Open Post | Wednesday, September 26th By: TFB Posted on: September 26, 2018

Quick Hitters | Wease & McIntosh
– Charlie S

Couple of quick notes

*** We reported back in August 2019 running back and Sooner offer Kenny McIntosh had set up his official visit to Norman for the Baylor game this coming weekend.

This morning I checked in with Kenny and he is still planning on making that visit.

The Sooners currently hold the commitment of running back Marcus Major but they would ideally like to add another back, should the right opportunity present itself, to this class and Kenny McIntosh fits that bill.

McIntosh is very close with Sooners defensive back commit Jaden Davis.

Hope to have a full update on him soon.

*** *** ***

*** Touched base with Sooners wide receiver commit Theo Wease who visited Norman for the Army game this past weekend.

While the game result may not have been ideal in the eyes of the fans, you all have heard how impressed the players and staff were with the atmosphere and the crowd.

The level of fan involvement and the atmosphere at the game left a lasting impression on the recruits and commits who were in attendance as well.

Image result for Oklahoma sooner fans gif

Theo said “As usual, the visit was good! My favorite part was seeing the crowd in a close game. The atmosphere left me speechless”.

So there is something positive for you all to take away from the Army game and well done for those of you who were there!

 

 

Jalen Catalon Planning a Visit to Sooners
– Super K

As we’ve previously noted, the Sooners have turned up their pursuit of 2019 safety, Jalen Catalon. Catalon was a top OU target early in the process but as time went on, it seems he was looking elsewhere.

The Sooners however, have redoubled their efforts and it looks like they’ll finally get a chance to see Catalon back on campus. Catalon’s father, Sherman, tells me, “we are working with the OU coaches for a visit this weekend for their home game”.

Many of you may recall that Jalen’s mother attended the University of Oklahoma. At one point, it seemed like an inevitability that the talented safety would end up a Sooner.

Catalon continues to tell me that he plans on making his decision later in the process. We’ll see if this OU visit can change that.

Catalon sees play development about as well as any high school safety you’ll come across and he can close ground fast. A lot of high school safeties get where they need to be to make a play because they’re more athletic than everyone else on the field. Catalon is different. If you watch his keys and pause film at the earliest point he should be recognizing what’s happening, you’ll notice Catalon is almost always moving towards his target at that point.

I really like DBs who play quarterback. I think it shows that they’ve earned their coaches trust and it expands their knowledge of the game and field awareness. Catalon has that in droves.

Based on what I’ve heard from my sources on the OU side, Catalon, like Dax Hill, is going to have a spot till the end.

 

 

Finley Felix Visiting Oklahoma This Weekend
– Super K

We previously mentioned that this was a possibility but we’ve confirmed that JUCO OT, Finley Felix (Coffeyville CC) plans to take an official visit to Oklahoma this weekend for the Baylor game.

Finley is another Florida prospect, hailing originally from Fort Myers.

 

 

Sooners Hosting Elite Safety Jordan Battle
– Super K

We previously noted that the Sooners were working to set up an official visit for 2019 Ohio State DB commit, Jordan Battle (St. Thomas Aquinas).

Battle is, as you most of you know, a teammate and close friend of Sooners CB commit, Jaden Davis.

We’ve confirmed that Battle does plan on taking an official visit to Oklahoma this weekend for the Baylor game. Also, Jaden will take an unofficial visit. Obviously having Jaden there should help the Sooners cause here.

 

 

Jalen Catalon Top Four
– The Football Brainiacs

For those of you who have read our previous posts, this top four from star DB, Jalen Catalon, won’t come as a surprise.

https://twitter.com/jcatalon27/status/1044399410174726145

 

 

Trench Warfare…Army’s Goal Line Stand
– JY

Hey, Sooner fans.  I thought I’d get this out before lunch for a little snack.  There’s been a lot said about how Oklahoma’s much-ballyhooed offensive line got stuffed on the goal line.  I’ve been doing Trench Warfare for about 6 years or so now, and if you’ve read any of them, you know how much I talk about outnumbering people at the point of attack.  Historically, Oklahoma has not and does not do a good job of scheming to numbers.  I’ll show some more evidence to my argument in another post, but exactly what I’ve been saying for years is what Army did offensively all night long.

 

Below, Army has 8 guys in what you would call the box.  The defender with the blue arrow becomes defender number nine when Hollywood Brown goes in motion.  Now Oklahoma has only 6 blockers.  1 center, two guards, two tackles and a tight end.  Now I’m not a smart man Jenny, but I know that Army has three more defenders in the box than Oklahoma can block.

 

 

 

After the snap, you see all three perimeter defenders who I’ve notated with blue arrows crash the edges and the middle.  As much of a whiz as Lincoln Riley is in the pass game, and understanding how defenses will react to his pass schemes, I cannot understand how he doesn’t adjust in the run game.  Immediately, due to the motion, you have AD Miller at the top one on one, Hollywood in motion uncovered, and Cee Dee Lamb at the bottom one on one.  A better play would be to check out of this and flip a little pass out to Hollywood or run a slant to Cee Dee.

 

 

 

 

Still, the original play has a chance.  Kyler just made a bad read.  This is a triple option look because if the defensive end #2 crashes, then Kyler needs to pull the ball.  Most defenders can’t handle Kyler straight up, much less with their hips completely turned like this guy does.  Had Kyler pulled it, I’m of the opinion he walks in the end zone.  Still, I know it’s a triple option because Hollywood is looking back inside here.  Kyler could flip a pitch or pull up and pass it out there to him as well.

 

Hey I get it, it’s Oklahoma, and the Sooners shouldn’t get stuffed on the goal line by Army, but dammit, Oklahoma has to be smarter.  When you leave 3 defenders unblocked, BY DESIGN, you have to have an answer for that.  And also, these are division 1 football players Oklahoma is going against.  You leave three of em unblocked, you have issues.  Oklahoma was three or four plays away from making this a blowout and negating Army’s 10-minute drives.  The difference in a football game a lot of times is just a handful of plays.  This one, the missed field goal, Kyler sliding before the field goal, a couple of third down busts in coverage early & the early sack.  The bottom line is that the Sooners didn’t play well but still found a way to win.  That shows guts and character.  While we’d all like the Sooners to win every game 100-0, that’s not realistic.  These guys are human beings, and Army’s a damn good football team that won 10 games last year.  They’re also the best this country has to offer.

 

 

Turner Corcoran Post Visit Notebook | “You’re A Big Man” + Insider Note
– Charlie S

Last weekend the Sooners hosted a handful of 2020 prospects, including priority offensive tackle offer Turner Corcoran out of Lawrence, Kansas, for the Army game.

The Sooners also played host to one of the most high profile athletes in the entire world as Baker Mayfield made his way back home to Norman after his NFL debut last Thursday in which he had guided his Cleveland Browns to a come from behind win in relief of an injured Tyrod Taylor.

The paths of the two visitors collided in the Lobby of the Switzer center, and while it was brief, it was memorable for Turner Corcoran as Baker Mayfield simply said to him “Man, you are a big man” as he shook his hand.

Turner recounted the meeting to me as he said: “Here is a guy, who had Orlando Brown blocking for him at OU…calling ME a ‘Big man’…it was kind of surreal”.

While the opportunity to meet Baker Mayfield was certainly a highlight of his time in Norman over the weekend, after having had the opportunity to speak with both Turner and his mother, Shannon, who accompanied the ‘Big Man’ on his visit, it was evident that the entire Sooner program, from Lincoln Riley to the fans in the stadium, left quite an impression on them.

A mothers view of a visit to Norman…

I asked Shannon if she had anything she would like to share about the visit regarding the atmosphere, coaching staff, and the game itself. She graciously took some time out of her day to share her thoughts.

She said, “It was a great visit! The staff was super! I don’t know how they did all of it, everything ran like clock-work!”.

Shannon continued by saying, “Annie Hanson and her staff were so organized in keeping the recruits and families in-the-loop on the schedule of events. It was great talking to the coaches again too”.

As for the game itself, she said, “The game was suspenseful with the overtime against Army, so it was really fun to see it all play out”.

As for the atmosphere, she said “OU has such a strong fan base, it was a very entertaining atmosphere! From the parachutes landing on the field, huge flag presentation, fireworks, the marching band was awesome, the jumbotron was also fun to watch (the crowd really got into seeing themselves & others!). We could not have asked for anything more, it was an excellent experience!”

The Big Mans Review…

Having visited Norman for the ChampU BBQ back in July (after all, he is a member of the reigning ChampU BBQ scavenger hunt championship squad) I was wondering what Turner would be looking for on this trip.

Prior to the visit, I touched base with Turner and asked him what he would be focused on during this return visit and he said:

“I’m looking forward to the game day atmosphere and game day feel”. He added, “Also to see some OU football, to see how not only the players but the coaches perform also. How they make adjustments and stuff like that”.

He came away with impressive reviews all around.

We started by discussing his favorite parts of the trip, aside from meeting Baker, and he said “Man, that is tough. There was so much I really liked! It might have been the tunnel run, when they take the field, or when they scored right off the bat. Or man, when Baker was introduced before the game! The place went crazy! They love that guy and he was a great football player for them at the University of Oklahoma and a really great guy too!”

Turner continued by saying, “It was also really cool getting to catch up with the staff, like Coach B and Coach Annie. They really went out of their way, Gave me some passes to come by after the game, they really went out of their way to make us feel comfortable”.

As our conversation continued, I asked him if he got the opportunity to meet and hang out with any of the other recruits who were on hand and he said, “I got to hang out with Marcus Hicks (DE OU Commit, Wichita, KS), Breece Hall (2019 RB, Wichita, KS), and Hayden Pauls (2020 OT Emporia, KS) among some others”.

So you can sense a theme here…Kansas kids are squad goals, no?

The Kansas connection at OU was not lost on Turner, and Coach Cale Gundy made sure of that just in case. Turner said “Coach Gundy, he keeps telling me that every Kansas kid that has gone to OU has gone to the NFL. He also said they have a couple of current Kansas kids that will soon be headed to the league in Ben Powers and Amani Bledsoe, and then you know, Marcus is up next”.

Those Sooner coaches know how to get things done, don’t they?

As for the game itself, Turner told me that he did take the opportunity to focus on a couple of those Kansas kids. He said “After Army scored, and I knew it was going to be a battle, I focused on Amani on the defensive side and he really played well. Broke up a lot of plays and forced the ball inside a bunch. I also got to watch Ben out there, just moving people around. It was great to see up close”.

Wrapping up the conversation about the visit, one of Turner’s biggest takeaways was how straightforward the staff was with he and his family. Turner said “It was really great just getting a chance to hang out with the coaches, staff, and players. They are all so straightforward. Just really down to Earth people at Oklahoma, and that’s a good feeling to be around”.

Recruiting…

Shortly after visiting Norman for the ChampU BBQ in late July, Turner cut his list to seven schools: OU, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Kansas State.

He has plans to visit several of those schools as long as his schedule will allow and he is in no rush to make a commitment. However, that also does not mean that a commitment may be far off.

Turner said “You know, I debate what I’m going to do. Sometimes I think about cutting my list down, but then I decide I don’t want too. I mean, I may commit towards the end of my season, or I may wind up waiting to commit until signing day. It will just happen when I feel the time is right, but right now, I’m just kind of taking it day by day”.

I’m a huge fan of how he is approaching his recruitment. Taking it day by day, keeping things in perspective, and when the time is right, he will know it.

I asked him if there was a chance he would make his way back to Norman this season and he said: “You know, as soon as I got in the car, I said, ‘Man, I think we need to come back here for another game, just something about this place’”. However, he made no promises as his priority, which I think we can all agree with and support, is remaining focused on his high school team and their quest to win a state championship.

Needless to say, the Sooners made another big impression on the ‘Big Man’ and his family and they currently sit in a good place in his recruitment. Will they wind up with Turner Corcoran wearing the Crimson and Cream for his college career?

He will let us all know when the time is right.

If you would like to read Charlie’s “Insider Note”, please click the Donor Board link!