Open Post | Tuesday, October 26th
Posted on: October 26, 2021
2023 RB Tre Wisner Talks Sooner Interest
– CJ Vogel – Posted on: October 22, 2021
I caught up with 2023 Waco Connally RB Tre Wisner Thursday afternoon to get an update on where things stand in his recruitment and to get his take on the Sooners in general.
For now, Wisner is taking things slow and taking a strong look at a number of programs hitting him up. Among the many are Oklahoma, Texas, Baylor, Florida State and Texas A&M. Wisner said he is hearing from Auburn, Oregon, Washington and Alabama as well, though not as often.
While the regional schools have his attention for now, distance won’t be a deciding factor for the talented back.
“Going away from home has never been a problem for me,” Wisner said. “I just want to go somewhere where I can grow as a human being, not just a player. I want to grow and learn things and set up my future.”
The 2023 Oklahoma class has been off to a historic start, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Wisner has taken notice of the members in the class and has done his research about what the Sooners are building.
“Of course,” Wisner said about if he notices who commits where in his class. “Anytime someone commits, I go straight to their (Twitter) page. No matter where he commits, I want to see who I am playing against or with. I know it is going to be fun, there are a bunch of dogs in my class.”
With RB Treyaun Webb in the class already, Wisner said it is not that big of a deal to him.
“It’s whatever to me,” Wisner said. “I’ll go anywhere I can play at. Oklahoma is definitely near the top.”
With the Sooners’ offense firing on all cylinders as of late, the Waco native is excited about the potential of the Caleb Williams-led unit moving forward.
“That’s amazing, you know offense also wins games,” Wisner said. “You gotta score to win. I want to go somewhere where you can put the ball in the end zone.”
Early on, Wisner said his two biggest relationships at Oklahoma are with RB coach DeMarco Murray and Head Coach Lincoln Riley. So far, the bond between Wisner and Murray is off to a great start.
“He’s a great coach. He is always telling me ‘finish, finish, finish. It is not about how you start, it is about how you finish. We don’t play two quarters, we play four.”
For the time being, I do not believe there will be a decision in the near future. However, I believe the Sooners are in a very good position early on.
Wisner hopes to establish a top schools list at the conclusion of his junior season. There are many in Wisner’s circle who are urging him to take all five official visits before coming to a decision as well. Those same people want to ensure Wisner gets it right the first time and won’t have to go through a decommitment phase many recruits endure after committing too early.
Wisner is receptive of that message and is hoping to carry it out throughout the next year or so.
Regardless, I like where Oklahoma stands. Wisner will see the Sooners play in Waco and Stillwater later this season.
Quick Postgame Thoughts | Kansas
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 23, 2021
The Sooners escaped a road trip to Lawrence Kansas with a victory over the woeful Jayhawks to run their record to 8-0.
The Jayhawls shut out the Sooners in the first half and took a 10-0 lead into the locker room.
***The Sooners offense in the first half was abysmal as they had just 3 drives.
***1st drive ended in a punt after nobody picked up a free man up the middle and Williams was sacked.
***2nd drive ended with a bad interception on behalf of Caleb Williams who got greedy and tried to force a ball downfield while he had Kennedy Brooks wide open on a checkdown.
***3rd drive ended with a turnover on downs as Riley chose to go for it instead of kicking a field goal. That was it.
***The second half, offensively, was the Caleb Williams show as he led the team to over 350 yards and 35 points. What you would have expected in the first half all came in the second half.
***Williams literally willed the offense to all those points as twice on 4th down, he made plays that no normal QB is making through sheer will. Both of those 4th down plays in the 4th quarter were stopped dead in the backfield as the OL couldn’t get any movement and only Williams athletic gifts and his heads up play (on the Brooks handoff) allowed those plays to be successful. End of story.
***If you are looking to slander Williams, take that somewhere else because he won the game for your team today.
***You cannot lead the unwilling and this clip from @SoonerGridiron shows a very unwilling bunch of defenders.
***Onto the defense, or lack thereof
***They were abysmal. Period.
***Allowing 8 out of 10 third down conversions in the first half is why OU was losing. It was not Caleb Williams’ interception or Rileys play calling. It was not being able to get off the field defensively against a piss poor offense.
***Ethan Downs, Reggie Grimes, Nik Bonitto, and Key Lawrence were the sole standouts.
***The pass rush was nonexistent for the most part aside from the guys I mentioned above who occasionally got into the backfield.
***The coverage was embarrassing and if Billy Bowman is not moved back to nickel by the time the team boards the busses, someone should lose their job as they are ruining the kid in a desperation move to corner. Bowman has no business being at corner right now, perhaps if you started him there when he got to campus, you could make sense of it. The longer they keep him out there, the higher the risk of losing him, mentally and physically becomes. Walkons could give you the same results without the mind games.
***The interior defensive line was an absolute no show. They were run around, through and over by Kansas for the most part. Zero pressure coming from the interior and a lot of penalties. Just dumb stuff on the penalties and the lack of production is stunning from a unit that was talked about as being the deepest on the team. They could not control the Kansas run game.
***The secondary was not only porous, they were lined up in some of the most ridiculous ways you could imagine against Kansas. KANSAS. Soft zone coverage and playing 8-12 yards off against Kansas is just asinine.
***Only time I noticed the linebackers for the most part was when they were whiffing on tackles or over pursuing their run fits. I stepped away before I wrote these thoughts to allow myself the opportunity to gain some perspective but I just cannot fathom how poorly the defense played and I’m still shaking my head in astonishment.
***Bottom line is…at some point you need to stop hearing about the need to bring in more talent and start focusing on upgrading the development at certain positions. We have been talking about the development, or lack thereof for quite a while now and the results of not doing so are manifesting before your eyes each and every week.
***The Sooners have plenty of kids who were talented and coveted defensive players. Right now, they look like a bunch of school kids running around out there and all we hear about is being consistent in practice. Bryson Washington, Josh Eaton, Latrell McCutchin, Jaden Davis, Damon Harmon, Jordan Mukes, any walk on at OU playing defenisve back should be better than what they have shown to be. That is a development issue. That is a teaching issue. That s a coaching issue. Until that is addressed, I do not see a way to witness any real improvement at this point as all we have seen is regression.
***Kansas ran the ball right down Oklahoma’s throats when they wanted to and when it mattered. The interior defensive line could not dominate the Kansas offensive line to any degree. OU needed to bring extra men to generate any real pressure and push and that is unacceptable.
***OU continues to find ways to win, this time they rode the special effort from their freshman quarterback who willed his team to victory. He got little help along the way and if Superman ever loses his cape over these last four regular season games, the Sooners may be in trouble.
***This was a demoralizing win for the defense if there ever was such a thing and it is time to start wondering how mentally engaged some players are on that side of the ball. One thing is for certain in my mind, the fans are not the only ones who see this lack of development…the players do as well and that cannot foster a positive environment. They do not want to lose or look stupid in a win, but when they reach in their toolbox…they have run out of tools provided to them. I know some of you may hate that analogy I repeatedly use but it is nothing but accurate.
***OU needs to get better schematically, physically, and mentally. The defense needs to be called and aligned differently because what they are doing is not working I don’t want to hear about ‘oh the injuries’ this was KANSAS.
***Just a day filled with poor implementation and execution. Where is the accountability that the leaders of this program preach?
Sunday Afternoon Note | In-State Prospect
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 24, 2021
Had a couple folks reach out to me this morning, which I really appreciate, and mention that OU has picked up communication with ’22 DL/EDGE DeSean Brown (6’3 230) out of Choctaw, OK.
Yesterday, Brown dropped his mid-season highlights and it sounds like OU took notice.
Sooners OLB/DE coach Jamar Cain has been the guy leading the recruitment of Brown throughout the process. As I have mentioned previously, OU has been recruiting Brown with multiple positions in mind (RUSH, DE, DT) and they hosted him for an unofficial visit for the Nebraska game.
Following the Nebraska game, source told me OU had not been in much contact.
That has changed and as I mentioned, I had multiple sources tell me, today, that OU is ramping up its communication.
I would not be surprised to see an offer extended here in the near future.
Count me as a fan of that offer when/if it materializes. I believe it is long overdue, to be honest.
He has one thing you cannot really teach and that is a non-stop motor, which I am told has not gone unnoticed by OU.
Quick Hitter | ’22 WR Nick Anderson to Officially Visit OU
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 25, 2021
The Sooners are expecting to host ’22 wide receiver Nick Anderson for an official visit this weekend for the Texas Tech game.
Anderson (6’3.5 195) out of Katy, Texas, is currently committed to Oregon.
You may recognize the name, as he is the younger brother of former Sooners running back, Rodney Anderson.
Position Group Progress Report | Game 8: Kansas
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 25, 2021
Checking out how the position groups performed in the Sooners win against Kansas. Coming into the game, OU was a 38 point favorite over the Jayhawks and they wound up winning 35-23.
This is the eighth progress report of the season and I will include the previous game’s ratings for each unit.
Let’s see how things shook out against Kansas.
QB: High4* (Last Week 5*)
The world was crashing on Caleb Williams in the first half…actually, it was only some of the Sooner fanbase who were ready to throw him off the boat because of one very bad freshman mistake.
The Sooners had 3 possessions in the first half. Caleb Williams made one mistake, in the entire game really, but not checking down to Kennedy Brooks and trying to force a ball to Jadon Haselwood that was picked off by Kansas.
Aside from that, Williams played another tremendous game and he worked and willed his way to a victory for OU.
Let this sink in…OU does not win this game, against Kansas, if Spencer Rattler is your quarterback.
Williams was 15 for 20 passing for 178 yard with 2 touchdowns and the interception.
He also carried the ball 8 times for 70 yards (including the 10 yard sack against him) with a touchdown.
The head up strip of Kennedy Brooks was a play that will likely be one of the most memorable plays for years to come in Sooner lore.
Once again…OU does not win this game, against Kansas, with any other quarterback on their roster. Period.
RB: 3* (Last week high 4*)
Lot of ‘meh’.
Kennedy Brooks had a very quiet 24 carries by his standard. He racked up 79 yards but it was only good for a 3.3 yards per carry average.
Eric Gray looked really good in the pass game with 3 receptions, but he only got 1 carry. Gray had one ‘drop’ on what would have been a spectacular play in the end zone, but I’m not gonna hold that against him.
Jeremiah Hall had 3 receptions but was poor in pass pro and blocking much of the day.
Meh.
WR/TE: High 2* (Last week low 4*)
A puzzler here.
Marvin Mims went back into witness protection this week. I expected him to have a big day coming into the game but he only had one reception for 14 yards and looked disinterested in blocking
Jadon Haselwood and Drake Stoops each had 3 receptions and Haselwood is quickly becoming a guy I gain respect for every game as he is out there generally busting his ass on every play. He is also playing a tom of snaps.
The unit really missed Mike Woods this week.
Willis and Stogner were non factors and I really only noticed them when they were missing blocks.
Not their best day overall as I saw far too many occasions where the WRs were just standing around and not working to get separation.
OL: High 2* (Last week 4*)
The offensive line was not good.
They also were not terrible.
The were quite average and got zero help from the WRs and Backs. Felt that more carries for Gray would have made them look a lot better as Kennedy Brooks just seemed to be a tick off.
The penalties were just lack of focus and unacceptable, but their play wasn’t nearly as bad as it appeared on the scoreboard.
Raym is still showing mental cracks and you all saw that on the very first series of the game when the linebacker had a free shot at Williams. I don’t care what the protection call is there, the center has to see the middle linebacker directly in front of him and react.
DL: Low 1* (Last week 3*)
Who played decently: Bonitto, Downs, and Grimes.
The interior defensive line was getting bullied by Kansas. Run over, around, and through.
You may not like this take, but at this point, I was right about questioning all those lofty preseason draft predictions about Perrion Winfrey going in the first round. He has disappeared over the last 4 games aside from making a play that falls into his lap.
The interior group, which the coaches boasted about being 8 deep is barely surviving without Jalen Redmond.
Even the move of Isaiah Thomas to the inside has had a negative cumulative effect on this unit as Thomas has slowly begun to fade. He came in against Texas and saved the day by helping to bottle up Bijan in the run game, but since that point, it has been downhill for him. Actually feel bad for IT as he is watching money flow out of his bank account by having to play inside.
The defensive line needs to really get it together, specifically, the guys inside or you’re gonna see Baylor, ISU, and OkState make those games low possession games by just running the ball for 4 yards and a cloud of dust before lighting up the backend.
Against Kansas…KANSAS…the unit that has been routinely referred to as the ‘best unit on the defensive side of the ball’ was clearly the worst.
LB: 1* (Last week low 4*)
Who stood out: Whitter
Thats it.
Asamoah got yanked basically for a long period of time after the ‘most offside’ offside penalty you will see. He made some tackles eventually, but he certainly didn’t play at the level he played one week earlier. Then again, nobody did.
DaShaun White was one missed tackle after horrible angle all night.
Ugwoegbu played ok in the second half, but the first half saw him out of position more often than not and seemingly disinterested.
Stutsman looked like a freshman. It happens. As I mentioned when he was out, the kid really has zero experience and you’re going to see freshman mistakes and tendencies. He looked like he was thinking too much instead of playing with his instincts on Saturday.
DB: Low 2* (Last week 1*)
Actually the best unit on the defensive side for OU.
I know that is difficult to read, but I believe it to be accruate.
Key Lawrence was the best defensive player on the field for OU against Kansas without question.
Latrell McCutchin only got 10 snaps (what the hell) and played pretty well and everyone’s favorite corner to pick on, Jaden Davis played a decent game.
The safeties and nickel, who were not named Key Lawrence were bad. Lost in coverage, covering large swaths of open field, not providing any type of run support. Just bad.
Eaton only got 3 snaps. Again…what in the wide, wide world of sports is going on.
Billy Bowman actually looked better then he had in the previous game. He tackled the best out of the entire secondary not named Key Lawrence.
Billy Bowman is also not a corner back and should be immediately moved back to nickel to see if his psyche is even salvageable at this point.
What makes it worse is all the talk about the safety spot being the head communicator on the backend. There was no communication taking place. It was just crap.
The lapses in focus and being assignment sound continue to kill this group.
Special Teams: 3* (Last week 2*)
Brkic made 5 XP
Turk hit a 61 yarder.
Kick Return and Punt Return were fine.
Average.
