Weekend Open Post | Weekend, October 10th – 12th
Posted on: October 10, 2014
Happy Friday, y’all! Hoping it’s a great weekend for the Sooners!
Not a ton of recruiting news this week. The 2015 targets are, for the most part, set and it’s still a little early for 2016 targets to really have developed a strong sense of what schools they’re heavily interested in.
Weekend Visitors: Oklahoma is the home team and they will have a number of top recruits in attendance this weekend. HERE is the list we’ve been compiling throughout the past couple weeks.
We continue to try to find some inside linebacker prospects that OU is pursuing, but we haven’t come across any new names just yet. We’ve been told OU is currently leading for Anthony Wheeler’s services, and he will be in attendance this weekend. The other two teams he’s considering are Texas and Baylor, so a big win for the Sooners here could create more separation between Sooners and specifically with the Horns, the team most folks believe is a close second.
Amani Bledsoe: Earlier this week Jerry Montgomery offered 2016 defensive lineman, Amani Bledsoe, out of Lawrence, Kansas. Bledsoe (VIDEO) is a massive human being. He’s already 6’5″ and over 260 lbs. We caught up with him right after the offer, and he was clearly excited. He’s already scheduled a visit to Norman for late this season. He told us that he will be in town on December 6th for Bedlam.
Greg Eisworth and South Grand Prairie: Alex King, who has been covering northern Texas for us, uncovered a new 2016 name for us this week. Greg Eisworth (VIDEO) is a QB/safety prospect from South Grand Prairie that Mike Stoops has been in regular contact with. Apparently Oklahoma likes Eisworth as a safety prospect. He attended an OU camp this past summer and was apparently impressive.
South Grand Prairie is loaded with talent right now. They’ve got three secondary players that could be very special. Eisworth, 2016 CB Caesar Williams, and the absolute gem 2017 CB Jeffrey Okudah. Okudah and Eisworth will both be in Dallas for the game this weekend. We haven’t confirmed whether Caesar will be in attendance.
85 Comments
https://twitter.com/GaryNUpchurch/status/520578877840969728
I noticed the “heavenly light” for the state north of saxet – as it should be. Nice pic!
Epic.
Quietest OU football recruiting/football wee in a while. Think lasts week loss really took a toll on the fan base.
indeed it has… deflated is the word i would use, OU lost and i broke my damn foot and had to have surgery….disaster of a weekend….Boomer
Man bro sorry to hear that! Get better!
Sorry to hear about the foot Ace…..Hope you get better quickly.
yeah, I haven’t even been able to sit and read whole articles haha. I get frustrated midway and turn it off. Still pissed, but a Texas win tomorrow will make all things right in the world again.
Definitely took the wind out of the sails. Hopefully this ou team shows up and hits on all cylinders and buries texas.
Deflated says it. Coming off the SB game good reason for high hopes. The staff went ‘all in’ for that win and attacked Alabama but have shackled TK and that offense along with no WRs. Loss of AC much bigger than expected. The pieces are still there and OU has an opportunity if the coaches will just light the jets. If they play ‘safe’ this week, another loss to texass and the season is in flames. Can’t just stay against the ropes with your head down.
I know. Everyone should be hyped. I love texas sucks week.
https://twitter.com/AMKing00/status/520594068485586944
Honestly I just don’t know what to expect anymore. We changed the WHOLE offense last year’s off-season to tailor it to Trevor’s abilitites. We haven’t run the zone read ONCE this year. Why did we tailor it and now go away from it? To keep Trevor safe? Well that’s fine and dandy, but we lost a damn game because of it. I’m tired of this offense this year. Throttle the EFF up and lets go…and JH, get your head out of your a hole.
This game is an opportunity for Trevor to show the fans what the coaching staff believes he is capable of. If he bounces back and has a good-great game then I feel better about knights ability. If it’s a so-so or worse performance then the doubt will creep in even more. A great game from knight will show his maturity and ability to move on from a bad game. But if he starts a trend of bad games and one results in a loss then I think we have to see Thomas at some point in meaningful minutes to see if he’s able to see the field better.
Knight HAS the ability. We aren’t USING his ability properly. Go back and watch KSU and ISU last year. He is AMAZING at the zone read. We have to at least keep that in our bag of tricks. “holding back” cost us a game. I’m not even sure we will see any more zone read EVER again. I have no idea what our offensive staff is doing with Trevor…but its going to cost us another game or two.
I know they’re holding back stuff but I don’t get why. And I know Trevor is more than capable of playing well but if we made our passing game built around roll outs then eventually teams will find a way to keep Trevor in the pocket so he has to be better from the pocket regardless of whether he’s better on rollouts. And I agree heupel didn’t do enough IMO to win the game last week when he decided to go away from the run so early. Also they don’t have to run the read option style play every time they call a run. But what heupel is not at fault for is the fact that knight went 14-35 or something like that. Even when Landry had bad games he still completed 60% of his passes.
24 hours and counting. Just beat Texas!!!
Hey he’s back
Thanks. Just had to get my second wind. Really like the list of visitors for the game tomorrow. A win by 18 and 2 commits would be like Christmas for me.
It’s been awhile it is kind of a dead period with recruiting but I miss your lists.
I think one recruit is possible I think Reid just needs a little push and like houligan posted on another page I don’t think haughton will end up at ou so we need to close Reid.
I tried to call Bobby last night to see if you were alright, haven’t heard from you in a while.
I’m fine my friend, thanks. Just po’d at OU – should have known better after following them for years. Was always reading the great reports from TFB crew and the great posters. I was having a hard time saying anything positive so I just decided to chill out for a little while. But hell it’s OU/Texas time-so just beat Texas.
A lot of people felt like you but we are too thin to lose a team mate, everybody needs to play. 🙂
Have you a prediction for tomorrow’s score? I took OU and give 17 points for $50. The guy’s a big Texas blow hard. I was feeling that Sooner Magic or maybe it was too many tall boys!
Dang, I hope you get to buy $50 worth of suds tomorrow evening! That’s a lot of points but I feel like it’s possible if we can get Swoops rattled early. I’ve never been good at predicting scores so I just won’t try. I’m just hoping for a dominating win to heal my wounds from a week ago.
Protecting TK during non-conference…understand. Now, especially with 1 loss in conference already, cannot lose again. No reason to protect or hold back. I get the feeling Bob and Josh ‘like’ the idea of the ZR/pistol and some elements, but there is no ‘buy in’ and still believe in the pocket QB. As many have said, it leaves OU with no real identity, no sense of what they BELIEVE in and are going to do. It’s a mixed bag, grabbing at one thing and then another trying to find something that works.
You’re talking about when Jones threw the slant and bubble 30 times a game yes?
This is a great point. These are high percentage throws that can build confidence for a young qb AND get young receivers involved with little risk. Are we just too small to block these at the WR position? Also, we could utilize Ross’ speed on some little swing screens.
Your correct Tucker, hard to find parity considering the two different offensive schemes to say the least. And Trevor is still developing and struggling with what their asking him to do at times. He is a Manziel type player that needs freedom to play without constraints.
My guess would be they are holding TK back because they have little to no confidence in his backups. One bad hit and OU might lose the season. Not that I agree, but just my uneducated guess.
Here’s the issue with that… Knight is not a “pocket passer” he is a “zone read” QB aka, everyone’s favorite, “square peg round hole”. The offense was redesigned to lean towards Knight’s abilities. This was on display in the Sugar Bowl, allowing Knight to get out of the pocket and make decisions on his feet. Thus, leading to his one time show of near perfection. This year OU has digressed back to a limited, remain in the pocket, between the tackles, one sided offense w/ no depth or even a vision of what they are and/or capable of.
If that’s what we are going to do OU might as well remove experience from equation, handicap itself and put Cody Thomas on the field. Either way we are right back at “square one” from last year meaning, no offensive identity.
Otherwise, IMO, keep Knight on the field. Allow the offense to develop the run game not only in between the tackles, but outside of them. This includes allowing the QB to keep the ball on the ZR/IV. Include an intelligent play action game plan, based off the efficient run game. And Finally, roll Knight into the flats where he not only makes the best plays with his feet, but his arm.
Like I said, all of this is IMO so take it as you will.
Great points and I don’t disagree with any of what you said. I just think the coaches fell in love with this zone read game but they haven’t even tapped in to 20% of what you can do with the offense. They still need to use more formations and move guys around, this offense can be very multiple but the coaches have to figure out how to keep defenses guessing and so far they haven’t. I think Neal is playing out of position although I think he’s having a decent year so far as a first year starter. If it were my call I would move him to slot and play mead or smallwood outside. Then I would flip kj and shep every so often because I think both are capable of playing inside and outside. The other thing is that I would use more of the diamond and less of the pistol until ford gets back. Perine will be even better if he doesn’t have to take a delayed handoff every single time. And ross will do better on sweeps, stretch runs and misdirections.
Yep, I agree. It is hilarious how we continue to call ZR yet we don’t actually run a true ZR. I remember reading about how Osbourne said that he made every call on the ZR for Tommie Frazier. Interesting if true, especially if he actually made the call to pull the ball.
SIDE NOTE: That is a very good point with the misuse of personnel. It boggles my mind how all the hype for Mead, Smallwood, and Quick has just evaporated in to thin air like a fart in the wind. I like KJ, but I just haven’t completely bought in to him. That being said, where is Quick? I obviously have no idea what goes on at practice, but has something happened that has removed not only him but damn well anybody else from the receiver rotation?
We aren’t calling ZR. That’s the point I’m trying to make. We are just in a pistol formation and it’s either a pass or play call. No zone read has been run this year that I have seen.
Technically we have run ZR out of the pistol A LOT. But the reason you are not seeing a true zone read is because JH always calls a delayed give to the Tailback instead of allowing TK to pull it. The 4th and 1 we failed to convert against TCU was an Inside ZR aka Inside Veer with the Slot Receiver reversing the field to be the option man.
So explain how it’s a zone read, if there is no read involved? It’s not…it’s called a running play…not a zone read play.
Well… for one… ZR is a running play Mr. Devils Advocate. Two, technically JH makes the read. It just so happens his “read” if you will, is always a give.
It’s just bad offense design with ford out. He’s able to take the delay handoff like he’s coming 8 yards downhill toward the line. Perine IMO needs those 8 yards to overpower guys and to get up to speed. And ross needs longer run plays that allow him to find the hole and allow the oline to get to the linebackers and safeties in order for him to out run guys. The pistol delay situation is terrible when JH has told knight it’s a give 95% of the time. If it’s a true read, then knight would need to keep it about a third of the time and it will open up a lot more plays.
agreed.
I’m not trying to be mean here or disrespectful, but the “zone read/option” is not a call that is made in the booth. It’s a read that is made by the QB reading the crashing defensive player that he is “read” Ing during the play. The OC can make the read for the QB on the field. So a play that is automatically called as a run play from the booth, is not, by definition, a “read” play. The QB isn’t reading anything, he’s just handing the ball off. So no, I disagree that we have run the zone read a lot this year. We haven’t run it at all. Go back and read what I read about how Knight set up last year right when he got the snap. He turned his body 90 degrees before the give or keep from his own “read” of the defense. He hasn’t ever turned his body like this post snap this year, which to me, signifies he isn’t being allowed to “read” anything. This there is no zone read being utilized. Does that make sense?
And I agree with you emphatically 100% that the “read” is made on the field. However, JH, does not. Don’t know if you noticed earlier but I agreed with you on your original post. The reason why I believe the play is still considered a ZR is because the delivery of the ball between Knight and the TB is not deliberate and is instead delayed. What I mean by that instead of Knight immediately handing the ball off to the TB there has been several times where he would ride the stomach of the TB with the ball while staring directly at the DE. More than not a WR would then pull in the direction that Knight was facing with the intention to be the pitch man. By design this play is considered a Zone Read or otherwise known as the Inside Veer. Now I understand and I agree with you completely that “read” portion to this on the field has not been utilized. My argument is simply that, yes we have been calling zone read, but as you stated we are not allowing the QB to make the read and pull the ball.
Ok. I see what you’re saying now. Very interesting points you made. Thanks for the dialogue bro. BOOMER SOONER and Texas sucks!!!
I watched the 2000 OU-tex game today thanks to ‘Brainiacs,’ and admit I had forgot some things Josh did as the QB, thought was pretty ironical how many times he threw on the run and used the shovel pass in our offense.
I think Trevor is going to be pretty good before it’s all said and done. He didn’t have a good game but he still showed how dangerous he can be when on the move. There is another area I think he needs to improve on. When he hits Shep on the long fly routes he is constantly leading him out of bounds with the angle of his pass instead of up the field in stride where he can take it to the house. Granted he has completed a lot of these passes but it’s been Shep making a great play on the ball when he had the DB beat and could have scored. Just my observation.
agree 100%….either out of bounds or Shep has to slow down and wait on it. He needs to work on leading him up the field a bit more.
I’m disappointed with the loss like everyone else. What chaps me is HOW we lost. We scored to take the lead in the 2nd half and the on the next posession, we threw the ball on 11 of 13 plays? That was the nail in the coffin. One of those was a pick 6 for TCU. Wtf was Josh thinking. We went away from what got us the lead & TCU’s Dline was getting tired. Our defense had shut down Boykin. What was JH thinkin??? Yes indeed players make the plays but coaches put them in position that.
Am I wrong here??
Nope.
Sounds fair to me.
We can blame Trevor Knight for his horrible throws or Heupel for his terrible calls but the defense had several interceptions thrown right too em but couldn’t catch em.
Just one less drop by the D and we probably win that game.
Just curious about what TFB think. Do you think that he way the offense has been playing will effect they type of quality offensive skill positions that OU may bring in. Meaning, Shep getting pretty much a majority of the passes and Knight being used as a drop back passes and not utilizing his wheels and things look just discombobulated. Of course if there is drastic improvement in utilizing a players abilities as the season goes on, then this question is mute.
I think it would take multiple years of struggling before you’d really see a significant impact in recruiting.
How does our D-Line compare to UT’s O-Line. This seems like the perfect game to bring back the pressure and force mistakes.
Thoughts?
Like a Mack Truck smashing into a Ford Ranger. With the loss of their experience on the O-line due to dismissals and suspensions, the inexperience rivals Tennessee’s. The bigger issue for Texas is Tennessee’s inexperienced line is more athletic than what UT is currently fielding at the moment.
Their D-line is solid with Malcom Brown, and running between the tackles will be tough sledding. But our D-line to their O-line should be no contest.
Check out SuperK’s 5 & 5 post of today.
It’s OK to MESS on texas!
Lets take em down!
……TIMEOUT!!!
…….https://s3.amazonaws.com/giphymedia/media/SPAgNmLmh3Oy4/giphy.gif
HC at SGP has some long Oklahoma roots.
https://twitter.com/GabeIkard/status/520679763875098624
Oh what I would’ve given to walk down that tunnel back in the day.
The wife and I are in Big D! Meeting up with a bunch of friends tonight and will be cheering the boys on to victory tomorrow!
Boomer Sooner!
Don’t just beat Texas…CRUSH Texas.
this was too good to pass up………….pic of heupel after last yr’s game…….
……..http://i.imgur.com/ZUd91kE.jpg
Rumor has it he was on that same exploratory mission as recent as last week.
Thank you for making me spew coffee on my laptop!!!!
That resembles him yesterday as well!!!
PLAW in. Can we start a texass hate thread?
We could but it’s really more of a lifestyle than a thread. 🙂
Amen!
Dang what’s up with that?? Texa$$ sucked this morning and they stii suck @650pm.
Its true, they suck.
TCU -Baylor should have been tonight..
I’m hoping it’s a close game and a shoot out. If tcu puts 45 in a loss then that will say a lot about their offense.
texsa wide receiver Daje Johnson didn’t make the trip to Dallas with the team. There’s some good news. I think his replacement is a freshman.
This is Trevor’s “do or die” to use baseball lingo he’s either our qb of the future or the next bomar, and we’re left searching for our next Paul Thompson.
Bomar never got a full chance to show what he could do before he made the boneheaded “Bomar” mistake, and got booted from team… Thats why we went to Paul Thompson, its not that Bomar wasnt good, cause he was, or at least had potential to be. So hopefully for Knights sake, he doesnt pull a bomar.
“Many people do not realize that Norman is a ghost town when the players return from the game that night. A possible big win being celebrated in Dallas by all of Sooner Nation and the guys responsible for it don’t even get to enjoy the mayhem that follows.”- Gabe Ikard
This is the literary equivalent of walking away from an explosion and not looking back.
Will always be one of my all-time fav players. Great ambassador for Sooner football.
100% agree!
IT….ladies and gentlemen, IT, IS, GAMEDAY!!!!!
BOOMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SOONER!!!!!!!!!!
BOOMER!!!!
SOOOONER!!!!
Gonna be an early beer-thirty here in Denver today, with a 10 am gametime!!
Really dislike these early kickoffs. 10am up here in MT, too. Will stick with tomato juice till later, maybe the 4th Q. Hope I’m drinking to celebrate.
Two recruiting questions: one from above. Who, other than Wheeler, is being looked at as ILB and OU has a good shot at getting? Two, after another game with no receivers, how is the Ryan Newsome thing looking? and maybe OU needs to look for one more. Dahu Green?
From reddit CFB…
So I met Bob Stoops yesterday… (self.CFB)
submitted 4 hours ago * by Ohio State Buckeyes / 名古屋大学 (Nagoya) Grampusflying-banana
And didn’t realize it until about 10 minutes after we parted ways.
So I was at the Texas State Fair yesterday with my wife during the Red River Shootout eating some weird fried foods and watching the pig and osterich races; typical fair stuff. Shortly after the RRS ended my wife wanted a corn dog so we headed to Fletcher’s and were waiting in a really long line when this guy behind me starts talking to me about the fair and the line. Let’s see if I can do a reenactment of our conversation with these flair head code things (my part will be played by Kirk Herbstreit because my wife finds him quite handsome):
Bob Stoops Wow, quite the line right?
Kirk Herbstreit Right? This is Fletcher’s though, there’s always a line. Is this your first time at the fair?
(Cue: I’m a moron)
Bob Stoops Oh no, my wife and I have been coming here for a few years now, did you two go to the game?
Kirk Herbstreit Unfortunately no, its been something I’ve been meaning to get tickets to since I moved to Texas. Are you a Longhorn fan or a Sooner fan?
(I must clarify he was wearing zero branded OU attire at the time.)
Bob Stoops (laughs) ohh we’re a Sooner family through and through, what about you and your wife?
Kirk Herbstreit Neither actually, I’m a Buckeye myself and my wife went to Ole Miss.
Bob Stoops I think we play the Buckeyes soon, should be a great game
Kirk Herbstreit Ohh absolutely, I can’t wait. Two classic powerhouses going at it, I’ll definitely be getting tickets to those games
Bob Stoops Have you made the trip to Norman for a game before?
Kirk Herbstreit Again unfortunately no, I really need to visit more of the South West stadiums, I’ve heard great things about OU’s stadium.
Bob Stoops Definitely, we have some of the best fans in the game.
Corn dog purchases occur
Kirk Herbstreit I don’t doubt it! There’s no denying the Sooner faithful. Anyways nice to meet you, I’m Banana and this is Mrs. Banana. You two enjoy the rest of the fair!
Bob Stoops nice to meet you too, I’m Bob and this is my wife Carol. Enjoy the fair.
And we went our separate ways. A fair distance away my wife asks me if I knew who that was? I said no, just some nice Sooner fan with his wife I’m assuming. No you idiot, that was Bob Stoops.
Banana fail…
Edit: I honestly don’t know how to feel about my complete ignorance of a super famous college football figure being gilded. Either way, thank you kind stranger.