Open Post | Weekend, November 2nd – 4th By: TFB Posted on: November 2, 2018

Notebook | Huff, Ogunbiyi, Morris, OU Defense Simplified, & Thompson
– Super K

Sorry for being a bit out of the pocket this week. I traveled some. Came back and I’m headed back out of town once again! Had a number of things I’ve been meaning to write but I’ll go ahead and pass some of them along here in a notebook.

***As I mentioned previously, I had a chance to get out and see TAMU commit and Sooners 2020 OG target, Akinola Ogunbiyi (Kempner HS, TX). A few thoughts on his game.

First, he’s big but he wears it very well. This was the second time I’d seen him in person. He’s probably around 6’3 or 6’4. His coach told me he’s probably still growing. He just turned 16 and his father is apparently pretty big. His father’s cousin in Hakeem Olajuwon…so, yeah.

Aki told me he weighs around 320 lbs. Again, he wears that size very well. He’s going to end up being a 340 lb road grader who can run. He runs really well in open space and takes excellent paths to the defenders. OU loves to the run the counter and this man can pull and find his man. He plays on a team that runs the wing t offense so you don’t see him in pass pro much but it’s pretty clear he has the tools to the do it.

Despite being taller and longer (fantastic length) he’s still able to get under shorter defenders to gain leverage. If he wants to move them, he can pretty easily but it looks like they ask him to position block quite a bit.

Recruiting: Aki is committed to Texas A&M currently and because of that most of my conversation with him was off the record. As you know, he took a trip up to Oklahoma this past summer and absolutely loved it. I asked him if he will take a return trip and he says he wants to but it’s just a matter of getting the time and a ride up to Norman.

He’s very high on OU and if he opens up his recruitment, I do believe the Sooners will jump to the top of the list.

 

***I also recently saw Sooners DB, Jamal Morris in person. Morris has gained some athleticism since I saw him in the spring. He looks more muscular and loose in his movement. Was very impressed with just his overall physical build and ability.

I didn’t get to see much from him. He left in the second half with a minor injury (nothing serious but the game was out of hand so coach probably figured it wasn’t worth him playing).

I definitely would’ve liked to have seen Jamal show up more on the back end but apparently, the other team did a good job of reading the safety. Morris was playing center field.

 

*** I spoke with recent Sooners visitor, 2020 CB, Jalen Huff (Buford, GA). The Sooners made a big impression on Huff. Huff said that since his offer, last spring, he’s been in regular touch with coach Kerry Cooks. Once, Viney came back on staff, Huff has been communicating with him.

“I started talking to coach Chip Viney and he was really wanting me to come out for a visit so I sat down and talked to me dad about it and we got everything worked out”.

This trip was the third trip Jalen has taken this season. He said he’s visited South Carolina and Kentucky as well.

Huff said he arrived in Norman on Saturday morning, “we checked in and ate and then coach Cooks and coach Viney came and introduced themselves. Then coach Chip showed me the facilities. I spent a lot of time with him. Then, we met up with coach Riley before the game and talked to him a little bit and he said we’d talk more after the game and we did”.

One of the most intriguing things Jalen said that I can almost guarantee he wouldn’t have said a few weeks was when he started talking about the rotations and calls from the sideline to the players in the game.

“You can tell Oklahoma’s system (of calls) is so much smoother (than other places he’s visited). The players are getting the calls and they understand the calls right away. You don’t always see that. There isn’t confusion.”

Huff also commented on how much he likes the defensive backs rotation, “I also guys playing multiple spots. They move them around. I believe in that because you need to understand the other positions on the field. You need to understand what the other guys are doing and what their assignments are. That helps you know where your teammates are on the field and where your help is coming from”.

Sharp young man.

In terms of the vibe of the game and the visit overall, “Sold out crowd and die hard fans that cheer on every play and their quiet when the offense is on the field. That’s the way it should be…Everywhere you look it’s Oklahoma colors. The Sooners are the NFL team around there. It means a lot to the fans”.

Keep a close eye on this one. Or #JustWaitOnIt.

 

***I was over in Lufkin, TX earlier this week to see 2020 Sooners DB target, Jerrin Thompson…

And man, I like him! As I mentioned in the tweet above. I love the way he moves. Very smooth, very quick and plays low. Pretty good size. I’d say 6′ or so. Definitely looks like a guy who can man up a slot.

But what I really love is what he does when gets where he’s supposed to be. He has great balls skills. And he his an absolute hitter. It’s getting harder and harder to find safeties that will come up and hit. It takes a special time of toughness and attitude to be a hitter at safety. First, you come at the ball carrier after he’s reaching top speed since he’s likely broken or breaking through the second level and secondly, you’re coming from farther away. And finally, you’re typically much smaller than your linebacker.

Wright is a guy you can tell will lay a man out. OU needs more of those guys.

I had to leave before practice was over so I wasn’t able to talk recruiting with Jerrin but I’ll speak with him over the phone soon or get back out there.

 

***You’re going to want to be around your computer this afternoon, by the way. Sooners could be getting some good news then.

 

***I know I owe you all a 2019 running back update. I’ll try to get that typed up later today at the airport or tomorrow. I also owe you all some of my wrap up notes from my California trip on Kendall Milton and Jalen McMillan. Again, they’re coming.

 

 

Negative Recruiting…It’s What’s For Dinner
– Charlie S

*** So I won’t go into too much detail, but I can tell you that having spoken to some recruits…there is some really dirty negative recruiting taking place against the Sooners based on the idea of Lincoln Riley leaving Norman after the season to pursue a job in the NFL.

*** Hearing from some of the recruits that opposing schools are trying to get them to consider at least pushing their signing day back to February.

*** While it is all so new, after a couple of days, and particularly after the Bedlam visit weekend, I would suspect some of the worries will dissipate.

*** Also, I believe this actually puts a little more pressure on the Sooners to name their full-time DC as quickly as possible once the regular season concludes as there is already that situation out there which allows other teams to take some liberties on the recruiting trail against OU.

 

 

Quick-Hitters | Bru McCoy & Sutton
– Super K

***Exchanged texts with the father of Bru McCoy. The plan was to take an official visit to Oklahoma for the Bedlam game.

The issue they are having is that Horace, Bru’s father, has his an engagement he can’t get out of. The original plan was then for Bru and his mother and sisters to take the trip. However, Horace tells me the family would prefer he accompany them on the official.

As such it’s looking like it’ll either get rescheduled or not happen at all.

We will let you know once they’ve finalized their plans and pass that info along.

 

*** Yesterday, 247’s RJ Young reported that Sooners running back, Marcelias Sutton has suffered a broken leg.

I sent out a few texts to sources to confirm.

James also checked on it. James said via text, “I heard he did get hurt and was on crutches but was not exactly sure what happened”. So, he is rechecking to find out the severity but we have no reason to doubt 247’s report.

Eventually, Super K was able to confirm the report. Best wishes for Sutton.

 

 

Rodney Anderson Heading To NFL
– Charlie S

Last night, Sooners injured running back Rodney Anderson announced his intentions to enter the 2019 NFL Draft.

Here is to hoping he heals well and has a long a prosperous career in the league!

 

 

Texas Tech Pregame | Class Is In Session
– The Professor

Oklahoma seems to be hitting their stride. The offense has looked incredible, and the defense has been better than they’ve been all season. The Texas Tech offense puts up a ton of numbers, but they also run about a million plays per game (official stat).

Halloween was a couple of days ago, but I think the Red Raiders will really be haunted by what happens on Saturday.

The History

The history between these two teams is a bit confusing. Oklahoma leads the series by a healthy margin 19-6-0 and Oklahoma is on the longest winning streak of the series at 6 games. However, the last three times Oklahoma was ranked in the Top 5, Texas Tech beat the Sooners in two of those three games. The one Oklahoma win in those three games was 2008 when a #5 Oklahoma hosted a #2 Texas Tech in what was one of the most magnificent beatdowns of all time. I watch it whenever I’m grumpy, and it always does the trick.

comment image

The recent history between Oklahoma and Texas Tech has been defined by offense. The average total score across all FBS games since the start of 2015 is 57.3 points. The average total score in Oklahoma vs Texas Tech games since the start of 2015 is 97.0 points.

The Coaches

When Lincoln Riley showed up on campus at Texas Tech in 2002, he was a walk-on and 3rd on the depth chart behind starter and cool-kid Kliff Kingsbury.

Kliff Kingsbury is possibly the most mediocre coach, and definitely the most alliterative coach in the Big 12. His record as a coach is 35-36. His bowl record is 1-2. He’s never had a season with a winning percentage above .625 or below .333. On the other hand, Riley has a winning percentage of .864. Who’s the cool kid now?

comment image

The Players

Kyler Murray (see all previous articles). He has surpassed my ability to flatter someone’s performance with statistics.

With the injury to Marcelias Sutton, Oklahoma has lost four of their top five rushers from last year, either to draft, transfer or injury. But since this is Oklahoma, our remaining backs have rushed for 1,149 yards this season and average 7.3 yards per carry.

Texas Tech and the Red Raider offense is fast-paced and runs a ton of plays. The weakness of the Sooner defense so far this season has been not making stops and getting off the field. That being said, that’s been the most apparent change since Mike Stoops was let go. Here’s how Oklahoma has done so far in that respect.

comment image

Someone on Twitter today actually tried to argue that Texas Tech’s Alan Bowman was a better QB than Kyler Murray. These are the kind of people we are dealing with. Their passing game has put up counting stats like yards, but they also throw 47 times per game. They also run 40 times per game, but they average just 3.7 yards per carry.

Well, that does it for this lesson. Watch out for the flying tortillas or whatever the hell it is they do out there.