Open Post | Tuesday, October 27th By: TFB Posted on: October 27, 2020

Quick Postgame Thoughts | TCU
– Charlie S

Sooners went in to Fort Worth and walked out with a solid 33-14 victory.

Couple quick thoughts following the game…

***Start with the defense…very good upfront, particularly on the edges with Thomas, Bonitto, JMT, and Stripling being very active and you saw some good things from Winfrey, Kelley, and Stokes inside.

***Very happy to see they were able to pressure Duggan throughout the day. Well done on the DL

***Linebackers were active, DWhite had a very good game while Asamoah struggled with some tackling issues. Ugwoegbu flashed as usual and is looking more and more confidant as the season goes on. Looking forward to really watching the film of the front 7.

***Secondary was just flat out bad when it comes to tackling and staying disciplined. Bookie, who I have defended, had another bad day and there is no defense for that. Too many penalties and misses. Matching him up on TEs is insanity at this point anymore.

***Defense gave up only 14 points and 351 yards (276 through the air)…you would take that every week.

***Defense held TCU to 4-14 on third downs which has been a trouble spot so that was big.

***Zero turnovers…not ideal.

Offense

***The Swenson starting charade continued and I think he was out after the first series. Has to be a loyalty thing at this point, no other explanation. While he was in the game, OU did have one of their better drives, but he also had a miss in the series. Will look back at this again this week.

***The OL as a whole was good in pass pro (Rattler needs to help them by getting rid of the ball) and not great in the run game…BUT..I will say I do not think Riley did them any favors in regards to finding their groove with some erratic play calling. Never got a chance to find their groove.

***Pledger finished with 122 yards on another 22 carry day, he’s RB1 and I could not be any happier for him.

***Stogner and Rambo really let Rattler down on a few occasions in the first half with drops. Cannot have that from your security blanket (Stogner) and supposed WR1 in Rambo who has now dropped more TDs than he has caught on the year (3 dropped TDs to 2 TDs).

***Thought Rattler did very well in the passing game…he was not even good in the RPO game…way too many bad decisions on keeping and giving and again, I credit a lot of that to Riley’s playcalling. Riley is much smarter than I am, but it didn’t seem wise to me to keep going back to that well. But what do I know.

***Marvin Mims. That is all. That’s the story of this game offensively for OU. Feed him.

Overall, game was a lot less stressful than most of you imagined. OU did what they were supposed to do so it was kind of weird not stressing the entire game.

Sunday Brunch | This Weeks Big 12 Rankings
– Charlie S

This week the Big 12 once again had a full slate of games.

Let’s take a look at my updated rankings for the conference now that the majority of the teams have played:

 ***Note: In order to not be simply a reactionary poll, I am using a set guideline where no matter where a team entered the poll from the previous week, they cannot move up or down more than 3 spots this week as opposed to 2 spots in last weeks ranking. This does not mean they will not continue to drop as the weeks go on, but I’m trying to not be as reactionary as I would like to be. So the 3 position max movement per week gives me a little more flexibility and will go on throughout the season***

Remember, these are week to week rankings. This is not how I view the teams overall but by the end of the season they should matchup with my exact thoughts.

Conference record in parenthesis.

***1. OkState – (3-0) Last week 1 – Defended their claim to the top spot by hanging on to defeat Iowa State by 3 at home. Iowa State left 6 points on the field as they missed a couple of field goals and Spencer Sanders returned for the Cowboys who should continue to improve as the year goes on. Best defense in the Big 12 right now.

***2. Kansas State – (4-0) Last week 5 – No Skylar Thompson? No problem. Kansas State destroyed Kansas as expected. The road gets more difficult for them over the next 5 weeks and not having Thompson could be a problem, but right now, they have earned the second spot.

***3. Iowa State – (3-1) Last week 2 – Iowa State could be the most complete team in the conference in my opinion, and I think they have a good chance to win out from this point on following their loss to Oklahoma State. Just seemed a tick off on Saturday as they had a couple uncharacteristic breakdowns on defense and missed two field goals. Their loss did no favors to OU and their pursuit of the CCG.

***4. Oklahoma – (2-2) Last week 4 – Oklahoma, for once, did what they were supposed to do (in my opinion) and dominated TCU in their game and came away with a ho-hum 33-14 victory. I say it was ‘ho-hum’ because while the score was not close, the Sooners still have so much room to grow as they did not play a ‘clean’ game. OU has the most talent in the conference, I think it is likely that they win out, but it may be too little too late with the way the CCG race is setting up in front of them.

***5. Texas – (2-2) Last week 7 – Texas grabbed a much needed win against a depleted Baylor team and they were not overly impressive in their victory. However, after the game, all the players stayed on the field for the singing of ‘The Eyes’…so they have that going for them. Texas can do OU some favors by winning a game or two on their remaining schedule as they still have OkState, ISU, and KSU ahead of them.

***6. West Virginia – (2 -2) Last week 3 – Last week I said they were not long for the upper half of the conference…I did not expect their fall to come this week, but you cannot go losing to Texas Tech and remain on the top side. WVU has a decent defense, but they are challenged offensively (particularly at QB) and that still is not a great way to survive in the Big 12.

***7. Baylor – (1-2) Last week 8 – Baylor lost to Texas and still moved up 2 spot? Yeah, they get a pass this week as they were depleted by injury and COVID issues and they still played a decent game. I like their defense a lot, their offense does need some work. I expect them to remain in the bottom half of the conference, but they are capable of pulling off a win which could benefit OU.

***8. TCU – (1-3) Last week 6 – TCU took the loss at the hands of OU and to be honest, they were fortunate to score 14 points. They are a mess on offense and while their defense is ‘good’ it is not a typical Patterson defense this year. Starting to wonder if they need some new blood on the offensive coaching staff as things have gotten quite stale on that side of the ball down in Ft Worth.

***9. Texas Tech – (1-3) Last week 9 – Picked up a nice win against West Virginia this week. Not enough to move them off the 9 spot, but I could see them making their way into the top 7 by the end of the season. I like the energy they play with and I applaud the permanent move at QB to Henry Colombi as things were not clicking with dueling QB’s.

***10. Kansas – Last week 10 – (0-4) – Final answer, lock it in.

Update | 2021 DB Caleb Johnson
– Charlie S

Last week, Super K mentioned the 2021 defensive backfield class would likely be undergoing some changes…

‘***The first is you may potentially see a decommitment. If it happens, and again I believe it very well could, it’ll be more a mutual parting of ways. I’ll leave the players name out but it’ll be obvious if it happens and as of now I expect it to. At that time we’ll address more directly.

***Again, I think the most imminent move we could see is the parting of ways with one of the 2021 DBs but with how suddenly and often unexpectedly  commitments are happening these days, you never know if a new player will suddenly jump in.’

This morning, Caleb Johnson (5’10” 170) out of Greenville, TX, announced via Twitter that he was decommitting for the University of Oklahoma.

As many of you figured out, Johnson was the guy K was talking about. He has now made it official.

We will have more on the situation this week as we are still gathering names to know and which direction the Sooners will be looking to take in regards to filling out the 2021 defensive backfield.

TFB Randoms | The Suspended Trio & Caleb Williams
– Charlie S

Couple bits of Random News…

***On the Big 12 conference call, Riley addressed the suspended players and where things are at.

Lincoln Riley when asked about DL Ronnie Perkins, RB Rhamondre Stevenson, and WR Trejan Bridges and their status in regards to their suspensions said: “I don’t have an update. The process is not as clear cut as you guys think it is or I thought it was going to be. I’m not trying to play games. I do not know what their status is right now.”

So, there is your latest official update. We do believe they are likely to play this week, but with the NCAA, you never know.

***Sooners 2021 QB commit Caleb Williams made the news of his move to Oklahoma official in his weekly blog…

‘Since the high school football season for me was pushed back and we’re still not certain of exactly when we are playing, I have decided to start my transition, my journey on the next chapter — the future. Preparing myself to take that next step in going to college. I have been doing that over the past few months, trying to figure out where I’m going to stay and things like that.

Norman, I’m here, baby! I’ve officially moved to Norman.’

You can find his full blog at SI.com

Magnificent Mims | How high can he climb?

– Ryan Lewis

College stats via sportsreference.com | Records via soonersports.com 

As a high school player, Marvin Mims was a cheat code. He destroyed opposing defenses, racking up stats like life were a video game.

*Texas high school state record holder for receiving yards in a career (5,485)
*Texas high school state record holder for receiving yards in a season (2,626)
*6th in single-season receiving touchdowns (32) in Texas high school history
***CeeDee Lamb had 33
*15th in single-season receptions (114) in Texas high school history
*During his senior season, he posted 22.5 yards per catch

Even before he arrived on campus, fans were excited to see what he could do. With five games under his belt, it’s easy to see why.

The Sooners have had their share of incredible receivers over the years. Just this century, several receiving legends have passed through the school. While many have had special freshmen seasons, Mims is on his way to obliterating them all.

Below is a comparison of Mims through five games against several OU greats.

The receivers included were selected due to high freshman season rankings in receptions, yards, or touchdowns. If you’d like to see someone else who might have similarly high stats, feel free to mention him below. 

Ummm… that seems pretty good.

Receptions

Mims is at 19 receptions, tied with Sterling Shepard for the highest total through five games. The record for receptions in a freshman season is held by Kenny Stills.

1) Stills (61)

2) CeeDee Lamb, Ryan Broyles, and Mark Clayton (46)

5) Shepard (45)

At his current pace, Mims would hit 46 receptions over 12 games, putting him at a tie for second.

No freshman at OU has ever had more than three 100-yard receiving games in a season according to the record book. I’m not 100% certain on this next piece, but as far as I can tell, no freshman has even had more than two such games (if someone finds other information, by all means share it below). Mims is on track to have three such games this season.

Yards

328 yards for Marvin is the most out of the entire group and well above average. Lamb holds the record for receiving yards in a freshman season.

1) Lamb (807)

2) Stills (786)

3) Broyles (687)

4) Shepard (621)

5) Clayton (524)

On a 12 game pace of 787 yards, Mims is on track to land second in yards as well.

Touchdowns

Six touchdowns is also a high among the group over five games and double the average. Lamb and Mark Andrews co-own the OU record for most touchdowns in a freshman season

1) Lamb and Andrews (7)

3) Broyles & Mims (6)

5) Stills (5)

At his current pace, Mims would have… ready… 14 touchdowns this season. Forget freshman records; that would climb the all-time OU record book for any player.

1) Dede Westbrook (17)

2) Broyles and Clayton (15)

4) Lamb, Broyles, and Jermaine Gresham (14)

Sooner fans had high expectations for Marvin Mims; it’s fair to say that, through five games, he has exceeded those expectations.