The Football Brainiacs

Image via Norman Transcript

OFFENSE

* I couldn’t help but laugh at the tweets regarding Baker Mayfield’s ‘pedestrian’ performance that popped up in my timeline as the game was coming to a close. As though he would have had to throw for 400+ & 5 TDs to exact this stupid revenge the media spent all week talking/writing about. His team won by five touchdowns, I’m gonna guess that’s all the “revenge” he needed.

* So Samaje Perine is still pretty good, huh? Oh and Joe Mixon isn’t too shabby himself. And as much fun as that was, if you’re being honest with yourself then you have to at least acknowledge the quality — or lack there of as it were — of defense OU faced on Saturday.

Which IS NOT to say there is nothing positive to take away from putting up 400+ yards on the ground. The offensive line did play well, maybe even as well as they have all season. But at the same time I think you’d be kidding yourself if you came out of that game thinking that everything is now all fixed up front.

Again though, there were definitely some encouraging signs. In particular I thought Dru Samia played an excellent game.

* But back to Mixon real quick. He’s certainly made some plays in previous weeks, but this was really his true breakout game I thought. There were several impressive runs, but that one for his first TD I think where he just froze No. 18 for Tech in his tracks was pretty filthy.

Have always LOVED the idea of he and Perine on the field at the same time, and am thrilled we’re finally starting to see more and more of it.

* Obviously OU’s success on the ground played a significant role, but it was still kind of shocking how little of a role Sterling Shepard had in this game. Just two catches for 50 yards and it felt like he wasn’t even targeted for the longest time. Certainly nothing to worry about, more so just one of those things that kind of stood out for me.

* We might not see Jarvis Baxter again for a while.

* Much like Mixon, would really like to see an effort to get Dede Westbrook in space a little more often. He seems tailor made for those short crossing routes mismatched on an opposing linebacker. Even those quick screen passes, anything.

* I guess it’s hard to complain when all Mark Andrews seems to do is catch touchdowns, but how he isn’t a fixture of this offense is beyond me. That one, and only one, catch he had for said TD was the perfect illustration of just how easy it is to get him matched up on a LB and/or safety who stands almost no chance of defending him. But what do I know.

DEFENSE

* Thoroughly impressed how effective OU was getting to Patrick Mahomes in this game and, of course, forcing those four interceptions.

* This really isn’t relevant to Saturday necessarily, but take a minute and think about the defensive line talent OU is returning next year. It’s pretty ridiculous. So much so I’ll be pretty disappointed if they don’t go back to a true four man front, if for no other reason than to be better able to rotate all those guys through.

* Given the nature of ankle sprains, I don’t know that it can be considered good news per se. If it was going to happen, it obviously could not have happened at a better time considering OU’s next two opponents (Kansas & Iowa State). I’d expect/hope OU sits him for those games in an effort to try and ensure he’s as close to, if not at, 100% by Baylor.

* Help me understand why Will Johnson wasn’t playing prior to last week?

* Charles Walker is a freaking beast. That is all.

* I thought Frank Shannon looked expectedly somewhat rusty, but was happy for him when he was right place-right time for that INT.

* This is simply a pet peeve and spare me the ‘Stoops always leaves his starters in’ nonsense. Steven Parker, arguably your best defensive player, still being in the game with under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter when you’re up 63-27 is f’ing idiotic. Kahlil Haughton had played earlier in the game when things actually mattered, but with a five touchdown lead you’re suddenly not comfortable enough to run him back out there? Please.

SPECIAL TEAMS

* I suppose odds were it was bound to end at some point, but given how solid Austin Seibert had been up to that point I definitely wouldn’t have expected a chip shot 32-yard FG to be the cause of it. Clearly played no role in the game whatsoever, nor do I think it has any impact moving forward.

* 0 punt returns, 1 kickoff return. Not exactly an eventful evening for the OU return teams.

* Jakeem Grant is one of the better return guys in the country, so it probably shouldn’t be a surprise or possibly a concern he caused OU’s kickoff coverage team some issues.