Open Post | Tuesday, Sept. 6th
Posted on: September 6, 2016
Image via USA Today
I suspect OU not winning put a damper on the weekend, but we hope you all still managed to enjoy time with family and friends over the holiday weekend.
– Team News | Cornerback Opening: Let’s get right to it. Everyone wants to know what is going to happen next with the cornerback spot. Firstly, I’ve spoken to a couple sources and barring a lot of injuries, Dakota Austin will very likely not be on the field as a starter.
Was told that during yesterday’s practice, the first team reps were being given to Jordan Thomas and Michiah Quick. Behind those two were Parrish Cobb and Parnell Motley, respectively. I was not able to get anything definitive on whether Quick will actually get the start, or if they are just going to rotate him in and see how he handles the first team reps this week. – (Super K)
– Team News | Offensive Line: Just a quick note on the offensive line, as TFB was told Dru Samia was working some at RG yesterday. Doesn’t necessarily mean anything as it’s something we’re all aware the coaches have tinkered with throughout fall camp, but it might be worth remembering come Saturday. With Samia inside at guard, Bobby Evans was with the first team at right tackle – (Super K)
– #SoonerSquad17 Reaction: Not surprisingly, Oklahoma fans want to know how the game against Houston will affect OU’s current recruiting buzz. Having spoken with a few recruits, everyone seemed to have a similar response. Which I think was best captured by something OU H-hack commit, Jeremiah Hall said.
“I’m a Sooner 100% through and through. And I’m pretty sure I can speak for the rest of the commits when I say we chose OU to make a difference, not hop on the bandwagon.” – (Brandon)
– #SoonerSquad17 Weekly Stats:
RB Trey Sermon: Sermon didn’t play much last week, but made up for it this week by having a big day on both sides of the ball. Sermon had 1 INT and 3 tackles on defense. Sermon added 14 carries for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns at running back last week
WR Ceedee Lamb: Lamb had a monster of a day last Friday night. Lamb continues to prove what made him such a high profile recruit with 8 receptions for 244 yards and 3 touchdowns. With stats like that you could see Lamb moving up in the rankings with sites that rank players. Only making this 2017 class more impressive.
DB Robert Barnes: Robert Barnes is being used on both sides of the ball for Southlake. Barnes had another big night with 6 catches for 154 yards on offense. Barnes also added 5 tackles and a forced fumble on defense. Barnes has great ball skills that made him so coveted by college coaches nation wide. You can see that with his offensive stats so far this season.
WR Charleston Rambo: Rambo had this biggest game of all the Cedar Hill players when they played Bishop Gorhman last week. Rambo continued to make big plays this week having 6 catches for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns. Rambo seems to be Cedar Hills big play guy.
TE Grant Calcaterra: Calcaterra was the big play guy for Team VaporSpeed at The Opening Finals this past summer. Well, he is continuing his big play ways for Santa Margarita Catholic High School. Calcaterra had 15 catches for 287 yards and 3 touchdowns last Friday.
DE/OLB Addison Gumbs: Gumbs was making plays all over the field in Stellar Preps first game( as we noted last week). He continued to do the same this week, with 3 sacks and the blocked field goal and 80 yard return for a touchdown that won the game for Stellar Prep. If you haven’t seen Gumb’s film just watch it. He is a heady play-maker that could be instant help to OU in 2017 season.
LB Kenneth Murray: Murray was all over the field for Elkins High School this past weekend. Though they lost 21-14, Murray had a big game with 16 total tackles. Murray added 2 tackles for loss as well.
CB Tre Brown: Brown and his Tulsa Union squad will face off against Jenks this Friday night. Last Friday Brown had 2 touchdowns in the first quarter on both of his catches. One of 50 yards. The other he scored on a 9 yard reception. Brown didn’t play much of the game with Union running away from Broken Arrow 42-7.
LB Levi Draper: Draper played well, but the rest of Collinsville struggled a bit last week in a rough loss to Oologah. Draper ended the game with a touchdown reception and a fumble recovery. He said he didn’t know his tackle stats, but one can assume he led the team as he has for the past several years.
ATH Jeremiah Hall: Hall is mister consistency for his Vance(North Carolina) football team. Hall had another versatile day to lead Vance to their third victory in as many games. Hall ended the game with 2 catches for 55 yards and 3 rushes for 37 yards. Hall playing style fits the Dimitri Flowers/Trey Millard role that Oklahoma employs perfectly.
DE/OLB Isaiah Thomas: Thomas didn’t have great stats last year. This year he is filling up the stat sheet in an impressive fashion. Thomas ended last weeks game with 1 sack and 8 total tackles with 2 of those tackles for loss. Thomas added 2 pass deflections and a forced fumble on defense. On offense Thomas had 3 catches for 15 yards and 1 touchdown.
WR Jalen Reagor: Reagor is explosive. He showed during The Opening Finals with his play and by winning the dunk competition. Last Friday he made sure the state of Texas knew just how explosive he is by having a massive game. Reagor ended last Friday game with 8 receptions for 205 yards and 3 TD’s.
QB Cameron Rising: Newberry Park didn’t need a massive game from Rising this past weekend with their run game doing a lot of the work. Rising still filled up the stat sheet going 9/14 passing for 165 yards and 2 touchdowns. Rising didn’t through and interception( had only 1 all of 2015 season). Rising added 3 rushes for 25 yards and 1 touchdown.
QB Chris Robison: Robison injured his shoulder two weeks ago and missed the second half of his game versus Mckinney Boyd High School and fellow Sooners commit Tyrese Robinson. I (Brandon) spoke with Robison about his injury and he said that he had to miss last weeks game. He did add that he is feeling much better and getting closer to 100 percent. His return is out of his hands and he told me that it will be a game time decision this Friday on whether he will return to action or not. Robison’s squad plays another Sooners commit Charleston Rambo and his Cedar Hilll squad on Friday.
509 Comments
BOOMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SOONER!
SOONER!!
SOONER!!!!!!!!
Commits wow!!!!!!!!
This is the SWAG we have been missing
So K, is PJ in the doghouse? Or are the freshmen cbs that much better? I can’t wrap my head around him not getting some looks at starting.
This. I never blamed him for the Tulsa game at all. He was fighting for the starting job back during summer camp. Then he gets hurt, and he’s not even sniffing playing time behind a true freshman and a former WR. I don’t get it.
Yeah I mean he was a true fr. He tooks his lumps. Maybe the injury is worse than we know? I don’t know.
After Tulsa game , haven’t heard much from PJ..went from promising to not even on the 2 deep.
It is puzzling. I believe our staff knows what it is doing, but I cannot figure out what is going on at CB. Just seems volatile.
Same here. I’m all for the best playes playing regardless of class. Just seems PJ has been in the doghouse since the Tulsa game last year.
That is a good question. I would have to think that with a year of practices under his belt that PJ would be very much improved over last year. He cannot be blamed for what happened against Tulsa at all. Bob must have different levels of the doghouse, considering the problems he has had with a certain DB that continues to start, despite the fact he is in trouble a lot. I certainly cannot speak for the coaches, but Cooks has had a ton of time to get PJ ready, why not give him a chance?
Right. And it’s not like Sanchez didn’t get beat quite a bit by biting on double moves.
Exactly! I don’t get what is going on, but I also am not present for practices.
Me neither. I just figured he’d at least get a look. It just kind of puzzles me.
Glad to see there is no wavering in our commits. Also, can we just have the 3 wr and grant play now?
This just adds to how great SS17 looks –
“…we chose OU to make a difference, not hop on the bandwagon.”
I really don’t understand the CB depth chart. You start Austin, and when he gets replaced, he is replaced mid-game by Cobb, a true freshman. Austin then goes back in after a couple of series. Fast forward to Monday, and all the sudden Quick is the guy getting starter snaps, and Austin is completely buried. Two freshman as the backups currently, with Austin and PJ behind them.
Good question. Maybe they are going with the guy with the most upside.
desperation at this time leads to more desperate acts. This is not a good sign
Cobb got banged up – only reason Austin went back in. Not disagreeing with your point though
Didn’t see Cobb get hurt. Makes some sense.
To be fair, Quick was originally backing up JT. DA had a good camp, and a bad game. Thats not uncommon to see guy shine in camps and then cant translate during a game. So, if they moved Quick over, and put Motley behind JT. It was more likely that Quick is just the better option, the other two guys are Freshman.
Cooks probably wanted to see what the freshmen had… he is very athletic.
That back shoulder fade was brutal on him.. well on everyone..
So Quick doesn’t see the field Saturday but now he may start? I’m beginning to wonder what they did all during fall camp.
Yup. Makes no sense. They should, in my opinion, just go all in with Cobb and see what he’s capable of.
I hate TexAgs. Living in College Station, being an A&M Alum and having a ton of friends that are Aggie fans though, I hear whats said on it all the time. Friday night after his game, before OU even stepped on the field vs UH much less lost to them, CD Lamb shot a video with a TexAgs reporter where he said he was still going to take his visits, would definitely visit A&M, and “would wait til the end of the season and see what happens from there.” He didn’t really sound any more committed to OU than he was the first time he committed to them. Just putting that out there, it is what it is.
I wish SoonerSquad17 was SoonerSquad16 (meaning these guys were already in the fold at OU for this season).
Aside from the obvious talent of OUr 2017 recruits, many of which dominate on BOTH sides of the ball, their attitude & approach to the game are equally|if not more impressive than their talent.
In the meantime, OUr current Sooners have an obligation to carry the OU legacy with pride this Saturday as they unveil the newly renovated phase of the stadium.
AND EVERY SATURDAY AFTER.
Oklahoma isn’t a bully, but the ‘good guy’ who just needs to be hit in the mouth before he beats the living hell out of the ‘bully’ (AKA every opponent we face).
Regarding the future of this season, all I can say is…
#JustWaitOnIt
I want Oklahoma to be a bully. Sorry.
Smash mouth football please. Guess that is what happens when you stop with the OKLAHOMA DRILL.
My mind wanders back to the USC game, when their players stated that they could tell OU laid down when they got physical with them.
Wish we’d go back that on offense, instead of this air raid finesse crap. Line up, get in the 3 point stance, fire off the ball and hit someone.
There has to be a way to hybrid the two systems. See: Alabama.
Agree 100%. That was going to be my next point. You can have a mixture of both. I know people dogged the oline, but imo we have maulers who are being asked to play in a finesse offense. UNLEASH THE BEASTS.
Yep.
Changing tempo and/or spreading the field doesn’t mean that you have to turn in your physicality card.
There’s no substitute for being physically imposing in the game of football.
Especially on defense. In the early Stoops years teams were afraid of the OU defense. They did not want to go against them. I want that mentality and those hitters back. Those teams were aggressive on D and they took the fight to the other team every game, that is what I want back.
Exactly. The opposing team should be hoping their backup comes in to take their place so they don’t have to deal with Oklahoma’s defense anymore.
Hate to say imitate anything that Bailer has done, but when their QBs all got knocked out last year, they ran the ball , ran the ball, and ran the ball some more. 645 yards worth of running in the bowl game. And they won.
They adapted to their skilled players.
We must do the same.
Line up in the I and run Samaje and Joe downhill
YES PLEASE!
Use a real TE and split Andrews and Dede out.
Yupp with a fullback (Flowers) and then let Mayfield throw on the play action roll outs.
Yep and then his mobility becomes a huge factor
Exactly. He now has a run pass option. You have to respect both.
Yep which should help create lanes to run the ball
Not impressed with Flowers/Andres blocking.. having a lead blocker clear holes and a TE that can wash the line helps a lot with a power run game.
When I say the ‘good guy’ who needs to be hit in the mouth—I’m NOT talking about getting hit to the point that you LOSE THE GAME.
I’m just saying, for whatever reason, they seem to flourish in that context. Just my opinion.
Knew what you meant, just don’t agree that they respond to getting hit in the mouth by beating the living hell out of anybody. They clutch their jaw and lurch away is what I see happening.
That’s unfortunately what they did Saturday & unfortunately what happened in last year’s Clemson game.
BUT, that’s not who Oklahoma really is. So I refuse to accept that. However, it’s not enough for me ‘as a fan’ to see it that way, it’s time for the team to live up to what it means to be a SOONER.
Not to seem argumentative, but how can we say that this is “not really who Oklahoma is” at this point? More often than not they are showing this to be true. Oklahoma never USED to be soft and out-toughed, et cetera, et cetera…now? Not so much.
You’re good. I thought I addressed that in my comment. I’m talking about the totality of the Oklahoma program, which is not defined by being soft or out-toughed, but rather the opposite.
Yes, recent history seems to indicate that we’ve wandered from that identity. My point is, I will never accept that as the ‘norm’ or who OU is, because it’s not.
Bottom line—I’m hoping that the coaches/players, etc. realize that & make it a point to get back to the heart of what being a Sooner really means.
Copy.
& paste?
LOL. No. That’s cheating.
Keepin’ it classy, SCKS ?
Only if you get caught.
“BUT, that’s not who Oklahoma really is.”
Correct. Oklahoma, or what I remember of us, were a bunch of damn DAWGS. The last thing you wanted to do was punch them in the mouth because the whole pack would attack and drag you down by the neck and rip you to pieces. That’s OKLAHOMA football. Or at least it should be.
True story.
Exactly DC! It used to be OU would step on the opposing teams neck and would not let go until the game was over!
I’ve amended my statement because I definitely didn’t intend to act like Oklahoma is some 2nd rate school that waits to get pushed around—LOL. Bad communication on my part
Exactly.
Hey, DC, I want to take this time to apologize for my comment to you on Saturday. I was out of line. It was an emotional reaction. I should not have let that happen. I’m sorry.
No apology necessary Sam. We’re cool. We’re all passionate fans and I don’t take anything I read from fellow Sooner fans personally, especially after a loss when we’re all frustrated. I admit my passion gets to me because I was spat from the womb wearing Crimson and Cream, and messing with my Sooners is like messing with my emotions, the bad ones.
“Hello, my name is DCinAZ, and I have battered fan syndrome”
Thanks DC, that made me smile/lol.
But we beat Alabama.
Good stuff there DC! I try not to take comments personally, especially from the regulars on here. The trolls I can block real quick. LOL! I loved you last comment!
“Hiiiiiiii, DC!” [used in the drone at an AA meeting.]
Nothing to be sorry about on that count. We need a lil more Torrance Marshall out there.
^ THIS TIMES INFINITY!
Exactly. Tough kids that know how to street fight. Those are the ones that take over games when your team gets hit in the mouth.
Put Dakota Austin in PJ Mbanasor body?
I want guys who will grind the other guy into the ground and make the other player’s mother cry. After the game he’ll visit the kid in the hospital and take his mom some flowers.
Yes please, may I have another?
That made me laugh
Glad I could be of service. We need something to laugh at today. 🙂
Yeah, because Houston took OUr lunch money last Saturday.
It should be the other way around. Teams need to be afraid to put OU on their schedule.
Why isn’t PJ in the rotation?
Not sure Mikey, may be an injury.
Lol how has Austin looked at CB in practices from what you been told bro?
Haven’t heard his name much, but I did mention in Daily News that Dakota was not looking particularly good leading up to the game…and still got the nod…yikes
Right there the coaches should of just played Cobb, Motley, Mbanasor or Quick and let them get some reps in and see what they can do from the onset.
It must have been serious. He went from starter to, no higher than 3rd for either spot.
No clue what the thought process was there, the coaches I feel put more weight on experience more than anything.
Sorry if asked and answered already but what happened PJ Mbansamor is he in the dog house or just hasn’t developed?
ZACH SANCHEZ. Hearing that Zach got cut over the weekend was a bummer. Seems like it turned out to be a lose-lose situation. We could have used him here and it looks like he could have used an extra year. Not saying that I fault him for his decision at the time that he made it (Zach was a redshirt Jr last year; can see why he thought he was ready after 4 years on campus), but it does not look like it worked out for anyone. Hate it for him and us.
I was surprised actually, I thought he did enough to hang on to one of the those spots. Definitely wish he was still around.
I was too. He said in an interview that it came as a shock to him as well. He is on the practice squad; I hope he finds better days.
Really appreciate the SS17 player updates. TFB continues to improve the already best place for Sooner news! Thanks guys
Great posters too.
Yeah now that we can talk without the disappointment causing anger
I know it’s WAY early, but Texsa is gonna be a problem. I’m glad they are getting back in the spotlight because it helps the conference and what not. But we betta get some stuff fixed quickly.
Yeah the B12 needs a good OU and Texsa for national perception
And if we can right this ship quick and they can come into the RRR with alot of hype, that would be awesome. Stick it to ESPN and ABC for not picking up that game.
OU needs to go to a better conference so they are FORCED to get tougher and better.
Most of the our SEC school brothers struggled too
Miss. St. Ouch.
Arky and Tenn sqeaked by too
Arky goes to TCU this weekend, who struggled as well.
Thats a key game for the B12
Yes it is!
Saw a tweet something to the effect of “Mississippi State apparently didn’t know to schedule Oklahoma.” Double ouch.
Double ouch indeed. Man we need to remedy that.
I do not mind Texas being a problem; prefer it actually. I just need us to get back to being the solution.
OU is no longer doing the hitting, they are getting hit.
I know when Texsa is good ,OU always brings their A game for some reason. When Texsa is down OU struggles for some reason.
Sounds like adjustments are coming.. B/c need to get that second CB spot locked or we are going to see more 1 step PA Deep or 2yd hitch over and over and over…until we can stop it
The adjustment of tackling the ball carrier would seem beneficial.
LOL. Literally.
Agree. Watching the post game celebration it was very clear that the Texsa players love Charlie and have completely bought in. Right now they are getting their act together, not sure how good the ND defense is but they look like they are going to be a player.
Huge win for those kids and that program. They just needed better coordinators is all. I can’t hate Charlie because he’s a stand up guy from what I’ve seen. If it was AB then that would obviously be a whole different story.
Im not so sure about Charlie being a stand up guy. The way that he handled Lampkin wasn’t all that honorable IMO.
Yeah there is that, a la Saban and a few others out there.
exactly. Im sure that hes under tons of pressure to win but the whole Lampkin situation said so much about his priorities to me. Winning and keeping his job above doing whats right.
Bob S is not without his faults but he would have handled it differently. Im quite sure of that.
Uterus def is piss poor
I know one thing for sure. Unless we can beef up our DL ( Walker, Wade, Gallimore hint hint ) they’re going to have a field day running on us.
I have accuratey predicted the last six RRRs, and I think we are going to handle Texas this year.
YES! I can relax now.
Indeed. Even take a nap if you like.
That prediction isn’t made based off of anything you’ve seen on the field this year, correct?
The jumbo package is going to be a problem for sure, whether it’s Swoopes or D’onta. I was genuinely impressed with their squad. We cannot fail to score points in that game and expect the defense to carry us. We’ll be eaten alive.
I don’t think one game and even one season (assuming we don’t do well which I assume won’t happen lol) will drive the SS17 guys away (similarly u didn’t see an immediate large boost last year as the cycle is generally a season later) My concern is the studs on the bubble, chassion, Hines, okudah, maybe Marv, etc. texsa and tOSU are huge for this. Texsa success will cost us a few of these.
The one SS17 guy I would worry about would be sermon if we don’t change offensive philosophy from first game. I assume we will, but I would want to come here as a rb if that was norm.
On the flip side, one of those studs could be thinking, well heck OU needs me more than Texsa, I could definitely start there.
Except Bob is too loyal to those who have been with the program. He does not like to play true freshman much. He really needs to change that attitude back to the best player plays.
Does tell you how high they are on Cobb. They put Cobb out there with a quickness.
THAT was a surprise to me. I literally said out loud, Hey that’s Cobb, the guy next to me said “WHO?” lol
HAA! I was watching it on my TV and had the exact same response. I figured they were going to sit Austin for a bit and was trying to figure out who No. 4 was, then it clicked and I literally said the exact same thing out loud “Hey, that’s Cobb!”
He’s not a TFBer, is he? I’m speaking of the guy next to you.
Haha nope, he is a parent of a current player.
HA! Even funnier.
As are you????? Another clue in the quest for KJ’s identity.
LOL nope, I wouldn’t offer that lil tidbit if I thought it would offer a clue.
LOL
I’ll have you know that my ex-wife’s 2nd cousin had an affair with the step brother of a guy who dated a coach of a football team completely not associated with OU. 🙂
Was he good? At coaching not the affair thing.
ROTFLOL!
You’ll have to ask Pam, any info beyond that and you’ll know who I’m referring to. :);)
The thing is you can be loyal to the players, and not play guys who don’t have it. How about going to the kid and saying “I don’t think you are going to make it here as a football player, we can help you get a scholarship at another school or we can find you an academic one at OU. Which would you prefer?”
Loyalty is tough pill to swallow for me, especially when it’s detrimental to the team.
Loyalty is a good quality for a man to have, but there are at least two loyalties in view here. Loyalty to the player and loyalty to the folks who pay your salary. Bob seems to get the first, but doesn’t seem to know how to balance it with the second.
Agree Bob.
I do not know how you can be loyal to the players at the expense of the team; the team is (primarily) the players. Trying to be “loyal” to one player that prevents the team from being what it can be is being disloyal to the other 84 (or whatever) players.
I totally agree Bob. There was a good article about OU’s lack of special teams this weekend that someone wrote that was so true. It used to be that Bob put his best players on ST and OU was dominant on ST during those times. Then he decided he did not want to do that anymore and you get what we have now. The safe punt FC and the lack of coverage on FG’s. Bob needs to put the best players on the field every single down/snap. No matter what. That is how you win games and championships!
We had had some blunders on ST, but Saturday’s was on the coaches. The players had no idea what to do. They stood there watching instead of spreading out to defend the return. ST is a litmus test of how button-downed the coaching is, and this was a fail.
Very true Walter. But back in the early years, Bob put his best players on ST and OU was dominant on ST. He made it an emphasis and now it is more like ehh, whatever. You have to be sound in all three phases to win.
Yes. You must. Be sound. In the kicking game.
True this.
You expecting a youth movement this week?
And any shake up (i.e. what K posted) on o line?
I’d love to see, it. I’d like to see Kapri and Kelly get more run. I’d like to see Obo in a 4 point stance-wide alignment, I’d like to see Cobb play more.
yeah I was surprised Doucet got so little playing time, was wanting to see him
Do you know if Mykel Jones is 100%?
I do not, I think we’ll see ALOT of young guys against ULM. But that’s not necessarily a good measuring stick to play them against tOSU. I think the Coaches will revert back to the guys who have game experience for that game.
KJ, do you think the Sooners still have any chance against tOSU or are these problems too big to fix in two weeks? Also, do we see Wren start Saturday?
I think tOSU runs em.
I think we don’t have a test before tOSU to really see where we’re at. We could come out and look like Super Bowl champs against ULM, but it doesn’t translate to playing against tOSU.
true dat, so do you think Wren gets the start this week?
I would go with Brown Ford Wren Samia Evans. But Wren wont start. The coaches are pulling for Alvarez.
Ford is a big boy. I think he is going to be a good one for us.
He really is, watching walk across the field I was thinking “good luck bull rushing that guy”.
man thats super frustrating, especially after all of the apparent miscommunications that happened in the game.
Speaking of cobb, since he was the one put in for Austin early in second quarter after Austin taking so much of the fall camp 1st team reps, surely this with Quick taking first team reps maybe all week will not b the same scenario if he messes up early because if he replaces quick with cobb early i may blow my top because if he was more comfortable with cobb Saturday why not give him all the reps
if you read Ian Boyd, you’ve heard this narrative for a while but the UH game just continued it. It seems more and more that OU has become Mack Brown-era UT minus the awesome recruiting. UT was always scared to play the young players, OU wasn’t. UT was always the less physical team that got punched in the mouth while OU did the hitting. That seems reversed now. Not good.
I stopped reading after the 5th word.
haha I don’t blame you, he’s a longhorn writer after all
My point exactly.
Its probably too early for that, Cobb and Mark Jackson both played saturday. Mykel WOULD have played, but they said he’s still not quite assignment sound (though…judging by what I’ve seen, none of the starters are either). Perine was a frosh when he started, so was TK. I don’t know if you mean just start all new guys or what, but Bob doesn’t really have too much problem bringing in guys if they’re ready.
As far as physical, well I mean we broke Stidham last year, I’d say our safeties still hit pretty hard….(not Gabe Lynn hard, but hard). It’s hard to hit people when you can’t catch them, that said Catalon was limping and Ward definitely was slow getting up near the end. I’d say we’re still physical on defense. Just need the o line to start shoving people around like they’re built to do.
Ward had to have x-rays on his shoulder on Sunday as well, so you know we hit him a bunch.
I thought I saw him favoring that arm in the 4th. Honestly if this bunch can figure out how to play smart, they could be fun to watch.
Yes, the dumb penalties were a killer Saturday. UGH! Yeah, I read somewhere that UH practiced on Sunday and Ward was absent because he was having either an MRI or an X-ray on his shoulder.
yeah sorry, you’re right the defense was plenty physical today. The offense on the other hand… You have a good point about the young guys that played though.
football really isn’t that complicated. i feel like these coaches do more harm than good sometime. if the guy is a ball player let him go out there and make plays. sure if he is an absolute dumb @$$ let him play
was anyone else just completely and utterly frustrated with how Mike Stoops called the game especially the first half? I just HATE it when he Rushes 2 defenders and brings no pressure.. If I have some inexperienced CB’s I would think that putting some extra pressure on the QB may help some.. instead of allowing the QB plenty of time to allow our CB’s to get beat over and over again down the field.. IT was tough to watch.. BRING SOME PRESSURE MIKE.. PLEASE!
The game plan was to make UoH beat us through the air. They were not going to let their QB beat us with his feet. Unfortunately, we were so good at keeping him in the pocket, we also let him have so much time he ordered take out.
…and dessert. Then ate it, washed up, had a nap, and then delivered a completion.
hahaha. Surely Mike is good enough that he can see the holes we had as it was pretty evident as I was watching it from my couch.. He needs to be able to say well this isn’t working.. I better bring one or two more guys and use a SPY and try and force a bad throw.. alright. I’m good now.. hopefully we find some guys to fill the holes.. and Mike makes better adjustments on the fly.
When you’re secondary had holes either,
Keep sending 1 more coverage guy until you get your holes filled
or
Keep sending 1 more guy until the pressure is there.
Problem is, by the time he goes one way and fails.. then goes the other way with 4 dlineman which got pressure.. the Qb is already in a rhythm and is full on playmaking mode.
No not really. I thought the defense played well, especially the front 7. The secondary completely failed.
The game plan worked, we stopped Ward and made him throw. As you said DC, the dbs failed.
It was glaring who was not doing their job out there. I saw the front 7 getting push and pressure on Ward all game long while containing his running ability as well as Catalon. They did their job.
Exactly DC! I was not upset with the D, other than a couple of stupid penalty calls against them. I thought they played fairly well.
I agree the D front played well.. Best Group on the field.. BUT.. when you have a secondary that is getting picked apart.. Bring pressure to make the QB get rid of the ball sooner.. we were just not getting enough pressure.. Even if he scrambles for 15 one play.. mix it up.. instead of playing it safe 95% of the time
OUr corners failed us.
I know its frustrating to concede, but they got pressure, they chased him all over the place. A couple times he had a good pocket, but generally they got a push within seconds. His WRs were just so good at coming back to him and shoving DA out of the way.
OU needs dogs! If they aren’t playing they need to be! I would love to see our defense as physical as Texas, Ole Miss, and even Houston..it’s only one game but man we need improvements fast!
I prefer a Bama defense over the schools you listed.
True. Something to be said for the way the Ole Miss DEs punked the FSU OTs last night. That said, Ole Miss caved like OU in a bowl game.
Forgot Bama! Wasn’t meaning in terms of skill more so of the tenacity, and mentality..idk how I forgot bama
Wow that bama D was physical Saturday night. I think the entire USC offense needed an ice bath after the game.
IMHO, it is not even close. Would take Bama’s D No. 1. And quiet as kept, I would take Michigan’s D No. 2.
Yeah I thought physicality would have been the focus after Clemson took it to them.
I guess I watched a completely different game than you. The D looked bad because of mistakes in the first half and the second half they absolutely shut Houston down.
Again I’m not talking about skill nor talent, I am referring to the physicality and the way they were punching ppl in the mouth..now if you think that OU had those same characteristics than yea we were watching different games
Sure we didn’t knock any of their players out, but I thought we played smash mouth in the second half.
Vegas do you think we are somewhat soft?
I do not believe we are soft. I thought the early penalties by us caused us to play semi timid for the remainder of the half then the second half I thought we did a wonderful job. We have dogs on our team dude. Both Evans boys will be in the NFL and can lay the wood. Ahmad Thomas can hit and is feisty. Stephen Parker is a future NFL safety who can lay the wood. So to answer your question, no, I don’t believe we are “soft”, I believe the penalties caused us to play scared that first half.
I’m sorry but jordan evans is just an OK linebacker. Tay had some flashes in his first game so obviously jury is still out. Jordan evans and ahmad thomas are not nfl caliber and jordan thomas is overrated. having said that, both jordans are decent enough players to handle the big 12 and may be all big 12… best players on D are steven parker and charles walker and it aint close
Exactly my thoughts
Texsa and ole miss each almost gave up 50 points so again, were we watching the same game?
I’m not worried about the team bouncing back and having a successful season. We all sort of expected a 1-2 loss season. I just think little tweaks should be made to the defense, aggressive game plan, three point stance for the D-line so they can take off, DB’s that enjoy hitting. I’m not saying fire Mike Stoops, but if Bob were to fire him after this season and get someone else I wouldn’t complain!
Blown assignments and stupid penalties killed the D. Mike had a good gameplan. Offense lost this game
I agree the offense caved in the second half, but the D caved in the first. But I think his game plan was fine yes I would just like to see it be a bit more aggressive. If our DB’s can’t cover then let this pass rushers loose
If it weren’t for a couple Roughing the Passers and poor CB play they score at most 10.
Ok Ill say i was encouraged by the DL they played the best game IMO
I thought the DL played well almost the entire game. I thought the D gameplan was fine as well, if it were executed better. But when you have a 6’4″ WR going against a 5’10″(generously) CB you are going to have problems. The O was the problem with the game. Not running near enough and Baker holding on to the ball when he had underneath guys open. Hopefully he will start to trust those dump down passes.
One play i remember Mixon came out and was wide open in the middle Baker saw him but scrambled instead.
There were a couple of plays like that. One Baker got stopped short of the LOS, but had Baxter AND Mixon open at the FD marker. That was when I was the most ticked off.
I think he went out to prove himself; not run the offense
Yep, I think that was the problem. I hope he understands and starts to trust the other 10 on the field with him.
And LR continues to get #25 and #32 the ball all over the field
Man, for a drive and a half I thought we were on the right track. Linc will get it right though. He does not strike me as someone that will double down on his errors.
That first drive was all him. Outside outside outside counter inside for long TD
I have no problems with the Air Raid offense, but you cannot and will not win unless you can run the football. I believe firmly in the ability to be somewhat balanced in order to keep a defense off balance. If you do not run the ball, there is no incentive to keep guys close to the LOS. UH showed that Saturday, there were times they dropped 8 and 9 into coverage and Baker had nowhere to go with the ball.
Or the option, where literally no one was in front of Perine and Mayfield kept it anyways.
Yes, that play had me shaking my head. Pitch the ball and Perine goes for a long ways. UGH!
You are exactly right, Golf. Those big bodied receivers are a matchup nightmare, especially with the back shoulder throws. They are virtually unstoppable when on target. MS chose containment over full-on blitzing, and it stopped Ward. Those drive-extending penaltes on defense killed us, allowing Cougs 20 more plays than us. And yes, had the offense carried its share of the load, we’re looking at a different game.
Yes the penalties were killers on Saturday. Trust me, I know about going up against the bigger guys. I am 6’1″ and I had to guard a guy that was 6’10” in HS playing basketball. I was the shortest starter on the team and my coach gave me him to guard because I have the “sharpest knees and elbows I have ever seen”. LOL
Agreed. I don’t have any issues with Mike’s gameplan at all. He didn’t have any reason to not have confidence in his secondary so he focused on shutting down Ward’s running ability and he succeeded in doing that.
Walker and Dimon looked good.
Agreed. Haven’t been the biggest fan of Dimon but Saturday he was noticeably bigger and stronger and he played that way.
Yeah the pushed the pocket back and maintained gap integrity so Ward couldnt run for first downs. I believe he finished with negative rush yards
Neither have I, but Saturday was much improved. Wonder if Walker’s illness slowed him a bit in the first half. He showed really strong play in the second half.
Again, I don’t have anything against the game plan, it was very good. I just think we should get away from the “frog” stance on the D-line
lol…..the frog stance.
IMO, agree stupid penalites killed Mike’s defense. Evans shoving Ward, Obo and Austin’s (2) personal fouls all on third down. When I look at the first half, UH when the length of the field 5 times and only got 19 points. 4 field goals. Not bad holding a team to 4 field goals. Could have gotten out of hand faster…
Meanwhile the OU defense went 3 and out, twice in the same period.
But it sure as hell didn’t help when OU chose to only rush 3 to the passer.
Yeah easily couldve been a blowout
Agree.
We gave them what? 75 yards in the second half.
If we can ever put a prepared team on the field, this group can live up to expectations of excellence.
Ultimately, as it always is, this one was on the coaches.
Turnovers and penalties. A terrible throw on a sure TD by Dede then a fumble on same series. Pretty much difference in the ball game
We’re loudly agreeing. The defense could use work, but they did enough to win if the offense had shown up. After the first series (Mixon), we did zip until garbage time on offense. Some of the causes are what you outline above, but I fear it those are symptoms as well as causes. Why does OU tend to lag other teams in intensity and focus?
Agree 100%.. Need to play Aggressive D!!! Blitz.. bring pressures.. zone blitzes.. Anything to make the QB uncomfortable..
exactly, I think Mike is doing much better and his game plan was perfect to stop the run, but if our DB’s can’t cover one on one then let these pass rushers go to work!
Early and often
Blitzing a QB like Ward though is extremely dangerous. FSU tried that alot in the first half of their game and it leaves huge running lanes for him. A delayed safety Blitz or something though would’ve been nice. Of course the one time I saw him bring Parker down like that, Parker got injured tackling Ward. It was like one of the most “come on!” games I’ve ever seen. It didn’t seem to matter what we did or they did, it was going to break against OU.
Would love to see us rotate schemes throughout the game also..would think our Dline, and entire D would benefit tremendously
They had 4 guys with a hand down quite a bit in the second half
It occurs to me that when we talk about our D’s lack of self control causing stupid penalties they are simply reflecting their DC who had to be put in a box to keep him from screaming at everyone.
Uh, yep.
If they keep having stupid penalties can we put them in the box too?
Foothockeyball? I’m game.
Power play has a whole new level
I would think all the CB’s would look good in practice going up against these WR’s that can’t get open to save their lives. So much for Mead/Miller/Green/Smallwood stepping up I guess.
I’m not surprised, really. I’m struggling to think of a time when we had a solid #2 receiver, let alone #3, or #4.
Broyles and Stills
Ahh yes, that’s the one.
2011 was a long time ago
Stills was a great No. 2 and Jazz was a strong No. 3 before he was a knucklehead.
Manny and ‘quin was a pretty good Batman/Robin duo, with Gresham as Green Lantern. I always thought Jalen/Shep/Bester would have been more formidable if we had better QB play when they were together.
Of course, in 2000 we had the full compliment. Just a fleet of can-do, throw-it-i’ll-catch-it guys. That year was fun.
For one game they were
I’d like a solid #1! Dede is a solid #2, he just isn’t a #1.
If your WRs fail no matter who you put in there, perhaps it’s time to take a good look in the mirror and examine your play routes.
Green was out. I don’t recall seeing Miller or Smallwood.
A.D. Had one catch for 9 yards.
And it got recorded as a catch for “Ahmad Thomas.” No respect for AD on Saturday.
I just checked the official box score on SoonerSports, it was recorded for AD. LOL
It was on ESPN’s Box Score. Still there. I am sure it is because they both wear No. 13.
Well I never trust anything by E$PiN! LOL
My prediction that Dakota Austin was going to be the Defensive Player of the Game was severely off. I thought that he would be able to hold down the other CB spot and boy was I wrong. I knew he would have to have a big game for us to win and instead he laid an egg.
I never played football, but I’m wondering it may not be the receivers as much as it is the scheme they are running. Also, wondering why the back shoulder pass hasn’t been used by LR?
Good question. WRs have to get separation in ANY scheme, so their inability to do so is a huge problem. That said Baker needs to pull the trigger a bit more and quit trying to get the Heisman.
Guys were open Saturday. And right on with that last part
That’s part of what confuses me. (Spoiler alert) I’m no expert, but it seemed like Mayfield kept his eyes down field, but still didn’t see the guys who were wide open. I wonder if Mayfield’s not making his way through the progressions, or if the guys were running the wrong routes, or what.
Hopefully it’s a combination. I think Baker is too concerned with the Heisman and not on playing football.
Im starting to think that is happening too
On that only they know but Im guessing the former. All 3 said it was on him
Bob, LR and Baker
Maye they were all correct.
Per my comment above, BM and LR came into the game believing the narrative that Houston’s secondary was vulnerable to over the top passing. (Stats from last season supported that). So they kept trying to hit the long ball instead of the checkdown open receivers.
Well, hopefully Mayfield will learn to look for the weakness, but not wait on it.
Excellent point!
It appears that too many routes are crossing into one another making it easy to cover, and the deep routes are taking too long develop.
Agreed. I saw two Sooner WRs running a crossing route over the middle and they almost had a head on collision.
I didn’t get to watch, so I can’t accurately comment on that point. However, any scheme will not have routes running into one another…that typically is “user error.”
Back shoulder passes aren’t plays run by OCs. Those are throws made by QBs that can make that throw.
He used them a lot at East Carolina. They were a major part of his offense. Maye he feels BM can’t throw them, or he doesn’t trust the receivers. Odd, either way.
Maybe they are working on it and saving it for the next foe
Some thoughts that everyone has made but I need to vent to move on from this game!
1) Could not believe that we went away from the run game, what a terrible decision. I was honestly shocked that LR did this.
2) Houston’s WR Dunbar, outside our own personal mistakes won them the game. I know it seems like a distract view, but take away his 7 catches 125 yards, what do they have?
3) Baker held on to the ball way to long, opportunities were lost there. We had WR open in the short pass routes a lot and baker didn’t throw it.
4) A team of OU’s caliber should not have let a kick return back. And in no way is it our kickers fault.
5) Why did we have so many late hits and personal fouls? Honestly.
6) Our secondary was awful.
7) I think what was disappointing is the kick six, the stupid penalties, the horrible secondary, and baker not playing great IMO, all things that shouldn’t have been issues.
I just didn’t see that dog fight in OU this weekend, this is very concerning.
Dunbar is a beast. No one will be able to cover him on those back shoulder routes.
We played a sloppy game, but we were not manhandled like the Clemson contest. This team will improve and move forward.
Only way to beat the back shoulder throw is to hit the QB in the mouth.
That’s right. You have to disrupt the timing. With Ward, you can either contain, which we did (ZERO yards rushing), or blitz and risk getting burned on a QB run. It’s a choose your poison offense.
I hope OU has the same thing next year with Murray at QB.
I agree, Dunbar is a beast. I hope we do, there were glimpses of good stuff on Saturday, if we can make those our regular play we could be good, if not, it will be a long season.
The long kick return i think was more on the coverage. It didn’t look like guys sprinted down field. All the other kickoffs, I saw guys inside the 15 before the ball was caught by the return man. That one, I didnt see anyone inside the 25.
Those are video game numbers for a TE. That’s unbelievable….
I mentioned this yesterday so forgive the redundance, but I think the summer-long narrative that Houston’s “suspect” secondary was vulnerable to the long ball had an unduly influential affect on LR and BM’s mentality. They kept looking to go downfield instead of hitting the open receivers for first downs. This will be rectified. And, hopefully, as others have noted here, LR will finally utilize the proven methods of protecting against the blitz. He needs to stop losing his head with play-calling or Baker will likely lose his.
Agree completely. You don’t always need a long ball to hurt the young secondary. We needed quick play calling and short routes to get them anxious to play up then the second they do we take the top off. It’s quite simple actually. I was really disappointed in Baker and coach Riley. Riley needs to figure these big game calls out because so far we are 0-3 with him calling plays.
The whole concept of an “Air Raid” offense is short quick passes. There were not a lot of shot quick passes Saturday. UGH!
Exactly my point. They deviated from the normal game plan to try to take advantage of Houston’s perceived vulnerability to an over the top attack. Turns out, not so vulnerable!
Yep, I was just adding to your comment Walter. It looked more like we were trying to throw for a TD on every pass. You have to make some short throws to bring the defenders closer to the LOS then you can take a shot deep.
Agreed. Snail Raid offense = no good.
Judging by what I saw and heard afterwards, it wasn’t LR. I saw plenty of open throws that Baker didn’t take, in key situations. He definitely was looking downfield, but that doesn’t mean the play call didn’t have a guy wide open for a first down. Take a couple of those “gimme’s” and the game turns out very differently.
Yes!
The downfield *was* actually one of the items we needed to exploit. Long passes to Andres, trick play by Dede and dropped pass by Mead. Houston’s DBs were not all that, we just had Mayfield leave the pocket every single time didn’t help
Okay so I rewatched the game. Twas painful. But I wanted to be the first to apologize to Obo for my knee jerk reaction. Although he did have a stupid penalty (also got away with a face mask) and the blown coverage on the one TD. He played mostly well. Flashed a lot of potential. Just eliminate the stupid penalties and we have a good one on our hands, I believe.
That’s what i have been saying since I re-watched the game last night. He always seemed to be around the ball (except for the blown plays).
Kinda hoping Texsa is 4-0 heading into that game so when we beat them it will be that much more sweet. That Ohio state game is going to be interesting. I know it was BG who they put up 77 on, but I really don’t care because 77 is impressive.
That’s a big assumption that we’ll beat Texas. Considering there’s a real chance we could be 1-3 going into that game. In which case a win over Texas means nothing. I saw nothing on Saturday that leads me to believe we wont be 1-4 after the Texas game.
It’s just one game. If I was going to base our performance this season on one game, then we’re going 4-8 and everyone is getting fired.
Did you read anything this weekend? That’s what we will do!
I’m always amazed at the people ready to jump off the edge after a loss. Based on what some folks write, you’d think we should just close shop and cancel the rest of the season. Last year, after the Texas loss, they were all out in force declaring that we’d finish the year with at least 5 losses. Call me crazy, but I like to see how it plays out.
I don’t want Texsa at 4-0 unless we put another 63-14 beat down on them. Too many recruits on the line for them to be that successful and only lose a squeaker to us. We need them 7-5 (or worse) one more year to turn the recruiting corner and become what we need to become. K has mentioned multiple guys watching what they do this year that we do not want them to have.
Honestly, I don’t think recruits make their decisions based on what happens in one game. Sure, how a team does in the current year is a factor, but we lost to Texas last year and have already won some battles over the horns on the recruiting trail. I don’t want Texas to come in with losses, because we need to be fully ready to play hard, and two of the past three years, when Texas did come in with stupid loses, we didn’t take them seriously.
That’s kinda what I’m saying, we don’t want them to keep winning, we need them to be bad. K has mentioned several recruits that are waiting to see how they do this year. We need this 17 and 18 class to be shades of early 2000’s or we won’t turn the corner
I really wanted Texas to beat ND. And I hope they are 4-0 heading into that game. First, the game is always more exciting when both teams are ranked and come in with something to lose. Secondly, 2 of the last 3 years we’ve gone into the Cotton Bowl figuring that we could just show up and win, and we didn’t. If Texas is 4-0 coming into that game, they will have our full attention. When that happens, it’s usually bad news for Texas.
On a side note; I think Texas fans (and the media) are overreacting just as much after their ND win as they did last year, after their ND loss. ND isn’t a great team this year, and they were missing some key players. But to hear Texas fans (and to some extent, the media), you’d think this Texas team is the best they’ve had since they won the national title with Young at QB. I mentioned in one of the threads after the Houston game that things are never as good, nor bad, as they appear after game one. Texas may be a very good team, but one game doesn’t provide close to enough data to know.
Guys — I know it’s only one game but I think we get stomped by tOSU and Texas. Someone talk me off the hypothetical ledge…
Well considering we’ve never seen you post on here, you can go ahead and leap off the hypothetical ledge if you’d like.
Haha! Fair enough — long time reader but typically do not post very much. Thanks for the warm welcome.
You want to be a part of us you got to take your lumps like OUr secondary did Saturday.
As an OU alum, I’ll always be supportive…but thanks for the reminder of how awful our secondary did Saturday.
Everyone has been taking lumps so I’m used to it. It’s good have some new people in to talk OU football.
Sorry lol. I just find it amazing the number of ppl who come out of hibernation ready to crucify us after a loss and a big Texsa win. Hard to tell if some of these ppl are trolling us or not.
Completely understand 🙂
OU might be the underdog now, Bob knows how to play that card
Run away from the hypothetical ledge! UH and tOSU are nonconference and no matter what UT will still suck!
Relax, it was one game. Yes it was an ugly one game, but still it was the season opener. OU will rebound just fine.
They will get better. How much and how quick is the real question. I am worried about the tOSU game as well but I think they will have it figured out by the Texas game.
Jump
The secondary really is just baffling. People say the secondary was overrated coming into the season because they never played a good QB. They contained Clemson’s passing game pretty dang well so talent is clearly there. I hope they figure it out quick.
They only contained it because Clemson was running all over us the entire second half.
no, they actually contained it. Yes, Clemson had success running the ball which kept them from throwing all over the yard but they still played pass defense well that day.
I think LR is a rhythm OC, when he hits it, the game it over. knock him off his rhythm, and he doesn’t have a base plan to go back to get it back… meaning he spends too much time experimenting to find something that works.
Sounds possible to me. Fortunately, it sounds like he can admit his faults, so hopefully he’ll find a way to overcome that, and improve at adapting.
In other words, he’s an air-raid guy.
Yep… why not have your panic mode be smash mouth football with this team?
Air-Raid guys are used to playing one dimensional football. They have no concept of smash mouth anything. If you shut down their passing game, they never know how to respond because there’s nothing else to respond with. That’s why I hate “air-raid” mentalities.
Not disagreeing with the basic premise of what you are saying, but using one game as a reference like this one for LR is premature I think. Using same one game reference last year he went against everything about air raid to come back on Tenn. If this keeps up then I will worry, but not going to assume he is unable to change.
I’m actually not using this game as a reference or Riley himself really. It’s the entire scheme of “air-raid” that I draw into question. The concept of “air-raid” is to have short, quick passes that serve as both your passing AND your running game. That’s why it’s called “air-raid”. So why would anybody expect an air-raid guy to have a great running game scheme or know best how to use elite RBs? That’s not what they do.
If you want to have a power rushing spread offense, you need to hire a power spread offense disciple, not an air-raid guy.
Like I said I don’t disagree with basic premise. I am giving the guy the benefit of the doubt that he can do just what you described. I don’t think he is so locked in the Hal M. ways that he cant adjust. He’s still very young. You may indeed be right in the end, but we will see how he does moving forward.
True. He can always watch tape of power spread teams and learn how to implement a power rushing attack with his air-raid scheme. The power spread is the offspring of the air-raid. All spread offenses are. He just has to quit thinking like a Taco-Techer and get it done. Nothing stopping him from doing that. I have no idea why we’d want to emulate Texas tech anyway.
100% agree. My hope is he learned a valuable lesson in this one and remembers it as long as he is here.
He didn’t have any problem calling running plays last year, did he? That was even with having a receiver that caught everything thrown his way. He just called a terrible game against the Coogs.
Very true, but he seems to get in this mode when OU is down or struggling a bit, it’s like he presses on passing.
My guess would be that in the back of his mind was the line about how good Houston’s front 7 would be, and didn’t want to run into a brick wall. Regardless of the fact that it seemed like the brick wall had no mortar in it.
You really need need to stop with this. Two things.
First, the entire board is complaining about the lack of quick throws against Houston, and all of the down field looks. That isn’t air-raid. I haven’t seen true air-raid at OU since the VERY early 2000’s. Maybe even 2000 itself, given who followed up JH at QB in 2001. Did that look anything like air-raid in 2008? No.
Secondly, Bob has shown he will allow his OC to adapt to the talent we have, for the most part. We aren’t going to run option or run heavy, even with good backs. You have to be able to throw the ball. Ask FSU. They figured that out in the 2nd half last night. Like I said, we haven’t been true air-raid in a long, long time. But you have to have something as a base. I have ZERO problems using the air-raid as a base, and building off of that as talent/experience/etc dictate.
To me like we used to say in the military is K.I.S.S., Keep It Simple Stupid.
What is odd here though, is that the Tennessee game last year was the COMPLETE opposite of what we saw. We were down 14 in the 4th, hadn’t done jack, and stayed with the run game. I keep going back to that game and wondering what on earth happened to that philosophy. Hopefully it was a one game brain fart and will get fixed.
Just think, the last 6 games of the regular season last year OU averaged 311 yards RUSHING a game. UGH! Again, you have to be balanced on offense to win games.
That’s not good enough for a million a year.
I hope we can stay healthy, Walker played well for someone who was laid up all week. If we can get the OL to match the DL in gameplay, we’ll be in good shape.
KJ, I always enjoy your input! Do you believe we can have a good enough O-line and D-line to compete with Ohio State in a few weeks?
Im more confident in our DL matching up at this point, we need to sure up the OL. Mcmillian is probably the best LB well see this year, better than Jefferson. And from what I hear, the younger Bosa is better than his older brother. JT Barret is no slouch the kid can play. But I think if we can fix the problems in the secondary we will do well.
I agree with the DL, I saw some good stuff from them this week, if they get more consistent and the secondary can do their job I think the D could be solid.
Walker is a MAN. Austin Roberts played well too. So this entire time I thought Austin Roberts was that skinny white boy pass rusher and not the big hoss he actually is. Was pleasantly surprised when they called his name out a few times.
I like Roberts, he’s tough and has the size.
Was impressed with both Roberts and Walker.
So…who is the “skinny white boy pass rusher”?
Did I see a “Himself” post this weekend??
I never saw for sure but there were many with the same tone. A lot of sad f*cks out.
RDC did…..alot
Yes, pathetic as it was.
I am so sad I missed that. /SSSSSS
Ok who broke the board? Metz you on here?
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In and out,i have visitors thru Thursday!
Looking at the stats over at the 4 letter network, they have Ahmad Thomas down for 1 reception for 9 yards. Im assuming it was Miller’s one grab or did I miss that?
U r correct. AD’s reception. They wear the same number
Podcast with OU commit Levi Draper as guest, along with 2018 OU offer Patrick Fields . Also, a little talk on visitirs fir ULM game and tge growing list of visitors for Ohio State game next weekend. Listen to recruiting by Brandon Drumm #np on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.com/brandon-drumm/recruiting
Might have a big guest come on this week. One I’m sure you all will thoroughly enjoy. Still ironing out the details, but if it comes to fruition it will be big.
How’s the ankle doing Brandon?
In a walking boot right now. Will see how things progress through the week
I am not all doom and gloom as many on here.A couple of plays were bad and we got burnt.All correctable we just need a corner and stop stupid penalty’s.I am not giving up yet.Baker needs to be Baker ok!
Far from doom or gloom. Overcoming adversity is part of competition, arguably its greatest part. Dug ourselves in a bit of a hole: dig deeper; sit and cry; or start clawing your way out of there.
Well said all of you. Let’s get behind our boys and enjoy watching them figure it out!
The first thing you should do when you have dug yourself into a hole, is what? QUIT DIGGING. We waited until it was too late to show the shovel down and start climbing. Instead of running the football, we kept passing with 2 large pieces of the puzzle left standing.
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I’m not doom and gloom. LOL! I call things as I see them. I thought other than a couple of plays, the defense did just fine Saturday. The offense needs some work, but I think they will get the kinks worked out soon.
What I disliked the most WAS Baker being Baker. He held the ball too long and did not take open, short routes (even for 1st down yardage).
Now, I love his moxey, and he has talent, but when it came to decisions, he looked like it was opening game last year.
That was tough to watch, no doubt. He clearly realizes that as a problem (both he and Bob mentioned it in the presser). Baker is a smart player, so hopefully he’ll make an effort to take what’s given and be more selective on the big plays.
It’s never as good or bad as it seems after the first game. I think the reason most were upset was because even though Houston played very, very well, we kind of did it to ourselves. To me, there’s a silver lining to that cloud. If we can play the way we are capable of playing, we’ll be just fine.
Until we start playing with the intent to inflict pain and destruction, we will continue to see these let downs. We need more of this guy! We are too soft. I guess it cant be coached.
JY: Love the trenches stuff. As someone who views offensive line blocking as a mystery inisde an enigma wrapped in bacon, I would love to hear your thoughts on BB’s blocking philosophy and what they are mainly trying to do. In my uninformed and most humble opinion, it seems we have the beef to drive block defenders off the line instead of so much pulling. But again, I’m uninformed. Please offer more of your wisdom, sir!
After this weekend I did have some thoughts, 1) When Stoops was hired originally we hired Mike Leach because Stoops said that was the hardest offense he ever had to defend at the time. When we got rid of Heupel Stoops wanted to go back to something like that I wonder if much thought went into running the Baylor offense because we seem to struggle with it?
Were we always headed back to a Leach like scheme or was there thought given to a Briles type scheme?
Baylor’s offense is superior to the air-raid in every possible way. It’s the Veer and Shoot taken to extremes and features a power rushing scheme.
Stoops was defending air raid back in the 90s. That’s how old and obsolete it is.
The defense held Ward to a net of 1 yard rushing. That’s unheard of. If the offense doesn’t gift them with two fumbles, and if Seibert doesn’t fail to get the kick out of the end zone, the defense, even with all the miraculous third down plays that Houston completed, does its part.
The offense, if Baker hands the ball to Perine for 50 yards on the option instead of running for nothing, if he passes to all the guys who got separation and were wide open for 1st downs, among other things, he doesnt get stripped, ‘we move the ball and the discussion about how many times the backs carried the ball becomes much more enjoyable.
There is a lot to improve upon, major development has to occur, but this was not a “throw the baby out with the bath water” situation. It was a heartbreaking loss, but it was not a massive failure by the coaches, or the players in general, for that matter.
I agree…when Dede missed that trick play it kind of just put the exclamation mark on the whole thing. Just not our day.
If a frog had wings, it would bump its butt when it landed either. OU looked soft. Houston punched them in the mouth repeatedly and they did nothing. These kids are spoiled and need a few more beatings like this before they start playing with a chip on their shoulder. Bob has got to be tired of being everyone’s stepping stone. It’s getting to the point to where maybe OU just isn’t that good anymore…
Damn straight.
Great post.
https://twitter.com/NextLevel_Will/status/773195041342763008
I like this kid and think he did well in the role all things considered. He could be big for us this year.
Every kid that played last week, needs to think the same way.
We need him to play Nickel for us again.
Will Johnson really wasn’t even remotely on my radar of guys who had much to answer for Saturday. He did get burned in coverage once, but otherwise I thought he was among the least of our problems.
Defensively, OU doesn’t seem to be playing with any feistiness . Maybe the secondary needs a visious hit, and that will scare some receivers.
sadly we are always on the receiving end of that it seems..
I agree, really like Jeremiah Hall’s respomse
OMG, get SS17 here NOW!
Any way to see the all 22 of the game??
So after one game Dakota Austin moved from starter to third string? Is that concerning to anyone else?
there is a lot concerning about the way the coaches have/are handling some things
What I see is younger guys surpassing upperclassmen on the depth chart because they were probably better players anyway but the upperclassmen got the nod, and losing your first game brings clarity to your poor decisions.
i hate the seniority/favorites game. i see a lot of “he actually played ok” comments. of they are an older player and just ok, no thanks. not here. i want bullys and playmakers on the field.
It’s not to me, we need adjustments asap. What’s concerning to me is our corners still don’t turn and look for the ball when it’s in the air.
I agree we need adjustments I just mean they’ve had months of camp/practices and decided he was the best guy. Is Dunbar that much better than all of our receivers in practice? Agree 100% on them not finding the ball though. I think even JT was guilty a couple of times
Oh yeah definitely. Im right there too in regards to the coaches, I think they have their favorites.
They must, because Mbanasor I believe had like 2 bad drives last year and hasn’t seen the field since. It’s just weird to me, you scout the opposition and know they have this big physical receiver who will use his body and convert third down after third down, why not throw out your biggest CB for a series?
I definitely agree. Drives me crazy!
I think going up against our receivers made his play looked deceiving. Any defensive back will look good against guys who can’t separate nor catch the ball.
Concerning to me that the staff refuses to be honest about his abilities till he gets torched in an actual game. Or if he was solid against our receivers… Well… That’s doubly concerning.
The way Houston played him, you have to feel like he is going to face the opposition’s tallest most physical receiver all season long. It seemed like it was as much to do with his physical limitations as anything else. Maybe the coaches thought he’d be able to overcome it.
My question is, we have bigger physical guys they could’ve tested that out with. Why was it just now apparent against houston? Was it too much loyalty because he’s a veteran? If so, that mindset has to change now. If it was because he was handling our bigger guys in practice, well that’s even more troubling.
Probably out there because he played well during Sanchez absence last year, which he really did. Myself, I thought he played so well that I hated to see ZC return. He has regressed.
6’3″ 210 vs 5’10” 170 = no bueno
Not to mention getting called for interference early when he actually covered the receiver pretty well. I think that kind of set the tone for the coverage.
That was such a BS call. There were 3 imo that were just ridiculous.
Hopefully we got our worst breaks out of the way. It’s hard to imagine a replay going worse than the Baxter fumble review, where apparently the laws of physics don’t apply because you can’t “see the ball”.
Yeah I dont like putting it on the refs, but those terrible calls were CRUCIAL momentum killers.
I wish that were the case, but the bottom line is this: our defense is not very good. We lost 4 critical players in Alexander, Tapper, Bond and Striker. You can argue Sanchez too, to some extent. There will be quite a few more losses this season. This will be a repeat of 2014.
We’ll pound a hapless directional Louisiana school this weekend and some will think, “Ah…problems solved!” Then Ohio State will come in the following week and maul us. TCU and UT are both losses. Probably Baylor or oSu will be a loss.
This is going to be a rough season. Prepare yourself for it mentally right now.
Stephen Dale, is that you?
Very funny, but no. He’s probably predicting a 10 loss season to be spiteful. I’m being realistic if not a touch optimistic. Most of the issues we saw were due to a lack of talent more than anything else. Can’t correct that by practicing harder.
I think it was the first throw of the game where the guy just wastes DA, when you see that I think you make the change pretty quickly to someone else. I mean the rest of the defensive game plan was solid, just undone by that one matchup.
You know what’s no bueno? Mike Stoops not realizing this going into the season.
or Cooks
Podcast with OU commit Levi Draper as guest, along with 2018 OU offer Patrick Fields . Also, a little talk on visitirs fir ULM game and tge growing list of visitors for Ohio State game next weekend. Listen to recruiting by Brandon Drumm #np on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.com/brandon-drumm/recruiting
Watched the game again and a few things stood out:
Our DB’s in general played and tackled below average; mostly fixable problems outside of the CB position.
I feel our linebackers are just not really very good. I should say they are “average” but feel there is a possibility that we have better standing on sidelines. Their coverage and tackling were below average after watching a weekend of football & other LB’s.
The D line was very good especially for what they were asking them to do. Obo seems just over eager to make something happened. He also was missed the Catalon coming out of backfield for easy score. I think they should look at some others here moving forward.
The Oline did OK for not working together for awhile. They were out of sorts a few times but held it together for the most part. Can’t tell about true run blocking though.
Lastly, was it me, or is anybody else confused why Flowers is in there? On the handful of running plays we ran he absolutely got blown up by DE’s causing the play to be over before it really had a chance. He is the H back and I thought his first responsibilty should be blocking..if he can’t blow up is one guy then what is he out there for? We were spoiled with Millard….
1st time poster-
Flowers is butter soft. He gets blow up by everybody.
Yeah he got blowed up on that off tackle play.
What’s going to happen against tOSU and Flowers? Any better chance…Maybe time to throw Connor out there-
Welcome.
We were spoiled with Rip too.
Welcome to the jungle.
Welcome to the board!
Coaches Poll is out….OU @ 13. Awesome now, we’ll play better.
Rather we’d dropped to #20
https://thefootballbrainiacs.com/review-ou-vs-houston
https://thefootballbrainiacs.com/review-ou-vs-houston
baker is a decent QB, nothing more. if he is the “playmaker” on this team we are in trouble. he needs to just manage a gameplan centered around Mixon, Perine and Andrews. those are the playmakers. OL needs to get on the same page and get physical. and if we can’t find 3 decent receivers to throw out there around the aforementioned gameplan then wow, sad. Dede is ok(not a real #1 tho), baxter and meade should be cheering from the sidelines
I agree with everything. Except I think that it’s LIncolns fault the oline isn’t physical. He barely called a downhill running game, and never let them get in a rythm.
Does anybody have thoughts to offer up on how they thought Tay Evans played? I haven’t been able to stomach rewatching the game yet. My first thought is he needs to be better in coverage. Run D did its job, and am hoping Tay E will be good enough in that spot.
Also, have we heard anything in regards to the health of Perine? Was that just a stinger, or dislocated shoulder?
Was it Evans who pushed Ward late and helped them get away with another third down conversion? Other than that I didn’t see a whole lot of plays. But I will say 26 points against a mobile QB with a decent arm is a good day. My frustration is strictly with the O and primarily in the second half. Frustrated with Lincoln’s game.
that was jordan evans who pushed him late
Wrong Evans I think, Mojo.
Yeah, I know now. At the time though, I was pulling all my hair out so I couldn’t concentrate.
One observation/comparison I had on Sat was when the played flowed away from Obo. Last year, Strike would take a quick check glance for a counter and then make a B-line to the ball carry and chase him down behind the line of scrimmage. Obo did not do that at all…he continued to strafe down the line until the play was obviously out of range.
maturity, experience and instincts cant be beat.
And just letting go…Daniel for UH is a good player, but that kid was not playing game plan sound defense, he was playing, let me get around this guy or shoot this gap and chase the damn ball. At some point some of these kids need to just let go and play ball.
x1000000000000000000000
i also think part of this is the coaches getting in their head a little too much. let the players play
hang with me on this post.
Years ago i was tasked with assessing skill sets of various employees that were in place during a real estate acquisition. One guy had 29 years in the industry and the other had 2. The 29 yr employee was asking me basic questions a first yr would ask. The other knew what to do and how to do it (or could find the answer many times on their own, instincts). When asked why i let the experienced person go….
He had 1 yrs experience 29 times. The other retained and executed better.
Striker excelled at back end pursuit on plays. High football IQ. You can’t coach that.
I knew DA was a smaller guy, but when he went out on the field and stood next to (pick anyone) he looked like a 9th grader playing for OU.
Zero margin for error! A leader needs to surface like right now! I didn’t see a defined leader out there on offence nor defense. Without one, were 8-4 for at best!
Mixon seemed like he was leading out there, when he was on the field.
Need our guys (D) to be physical like this..
https://vine.co/v/OwA36wE1PHt
long but has some interesting comments ………….http://www.campusrush.com/houston-cougars-football-beat-okalahoma-upset-1998298989.html?xid=cr_social
i posted this in the other section. definitely an interesting read
yep, a hungry coach on his way up
Its been mentioned by others but I have to agree with those that have said that our team seems to lack fire. Other squads come out jumping around and looking like theyre chomping at the bit to go out and hit someone. WE NEED TO BE LIKE THAT!. We have to really go out and fight for the win and not just maybe let it happen.
Im not sure if this is a reflection of Bob Stoops’s laid back personality or not but Im tired of seeing OU coming out without that fight. If our team posture comes out complacent looking against tOSU I might just kick in the screen of my TV.
I agree, no fire, no bullies, just seemed like tame football players.
Too tame.
A little too “Business-like” would be how I would describe it. Just another day at the office. With cheerleaders.
We need to play like how we played Baylor last year. I remember Matt Dimon flicking off the Baylor student section after he was ejected.
I think that is a reflection of the team not all on the same page. I don’t remember which player it was who said it. But someone said that defense would get all fired up when one defender would make a tackle, or a sack. But the different sides weren’t doing that for each other. They need to play for the man next to them, and not just say it.
we need more swagger.
“Paging Kevin Sumlin”
Anybody see this video of the team before the game in Houston? Rewatching it now, I’m not seeing much fire or swagger…
YES OU ranked 14 in the AP…..FOR SURE will play better now!
About where we should be. Wish we would have been there to open the season.
Me too, ND should of dropped more, Texsa was unranked. LSU with the biggest drop, 16 spots.
LOL! Little brother wins big over a juco school for the blind and falls one spot.
LOL
Should have played hawaii and climbed 2 spots like the wolverines did.
Or maybe play rutgers and climb 6 spots like UW.
What a joke of a system
That’s why it’s no longer used to determine the champ!
Thank god for that
Exactly. An argument can be made for the validity of the coaches poll too, only because some coaches have their assistants fill them out. But at least it’s football people voting though. And for the most part, the coaches are pretty consistent. Look at where the media ranked Texas, versus where the coaches ranked them. Crazy.
The dumb AP poll ranked Texas 11!!! What a joke. The coaches poll is far more realistic.
AP Poll after week 1…..
http://collegefootball.ap.org/poll
I know this will be discussed later on probably but my stance before the game happened and after is still the same, I still don’t want Houston in the Big 12 period. They do nothing and if this was a conference game it wouldn’t of been played week one. If we go by one game then Boise should be in the conference as well. I’m tired of hearing that Houston made their case. No they didn’t. If they let Houston in, you might as well call it the Southwest conference again. I feel better and now I can go about my business. Sorry about that.
All I have heard is that Houston can not only play with the big boys but they beat them as well. I would love to see them play the big boys week after week with only 6 days to prepare, not a month (FSU) or all spring or summer (OU). That being my rant, however, if the Sooners had taken care of business on Saturday, we wouldn’t be venting right now.
100% agree
What is Houston wins the National Champiosnship?
You know the old saying, “anybody can beat anybody on any given night.” I am not saying they won’t win the national championship, but I really don’t see them beating Alabama at this point. Heck after Saturday, I don’t see anyone beating ‘Bama!
Yes, and when Herman leaves Houston will go back to being the old Houston. They do nothing for the conference except create more competition for recruiting.
Dropping 11 spots for losing a (virtual)road game to a top 15 opponent? We only lost 9 spots for losing to unranked texas last year.
If they are going to absolutely punish you for any loss, may as well quit taking these tough OOC games and go back to playing cupcakes. Its like we are back to the days of the BCS, after looking like we were trending in the right direction the last 2 years.
Thought we only dropped to 11? From that, would only be 8 spots.
Hey, LSU dropped from 5 to 21!
Frankly, I think 11 would have been a good spot for us from the very beginning.
We dropped from 3 to 14, 11 spots.
LSU also lost to an unranked opponent, and only scored 7 points on offense.
Oh, okay. Article I read had it wrong. They just counted wrong and I didnt notice…
“The Sooners dropped 11 spots after the loss, from third to No. 11.”
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/17478841/texas-longhorns-ranked-ap-top-25-first-coach-charlie-strong
ESPN cant count? newsflash =)
And Houston will stay in the top 10 because of their schedule…I dont see them losing unless it’s to Louisville.
Yep. Though that game with UL ought to be a fun one.
Hopefully it will work for us only losing to a top 10 team.
Houston will drop 1 or 2 , trust me.
They don’t absolutely punish teams for any loss. They do however absolutely punish OU for any loss.
This is very true. Though this seems a little worse than usual.
I wonder how many DL/DE we will obtain for the 2017 class as we have Isaiah Thomas DE but I think we need to go back to 4-3 or a 4-2-5 Defense instead of this 3-4 D for the time being.
I would love to see the 4-2-5. OU for whatever the reason can’t recruit for the 3 man front. or the LB’s it takes to run the system.
I thought the defense didn’t play bad at all. Honestly if you take the kick six and the terrible PI call out of the game they held a very good offense to 23 points. Not trying to make excuses for them but I thought they played really well especially with how long they were on the field.
The D played ok in the first half. They held them to field golals. The second half they moved to a 4 man front and I thought did a way better job. The D only allowed 7 points the second half as opposed to the 19 in the first.
LOL J
https://twitter.com/Jordan_Esco/status/773250020501970944
https://weminoredinfilm.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/major-league-blow-it.gif
Too high!
OK, I have to start by saying that I am a mild D. Austin fan. While I readily admit that he had some plays were not good, especially the phantom tackle, I thought overall his play was not terrible. It was first game, he is undersized, and he started the game with a perfect play that the refs screwed him on. I don’t understand how his spot is up for battle and Obo is not. Obo made some fantastic plays but he was loaded with bone head plays too. Just my thoughts.
Makes sense to me.
I think Ty misses playing a little…
https://tydarlington.wordpress.com/
“psychotic has-been in solitude”
If we could just put his brain into our current centers, and his heart!
Recent crystal ball predictions: Marvin Wilson, Walker Little, Omar Manning, K’Lavon Chaisson and Anthony Hines…All to Uterus. Dear merciful sweet baby Jesus please do not let this happen. -Amen
Saddens me to say that it more than likely could/will happen since they were of the mind-boggling huge group that wanted to see how Texsa did this year. Man, that was REALLY hard to type.
I hear ya…I can’t lie, I sincerely hope they freaking tank and sink like a lead balloon. I just hate them. Maybe next year I’ll be ok with them having an “ok” year. But this year, I hope they lose every game 100-0. The End.
sad but true. little and hines mayyyyy go elsewhere and chaisson maybe houston/lsu but wilson and manning are UT bound
I think we was a long shot on Wilson, Little, and Manning anyway. Chaisson after the Gumbs commit it had me worried he may back of same with Hines, but, again come be a Sooner if you wanna be if not whatever!
From the Truer Words Never Spoken file
“…we need to take practice a lot more seriously.”
Obo (after the game.)
yikes
Anyone know how to watch the next game? I don’t get the pay per view channel. Help would be very much appreciated, thanks very much. BOOMER!
The Town Hall is the shizzz !!
Another great Town Hall! Thanks guys!
Is this a good sign or just annoying that the tough practices come after a loss? I’m tired of talking about last week’s game like everyone but thought I’d share
https://twitter.com/eddie_rado/status/773298812664242176
It’s good and bad. Good that they are kicking them in the a$$, and bad that they didn’t do it to prepare for the season.
True.
https://twitter.com/theanthines_era/status/773308646453223424
Thought this was interesting.
I hope this becomes the norm.
Very impressive from the young man.
seems rude to me……..they run a business, he gets the pub
https://twitter.com/brandontfb/status/773332080080015360
Hmmmm
Thats awesome!
Who ever decided to do the Town Hall threads…you sir, Im picking up your tab at the bar!
Told you all I would have a HUGE guest on my latest podcast. Here it is folks! Number one player in the country! https://twitter.com/BrandonTFB/status/773349028859830273
Thank you for sharing this Brandon! This will be perfect on my long drive tomorrow!
Thanks Brandon! Great as always.
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