Open Post | Tuesday, October 13th
Posted on: October 13, 2020
Quick Postgame Thoughts | Red River Shootout
– Charlie S
The Sooners come away with a 53 – 45 victory in an absolutely WILD game
We will undoubtedly go over this game with a fine tooth comb over the next two weeks as OU has a bye week coming up.
With that said, here are some very quick thoughts…
***Sooners finally showed life in the offensive line group as they put 208 yards on the ground thanks in large part to a breakout game for TJ Pledger.
***Spencer Rattler turned the ball over twice early, got benched, and came back and played perhaps his best half of football in his short OU career.
***Was good to see Theo Wease have a big day as someone has to be WR1 cause Rambo ain’t it. Get Wease going and involve Mims more (who was great again today) and you start to develop some weapons at WR.
***The Sooners defense played very well for 3 quarters and up front they played will the entire game.
***Was great to see the youth infusion show up on defense, even if they looked over-matched at times. Valuable lessons will be taken away from that game.
***Woodi Washington just makes plays whenever he gets on the field.
***Pat Fields had another rough day, can’t keep talking about it, it’s past time to do something about it.
***Isaiah Thomas was a man among children out there today. What a great game and it’s awesome to watch him continue to develop.
***Nik Bonitto was an unsung hero in my opinion as he was constantly forcing the issue along with Thomas
***Bookie rebounded nicely and played a very good game. That PI call on him in the endzone was BS but he did earn that penalty on the punt.
***The DBs played like a coaches job was on the line in respect to the obvious focus they had on their ball skills this week. Sources told us they were working on ball skills throughout the week. Amazing what happens when you actually practice something.
***Tre Brown had his misses, but he should also have been credited with 2 interceptions, not just one as the first one was negated by a ticky-tack penalty.
***David Ugwoegbu had a punt block and was very active on the defense. It’s a good thing when you are starting to see more of #2 on the field.
***The offensive line was very good, they had their best outing in both pass pro and the run game against the best front they have seen to this point. Anton Harrison should not come out of the game as it is time to retire this Swenson starting the games charade.
***Stogner could have ended the game with a relatively easy 3rd down reception which he dropped but man…that play call bugs me.
***Riley went away from what worked for him as once again his play calling was erratic and questionable. BUT I will say I loved his play calling in the over time periods. I would have liked to see him run play-action and go for the TD on the drive where the missed field goal happened, but he called a great game in overtime. His 4th quarter calls left me really frustrated and scratching my head though for certain.
***OU may have just delivered the nails in the coffin for Herman in Austin. They were set up to win this year. Now, they are in the same boat as a rebuilding OU, which likely is not acceptable down there.
***We will focus on the game over the course of the coming days, but sit back, put a smile on, and enjoy the rest of your Saturday!
Quick Hitter | Caleb Never Stops
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 10, 2020
Just touched base with Sooners 2021 QB commit Caleb Williams following the Red River Shootout.
***Williams made his way down to Texas today…not for the RRS…but to take in the IMG vs Duncanville game.
Duncanville is home to Sooners 2021 OL target Savion Byrd along with several 2022 targets including 2022 DL Omari Abor, 2022 OL Jaylen Early, 2022 OL Cameron Williams and 2022 LB Jordan Crook among others.
Pretty wild stuff. Y’all are fortunate to have a high profile commit who is this invested in building his future by doing a lot of the heavy lifting in regards to recruiting.
***I asked him if there are any other games he would like to get to this season and he mentioned he would like to get out to see Sooners 2021 OL Target Bryce Foster in an upcoming game.
Sooners Sunday Brunch | We Got What We Deserved
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 11, 2020
Hope you all enjoyed the rest of your Saturday after watching five hours of your Sooners play the game you all love so much.
I have come to the conclusion that yesterday’s game was exactly the game we deserved in 2020.
It had everything…the highs and the lows, the remarkable and the pathetic, villains and G.O.A.Ts., the redemption stories and breakout heroes. The game constantly walked the fine line between the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, for both programs. All of which make college football the greatest sport on earth.
It was a five hour roller coaster ride which went off the rails, through a burning dumpster fire, under the mud, back up through the mountain tops, through the clouds, until finally descending with a resounding chorus of expletives as the last pass of the game dropped into Tre Browns hands.
It didn’t have to be that way. The Sooners absolutely dominated the game in just about every facet until there was 5:50 left in regulation. But with it being 2020, OU continually shot themselves in the foot which allowed the Longhorns to remain close enough through three and three quarter quarters to mount a surreal comeback (which we all assumed was coming) to tie the game and send in into the four overtimes we saw.
How crazy did it get you ask? With 5:50 left in the game, the Sooners had only allowed the Longhorns to rush for 22 yards. Twenty Two yards with 5:50 left in the game.
The Longhorns finished the game with 141 yards rushing with Sam Ehlinger responsible for 112 of those yards on 23 carries.
OU had multiple opportunities to win the game prior to when they finally did. But the universe continually felt you deserved to stay on the ride a little bit longer.
If Austin Stogner makes that catch on 3rd down near the end of the 4th quarter, the game is over. It was not a difficult catch and it is one he makes routinely. Stogner made several catches that were much more impressive both prior to that play and following that play. In fact, in overtime, he would make one of the best catches you will ever see off of one of the best passes you will ever see from Rattler. It just wasn’t meant to be at that time. There was more in store for you.
In one of the overtimes, Perrion Winfrey breaks through the line with his big right paw extended during a field goal attempt by the Longhorns. Winfrey blocks the kick and all OU has to do is put points, any points on the board to win the game.
The Sooners get the ball at the 25. They pick up a first down and decided to center the ball on the field with the next play to set up a chip shot field goal attempt for the win. I didn’t like the call and I felt the Sooners should have kept leaning on Texas with the run game and try to punch it in for a touchdown as Texas was on the ropes and showed little ability to stop a focused OU rushing attack. But, I could understand Rileys logic as Sooners kicker Gabe Brkic has been outstanding in his career as he had only missed one kick previously (which happened to be last week against Iowa State on a 50+ yard attempt).
Of course he missed the kick. The forces that be wanted to keep you locked in on this ride just a little longer. You deserved it.
Finally, following a brilliant pair of plays by Sooners QB Spencer Rattler which led to a touchdown for Drake Stoops and an amazing two point conversion completion to Theo Wease for the two point conversion, the powers that be planned out your exit from the ride.
From the 5:50 mark left in the game, the Oklahoma defense showed little signs that they would be able to stop the Longhorn offense, which pretty much boiled down to Sam Ehlinger ripping off long run after long run with the occasional short pass thrown in.
Down eight in the fourth overtime, and behind the chains, the Longhorns were forced to throw the rock. The much maligned Tre Brown, who had an interception earlier in the game negated due to a weak holding call, was the right man in the right spot as he was able to come off his man and pick off the errant throw from Ehlinger to seal the victory for the Sooners.
There will be ample time to dissect this game and there is a ton of information to unpack. Whether it be the amount of players that OU ran out there on defense (at least 24 guys played defense), the emergence of the Sooners offensive line, the confounding play calling of Lincoln Riley, the question of why can OU consistently get pressure on Sam Ehlinger but not the QBs from an FCS team and two teams with make shift offensive lines, or the stars that were born on that day like Woodi Washington and TJ Pledger.
All of that will be covered.
But today, I just wanted to point out how happy I am that the stars aligned in the manner which they did which allowed us all the opportunity to experience five hours of unfettered emotion which was solely based on the game we all love. No outside noise, no politics, no pandemic…nothing but five hours of emotions extracted through football.
We needed that. We deserved that. I am grateful for that game.
Some Surprising Numbers | Red River Shootout
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 12, 2020
Starting to go back over the game more in depth and one thing that jumps out initially is the number of players that OU got into the game on the defensive side of the ball.
At least 24 players saw playing time. (Rough snap counts in parenthesis)
Pat Fields (88)
Bookie (85)
DTY (72)
Jaden Davis (65)
Brian Asamoah (65)
Isaiah Thomas (60)
Perrion Winfrey (60)
Tre Brown (59)
Woodi Washington (59)
DaShaun White (56)
LaRon Stokes (52)
David Ugwoegbu (49)
Jon Michael Terry (49)
Nik Bonitto (47)
Marcus Stripling (45)
Tre Norwood (42)
Josh Ellison (39)
Kori Roberson (17)
Jordan Kelley (15)
Jeremiah Criddell (11)
Justin Broiles (8)
Bryan Mead
Josh Eaton
DJ Graham
***Couple of things really stood out to me after looking at these counts
– Pat Fields needs to come off the field more (obviously). Not sure why Bryson Washington did not get any run, particularly with the struggles Fields was having and coupled with the fact that Eaton and Graham got in the game. I cannot guess as to why he did not get ANY playing time without it being speculation at this point. K and James will be doing some digging to see if there is perhaps an underlying reason or if Grinch just feels like he is not ready still. Either way, Pat had another rough day and someone, whether it is BWash or someone else, needs to get additional snaps there.
– The gap is closing between DaShaun White and David Ugwoegbu at MIKE. I’m gonna beat my own chest here as I have been calling for that gap to narrow since Missouri State and now, in the fourth game, it looks to be happening. Ugwoegbu is an impact player and DaShaun is a ‘nice’ player. White had a huge miscue near the goaline as he was marking Ehlinger and he fell down which gave Sam a walk in touchdown. Ugwoegbu is gaining more and more confidence and his snap count went up dramatically compared to the Iowa State game. White may get a few more nominal starts, but Ugwoegbu’s star is on the rise and I could easily see him taking the lions share of snaps at MIKE as the season progresses. White gives you a valuable piece as the 3rd LB as he is familiar with both the MIKE and WILL as he played at the WILL his first two seasons.
– Woodi Washington has solidified himself as the 3rd cornerback and I am not sure he will stop there.
Washington made multiple huge plays for the Sooners. The first being a tremendous pass breakup against Joshua Moore early in the game. Nice to see a corner play the ball from behind while not being flagged for interference. Washington wasn’t trying to do too much here as he located the ball and timed his defense perfectly to achieve his goal of making sure the play could not be completed.
The second play of course was the interception on which he displayed perfect form in a ‘lean and locate’ technique. OU has not been successful in the use of that technique for a few years now as they have not shown the ability or desire to locate the ball in the air, and most of the time they are playing through the receiver and face guarding. This was so refreshing to see and it has to have you excited for the future.
You can tell the Sooners focus on locating and ball skills with the defensive backs paid off this week as Tre Brown should have been credited with two interceptions. In Tre’s case, on the interception he was credited with, he did exactly what you should expect your corners to do…he was in position on his man, turned and located the ball, and was able to react by leaving his man and moving to where the ball was. Well done.
His first INT was a great play and a bogus penalty. Brown was on the lead shoulder of his guy and drove through him to secure the pick.
– The final takeaway from the numbers I found a bit surprising can be found at the RUSH spot.
Nik Bonitto had a huge impact on the game with 2 sacks and 2 tackles for loss among his 5 tackles.
The surprise for me is that JMT played as much, and as well as he did. He had 7 tackles, 1 sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.
The duo splitting snaps down the middle for the most part really enabled the Sooners to get a lot of production out of that position.
Big 12 Awards | Pledger & Ugwoegbu | Tre Brown
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 12, 2020
The Sooners received some recognition from the Big 12 as running back TJ Pledger took home the offensive player of the week award and linebacker David Ugwoegbu garnered the special teams player of the week award.
Pledger had 22 carries for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground along with 2 receptions for 24 yards through the air.
Ugwoegbu had 6 tackles which included 1 sack and 2 tackles for loss to go along with his huge punt block.
As Tony B also pointed out in the comment section, Tre Brown received some national recognition from the Reese’s Senior Bowl as be was named ‘Senior of the Week’ for his play on Saturday as well!
