Open Post | Weekend, September 18th – 20th
Posted on: September 18, 2020
Quarantine Update
– Super K
Earlier in the week, I noted that we had not yet heard of any positive cases following the game.
I did want to update you all with new information. It turns there was one positive test on Sunday. It’s a freshman who is not a starter. Don’t know yet if it trigger a contact trace. There has been an update, by the way, to the contact tracing rule which I’ll mention in a subsequent post.
So far this week, I’ve been told that all the starters are practicing.
Position Group Progress Report | Missouri State
– Charlie S
Handing out the rankings for the Sooners position groups following the Missouri State game.
I will be including the previous weeks rankings (in this case preseason rankings) so we can all see how the units are shaking out on a week by week basis!
Let’s see how things shook out against the Bears!
QB: High 4* (Preseason 4*)
Spencer Rattler certainly had a terrific first career start for the Sooners. There is no denying that and the expectation is that he will most likely get better. The thing is, he really cannot get better in regards to his accuracy as every ball he threw could have (should have) been a reception by his wide receivers.
Rattler was 14-17 officially for 290 yards and 4 touchdowns. His three incompletions consisted of 2 dropped touchdowns (Stogner and Rambo) and his third incompletion came on a play where Theo Wease was mugged.
The ONLY knock I have on Rattler came in respect to his pocket presence at times (he admitted it needs work following the game) but I have little doubt that he and Riley will be able to clean that up. Rattler performed very, very well.
Mordecai was also 14 for 17 and while he did have a pick, it was his first real extended action as a Sooner and after a somewhat clunky start, he got the team moving. I know a lot of people were pretty down on Mordecai following the performance, and I think that is a bit unfair. He isn’t Spencer Rattler, but then again, Spencer Rattler was the number one QB in his class for a reason. Mordecai did some good things and minimized the poor things. 14 for 17 for 157 yards with a TD and one pick isn’t a bad day for any backup QB.
Freshman Chandler Morris got in the game as well and provided some exciting highlights with a nice scramble and was 2 for 2 passing. Nice to see him get his feet wet, but I personally, do not view him as QB2 quite yet.
Take out the sacks Rattler took and the INT Mordecai threw and this group would have earned a 5 star ranking.
RB/HB: High 3* (Preseason 4*)
Seth McGowan had 9 rushes for 61 yards which is an average of 6.8 per carry with a touchdown
Marcus Major had 11 carries for 31 yards which is an average of 2.8 per carry
Mikey Henderson had 4 receptions for 37 yards which is an average of 9.3 yards per catch
Jeremiah Hall had 1 reception for 24 yards
Had I based this progress report on Seth McGowan alone, they would have remained a 4*. But as a group the RB/HB didn’t do enough against an overmatched opponent to garner a ranking any higher in my opinion.
McGowan was a lot of fun to watch, as was Mikey Henderson. Hall had a great catch on the one yard line and they all appeared to pick up the majority of their blocking and pass protection assignments (aside from one glaring instance that I saw).
In total, Oklahoma ran the ball 35 times for 124 yards which is a very poor average of 3.5 yards per carry. You expect OU to be able to run the ball more effectively against a team like Missouri State. Yes, some of that falls on the OLs shoulders, but the production of the unit as a whole does not garner any rave reviews.
You were able to see the potential, but you need to see the results. They looked pretty average as a whole on Saturday. They will likely improve as time goes on.
WR/TE: High 3* (Preseason 4*)
Charleston Rambo 4 80 20.0 2
Marvin Mims 3 80 26.7 1
Theo Howard 5 63 12.6
Trevon West 4 59 14.8
Theo Wease 2 44 22.0
Seth McGowan 1 37 37.0 1
Mikey Henderson 4 37 9.3
Finn Corwin 2 31 15.5 1
Jeremiah Hall 1 24 24.0
Austin Stogner 1 17 17.0
Damon Smith 2 7 3.5
Marcus Major 1 5 5.0
The best news is 12 different players caught passes.
If you are a receiver, you are going to get an opportunity at OU. When you get the opportunity, you need to seize it or someone else will take your spot.
The main thing I took away from game one: Marvin Mims is putting several receivers jobs in jeopardy and Trevon West is a guy that may wind up putting some people on the bench as well.
Charleston Rambo dropped an easy touchdown. Yes, he had 4 catches for 80 yards which is all well and good, but that drop is sitting with me and holds some serious weight in my ranking for the group on the day since he is a veteran and a preseason award nominee. You just cannot have that type of lapse.
I’m going to take heat for this ranking, I know it, but if I am looking at the starters for 75% of the ranking curve, Wease, Rambo, Howard and Stogner were pretty bland against Missouri State and that group accounted for two bad drops. Can’t have that against better opponents.
Marvin Mims and Trevon West were my highlights. Was great to see Finn Corwin get rewarded with a TD reception. Theo Howard didn’t show me much explosion and Wease disappeared aside from one really nice catch down the left sideline.
Overall, gaudy stats don’t paint an accurate picture, in my opinion. They need to be better.
OL: 3* (Preseason 5*)
Your best unit on your football team should dominate games against any opponent, particularly an opponent as outmanned as Missouri State.
That did not happen.
The OU OL didn’t look elite. They didn’t look dominant and they didn’t set the tone for the game.
Creed, Hayes, and Robinson (the three regular starters at their respective positions) were ‘OK’. They didn’t wow me and they weren’t poor necessarily.
Ealy at LT and Swenson at RT looked bad. I can’t put it any other way. They just didn’t look comfortable and they didn’t get the job done at a level they should have. Heard a lot of praise about Brey Walker…wherever that praise came from, it certainly did not translate onto the field for game one as I did not notice any marked improvement from him. He actually looked better at RT than he did at RG late in the game, but I was not paying close enough attention to see who (in terms of depth chart) was on the field for Missouri State.
OU was missing a ton of key pieces as Anton Harrison, Stacey Wilkins, Andrew Raym and EJ Ndoma-Ogar were not available. But when you run out five guys who started last season at some point for OU, you expect better results.
Perhaps my preseason thoughts were way, way off base. It’s only game one and with them missing so many guys, I will reserve judgment until the next game when they will be tested by a more formidable foe. But right now, their performance has me scratching my head a bit. There was no reason for them to not be able to dominate Missouri State on paper.
I graded tough on offense, I know. Maybe my expectations are too lofty. But I saw a lot of places where the Sooners can/need to improve.
DL/RUSH: 4* (Preseason 3*)
All that noise I just made about a unit needing to dominate another unit against an outmanned team in the OL portion of this write-up…the Sooners DL did just that in this game.
Alex Grinch rolled out a 2-4-5 scheme to start the game as we mentioned he may leading up to the game based on the depth issues.
It worked out quite well for the most part.
The Sooners DL was causing havoc all night for the Bears and once Perrion Winfrey made his first appearance in the game at the start of the second quarter, it only got worse for Missouri State.
Isaiah Thomas really had a nice game inside for OU. I really only appreciated how much of an impact he made after rewatching the game. He was quick off the ball and strong in his pass rush and run fits as well. He looked as if he belonged in there. That is a good thing for Oklahoma.
I liked what I saw from Winfrey in his limited time and he is a guy OU will need to keep on the field as much as possible as conference play begins.
The DL was also down a bunch of guys, yet they stood up and did what they were supposed to do against an inferior opponent.
Bonitto and JMT were in the game together quite a bit and that worked out nicely for OU but how nice was it to see Reggie Grimes flash out there? Loved that.
Joseph Wete got some run and still looks like he is finding his way around and not letting his athletic ability take over.
Overall, they did a very good job and really created some tough situations for the Bears offense.
LB: 4* (Preseason 4*)
Brian Asamoah sure looked good didn’t he?
Right out of the gate, Asamoah was making plays behind the line of scrimmage. Looked very aggressive and confident which is a great sign for the Sooners.
DaShaun White looked steady, but as I said to K, he appears to typically be the ‘other guy’ in on the play. He isn’t Kenneth Murray, but he also isn’t busting on his responsibilities. White made some nice plays, but overall it was a pretty quiet night for him.
Then we get to David Ugwoegbu. Man that was nice to watch. There are times when you can see him running in circles a bit, but when his athleticism takes over, he is a menace. He had a couple very ‘Murrayesque’ plays on the night where he just was THAT much better than the opposition. Lot to like there.
Mead, Barnes and Jamal Morris all got into the game as well and Barnes, in particular, flashed at times. Robert looks like a LB now and I think he is a guy who may have found his home.
If Asamoah secures that interception, this group would have gotten a bump to the High 4* range.
DB: 4* (Preseason 4*)
The DBs weren’t tested all that much but they still made their impact on the game.
Bookie had a big sack coming off the edge and DTY secured the first turnover of the season for the Speed D.
Woodi Washington was in position to secure another interception, he just had to do a better job of going to the ball and high pointing it. Those plays need to be made.
Jaden Davis wasn’t tested much, but when he was, he made a few nice breaks on the ball.
Tre Brown had the roughest night of the bunch as he got lost in coverage a couple of times and missed a few tackles. Certainly not a night he will look back on and feel like it was one of his better games in a Sooner uniform.
Pat Fields looked really good, particularly in his run fits as he made or created several TFLs. Good night for him.
Also got to see Josh Eaton out there a bit, which will pay dividends going forward for the unit who will also be getting some bodies back in the near future in Bryson Washington, Kendal Dennis, and DJ Graham.
Special Teams: High 4* (Preseason High 4*)
OU breeds perfection with their kickers! How about Stephen Johnson stepping in for Gabe Brkic and going 2 for 2 on field goals and 6 for 6 on extra points! Is Brkic’s job in jeopardy? I don’t think so, but it is nice to have two capable kickers!
The return game looked improved and a lot of that credit can go to Marvin Mims who looks like he may break one every time he receives a kick.
The punt coverage unit looked good and they almost got a block in the first quarter.
Very solid night for the special team unit!
Tristan Leigh | Update
– Super K
As you know, the Sooners are in hot pursuit of 5-star OT, Tristan Leigh (Fairfax, VA). Leigh visited Norman on a self guided tour along with Caleb Williams and company, this past summer.
Leigh recently took a visit to one of his other top schools, LSU. And based on what I heard after, at the very least the Sooners weathered that potential storm.
In fact, Leigh’s mother tells us that while they don’t have a free weekend in the next two or three weeks, they are working on finding a date to revisit Norman this fall and attend a game.
Landing Leigh is feeling more and more like a real possibility. We would not have said that a few months ago.
TFB Recruiting Randoms
– Charlie S
While recruiting has been relatively quiet over the last couple weeks as Oklahoma was preparing to open their season, as evidenced by K’s Tristan Leigh note, the Sooners are still doing their work.
With that in mind, here are a couple random notes and reminders for you all:
*** Sooners 2021 wide receiver target Jalil Farooq (6’1″ 200) out of Upper Marlboro, MD is set to make his announcement on September 27th.
Things are pretty status quo in this one and as K reported back in early August we feel very good about where OU stands with Maryland being the biggest threat to the Sooners.
Farooq is close friends with Sooners QB commit Caleb Williams and he attended the gathering in Norman that the Williams family put together back in July.
I believe you all will be getting some welcomed news in the not too distant future with this one.
*** Speaking of Caleb Williams…earlier this week I touched base with him to see if/when he planned on getting back to Norman for a game.
Williams let me know that while he does plan on making his way back to town, nothing is set in concrete in regards to when that visit will take place. I am also lead to believe that there will not just be one trip back to town, but there will likely be multiple trips.
When the talk turned to recruiting, Williams mentioned he is really focused on trying to lock in the guys he has been working on.
One thing Caleb said, which I found interesting, is that ‘By the end of the week, while nothing is confirmed, there SHOULD be something kinda cool”.
I’ll let your imagination do some work there.
*** Lastly, there is a lot of buzz around the 2022 class and as we mentioned, the most recent ‘O’ that Lincoln Riley tweeted out was for a 2022 offensive player.
I will say, while there is no concrete timeline for that recruit to announce, once he does, it will likely put some pressure on the remaining targets at his position group to jump in with both feet or risk losing their spot.
The 2022 class is already off to a good start with LB Kobie McKinzie and ATH Jordan Hudson verbally committed and it will look even more impressive once the silent goes public.
Key to the Interior Defensive Line
– Super K
It’s looking more and more like the key to OU’s success on the defensive line will be in keeping Perrion Winfrey on the field.
Based on what I’m hearing, it sounds as though in terms of talent Winfrey is already seen as a guy who, while different than Neville Gallimore, can show up even more. He doesn’t have the lateral athleticism Gallimore had but he is much stronger at the point of attack.
Was told by multiple people that Winfrey man handled Creed Humphrey at times during fall camp.
The Sooners are going to need to keep him healthy and keep him out of any off the field trouble. I do think Kelley will give the Sooners a sufficient back up but after that, it’s quite a drop off.
But the more I talk to the folks around the program, the more it’s clear, the priority is to keep Winfrey engaged and on the field.
Playing the Game was Invigorating
– Super K
Spoke to a source around the program to get a sense of how playing that first game seems to have impacted team morale.
Because of the way Riley connects with his players, I gather they had fewer engagement issues than other teams. But I was getting the sense that the uncertainty was weighing on the mental state of the players. Truth be told, there were other kids (behind the scenes) that were considering opting out and I don’t think it was just because they didn’t want to play football. It seems the frustration of all that has been going on and the constant preparation for an uncertain future was, understandably, weighing on the players.
Source told me that getting this first game out of the way seems to have energized the team. Was told the players got a taste and now are hungry for more. This week, Riley echoed something I’ve been telling you all for a while, that the Sooners haven’t had as many cases but have suffered from a lot of quarantine via contact tracing.
I do believe there is some work being done behind the scene to figure out how this can be addressed so as to keep things both safe and efficient. I think getting that taken care of will go a long way in really normalizing the season as much as possible and keeping the wind in these players’ sails.
But after the past few months of disruption, this return to normal sparked a new fire in the team. Hopefully, circumstances will continue to be relatively favorable and we can see more of it.
