The Football Brainiacs

Update | Some Clarity on EJ Ndoma-Ogar Opting Out
– Charlie S

Over the Weekend, Super K was able to confirm that Sooners sophomore offensive lineman EJ Ndoma-Ogar has opted out for the season due to the pandemic.

Ndoma-Ogar played in four games in 2019 and had been viewed as a promising up and comer in the offensive line room.

***Yesterday, I Spoke at length to a source close to the situation. Source said that EJ’s news was not new to Oklahoma. He did not dress for Missouri State and had already informed the staff of his decision to opt-out.

***Source told me the opt-out is solely based on COVID related concerns and not game related. At this time, the plan is for EJ to return to Norman to continue his career once the issue clears up. Plans could always change, but right now, that is the plan.

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Quick Thoughts | Post Game KSU
– Charlie S

I don’t have many nice things to say. Let’s get that out of the way.

The Sooners dropped their Big 12 conference opener to Kansas State this afternoon and they clearly were their own worst enemy.

*** Four turnovers (3 ints and 1 fumble), giving up a blocked punt and allowing four touchdowns and a field goal on five consecutive drives in the second half is really the story of the game.

***After holding Kansas State under 100 yards in the first half, the Sooners surrendered over 300 yards to the Wildcats in the second half.

***Spencer Rattler looked like a true freshman in the second half but I am not here to point fingers at him as there are many other places I would look to first for blame:

– The OL was bad early and got a bit better with the insertion of Anton Harrison. However, holding penalties and the inability to impose their will on KSU in the run game throughout the entire game was glaring.

– The wide receivers struggled to get separation often and missed some blocking assignments 

– The defense was incredibly susceptible to big plays and big busts the entire second half. OU didn’t make many small mistakes…they were all pretty glaring.

– Things really seemed to go off the rails early in the third Quarter on a Kansas State attempted conversion on 4th down (successful) where Brian Mead should have been in position to make an easy tackle yet was unable to get his fit right. 

– Tre Brown gave up a huge play in the first half as well on a play where he should have known the route on 3rd and 18 and simply gave up the ghost.

– Later in the second half KSU RB Vaughn caught a slant between the LBs (Asamoah was on the initial coverage) and then ran to daylight and the endzone as Pat Fields took a horrific angle and got turned around at safety.

– Also had another Mead/Fields bust on a simple wheel route where the KSU player was left 15 yards open which went for another huge chunk play and points

– Just massive mistakes. Glaring mistakes. Prior to the season I said while I think OU lost a great deal of talent last year, I thought they would be more consistent. Many people thought they would be better (I was not among them) but I was clearly incorrect in regards to the consistency as was everyone who thought the defense would be better.

– The DL aside from Isaiah Thomas at times, was non-existent in regards to impacting the game in a positive manner for OU. It is a problem I see no real quick fix for either at this point as you had all the guys you expect to make an impact available.

*** The offense mustered 14 points in the second half compared to 31 for KSU. OU still put up over 500 yards of offense, but the penalties and turnovers killed them.

*** Oklahoma folded. Plain and simple. Kansas State out played them, out executed them, and out schemed them in the second half.

*** Rattler doesn’t get a pass, but he also does not (should not) get the lion’s share of the blame.

*** There is no reason at this point, in what is a free season, to NOT PLAY THE YOUNG DEFENDERS. None. 

*** Look at who stood out for the offense…freshmen (aside from Stogner who was perhaps the lone bright spot for OU). Freshman Running Back, Freshman QB, Freshmen WR (Mims), Freshman OL.

*** Show me someone other than Mead at WILL as a backup. Whitter, Barnes and Morris can easily look as bad as Mead did while gaining valuable experience.

*** Show me the freshman defensive backs getting their chance to learn and gain experience as what OU is doing back there right now is not the answer. 

*** We will get into all those things throughout the week, but there really isn’t anything positive to take away from the game today for the Sooners. You cannot let a depleted Kansas State beat you at home especially after they ‘surprised’ you last year.

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Snippet from: Monday Notebook | My Thoughts
– James Hale

Here are some of my takeaways from the game

*Spencer Rattler is a great talent but not quite yet a great quarterback yet. He’s very close, and he’s very good, but like Coach Riley said after the game it was only his second start. He was not the reason OU lost the game, and in fact, his outstanding play for two-and-a-half quarters was why OU had a 21-point lead twice. Unfortunately, his poor play in the final 20 minutes helped contribute to the loss, and the fact he didn’t move the team into at least field goal range in the last 46 seconds was disappointing.

*OU lost two NFL running backs in transfer Trey Sermon (Ohio State) and Kennedy Brooks, who opted out this season, and that hurt the Sooners in the loss. While McGowan is very good he is not as big or as strong as either Sermon or Brooks, and those two likely would have played well against Kansas State. Also, Sermon and Brooks were pretty sure-handed with the ball, and McGowan’s fumble was a big blow to the Sooners in the game. T.J. Pledger looks like a good running back, and he runs hard, but he doesn’t look like a game-breaker. OU can’t wait to get senior Rhamondre Stevenson back. He is an NFL talent.

*OU’s offensive line returns four starters from a year ago, and inside, both juniors Marquis Hayes and Tyrese Robinson have been solid but not great. In fact, a year ago, Hayes had trouble with personal fouls and holding calls, and as the Sooner prepared for the Peach Bowl O-line Coach Bill Bedenbaugh thought about benching Robinson. Saturday, Hayes picked up two holding calls, and both nullified big plays for the Sooners and Robinson’s holding call cost Rattler of his big run that would have set the Sooners up deep in Wildcat territory. Coach Bedenbaugh played freshman Andrew Raym in the game Saturday, and you will see the freshman from Broken Arrow, OK get more playing time as the season goes along, and don’t be surprised if he isn’t starting for either Hayes or Robinson before to long.

*I was shocked that the OU wide receivers didn’t have a huge day against the Wildcats. Kansas State was missing five players from the secondary, and they had several guys playing out of position to balance out the group. Yet, that group played well, and the OU wide receiver had trouble getting behind the Wildcats two and three deep coverages. Bartlesville native A.J. Parker played well the game and was the man who blocked Reeves Mundschau’s punt.

*Many of you thought I was crazy for saying that sophomore Drake Stoops would have a big year for the Sooners. He proved me right Saturday night with three catches for 93-yards and one 51-yard touchdown where he fought for the final two yards into the end zone. I agree Stoops is not the speed burner that OU really needs in the slot and when sophomore Trejan Bridges gets back, and even Obi Obialo, Stoops reps will be limited, but he stepped up in a big way Saturday night, and it was great to see the local kid and son of the former ball coach come back big for the Sooners.

*I have talked all preseason about the Sooners lack of size on defense. Now, I’m also wondering just how talented this defense is. Does OU have an NFL draft choice on the defensive side of the ball playing right now? You might say Perrion Winfrey, but he wasn’t a difference-maker Saturday. Senior corner Tre Brown maybe? His hands are still not very good, and he doesn’t make enough plays for a guy with his talent. OU lost their three best players on defense from last year, and I’m not sure OU has replaced them with equal talent. Starting linebackers, Brian Asamoah had four tackles and DeShaun White two, and they have to be more active than that if this defense is going to be good.

*This group of defenders have been playing since Coach Grinch has been at OU, and they just don’t have the knack for turnovers or big plays. He speaks highly of Fields and Delarrin Turner-Yell at safety, but they are not dominating performers. The same goes for the Sooners corners Brown and Jaden Davis. OU has a lot of promising young talent in the secondary, and I realize a good deal of it just got back from COVID, but it’s the backups the coaches say have the size and speed they are looking for. I don’t know if this current group has the knack for takeaways and creating turnovers, but maybe the second group does. I mean, Josh Eaton and Kendall Dennis had great reps for creating turnovers coming out of high school.

*They moved Woodi Washington to corner and Tre Norwood to safety, and if they did that to create more depth then great. Both played Saturday, but I would like to see more of them while also seeing Bryson Washington some at safety as well.

*OU played all their defensive lineman, and I didn’t see a difference-maker in the bunch. When OU won their last national championship back in 2000, they didn’t have a draft choice among that group. Jackie Shipp coached them up, and they played good enough to help OU win the Natty. That group was tough and played through injuries, and it will be interesting to see if this group can be just as tough. They didn’t show it against Kansas State, and while I’m impressed with Winfrey’s athleticism, the jury is still out on just how good of a football player that he is.

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My Big 12 Rankings | Week 2
– Charlie S

This week the Big 12 opened up their full conference slate

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 2 spots. So for instance, while OU dumped a game to Kansas State, and I would likely have dropped them further, the brakes were put on at 3 for OU. 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 2 position max movement per week 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. Again, OU would be lower right now in the big picture.

***1 Texas – Last week 2 – (2-0) – Went on the road and beat an energized TTU team who refused to win the game and allowed Texas to pull out a win in OT after leading by 15 with four minutes left.

***2 OkState – Last week 4 – (2-0) Took care of business at home against WVU in a rather lackluster game with some of their top guys out.

***3 Oklahoma – Last week 1 – (1-1) Got humiliated at home by Kansas State while giving up two 21 point leads. Should be lower.

***4 Baylor – Last week 6 – (1-0) – Beat up Kansas, as they were supposed to do, and something that OU didn’t do with Kansas State

*** 5 West Virginia – Last week 3 – (1-1) Looked pretty bland against a pretty bland OkState team in their loss.

***6 TCU – Last week 4 – (0-1) Lost a home game against ISU 37-34 and didn’t look good in any facet really. I thought the defense would be better, and it likely will be down the line, but pretty meh.

***7 Iowa State – Last week 8 – (1-1) Getting the ship pointed in the right direction following their opening game loss to a sunbelt team. Expect them to get better each week and they happen to be the Sooners next opponent. Lovely.

***8 Kansas State – Last week 9 – (1-1) Beat number 1 in the conference on the road and only move up one spot? Says more about OU than Kansas State in my opinion. They aren’t a good team and I would actually have left them at 9 but winning in Norman as one of the lesser teams in the conference means something no matter how bad OU crapped the bed.

***9 Texas Tech – Last week 7 – (1-1) Had the Texas game won at home and decided they really didn’t want to win and handed it back to Texas. Terrible ending but they get some credit for playing well enough to win for 56 minutes. Probably should be higher and likely will climb up a bit as the season progresses.

***10 Kansas – Last Week 10 – (0-2) Locked in here. Really don’t see a path out for them.

Couple takeaways from my own rankings:

*** OU too high

*** Texas is not safe in the top spot for too long

*** Have a little more respect for OkState for just getting the job done with some adversity personnel wise

*** ISU will continue to move up