The Football Brainiacs

Image via Brett Deering/Getty Images

* No Let Down: Let’s just get this one out of the way right up front because it’s easily the most Captain Obvious point to be made. I feel confident in assuming you don’t need this explained to you.

So building off that, it’s really, really hard for me to believe this is a legitimate concern. Maybe they come out flat Saturday night and I look like a moron, but given everything in front of this team right now I just do not see that happening.

That said…

* Heisman Hype: …coming off the Baylor win we’ve all been made abundantly aware that Baker Mayfield’s Heisman campaign is in FULL swing. And for good reason considering the season both he and OU are having up to this point. But if you’re playing devil’s advocate, you might wonder whether or not some of that praise starts to creep in. And, if in a game like the one Saturday night in Norman, the offense starts slow or maybe the Sooners even fall behind early, does Mayfield start to press trying to live up to said hype?

Mayfield’s rep coming into the season, largely from his days in Lubbock and his play in the spring game, was that of a ‘gunslinger’ who had a tendency to take too many chances with the football. And yet outside of a few instances, we’ve really yet to see that type of play from him this season. So it’s absolutely fair to question why it would suddenly start now. The obvious answer being what we just laid out, the Heisman hype, but again much like coming out flat I have a hard time buying into this theory as well.

* TCU Run Game: This, to me, is THE key factor in this game. However, I say that with the caveat that Trevone Boykin is as limited as many believe he will be due to the high ankle sprain he suffered last week against Kansas.

Boykin is a lot of things and you don’t need me pointing out how good he has been the last two(ish) years in this revamped TCU offense. But for all that Boykin is, in my estimation he is not a guy that’s just going to sit in the pocket and consistently beat you with his arm.

I mean maybe if Josh Docston was 100% — which he is isn’t — and maybe if TCU had other consistent threats at WR — they really don’t (although I love me some KaVontae Turpin) — then maybe I’d be worried. But what made Boykin such a dynamic player was the threat he presented as a runner.

So if that injured ankle seriously limits his mobility and he becomes somewhat of a stationary target back there….for an OU defensive line playing arguably as well as any d-line in the country not located in Tuscaloosa….me likey.

The only way I see TCU winning on Saturday is if they are able to consistently move the ball on the ground with an admittedly very talented Aaron Green. Well, that and/or OU turning the ball over multiple times. But aside from those two things — again with the caveat that Boykin and Doctson are both as limited as many expect them to be — I just don’t see how OU loses this game.

* Defensive Momentum: Kind of building off the previous point, Mike Stoops (and his invaluable staff) clearly have this OU defense playing at a high level. So well, in fact, one prominent national CFB writer was even brave enough to tweet the following:

Oklahoma is taking the "Big 12 doesn't play any defense" meme and lighting it on fire.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 15, 2015

I really don’t want to get off on a tangent about agendas, so we’ll just keep this train on the tracks in saying even with TCU’s injuries, this still figures to be a solid test for OU’s defense. Therefore you’d like to see them come out and build upon the momentum they established the previous week in that Baylor game.

For so long it seemed like OU’s defense was willing to let the opposing offense dictate what they (OU) was going to do. And then, finally, last Saturday we saw the exact opposite. Sure, maybe it was at least in part a product of a true freshman quarterback that Stoops & co. felt confident they could intimidate. But frankly, at this point I don’t really care about the reason/s why. I’m just ecstatic we finally saw something different.

So keep it going on Saturday night. If you’ve got a guy in there on a bum ankle, get after his a$$. No one is suggesting you do anything dirty, mind you.But be relentless, make his night miserable.

The more confident you can build in this OU defense heading into Stoolwater Stillwater and a potential playoff run the better.

* More Mixon: Venturing back into that ‘nit-picking’ category, I’d still like to see Joe Mixon a little more involved in this offense. Maybe give him a couple more north-south runs rather than those slow-developing sweeps that really haven’t all that effective so far. Passes out in space, whatever.

The more guys making plays for this offense, the better for everyone involved. And if we’ve seen anything from Mixon this year, it’s that when you can get him in space with the ball in his hands good things tend to hapen.

* Rowdy Crowd?: Bob Stoops definitely didn’t call out OU fans like he did back in 2008 prior to the Texas Tech game which led, in large part, to one of the more raucous crowds in Memorial Stadium history.

But during his Monday presser, Stoops did recall that very Tech game in urging fans to recreate a similar type of atmosphere this Saturday night. So I’m kind of curious to see how Sooner Nation responds.

I was fortunate enough to be at that game back in 2008 and there were any number of factors that led to an experience I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Whether it was Tech being ranked No. 2 at the time, or the Big 12 title/potential national championship opportunity that was on the line, the big lead OU jumped out to and the manner in which they did it.

It could legitimately be any or all of those things. But I remain convinced to this day that the craziness of the crowd that night was due primarily to Stoops coming out and challenging them earlier in the week. Granted, Stoops certainly didn’t have bad intentions in saying what he said but nevertheless, OU fans took it personally.

And when ‘Jump Around’ came on, the place went absolutely bats#$%. Seriously, to this day I watch that video and still get chills.

The team rewarded the fans with a resounding blowout victory, while Stoops in turn did his part ‘bowing down’ to the fans a number of times before he would eventually leave the field.

It goes without saying you can’t artificially recreate an environment like that. And in his defense Stoops wasn’t attempting to do so when he was asked about that game and the rowdy crowd this past Monday.

Maybe something like it happens again Saturday night or maybe it doesn’t. For the sake of those in attendance, though, I sure hope it does. Because if you weren’t one of those lucky enough to be in the house for that 2008 game take it from someone who was, that type of moment is something you never forget. And as far as I’m concerned, every OU fan should get to experience something like that at least once.

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What will you be watching for Saturday night?