OU vs. Texas Tech Position Thoughts
Posted on: November 16, 2014
Image via Sooner Sports
What a tale of two halves. Seemed like OU was trying to hard to be “creative/tricky” on offense in the first half. I think we all anticipated seeing the big boys up front being the centerpiece of the strategy early but maybe the coaching staff wanted to demonstrate Cody’s ability to throw the ball early on. That didn’t go too well but in fairness coach Stoops mentioned that the wind may have been giving him a lot of trouble. Ultimately it didn’t much matter because in the second half we saw the Sooners run right over the Tech defense.
Speaking of defense, the OU defense again struggled to be assignment sound but picked things up in the second half.
Here are some position by position thoughts:
Quarterback
Cody Thomas made his first start, on the road, in a place Sooners have long struggled to win. He had a difficult first half throwing the ball and things looked pretty bleak. Nah, it was almost horrible. I was a little surprised that they asked a new QB to throw on first down in his first start…and a start on the road. The three interceptions were difficult to watch. One just looked like he was playing catch with Texas Tech linebacker, Sam Eguavoen. No Sooner in sight. Good thing there was a second half. Sooners, and Heupel, turned to Thomas, in the zone read, run game. What ensued was over 300 yards rushing in the second half. Thomas looked like he got more comfortable in the passing game, too. He ended the game with 133 yards passing and 103 yards rushing. Yes, he had 3 interceptions, but he did pass and run for a touchdown, as well.
Running Backs
Samaje Perine. I’ll say it again. Samaje Perine. If this was on twitter I’d be hashtagging the “BeastMode”. That’s essentially what he did. He brought out his inner Marshawn Lynch for the second time this season. In doing so, he carried OU to a much needed win. That’s not to say he didn’t get any help, cause he did. The hog mollies up front cleared plenty of paths for him. He still had the majority of his yards accumulated after contact. Samaje ended the day with 213 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. The amazing part of it all? He did all that on only 25 carries, averaging 8.5 yards a carry. Alex Ross and Keith Ford didn’t have a ton of touches.
Wide Receivers
They didn’t catch many passes, but their contribution was still vital. The down field blocking was down right superb today. Especially, in the second half. It can be frustrating not getting the ball as a wideout. Didn’t matter to them today. They came out knowing there was a chance that OU would rely strictly on the running game versus Tech. They took a backseat to Perine and Thomas and helped clear lanes. When they were called upon in the passing game, though not often, they made plays. Durron Neal and KY Young both made some spectacular catches.
Offensive line
I bet you JY was smiling ear to ear today. This game, when it came to the offensive line, was very reminiscent to West Virginia. It was a struggle, offensively, in the first half in that game as well. But like in the West Virginia game, the Sooners put the game on the back of Perine and the offensive line and they delivered. That ended with a big road win there. There was a couple of holding calls in the first half that led to 3rd and longs. But the 2nd half production was undeniable and easily eclipsed the first half errors.
Defensive Line
The defense had another rough day. But the defensive line held up there end of the deal. They kept the Tech running game from having any sort of impact and Mahomes was having to move a lot in the pocket. The thing that strikes me is the lack of respect the front three get from the media. Heard an announcer say today that OU doesn’t have a good pass rusher. That’s crazy talk. Whether they are used properly may be debatable. There’s a reason why teams go to the quick passing game. Quarterbacks don’t have time to sit and scan their progressions in the pocket.
Linebackers
Hello, Eric Striker. Good to see you back. He ended the game with 1.5 sacks (6.5 for the year) and numerous quarterback hurries. It wasn’t just Striker that had a good game. Dom Alexander and Jordan Evans showed up as well. Dom had a couple near interceptions to go along with a sack and forced fumble. Jordan Evans seemed like he was all over the field. Made a couple of plays in the backfield. One in the red zone that stopped Tech from scoring a touchdown. Instead they only got a field goal. All in all, I think the linebackers played fairly well. Struggled a bit in the passing game.
Defensive Backs
What can I say? Not a great performance from the Oklahoma secondary. I will say, that both corners played pretty well, all things considered. Zach Sanchez and Jordan Thomas, both, kept Tech from really attacking them. Instead, Mahomes went after the safeties. There were breakdowns in the secondary that I’m sure Super K will address later in the week.
A win is a win. It wasn’t always pretty but I’ll take it!
194 Comments
A win is a win. But the first half featured misguided play calling that was more appropriate for Bradford or Jones then for an extremely inexperienced QB in his first start. The result was a near disaster as 3 interceptions and badly missed throws to open receivers was the result. The defense, and in particular the secondary, remain poorly coached and are obviously unsure of their assignments on many plays. TT receivers were oftentimes left in the open with no one within 30 yards of them as coverage broke down completely at times in the confusion. Our punting is very inconsistent, and teams have been able to control the field in most games this season. Perine is still an amazing asset! So much so that the coaches ride him continuously at times into repeated small injuries that may someday become a large one, even though there are plenty of other backs to give him a rest that are fresh and would offer a change of pace or more speed that might very well help the offense. W
Good valid points on every mentioned issue.
Very good read.
Ye a win is a win, and poor coaching is poor coaching regardless of the outcome of the game.
Why on earth did we not run the offense we ran in the 2nd half, in the first half? It’s like Josh H. has to show how tricky and cute he can be, then when the reality sets in that the game plan he wants to use is not the one that will work, he runs the one he should have been running the entire game.
Also, I’ve been calling for that fullback dive play all year, why did it take our coaches 10 games to put that in? They’re too damn stubborn for their own good. It’s like “we’d rather fail doing it our way, than succeed doing it another way”.
He ran the same game plan, but when the run kept getting stuffed in the first half (I outlined the plays in another post), he had to do other things. Without some passing we never would have scored in the first half and almost scored another time. Of course some passing was part of the plan for the first half as well, especially when it was successful with throws of 24, 45, and 16 yards on first down. The game plan clearly was to attempt to establish the run in the first half and then rely upon it in the second half. And with the necessary half time adjustments, it was successful.
We did not come out running the same offense in the 2nd half that we ran in the first, didn’t happen. I think we would have scored another TD in the first half if JH doesn’t go into his “I’m smarter than you, so I’m going to run play action and turn the ball over to prove it” mode. Should have kept pounding it over and over. So what if it doesn’t work a few times, it will eventually pay off. Why is it as soon as the run gets stuffed we abandon it, yet our QB can throw INT’s and be at a 30% completion rate and we keep throwing it all over the place?
I agree with you as well. The entire Big 12 knows that Texas Tech couldn’t defend the run…Texas Tech knows their weakness is the run. But yet the first half OU had 17 pass attempts and 17 rush attempts. Reminds me of when BYU Hill and mobile QB’s, ran wild against Texas but when OU played them Knight only ran it 4 times. Running was their weakness show why not just initially focus on the run?
I was very happy to see the FB run also.
This! After JH got away with two passes to get the ball inside the red zone, FIRST DOWN pass interception without even trying to run. Two consecutive successful pass plays (lucky on the long jump ball) should have been a good time to RUN the dang ball, but (in my best John Belushi) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO….
When a play fails to be executed properly or doesn’t work you can always try to second guess. But if he had run the ball and not gotten anywhere, you’d be accusing him of “going away from what was working.”
Oh, was passing the ball working? Gee, could have fooled me. The guy has no clue, he comes out passing when he should have come out running, then once he realizes his inept game plan wont work, he runs the game plan all us dummies have been saying he should have been running all along. Oh and by the way, I’ve been screaming for the fullback dive/trap play all year. Why did it take our coaches 10 games to figure out it could work? Rest assured, now that it’s worked, we wont see it again. Just like the option play we ran to Flowers, ran it one time, busted a long run, then poof, it’s on the shelf again. Josh H. is more interested in trying to show how cute he can be then just doing what works. “I’m going to do it my way, even if it doesn’t work”.
Yea, passing the ball had just moved the team all the way down the field. Faced with the option of calling a pass play that’s gonna be open for a td if someone doesn’t miss a block on the edge, or a run play that, based on every other similar first down call in the first half, will get stuffed for no gain, I’d rather he call the pass.
What “pays off eventually” against a team like Tech is continuing to attempt to establish the run by pounding the ball on 1st down, which they did. Futilely pounding the ball on 2nd and 3rd and long, when you’re not gaining any yards running, only pays off in having to punt the ball, which against a team that scores as easily as Tech can, is a bad idea. Even in the second half, with the exception of the very last series at the end of the fourth quarter, every time they got stuffed for 3 yards or less on 1st and 10, they went to the pass on second and long. And on the goal line, after they ran twice and didn’t get in, they passed for the touchdown
Completely disagree about the play calling in the first half. Heupel was trying to find plays that Cody could be successful with and in the meantime he kept returning to the run game even though it wasn’t working, in part to set up things for the second half.
I just watched the first half again and I still don’t see bad play calls.
I see holding penalties putting the offense in long yardage situations.
I see our RBs being stoned at the LOS on 1st and 10.
On the OU TD drive in the first half it was CT completing a 3rd and 8 and a 3rd and 5 to keep the drive going.
The INT CT threw in the end zone early in the 2nd qtr was a bad throw on a blownup play. I couldn’t understand why Perine tried to avoid the pass rusher that got to CT, until I watched it again. It was a great call, a screen pass to Perine and he had Savage and another OLman out in front, but CT didn’t have time and the rusher was in his face. CT could have done a better job of throwing it away, but there was nothing wrong with the play call. It could have just as easily been a TD for Perine had the pass rush not gotten to CT.
The running game just wasn’t there in the first half like it was in the 2nd.
exactly right ET.
Still haven’t found a replay other than the few highlights but didn’t think the 1st half play calls were that bad, either. Agree with establishing the run game but need to get some ‘easy’ throws to keep the D off somewhat. Where is that swing pass to Ross we saw early in the season?
I recorded the one hour “instant replay” from last night. Just checked the schedule and the full replay will be on Fox Sports OK Monday night.
I know they tried it (the swing pass) to Ford, once, on the second play of the td drive,I think, it was open, but Cody threw it too low to catch.
That was a checkdown to Ford. Not a called swing. Got to it too late. Made it a tougher throw.
you’re right, I couldn’t remember for sure and went back and looked.–it was a check down, not the same as the swing to ross.
On the INT that Cody threw near the goal line, the play was a run/pass option play and Perine was running a screen route. If you go back and look at the play, the screen is set up (with the left side of the line setting up their blocks). Perine didn’t block or chip the defender because his route is the first priority in that play. Cody just panicked a bit and threw into traffic. There was a missed block up front (that let the defender get into the backfield), but I haven’t been able to see who was responsible. Cody just has to learn to throw that one away, or keep it and run. Just a youthful, inexperienced play by a young, inexperienced player. He’ll learn from that.
Stoops said that wasn’t the case. Not a screen. The RB (Perine) should’ve picked up the blitz. And obviously Thomas shouldn’t not have made that attempt.
I just watched the coach’s show and on it Stoops appeared to confirm what Super Keith said, that someone missed a block on the edge, He said, “..didn’t block the edge pressure, need to protect him better on that edge.” Nothing about not a screen or the rb. Did you see him talk about it somewhere else?
How about this, how about we take the decision whether or not to make a horrible throw out of the QB’s hands in that situation? Is that an option?
Yeah right. Let’ s do notta the first half, so we can set up the 2nd half for a come from behind victory. To suggest he continued to throw the ball even though it wouldn’t work in order to set something up for the 2nd half is silly.
That’s not what he did. And you don’t bother to read what I wrote either. What I said was he continued to return to the run (on first down), even though it wasn’t working, in part to set things up for the second half ( by wearing them down among other things). “kept returning to the run game.”
I think Perine has improved a ton this season. He was missing holes early on, Ford’s injury as really helped him develop.
Looks right to me. I too, still do not understand how you can run blitzes like we did today and not press the receivers…especially on short yardage situations. That’s an instance 5 or 6 yards. Also, I was pretty shocked this late in the season to see fundamentals mistakes in the secondary. There is just no reason to be out of position as bad as they were more than once, not even mentioning the missed assignments.
Offensively speaking, if I’m a DB staring at a 240 pound freight train coming at me, I figure I have two options: Go low….real real low, or get the heck out of the way. Personally, I felt several of TT’s defensive players were down right suicidal. After one particular play where Perine’s cleat imprints were all over the DB, I could have sworn I saw their DC look over at another coach and mouth “Notify his next of kin”. In short, “Beast” is certainly the word.
[B]”I too, still do not understand how you can run blitzes like we did today and not press the receivers…especially on short yardage situations.” [/B]
^^^ ^^^^ That is just MADDENINGLY IGNORANT of Mike. Bad junior high coaches know better. I can understand getting physically whipped, but playing stupid over and over again drives me wild.
I wonder if the Sooners should have bit the bullet early in the year and had some of these young safeties get more playing time. Today’s performance was all about inexperience in the face of game play. I also think we miss Frank Shannon in the middle.
We’ve been playing young safeties all year, no? I mean, we’ve only played 3-4, and 3 of those are young.
Can we convert some wideouts to safety?? How many balls have hit Thomas/Byrd/Parker in the hands this year 30ish?
They always say that CB and S are WR that cannot catch
It is a young group for the most part, just need some experience.
There’s a ton of youth in the secondary. Give them time.
We might have the worst safeties in the country!!
Parker is a true freshman, give him time. I think he will still be a great player.
agreed. Parker & Jordan Thomas just need some time and they will be a leaders in the backfield. Bottom line, we need to have a scheme and stick & recruit to it.
There is nothing bad about Hayes. He’s very good. Corner-like skills. Elite speed.
We have three problem areas: safety, QB, and center. Cody Thomas will improve one of those areas – given the chance. I really liked his ability to actually READ the DE on Zone Read play and tuck and run w/authority. His quick decision making really stood out on those plays! I was very impressed.
On the flip side – safety play? Yeesh… We have a long, long, long way to go mentally to get those guys on the same page.
“He’s really natural with it,” Bob Stoops said of Thomas’ ballhandling. “And you would expect that, being the athlete that he is, the baseball player, the hands they have, the way they deal with the ball.”
Cody is the real deal, assuming he has better passing sklils than he showed in Lubbock.
Center?
Disagree. He may not be an AA type player, but he is definitely average to above average.
I was a bit surprised at how poorly our OL played in the first half, too often our RBs were stuffed at the LOS and of course more holding/false start penalties.
In the second half, though, they played as flawlessly as we (and they) know they can, with the result being good rushing numbers, no sacks and no turnovers.
Thomas had about the type of day one might expect from a young QB getting his first start and with showed with more experience he could be a quality QB.
Love Perine, but would like to see him sit when he gets dinged. His health is too important to his and OU’s future success.
Next year with Ford, Ross, Perine, Sooner Dave, Mixon and Anderson will be a veritable feast of RBS.
With that stable of RB’s and Cody Thomas’ great/uncanny read ability on when to hand off or keep – we should run the Wishbone again!
That would be great, but CT would take a pounding without the quicks the Wishbone QBs of old had.
I sure like the Diamond formation, though.
Just reminiscing about the good ole days. 🙂
I hear ya’.
Cody had a good day with the read option. However, I don’t know how much credibility to put into it as it was TT. This is not to take away from Cody as he lead the team to the win. I’m a fan of both our QBs.
Right now, our OC doesn’t have a clear vision of what he wants from our QBs. 1st half play calling was baffling to me.
I’ve gone back and watched the first half and actually I found the play calling was quite good.
The execution, penalties and bad throws was lacking.
As for the OC, I don’t always agree with his approach, but for the most part I don’t think the fans have a clear view of his vision.
Guess what I’m saying is the players don’t have a clear view either. Yes, there were execution issues but if the plan were to run and we practiced it all week, my bet is we make fewer mistakes. I look at the trend of JH over the years and it doesn’t build a good resume IMO.
I counted at least five times the run was stoned at the LOS in the first half.
If we were to go with the run and 1-2-3 punt, everyone would still scream arrogance and incompetence by the coaches.
Agreed. My view is we just run downhill every time without any misdirection plays. The only misdirection I can remember is from our WR. TT isn’t ranked 119th against the rush for nothing.
I thought the jet sweeps KJ Young ran helped open up the run in the 2nd half.
As for running downhill, I like it when a guard pulls and leads into the hole along with Rip. Of course I’m an old pulling guard and always believed in outnumbering them at the point of attack.
Agreed. I would like for Rip to go in motion and kick out the DE for a cutback run. OG could pull into the hole to hit 2nd level. I don’t dislike JH, it just seems running the ball is not were he wants to be creative. It’s like, ok, I will run it to please HC and then go back to what I know.
They have run that play many times, once in the Sugar with Ford for about a 15 yard gain.
How can you possibly believe that? There were only two penalties in the first half that put them in long yardage situations, yet Thomas threw the ball 17 times in the first half (5 passes on first drive). Math doesn’t add up. Those penalties put us in a 1st and 20 and a 2nd and 10. Those are situations in which Cody had to throw?
It was a horrible game plan (again), and Heupel said in the presser he was “trying to get Cody involved early”. Why? That is indicative of how inferior his mind is as a play caller.
It’s also curious to me that Heupel felt the need to protect Knight early in the season by cuffing him from running because, supposedly, Thomas was out for a month. BUT, Heupel doesn’t feel the need to protect Cody while Knight is out with an injury. I don’t get it. It’s incoherent, inconsistent gobble-d-gook dolt-think. I don’t think it’s the fans lacking a clear view of his vision. I think it’s him having an incoherent and unclear vision that neither the fans, sports analysts, nor media writers seem to understand.
I couldn’t disagree more.
Haha….well, you’re definitely on an island all by yourself if you can see his wizardry I guess.
No, I don’t believe I am alone at all.
I watched the replay just a little while ago, I encourage you and others to do the same.
Dude, Thomas himself said in the presser that Heupel announced at half they were going with an entirely different gameplan in the second half. Thomas threw the ball five times on first down in the first half before a penalty could have any measurable impact.
I think you are forgetting about all the times the run was stuffed at the LOS on 1st down in the first half.
Also, Coach Stoops said in the presser it was their intention to run but kept getting behind the chains in the first half.
They threw the ball five times on first down in the first half and ended up with three INTs, and that wasn’t anymore successful than getting stuffed on a running play.
Stoops said in the pressor he wasn’t about to approve a game plan in which Thomas passed it just three times in the first half — “not while I’m here,” he said — but that very strategy was flawless in the second half. That’s two different gameplanes. Why would you ever have two gameplans for one crappy team? And why would you rule out only throwing three passes in a half if you watched what Arkansas did to these guys?
And most of those passes were short, simple passes to the TE and WR screens. Positive yards on 1st down open up the playbook.
The 1st INT was a blown up play which could have gone for a TD had CT not had pressure in his face. It was supposed to be a screen to Perine.
Once again, watch the replay. I’ve no time now for incessant verbage, Lowe’s awaits.
3 of the 5 first down plays you refer to went for 24 yards, 45 yards, and 16 yards respectively. Pretty good plays. Of course you’re gonna continue with something that has that much potential for success.
It was NOT two different game plans. It was one game plan, run the ball. As soon as that was successful, they stuck with it. When it wasn’t they had to do other things.
He didn’t say anything like that. Not in the post game presser I saw:
“I knew we were going to run the ball a little bit more,” When asked if they talked about that at half-time, he clarified, “yes, we made a few adjustments.”
That’s just exactly what they did. Adjusted to make the game plan of running the ball more effective, and it was immediately obvious that it worked.
The game plan was excellent. Running the ball in the first half was ineffectual, see my other post, but he kept returning to it anyway. Only because he passed the ball did we score a td and almost another. When you’re running on first down for 2 yards or no yards, you’d better mix it up, and he did.
Protecting the qb as Stoops explained several times is about how many hits the qb takes over the course of the season. It is now late in the season so there are fewer hits to be taken. Also how important running the qb is to winning the game is an important factor. The QB runs were inspired calls, Sat. and we don’t win without them.
his plan appeared to be run the ball, and when that didn’t work so well, vary things and give Cody a chance to throw to move the ball down the field. See my other overly lengthy post. 🙂 not sure how many of those runs were actually read options. I’ll look and see what I can tell, but I know there are folks on here who can tell us for certain.
I want to know if the read option looking bad early this season was due to heupel/stoops or knight missing the reads. Because Thomas had all kinds of openings…that weren’t there for knight vs Baylor because they spied after the first quarter. Also was he spied most of every game?
But I would like to see Thomas get more passing reps I think he could be good just needs time with the lights on.
Aikman lost his first start at Kansas in 1984.
Heupel said he wanted to get Cody involved early. If I’m not mistaken, Cody was involved in the first snap and every non-punt play involving the offense. I thought the first play was an attempt to catch TT by surprise. It reminded me of The TCU opener in 2005 when Paul Thompson overthrew a wide open receiver over the middle. PT ended up losing the job to Bomar by halftime.
Heupel just seems to be too smart by half. Instead of attacking the known weakness right off the bat, he handicaps the offense by putting them in 2nd and 10. Any chance of a quick start evaporated. In the second half, he went to the read option which Cody runs very, very well. I’m optimistic that Cody will become a better passer with game experience.
Goodness sakes, Ahmed Thomas looked lost or reckless. We were lucky that a couple of strikes were called back for holding. Parker is also challenged, perhaps because of what Ahmed was doing. I’m stunned that we don’t even have a walk-on safety who could play back there. At Corner, I though Jordan Thomas looked ok, but he needs a lot of instruction on technique. I won’t forget the look on Sanchez’s face when he let one guy go to cover a second receiver only to see that the safety who was supposed to pick up the first receiver was gone. Thankfully the resulting TD was negated by a holding call.
I like the first play call of the game for a couple of reasons. As you say, it was most likely unexpected. That’s something the Heupel has been good at. It also said to Cody, I have confidence in you and expect you to make throws. Third, it was well designed and wide open, really easy throw if Cody doesn’t panic and short arm it.
It did not end any chance of a quick start. Heupel immediately went to the run, which obviously was his game plan, and they went for 8 yards and then 10 yards. So the fast start was underway.
The problem was that Tech then proceeded to shut down the run. Even with that, Heupel kept returning to it. It completely drove me crazy to hear the endless blathering of the announcers about “run Perine,” they clearly were so caught up in the pre game hype, or their pre game analysis, that they didn’t bother watching what was actually going on on the field. After those first two runs of 8 and 10, Perine was stopped: 2,0,0,5,3,2,1 for the first half, and many of those runs did put us behind the chains. But that didn’t stop the blather. Just awful. (That applied to their analysis of some of the defensive plays as well.)
I would have guaranteed you the first play was going to be a pass. Guaranteed. Heupel seemingly always does that with a new QB.
I can see how you’d say that, especially since Heupel does tend to throw a bit more on the first play of a game, but I think “guarantee” is a bit strong. Cody’s been in 4 previous games and each time except for one he’s started him with a handoff, even when his first play was 2nd and 20.
Any news on Williams’ injury? Farniok played the last few series and we ran away from his side (course we always skew to the left).
Sure is a sad day in Soonerland when HolaKyle has yet to post a highlight video.
I can understand not posting one from the BU game, but not this week.
For sure, watching HolaKyle highlights on Sunday morning is the best!
Where is he? Slacker.
I just feel for the defenders and most of all the secondary players. It’s not so much them as it is the people coaching them. Bob, Mike and all the fans were saying the same things about the secondary when it had Colvin and Jefferson starting in 2012. Now here we are in 2014 and many of the same issues are still there. Rule in coaching, if the players are working hard and playing hard but still making the same mistakes week after week, and at Oklahoma year after year, than it is a coaching issue that needs fixing. The defense stands no chance with the scheme and calls they are running.
Agree 100%, there is some serious coaching issues with the overall D and especially the safeties and CB’s. Bob is going to have to make some changes this year or he is going to lose this team (may have already happened, the team looked flatter than a pancake). Two coaches on D need to be replaced, MS and BJW. Heupel should have been replaced 2 years ago.
Just the fact that we have guys playing at DB in the NFL proves your point. Franks, Fleming, Jefferson,Carter, Colvin… Talent is there. Something is not right in the scheme.
And you will see Hayes playing in the NFL next year, too. Wilson? Probably not. Maybe as a project if he runs well.
I know right. Mike Stoops will prevent us from ever winning a NC and at this rate a Big 12 championship. The DC has to at least coach to a draw and not get outcoached 4 or more times a season.
Glad to have a check mark in the win column, but it was TT and a good team would have gave us a lot of trouble. Getting so many players dinged up is worrisome, playing without energy and enthusiasm likely contributed to some of the injuries. I don’t think I’ve seen the team so uninspired as they were yesterday. Kansas is playing as if they are auditioning for a new head coach so the mental mistakes and lack of energy problems need to be corrected in a hurry. The trench play looked good on both sides and I.m sure K will have some words on the secondary. The QB competition will be interesting next year, it wouldn’t shock me if it was a battle between Mayfield and Hansen.
Still got the same the same coach JH !!!!
I’m just “concerned” that TK will also be in the mix.
If he gets cleared by the doctors and everyone involved in the decision is ok with him playing then he should be in the mix. I’m not sure at this point who the QB should be. Trevor and Cody are both good runners but struggle with passing consistency. We haven’t seen Baker or Hansen in game action yet. I don’t expect to see Trevor on the field anytime soon.
SR. My problem with TK is that he is one of the most Inaccurate QB that I’ve ever seen. I would prefer a QB who might not be as fast as a runner, but throws a nice, accurate ball.
I also want an OC who occasionally uses the TE.
I agree he not likely to set any passing records at OU, just saying the coaches picked him as a starter and if he’s healthy, he will be competing with the other three. Hopefully one of them will show a lot more ability than the others.
Gotta think Perine gets some preseason hype next season. Its unreal that he is only a freshman. Nice rookie season for Optimus Perine. My minor quibble about the OL is whether Darlington can maul well enough at center. Size wise, he seems a little small to run behind.
My anger is still mostly directed to the coaching staff. Mike Stoops publicly admitted things needed fixing but I didn’t see much change. Still big cushions. Surprisingly the same result. I like Mahomes but we made him look like Luck or Steve Young back there. Some can be attributed to youth and inexperience (the coverage breakdowns). However, alignment and play calling is still very questionable. So many open receivers. Thank goodness we got our running game going in the 2nd half. A real tale of two halves for Josh. Awful play calling in the 1st. A clinic in the 2nd. I hope that was JH making the change. If it was not, he shouldn’t be calling plays next year at OU.
No excuse for being so far out of position down after down. It’s a combination of everything, poor play by the players, poor coaching by the coaches. Maybe we should simplify the schemes because apparently they are just too complex for any mortal to understand.
That was Brents excuse every year after Mike left. We will simplify the defense!!!
Offensive line was awesome. Other stats: No QB sacks, only 1 Tackle for Loss, and 1 QB hurry. Add that to the almost 400 yards rushing and all in all not a bad day by the big guys up front.
Preface my comment with Awesome second half. First half with the penalties and lack of running lanes was troublesome, but they did get that fixed. And even then only one TFL is pretty amazing.
Sos with Mike and the DB’s playing too soft, JH picked the wrong half to try and get our QB “involved”. PLay to your strengths and THEN get the QB some throws, Safety play was terrible. Keith Ford looked good. Perine is just a Godzilla. Earl Campbell-esque.
Maybe we can get Muschamp to come over and help the D?
Muschamp would be a good move as Co DC. If Bob expected it to fly with Venables then why not for Mike. Muschamp can recruit his butt off especially in Texas and on defense.
Ugh!
Yes it would be a good move that’s a big if,talk is florida may make a run at stoop’s and stoop’s just may listen.
Not likely that he’d be willing to go from being head coach of UF to co-anything. I doubt MS would be open to it either. Muschamp will land on his feet as a co-ordinator, but he won’t share the job.
Definitely missing Colvin and Lynn this year.
The last TT touchdown at the end of the game is a microcosm of the season long problems in the secondary. #7 ( J Thomas) , i suppose, was the victim of allowing the receiver get past him when the secondary should have deflected or ‘picked’ the TT pass, although it may have been one of the safetys who coverage duty.. Regardless of coverage responsibilites, it is a cardinal rule not to allow a receiver get by a defender. The result : a nice , well placed pass to a receiver behind the defender and an easy td. In this game, the outcome had been decided but, this is not the 1st td allowed in that manner this season. Either the db’s cannot learn their responsibilites or the coaches haven’t taught them properly or they simply don’t have the instincts of a db to develop into a good one……………….Also i previously selected TT by double digits and happily admit being incorrect . Watching KK suffer on the sidelines was worth a lot.
Ah, Stephen Dale, we can always count on you to be the Eeyore of TFB. I do appreciate that you try to add solid analysis to your doom and gloom though. When do we get to find out how badly we’ll lose to Kansas?
A certain Cornerback that replaced the former cornerback should never see the field, how he got a scholarship offer would be difficult to explain….
Could you be a little more vague?
Or maybe a the DC has been making some very talented athletes look very stupid, and he and this is just my opinion but his coverage schemes and instructions has them so confused quite possibly BECAUSE he is so confused as to what he is doing. He has no business being on the sideline. He is not teaching them. TT’s much less healed first year freshmen coverage guys coached by much cheaper coaches looked much better and more advanced than ours.
Why Comment If You Were Going To Say Anything?
True freshman making a 1st start against a pass happy offense with a play caller who is not to shabby. Thought he did well considering. He is a very good recruit and we are lucky we have him on and off the field. I may get on JH but to me, players are off limits.
I almost couldn’t watch the game because of the blathering commentary of the announcers. They were clearly so caught up in their pregame analysis that they didn’t bother to watch what was actually happening on the field.
On the defensive side, they had heard that Tech drops the ball, so twice when OU’s defensive backs made truly great plays, coming in and stripping a caught ball before the receiver could come down to the ground with it, Millen simply called them drops. Even watching the replays. Unbelievable.
On the offensive side it was worse. All the noise they were making in the first half about Heupel not running the ball was ridiculous. Clearly running the ball a priority. Here’s what they should have seen:
First, the run game just wasn’t working very well in the first half. After the first two runs by Perine on the first possession, he was essentially shut down. (he had only one run of 5 yds, the rest were 2, 0, 0, 3, 2, 1.) So you had Millen screaming for Perine to run the ball, followed by Perine going for no gain and putting us behind the chains. Still didn’t stop Millen and partner from endlessly whining and driving me crazy.
Second, without some successful passing, OU would never have moved down the field and scored it’s lone td, and almost scored another.
If you ignore the first play of the game, and the last series that started with only 48 seconds left and was obviously an attempt to pass down the field for points before half, Heupel called a pass play on first down only four times. TEN times he called running plays on 1st down. (even with those two it’s 10 to 6). On the second possession of the game we ran on first and 10 and only gained 2 yards. Then after a penalty, we even ran on 1st and 18. Gained only 1 yard. The rushing game was not successful, but he kept returning to it.
Of the ten 1st down plays, only one went for over 4 yards and most were dismal: 2, 0, 2, 7, 2, 0, 3, 2td, 4. Not that great. Obviously, when you’re gaining 2 yards or 0 yards on a regular basis, you are getting behind the chains. But even so, he ran on over half the plays in the first half. Compare that with the first few 1st down runs of the second half: 9, 64, 3, 9, 26, 1TD, 16, 5, 6, essentially all of them over 4 yards and several for quite a bit more
The game plan was first and foremost to run the ball, but when it wasn’t working, they needed to mix it up, in order to be successful, especially when behind the chains.
Once they made the half-time adjustments, whether it was blocking adjustments, mental attitude adjustments, or just the wearing down of Tech over the first half, as noted above, there was an immediate and dramatic difference in the success of running the ball. Once that happened it was all run from there, and a beautiful thing it was.
PS One last thing, the last play of the half was a gutsy, aggressive call to try and catch lightning in a bottle. Concerned about Tech getting the ball to start the second half with a lead, they snapped the ball with no time on the clock, heaved essentially a hail mary, the most likely outcome being an incomplete pass, or perhaps an interception that gets tackled with no time left. The hoped for outcome would have been a break away play and some points for OU, but the chances of it backfiring badly were very very slim. The announcers’ waaay over the top reaction to that was just another example of their lack of understanding of what was happening on the field.
So you are saying JH is the answer at OC. If so, fine. My question to you is, do you think the players have bought into his scheme. Also, I don’t see an upward trend since he has been back at OU. The offense should be excited to run his plan and they simply don’t look inspired to do so. I’m no expert, but I’m just going off of what I’ve seen since he’s been in office. IMO, BS had more to do with the scheme of the 2nd half than JH.
To me it was obvious that the intention was to run from the get go. There was no change of plan at the half, they just adjusted, or wore tech down, or both, and made it work better.
All the stuff about the offense should “look inspired” is totally mind of the beholder as far as I’m concerned. How inspired they look is usually a reflection of whether they are scoring points. I think the players are excited about it because they “get it” in a way that many fans don’t seem to. They know that if they play up to their ability, Heupel gives them play after play that will put points on the board. The high level of “team first” play that I see wouldn’t happen if they weren’t totally “bought in.”
Thomas stated after the game that coaches announced at halftime, the game plan would be different in the second half. I don’t put a lot of stock in what these coaches say at the pressers.
I just watched it on Soonerspots. That’s not what Cody said at all.
He said they were going to run the ball a little more because they made a few adjustments at half time. It was two separate comments both saying exactly what I said earlier, they made adjustments and felt the run would be more successful in the second half.
He said “I knew coming into the second half we were going to run the ball a little bit more.” and, “yes we made a few adjustments at half time.”
Makes perfect sense, they saw what they needed to do to be successful in the second half and it was immediately apparent on the first few runs.
Soonermusic, if JH is a friend of yours, that’s fine but we all get constructive criticism in our jobs. I’m not saying he should be fired but I just questioned his play calling in the 1st half. Look through my posts all year, I don’t rail on a coach.
Also, I thought the announcers were fine. Since they called out our play calling in the 1st half, I can see where you were upset with them. However, in the end, they were correct. They also pointed out some of the issues with our DBs too. I thought they shot straight which is something we don’t want to hear sometimes.
“if JH is a friend of yours” That’s very lame Boom. I’ve never met JH, never talked to him, don’t know anyone who knows him or has ever spoken to him.
You read my posts. They are completely based upon what went on in the game. The announcers were as wrong as any that I’ve ever seen. It was obvious that the run plays were getting stuffed virtually every time in the first half, but even behind the chains, Heupel called for a run on first down and 18. He was determined.
If you think the announcers were correct, then you’re were not paying attention to the game. The pass plays that he called were open for big gains. Based on the relative success of the calls, he should have called more pass plays. But he stuck to the game plan. Ten times on first down he called a run play. If that’s not trying to establish the run I don’t know what is. The announcers were completely wrong to say otherwise, and doubly wrong for whining continuously about it.
I hope you don’t think they were right about ;the “drops’ as well.
I was just sharing an opinion. I appreciate your opinion and your passion for OU.
Yes. The game plan was the same for all four quarters. Had the run game been as successful in the first half as it was in the second, the first half would have looked much like the second. Are we the only people watching the game?
Include me.
Just scratching my head that some have their mind made up that JH is incompetent.
I don’t understand, why would you believe BS had more to do with the 2nd half success?
He said the exact opposite in his presser, that it was their intention to run from the beginning but kept getting behind the chains.
Fair enough, I just don’t think BS will come out and say he told JH what to do. Just assuming which may get me in trouble.
This is quite possibly one of the only intelligent posts I’ve seen on this page in weeks. Glad to know I’m not the only Sooner fan capable of objective analysis.
I thought Millen was making pretty sound comments, actually.
Agree to disagree on this. I won’t belabor it since I’ve already exceeded the bandwidth 🙂 His comments on the defensive breakdowns were good. But I completely disagree with his comments about the play calling in the first half and the two “drops” as well.
This team has a lot of character. Coming out after last week’s performance and getting down 21 to 7, they didn’t fold, they persevered and won a well deserved victory.
^^ this.
Run the ball. Run the ball. Run. The. Ball! Everybody on this team needs to slap an extra serving of gravy on their taters and boil the angry broth. Let that attitude carry this team through the remainder of the season and into 2015. We have beef up front. We have WRs who are selfless in their blocking. And we have the gentleman buffalo, Smash Perine, who will eat your liver right after he helps your mama across the street.
The Landry Jones era is over. Embrace the grind. If you’re a recruit and reading this, look at Perine. That’s what OU fans expect from their guys: carnage and class.
I think the blocking really picked up after the linemen were told that we were just going to run and then run some more. It appears to be what they enjoy doing.
Totally agree. And they should sell that to OL prospects. Guys should be licking their chops to block for these RBs for the next 2+ years.
1. CT didn’t do that poorly to be honest. One of those int’s was due to putting him in a winless situation at the end of the 1st half. The game plan also didn’t put him in a good position at the start of the game. Not saying that he couldn’t have done better though.
2. It’s amazing to me that a true freshman that looked to be the 4th RB starting the season has “saved” our season. He’s amazing.
3. Our D-line is good, but we can’t get an inside pass rush. It kills us.
4. Secondary is terrible. Coaching, players, or both? I’m not in the locker room, so I don’t know. Mike Stoops is very unprofessional on the sidelines.
CT looked much better on the road in his first start than Landry did. And he didn’t have Shep at his disposal. If JH will just embrace players strengths life would be easier
Landry at Miami in ’09? 18 for 30, 1 TD, 0 INT. Did have a bad fumble. But he wasn’t the reason OU lost that game. No, Cody didn’t play as well as Landry.
It was also LJs 3rd game, just happened to be first road game. And he had Broyles.
Perine is the best RB in the big 12, and its not even close. Head and shoulders above shock linwood, who is a pretty solid back.
As hinted at in my comment below, I think Perine should be seen as the attitude embodiment for the new Stoops era. He’s brutal yet classy. Beastly yet refined.
In fact, I’m proposing that the TFB community pay tribute to the kid by kicking off a new tradition: SaMondays! After every game in which Smash rushes 200+ yards (or whatever awesome feat), the Brainiacs open up a Smash Perine thread wherein everyone posts a Chuck Norris-like joke with a twist. The joke has to balance some outlandish act of kickassery with another of elegance and refinement. For example:
Samaje Perine slaughtered everyone in a terrorist training compound with the jawbone of yeti…
…and then raised the funds to build an orphanage for victims’ families.
Or another:
Samaje Perine tears off the faces of would-be tacklers and wears them around his neck…
…in order to raise community awareness about the risk of skin cancer.
SaMondays. You’re welcome.
SaMondays might be better than Tecate Tuesdays…
And I think CT fits the complimentary role much better, as bad as his bad passes were… It’s not like he was Landry versus Miami in his first road start. And that Miami team was awful.
True dat, J J. SaMondays. Spread the word.
Happy SaMonday!
lol! Yeah, I dropped the ball on that one. Happy SaMonday and Boomer!
Sooooner!!!
whew . . . I’ll take it.
Good enough.
I’ll jus shuddup an let TFB analyze wot ‘appaned, an’ wot tudu ‘bouddit.
Git ready fer Jayhawks.
Didja see them an TCU?
‘owed ‘at ‘appen?
I have to say that it seems the safeties are the reason our secondary is so BAD!! The breakdown in coverage seems to be from them. I’m not going to call a kid out by name, but we have major issues here. IfI’m a recruit, and I’m confident in my abilities, I KNOW I can come in and play early. If this is the best we have, we are in trouble!!!!!!! It’s either putting these kids in bad positions, asking them to do what they can’t or aren’t good at, or poor coaching!!! Heck, it could be all 3. All I know is there needs to be some changes on the back end. No reason an OU defense should be ranked outside the top 40 in pass defense, and maybe that’s even too low of a bench mark!
I don’t see bad athletes, these kids didn’t just walk on and ask if they could be on the team. These guys were recruited hard by many schools. What I see are guys maybe played out of natural position, not being allowed to be aggressive at the LOS, and being too young to communicate a complicated defense during play. I think if they are just given simple coverage responsibilities and told not to worry about what anyone else is doing, they would look better. They are young and will improve quickly.
Ray, I should have clarified that I think it’s scheme over anything. I agree, there are athletes back there, but I think one is being asked to do what he cannot. They are young and will improve, if the coaching is there for the improvement.
I think most everyone is agreeing that there is a scheme problem. The blown coverages and lack of communication that we hear about week after week are an indication that the kids aren’t sure what the coaches are wanting play to play. Other teams are able to play well with young secondary kids so I have to put this one on the coaches.
I actually think that Bobby Jack needs to slide into a Merv Johnson role. It was time 2 years ago.
I think that has long been true, I also think that they are asked to do a lot versus some spread offenses. It seems like every game, other teams pick out the mismatch. Why can’t FUJH?
Will be happier when I don’t have watch the back of no 10 (Hayes) chasing a WR….
So with Muschamp done at Florida, I’m finding it really funny how the announcers will trash BS about the terrible management at OU (coaching-wise) and yet he’s still got enough of a good reputation that he should be considered for the Florida job.
Muschamp *might* be a good option for co-DC (or sole DC) – though I don’t know that he’s been all that successful defending B12-style offenses either. In either case, MS is definitely not bringing back the awesome that was reminiscent of his first stint here. I think that since MS came back, OU has had some of the worse defensive games in the last 16-17 years. 2012 OU-WVU, 2013 OU-TA&M, 2013 OU-Baylor (though I’ll give him a pass here since it was the offense’s lack of production that eventually led to the breakdown), 2014 OU-Baylor. Definitely need to re-think the best strategy for defending the crazy offenses in the B12.
Given Kansas’ success against TCU until the end and Bedlam’s penchant for being anyone’s game, is anyone else a bit worried that the last 2 games are very losable for OU?
Not too worried. Probably should be with how OU has played though. Kansas was TCU’s trap game. OSU’s offense looked horrible against Texas and Swoopes, with an OLine that isn’t all that good, threw for over 300 yards. OU would have to turn the ball over a lot to lose both of these games.
Okay, here is an interesting idea in regards to coaching moves. How about bringing in Muschamp to be LB coach and Co-DC. Could be a big boost to the LB recruiting with his connections in Texas and SEC country, most notably Florida. Think about it, it makes sense.
Get rid of Kish & let BJWright go administrative…
Agree, esp BJW. Can see that as a real possibility. Who does OU bring in as CB/DB coach?
Duane Akina? Is he at USC now?
Akina is at Stanford. Great DB coach and probably still has some excellent connections in Texas, and now CA for recruiting.
Good thought and if Shaw is on the hot seat, Akina might become ‘available’.
Interesting
Was Muschamp a DB coach originally at LSU with satan? Idk honestly, but they need to get someone else in
He coached LBs.
Well now, that takes care of that! Goodbye Kish.. Lol
Kish seems like a good coach, but his recruiting is sub par at best. BJW is a great guy, but his time has come, much like it did for Jackie Shipp a few years ago. I like BJW to get into football operations like Merv Johnson did some years ago.
Exactly, I really thought he might have (BJW) after the cotton bowl disaster. He’s been great, but it’s just time… I don’t care where Kish goes, just get rid of his baggage
Kish seems to be like that coach we had a few years ago that was a teammate of Bob’s at Iowa that worked with the tight ends and tackles. Forgot his name. Players really like ’em, but they aren’t good recruiters for whatever reason.
Kittle. It’s this ‘inbreeding’ that is killing the program. Admire Bob’s loyalty to friends and family and it’s apparent that ‘trust’ is huge with him but new faces and fresh ideas is the life blood of an organization. It worked with the last round of hires. Need a few more.
Kish came w/Mike. Idk if players like him or not
J J, Grissom and Striker have said only great things about him, they really like him and call him a great coach. Just going by what they say in interviews on Soonersports and on Bob’s Coach’s Show.
Would you say anything negative on your coach’s show? 🙂
He may be a likable coach and a good coach, I don’t know him. I’m not impressed with his recruiting lately.
Seems to have to coaching skills but in the end, you have to have em to coach em and he’s not bringing em in. Disaster is looking at LB. Might need to go to 4-2-5 look due to numbers.
Very true, but the LBs have done pretty well under him the past couple of years. I was just answering J J’s post if the players like him. His recruiting has been minimal to non existent. He plucked Curtis Bolton out of So. Cal, that’s about it I believe.
Bruce Kittle?
Coach “F-Bomb” Muschamp?
Oh HELL No!
Didn’t Muschamp turn into a total cancer at Texas before he left for Florida? Are we sure that’s what we need right now?
Question: What is your take or the correct take? During the game, the refs used instant reply to give a “to many men on the field call” against OU. Bond didn’t make it in time. We were discussing, that that was the first time I had seen a flag be thrown because of an instant replay.
Was wondering about this myself.
Drove me crazy, would love to know too. I didn’t think it was a reviewable call actually, if they start reviewing plays to see if anything was missed we’re going to have 9hr games.
Sure, review calls….but not missed calls. Have you ever seen a review on a missed pass interference? Yeah, me neither.
Then refs decided to review spot themselves for Tech 4th down, yet don’t review spot for OU immediately following when it’s to put the game away getting 1st down. They called ours 4th down easily…despite CLEARLY being marked almost 1yd shorter than spot should have been. I mean, it was OBVIOUS that OU got 1st down.
Seriously, it screamed of Texas bias. We also had same ‘spotting ball 1yd short’ numerous times, just like WVU ref on one side of field. Not a conspiracy guy, but they’ve been sad sad spots. Wonder if same ref in both games.
I was livid at both the review of illegal participation and spotting CT’s run short.
I know there wasn’t much to see for a TW breakdown against Baylor last week, JY, and too painful to watch but this should be a good week. Would like to see what went wrong in the 1st half blocking assignments and what went right in the 2nd half against Tech. A ‘State of the oline’ and Bedenbaugh.
Heupel didn’t call a terrible game, we just couldn’t get any momentum early and penalties kept us behind the chains. I would like to have seen a little more dedication to the run game early, but JH made the adjustments and the rest is history.
We’re just really young in the secondary. Playing two true freshmen (J. Thomas and Parker), and a guy in his first year starting (A. Thomas). Any time you start 3 inexperienced, young players, you’re bound to have some mistakes. Still, we should be past that, and I’m not sure they were put in the best position to succeed. I’m not on the “Fire (insert coach)” bandwagon, but it would be nice to see some development out of those guys by the end of the season.
We should be able to win our last 2 games (comfortably), but both KU and OSU have the ability to knock us off if we don’t show up ready to play. We looked completely disinterested yesterday (until about half way through the 2nd quarter). I can understand the hangover from the Baylor loss, and we did bounce back and take care of business…I just hope we don’t see any more of that this year.
Matt Millen who may not know a quality draft pick, knows defense. He showed how Parker failed to recognize the blitz package and who his man was. It’s not the freakin coaching.
Sybil: Wow, TT’s rush defense is piss poor. 2nd worst in the FBS? Yikes. Kliff better put down the makeup soon. I bet they’ll probably expect us to run, huh?
Gundy: Yes! Our 3 headed monster will ABUSE that line. Can we haz more runs? *Turns to leave coaches room*
Sybil: Okay, let’s work some more passes for Cody. I bet they won’t see that coming. I’m a genius!
Gundy: Wait, wtf?! why woul… whatever, I’m done, do whatever you want.
Might want to review the play by play.
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/playbyplay?gameId=400547890
I was referring to the 1st half but I looked at your PBPs. Ist play, a play action pass with an inexperienced QB, on the road. Followed by a series of incompletes in the 1st Q. 2nd Q… run, run, throw, intercepted. That’s 3 interceptions in a quarter. It’s not rocket science.
*sigh*
The first pass was as safe as possible to a wide open Bell in the flat. CT short armed it.
There is much more information in the play by play than that and the down and distances do matter.
this may get erased but i’m so sick of the bull crap. WE WON. some people would be pissed about free bj’s
I know what you mean.
/mmmmm….free beef jerky
hahaha
You’re missing my entire point. It doesn’t matter whether Bell was open or not. The play action bootleg pass on the road on windy conditions is not the way to break in your QB. Jitters and inexperience as a starter. Also, I am not seeing you explaining the 2nd Q logic.
I disagree with the LB play. I think it was and is sub-par. I truly think it is time for Kish to go. I would hire someone with LB experience who can coach up kids, excel at recruiting, and most importantly keep Mike Stoops in line as a co-coordinator. Brent Venables used to do all those things and was good as a combination with Stoops but bad by himself. I would recommend in no order, Kevin Steele, Randy Shannon, Ed Orgeron, or Will Muschamp. These are guys that have had HC experience and have coached at NC caliber programs that hate to lose. They are all exceptional recruiters!
orgeron is an awesome mind. he is an awesome recruiter. from what i’ve heard he could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves. i don’t know the game enough to know if the linebackers are brutal(they seem fine in my amateur eye) but if kish were to go and orgeron could coach up some backers along with being a co d coordinator, THEN i would say bring it on cause he can coach. randy shannon ain’t bad either
Ogeron would be a great hire
Perine.
#BeastMode.
nuff said 🙂
a win is a win is a win and OU needed this road win to keep from completely falling off the face of the earth. Its been an extremely disappointing season ( 3 losses) . Hopefully the next two games will give the staff a chance to play more athletes and start the pre for the 2015 season. Will 2015 be any better ? I don’t know…
It’s pretty clear to me why we haven’t pressed that much this year.. The coaches have no faith in the young safeties.. & they prove them right every weekend.. Hopefully those experiences this season will help them blossom going into next year..