna be tough. They are a great team. They run that thing extremely well. They got some movement inside on the dive and the belly play and they just kept hitting it.  It’s tough. I’m not gonna sit here and try to explain it. They are a terrific football team and fight extremely hard. I think that shows you why we’re in pretty good hands as the United States. They are courageous and not scared of anything. They played that way tonight.”

 

Crucial sequence

Army got the ball to start the third quarter trailing 21-14. Oklahoma’s defense came up with only its second true stop of the day and forced the Black Knights to punt.

This is what the Sooners needed. A chance to change the game flow and go up by two scores. However, Murray tried to hit Marquise Brown streaking down the right sideline in single coverage. His throw floated toward the inside and was picked off.

“Was trying to create separation as far as the score goes,” Murray said. “Same thing as last week. We had a chance to come out and kind of leave the opponent. Tonight we really didn’t.”

Army took over on their own 15-yard line. They proceeded to reel off a 19-play drive that lasted more than 10 minutes and ended with a touchdown run.

The game was tied at 21-21 and Oklahoma found itself in a game no one was expecting.

The Sooners responded on offense by giving the ball to Trey Sermon. He carried Oklahoma down deep into the Black Knights territory.

Oklahoma had the ball on the one-yard line on third down. Sermon tried to run behind 94 and was stuffed before reaching the end zone. On fourth and one, they tried Sermon again. Once again, he was stuffed just short of the goal line and Army took over possession with 12:23 left in the contest.

“It takes a lot of will, a lot of heart,” Army coach Jeff Monken said. “A lot of toughness. And playing really well fundamentality. Pads down, hands where they are supposed to be, in the gap where you’re supposed to be. That’s what it takes. I’m proud of our guys for that goalline line stand.”

 

Mutual respect

After the game end and the Sooners were still celebrating, Kenneth Murray made sure found as many of the Army players as he could.

 “They were telling me good game,” Murray said. “It wasn’t about that. They make the ultimate sacrifice. They are the real warriors. They are out there fighting, sacrificing their lives to defend this country. I just had to personally shake every one of their hands, talk to them and show my appreciation.

 

 

Post Game Thoughts | Army vs OU 
– JY

Sooners escape the Army game with the win in overtime…

1. It’s been a helluva day. I thought that Oklahoma would have some trouble with the Army offense, but I couldn’t fathom that Army would give Oklahoma as much trouble as they did. Army ran 87 plays. Oklahoma only ran 40.

2. I’m still in shock really as I write this. The whole day has felt that way. Would it rain, would it not? It appeared that the Offense was in high gear to begin the game and that Oklahoma may run them out of the Stadium. As we all know that wasn’t the case.

3. What the hell happened with the defense? It seemed like they were sleepwalking most of the night. Until that last drive, it just didn’t seem like the effort was there. I remember my position coach yelling at us to Wake up! This is really happening. Until that drive in overtime, the guys didn’t play with that fly around lights out effort it seemed.

4. It looked like Kyler got rushed on that drive right before half. Like he was forcing things. I thought they’d go down and make it 28-14 at the half, and then it would be all over with. What was crazy was that after the Sooners punted, it went Interception, stopped on 4th and Goal and missed a field goal. Think about that. Oklahoma only had the ball three times in the second half!

5. What’s even crazier is that Army had the ball for three drives in regulation as well. After that initial 3 and Out, they went 19 plays & 85 yards in 10:47. That’s almost a whole quarter. Then the other drive of significance after the goal line stand, it appeared that they’d go down and score to end it. They went 17 plays & 65 yards before Faamatau head-butted the pass that Kenneth Mann intercepted.

6. Speaking of the goal line stand, how does a Lincoln Riley offense get stopped on the goal line? Two trips into the red zone with zero points for the offense. You wanna get on the O line there, but the Sooners ran the ball for a clip of 7.6 yards per. Still, it’s one of those weird games, and you gotta score.

7. A win is a win, and it seems like every team if you follow them closely has an ugly win. In years past this would be a game Oklahoma loses. Hopefully, Riley doesn’t have that annual headscratcher every year. Last year it was Iowa State.

8. Can a defense look any more ill-prepared? By alignment, the defense was getting outflanked on every snap. Those receivers were playing so close to the line of scrimmage that all they had to do was block down on the outside linebackers Jackson and Jones. If I’m Stoops I’m lining up those guys on the outside of the receivers and forcing them to outphysical my linebackers head up with receivers.

9. The defensive line philosophy has to go. They don’t let those guys get upfield on anything. Kenneth Mann is a flat out athlete, but you don’t let him be one. Turn him and Bledsoe loose! I wish we would have seen some more four-man front with Overton at the A gap, Gallimore at the 5 and Mann at the 9 to the strong side. Then you go with Faamatau at the 3 technique and Bledsoe at the other end spot. Go heavy with 5 d linemen and force them to tie up their offensive linemen with big bodies. Murray and Bolton played their asses off but they weren’t clean the whole game.

10. Why Mike insists on going small against an offense that is going to try to outphysical you is beyond me. Riley has got to force Mike to make some changes. You could still have Bolton, Jackson, and Murray on the field, but it puts 8 guys in the box with a single high safety and two corners.

11. Speaking of Murrays, Kyler was awesome again. He missed a couple of throws, but the guy is a flat out ball player. It looked like he could have scored on the play he slid on. I’ll have to take a closer look when I re-watch it. Nevertheless, he’s electric.

12. It was good to see Calcaterra get more involved, but where the heck was Hollywood? I thought we’d see more stuff to him on reverses etc. Besides the missed long bomb, I don’t think his number was called.

13. Seibert? He’s missed his last three field goals. I was so nervous he was going to miss that extra point.

14. Hard to be positive about anything but the perseverance and the win. It’ll be ugly, but I’ll get you some more details in trench warfare.