Open Post | Wednesday, November 2nd
Posted on: November 2, 2022
Quick Postgame Thoughts | Iowa State – 2022
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 29, 2022
***The Sooners go into Ames and come away with a weird victory.
**It was a convincing win that they made look unconvincing but still convincing at the same time…if that makes any sense?
***The story of the day was the defense, they won the game in large part for OU, but the other story was how good Gabriel looked on offense yet he got little to no help from his star receiver who dropped multiple passes and gave up on another one.
***Couple of coaching decisions also had me scratching my head as the 45 seconds at the end of the first half apparently didn’t matter to the Sooners and then some of the play calls throughout the 3rd and 4th quarter left you wondering ‘what the hell was that’?
***Where are the quick slants and the hooks? Does OU not have any RPO in their playbook? And why is everything either a 40 yard heave or a lateral pass unless it’s 3rd down and Drake Stoops is on the field?
***Eric Gray had another hundred yard game on the ground, but man did it look different when he wasn’t in the game as Jovantae Barnes missed the game and Marcus Major just ain’t it.
***The defense was good, but they also got a lot of help from the skill players on Iowa State…but again…this was the same scheme as OU played in the first three games, you have to wonder if they stayed with it during their three losses if things may have been different…closer at least.
***OU got 3 picks today and several of them were the ‘Free Turnovers’ that I have talked about. Stutsman and Broiles made opportunistic picks by being in the right place at the right time…Woodi earned his in coverage.
***Danny Stutsman…nice pick…RUN THE QB OVER AND EARN YOUR POINTS THOUGH!
***Marvin Mims…I have no explanation…that was atrocious and something we haven’t seen from him since his first season against Kansas State where he had a case of the dropsies.
***Defense had 1 sack and 7 tackles for loss…3 PBUs, 3 INTs and 4 QB Hurries as well as 1 forced fumble. Good day for sure for them but the 2 fourth down and long conversions leave a bad taste in the mouth. Have to be better there in maintaining your assignments.
***I started this off by talking about a convincing win that didn’t look convincing but still felt convincing…and that was because of missed opportunities on offense…lots of them…yet it was Iowa State’s worse loss of the season in their own building. Just a weird game.
***Thought the play of the secondary was really good, particularly the corners. Jaden and Woodi did well, didn’t even see CJ Coldon but I did think it was impressive what true freshman Gentry Williams did. He made textbook coverage look easy as he stayed connected with his receiver and was actually outrunning him and he had his head turned and looking for the ball. Having that kind of speed is nice. Shout out to Valai for what he has done with that group to this point.
***Good win for Oklahoma and I completely understand the angst that you all went through as it seemed like a chore…right now, OU makes nothing easy on themselves but there were a lot of positives to take away from this game, particularly on the product the defense put on the field and the potential the offense showed. If 17 and 10 showed up on offense…this game was likely a 41-13 win for OU.
***OU will host Baylor next week at home.
By The Numbers | Iowa State | Game 8 of 2022
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 30, 2022
Let’s take a look at some of the PFF numbers from the Sooners win over Iowa State…
Offensive Snap Counts: 76 Total Offensive Snaps
1 Andrew Raym #73 – 76
1 Dillon Gabriel #8 – 76
3 Anton Harrison #71 – 73
3 Wanya Morris #64 – 73
3 Chris Murray #56 – 73
6 Marvin Mims #17 – 68
7 Brayden Willis #9 – 67
8 Drake Stoops #12 – 63
9 Eric Gray #0 – 50
10 Jalil Farooq #3 – 39
11 McKade Mettauer #72 – 38
12 Robert Congel #66 – 35
13 Marcus Major #24 – 26
13 Daniel Parker Jr. #22 – 26
15 Theo Wease #10 – 24
16 Gavin Freeman #82 – 6
17 LV Bunkley-Shelton #6 – 5
18 Jason Llewellyn #87 – 3
18 Jake Taylor #79 – 3
18 Jacob Sexton #76 – 3
18 Jayden Gibson #1 – 3
18 Savion Byrd #59 – 3
18 Aaryn Parks #55 – 3
Top 5 PFF Offensive Ratings:
1 Anton Harrison – 80.5
2 McKade Mettauer – 75.5
3 Daniel Parker Jr. – 73.2
4 Jalil Farooq – 71.6
5 Andrew Raym – 70.6
Bottom 5 PFF Offensive Ratings:
1 Marvin Mims – 49.4
2 Theo Wease – 53.9
3 Robert Congel – 54.1
4 Brayden Willis – 56.7
5 Jayden Gibson – 58.1
Surprised me:
Sometimes PFF is so wildly off from what we saw in the game live….sometimes they are spot on with what we saw…in this case, particularly with the bottom 5…it looks like stats don’t lie and they got it right. The receivers were the worst part of the team against Iowa State aside from Jalil Farooq (and Stoops) and the PFF rating show exactly that. So I guess the surprise, in this case, is that PFF nailed it. Glad to see Andrew Raym draw a top 5 grade against what is likely the best DL OU will face this year as a whole. Anton Harrison is a frequent flyer on the top 5 list and Mettauer makes another appearance. Daniel Parker had a really nice day in the blocking game so good to see him up there!
Defensive Snap Counts: 84 Total Defensive Snaps
1 Danny Stutsman #28 – 84
1 David Ugwoegbu #2 – 84
1 DaShaun White #23 – 84
4 Woodi Washington #0 – 78
5 Jaden Davis #4 – 73
6 Jalen Redmond #31 – 52
6 Justin Broiles #25 – 52
8 Key Lawrence #12 – 49
9 Billy Bowman #5 – 44
10 Ethan Downs #40 – 40
11 Jordan Kelley #88 – 39
12 Reggie Grimes #14 – 38
12 Jonah Laulu #8 – 38
14 Marcus Stripling #33 – 28
15 Jeffery Johnson #77 – 26
16 R Mason Thomas #32 – 24
17 Isaiah Coe #94 – 23
17 Trey Morrison #6 – 23
19 C.J. Coldon #22 – 17
20 Josh Ellison #90 – 14
21 Gracen Halton #56 – 6
22 Robert Spears-Jennings #3 – 5
23 Gentry Williams #24 – 3
Top 5 PFF Defensive Ratings:
1 Key Lawrence – 83.0
2 Jonah Laulu – 75.1
3 Isaiah Coe – 72.6
4 Justin Broiles – 71
5 Reggie Grimes – 69
5 Jaden Davis #4 – 69
Bottom 5 PFF Defensive Ratings:
1 David Ugwoegbu – 47
2 Marcus Stripling – 50.6
3 R Mason Thomas – 50.9
4 Billy Bowman – 57.2
5 Jeffery Johnson – 57.5
Surprised me:
Key Lawrence being the top grade defensively didn’t really surprise me…but the amount by which he led by in the ratings did make me raise an eyebrow. Lawrence had a coverage rating of 86.1 while the next closest DB coverage rating was Broiles at 71.5 and then Jaden at 68.9….that’s a big spread…all while I thought Gentry Williams would have the top grade on his limited snaps and Woodi Washington had a very good day in coverage. I will be watching that on the re-watch later this week. Jaren Kanak not getting any snaps defensively was disappointing. Jeffery Johnson appeared to be held quite a bit during the game, so no surprise his rating was low, another thing I will be watching. Reggie Grimes had the highest pressure rating at 68.7 followed by Jordan Kelley at 65.9. Guys who were ‘In the red’ in regard to tackling: Stripling – 24.9, Ugwoegbu – 29.1, Stutsman – 34.6, and Johnson – 35.0…nobody else was even ‘in the yellow’ as OU tackled pretty well on the day for the most part.
Sooners Offer ’23 DT Markus Strong
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 31, 2022
Yesterday the Sooners offers ’23 DL Markus Strong (6’5 280) out of Lake Butler, FL.
I caught up with him briefly yesterday to gather a little bit of info for the community.
Strong tells me that the Sooners had been in contact for about a week prior to extending the offer.
I asked him about a potential visit to Norman at some point and he said ‘We haven’t set anything up but I definitely intend on doing it’.
He is a guy who I believe will see his recruitment blow up as signing day approaches, much like Ahmad Moten last year (who eventually landed at Miami).
For those who will ask, yes, I view this offer as a pivot off of Kayden McDonald likely choosing to go somewhere other than Oklahoma.
Watching his film you see a big, long kid who is very strong, and pretty raw. You can see a good canvas to work with there as he shows some solid athleticism and has obvious tools.
Will update if a visit is set.
Quick hitter | Sooners Offer Kansas State Commit Jordan Allen
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 31, 2022
A few days back the Sooners offered ’23 ATH Jordan Allen (6’4 240) out of Olathe, KS and he is currently committed to Kansas State.
When OU offered, he tagged Sooners OC Jeff Lebby in the tweet.
As I mentioned in the comment section of a previous post, OU source says he is being recruited as an ATH…JJF likes him as a TE and Chavis likes him as an EDGE…and that is what they are telling Allen himself.
Bottom line, I view it as an EDGE offer with the TE aspect used as the dangling carrot.
I also view this offer as somewhat of a hedge on the Colton Vasek situation for OU.
Possible Portal Shopping Position
– Super K – Posted on: November 1, 2022
A quick note here about a question some of you have had regarding whether the Sooners will be looking to the portal for defensive linemen.
I did ask a source on the OU side and was told that it is definitely something they are keeping an eye on. It does sound like there are some particular guys that the Sooners have heard word of a possibility of transfer.
So, yes, DT portal shopping is very much in play. However, there is still uncertainty about their numbers as guys like Redmond still have eligibility. So, what some of these guys decide to do at the end of the season will determine a lot.
Though there are certain guys who, should they enter the portal, the Sooners are going after, regardless.
We have also noted that with the Sooners not landing McDonald, they are making some additional DL offers. We will get into that a bit later.
’23 DT Offer Ashton Sanders
– Charlie S – Posted on: November 1, 2022
Last night the Sooners offered ’23 DL Ashton Sanders (6’3 295) out of Los Angeles, CA.
I caught up with him after the offer and he let me know that yesterday was the first time he had been in touch with Oklahoma.
He also has wasted no time in setting up a visit as he plans to get to Norman for an official visit for the Bedlam game on the November 19th weekend.
He holds offers from Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Washington and Utah among others.
Position Group Progress Report | 2022 Game 8: Iowa State
– Charlie S – Posted on: November 1, 2022
Checking out how the position groups performed in the Sooners win over Iowa State. Coming into the game, OU was a slight favorite and they won the game 27-13.
This will be the eighth progress report of the season and I will be including the prior games ranking for each position in their header.
Let’s see how things shook out against Iowa State.
***One quick note…the 14 point win was the first time since 2015 that OU beat Iowa State by more than 10 points. That stretch also included two losses to the Cyclones as well as three one score victories.
QB: 4* (Last week: High 4*)
Sooners QB Dillon Gabriel was robbed of a 5* performance by his wide receivers. No other way to put it.
Gabriel was 15 of 26 for 148 yards and 1 touchdown.
If you take out the drops and get even a little help from the receivers, you’re looking at a stat line more like 20-26 for 250 and 3 touchdowns at the very least against a very good Iowa State defense.
Gabriel did his job and looked sharp, particularly early in the game.
RB: 4* (Last week: 5*)
This grade is a bit deceiving as Eric Gray was very, very good aside from his fumble in the first quarter.
Gray had 20 carries for 101 yards and one touchdown while averaging 5.1 yards per carry against a very stingy run defense.
He was in and out of the lineup in the second half and it showed in the Sooners run game as Jovantae Barnes did not travel and Marcus Major struggled to run the ball effectively.
Major had 12 carries for only 29 yards which averaged a paltry 2.4 yards per carry.
Average the two performances out, you wind up at a 4*.
WR/TE: 1* (Last week: 5*)
Jalil Farooq was the bright spot on the day for this group on a day when there were not many bright spots across the board for the pass catchers.
Farooq had four receptions for 74 yards which included a 41 yard touchdown and a highlight reel catch where he went up and sacrificed his body and came down with the ball following a hard hit.
One other notable positive from this group was the blocking of TE Daniel Parker. He was really active and blowing some defenders up.
Marvin Mims had one of his worst days as a Sooner as he had multiple drops and could not make the adjustments we have seen him make on balls in the air. Theo Wease had a chance to make a big play and couldn’t come up with it and Brayden Willis inexplicably dropped a ball that hit him in the chest.
Pretty ugly day for this group.
OL: High 3* (Last week: 5*)
A tale of two sides?
The left side of the line was dominant. They were aggressive, physical, and pretty assignment sound. Harrison, Mettauer, Congel, and Raym all had nice to really nice days against a stout Iowa State front.
On the right side…Chris Murray had some moments, but Wanya Morris was horrific at times and never found his groove. Have to wonder if there is some lingering injury there or if his head just wasn’t right because he was bad. That may have contributed to Murray having a less-than-stellar day as well. Tyler Guyton did not travel due to a family issue, but you have to believe he would have seen a lot of snaps in place of Morris if he had been there.
Still, it’s about production and the group only allowed 1 sack and paved the way for a hundred yard rusher, again, against a very good defense.
DL: 3* (Last week: Low 3*)
I liked the lineup OU rolled out with as they started Laulu, Redmond, Coe, and Downs across the four man front.
Laulu seems to be finding his groove and he did a really nice job of holding and setting the edge and Coe felt like a force for the first time in a long time. Unfortunately, he had a finger snap and I would imagine his status is in a bit of question for at least the Baylor game, but who knows…we may see a club on him.
Redmond had a couple of moments as well so that was good to see.
Jordan Kelley picked up the Sooners lone sack on the day, but this group did allow for the defense to pick up 8 tackles for loss as well.
Solid effort.
LB: Low 4* (Last week: 2*)
They were ‘better’.
People will remember Stutsmans interception, but I thought he did ‘better’ in his run fits and assignments but was still lost in space at times in coverage. Also, I dock him some credit for not running over the QB at the end of his interception and bullying his way into the endzone. Kid has to learn he won’t get many more opportunities to not only get a free hit on a QB, but to also score points while doing so hahaha!
Ugwoegbu actually looked ‘good’ to me. I think he played his best game of the year in all facets. I’ll go back and watch it again, but I was pretty impressed with his performance as I wasn’t screaming at the screen ‘DAVID YOU NEED TO TAKE BETTER ANGLES’. So that’s progress.
Would have liked to see Kanak get a few snaps, but beggars can’t be choosers I suppose.
Cheetah: 5* (Last week: Low 4*)
Shame on all of us for doubting what Brent Venables saw in DaShaun White at Cheetah. Am I right?
Simply put, White has been the best and most consistent defender for the Sooners over the course of the year.
He probably had his best game as a Sooner last week as he put up 14 tackles which included 1.5 tackles for loss.
His tackling, reads, recognition, and coverage have all been spot on. Feels like we have seen real development over the course of the season and right now he is playing at an elite level.
Really happy for him and I look forward to seeing what he does over the final games of the season. Great story of a kid who stuck with it and is seeing it pay off.
DB: 5* (Last week: Low 4*)
I counted one bust (likely missed another couple), aside from that this group was lights out. Tip of the cap to Valai and Hall for how much they have improved this group.
Jaden Davis was nails.
Woodi Washington was spectacular (that wasn’t an interception, but still).
Key Lawrence was the best of the bunch in the secondary on the day.
Justin Broiles played very well and was assignment sound (nice pick as well with the dive).
Billy Bowman wasn’t close to 100% but he made it through his snaps without giving much up and came out of the game without aggravating his injury.
Great day for this group and you can see what a healthy Key Lawrence brings to the unit. Venables gave him another shoutout during his postgame presser this week and it’s nice to see him healthier than he has been for most of the season which kept his snaps limited.
ST: 5* (Last week 3*)
Zack Schmit had as many points as Iowa State had. Thats pretty awesome.
That fake FG was a thing of beauty and really changed the momentum of the game (captain obvious).
Turk was a major factor as well in flipping the field and allowing the defense room to eat.
Returns were fine aside from one very poor decision by Mims to let that punt roll in the fourth.
