The Football Brainiacs

Image via OU Daily

* OU Secondary: Figured we could just go ahead and get this one out of the way early since it’s clearly the most obvious. New Tulsa head coach Phillip Montgomery has brought his Baylor offense to the Golden Hurricanes and though you certainly have to take into account the competition, the early results have definitely been positive.

Through the first two weeks of the CFB season; Tulsa ranks No. 10 nationally in passing offense, No. 6 in total offense, No. 3 in total first downs & No. 1 in yards per completion. To say this passing offense will be the biggest test the OU defense will have faced in their first three games would be a massive understatement.

Akron essentially didn’t even attempt to threaten OU through the air, and Tennessee was limited both by a below-average passer at QB and the lack of any true deep threat/s at WR. I only had to spend a couple minutes watching some of Tulsa’s highlights from their first two games to see the drastic differences between what the Sooners have seen thus far compared to what they can expect to see this Saturday. This is Tulsa offense that will not be afraid to test this OU secondary on deep passes, something we all remember Oklahoma struggling with mightily last year.

At times Jordan Thomas has looked a little hesitant in his coverage, something he almost assuredly will not have the luxury of being in this one as I’d expect Tulsa to go after him early and often. Oklahoma got away with really not even having to play Hatari Byrd against the Vols, but that likely will not be the case against this Tulsa team that will spread the OU defense out with three, four, and five wide receiver threats. And, yes, Ahmad Thomas has looked markedly better so far in 2015 but, as previously mentioned, really has yet to be tested by a viable threat.

I fully appreciate all of these are things you know already, but nevertheless they have to be said on what figures to arguably be the determining match up in this game.

* O-Line: It’s going to continue to be a focus point until they start to play better. Going back and watching the Tennessee game after I got back from Knoxville, I was particularly alarmed at the play of the three interior guys: Jonathan Alvarez, Ty Darlington & Nila Kasitati. I will be the absolute first guy to tell you I’m no JY, but far as I could tell that trio really, really struggled against an admittedly rather talented Tennessee defensive front. And to be fair, OU may not face another defensive line as talented until they square off against Baylor in mid-November.

That said, if this is an offensive line with the potential many believe they possess then this is the type of game we need to see some tangible signs of improvement. Tulsa definitely isn’t bringing in a defensive front the caliber of Tennessee, or even that of Akron. So what we need to see on Saturday is an OU o-line consistently opening up rush lanes for Samaje Perine and/or Joe Mixon — in addition to whomever else the Sooners may ask to run the ball — and keep Baker Mayfield both upright and not scrambling for his life.

This is a Tulsa defense that ranks No. 120 nationally in rushing defense and has allowed an alarming 524 yards on the ground in their first two games. So if we this is OU offense come out and start slow, especially on the ground, early yet again it could be a sign of problems to come.

* Which WR Will Step Up?: Is it fair to say OU’s had a bit of a pedestrian start with respect to their passing game? Certainly slow starts in both of their games thus far has played a significant role into things, but more specifically this past Saturday we saw an inordinate number of drops from the Oklahoma wideouts in that Tennessee game.

In the season opener against Akron, it looked like Durron Neal was possibly going to be that No. 2 threat behind Sterling Shepard. However, Neal most responsible for a couple of those aforementioned drops this past Saturday. Meanwhile Dede Westbrook came in with a considerable amount of hype and has shown some flashes, but also needs to be more consistent. Which is a sentiment that you could really apply to the wide receiver group as a whole.

With a Tulsa team coming to Norman that currently ranks No. 74 nationally in pass defense, one would have to believe this game will present a number of opportunities for this OU offense to capitalize on through the air.

The biggest question (for me) will be whether it’s Shepard pulling in something like 10 balls and no other OU receiver recording more than two-to-three, or will things be more spread out with one (or more) guys potentially have that breakout game you could argue this position group needs?

* Front Three Four: This is a unit that had an exceptional game a week ago, so the key in this one will be whether or not they can continue to build off that or whether they instead take a step back in a less “high profile” match up.

In my estimation, one could pretty easily make the case that Charles Walker and Jordan Wade had the best game of their respective OU careers last Saturday against the Vols. Both are guys who when they arrived in Norman were believed to have a very high ceiling as players, however prior to last week we’d yet to really see that translate to the actual field.

And how could you not mention Devante Bond when discussing OU players who stood out against Tennessee? However it will be interesting to see how he will be used against Tulsa, because the limitations of the Vols’ passing game allowed Mike Stoops to keep both Bond and Eric Striker on the field at the same time for the majority of the game. Against this Golden Hurricanes team, though, he likely won’t be able to utilize that same tactic. Instead you can probably expect to see OU more in their nickel and dime sets, in which case you can really only get away with Bond or Striker on the field, typically not both.

Oklahoma has certainly not been shy — and deservedly so — in touting the statistical prowess this Mike Stoops defense has managed through these first two weeks. But as we’ve said a number of times now, this Tulsa team will present a much different threat than anything Oklahoma has faced so far. It will be a fascinating chess match between M.Stoops and Montgomery as they look to get the better of one another.

* It’s A Trap!: Again this is pretty obvious and I already kind of alluded to it above, but if there was ever a tailor made let down spot it would be this game. With an OU team coming off an emotional — to say the least — win on the road, this is your picture perfect set up for a trap game.

Personally I don’t think this scenario really comes into play, rather I see that Tennessee game serving as more of a springboard versus setting this team up for a let down a week later. But I suppose we won’t know for sure until Saturday. Hopefully this will be one of the few instances where I’m right 🙂

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What will you be watching for Saturday afternoon?