Sooners News Daily 6.16.15
Posted on: June 16, 2015
FOOTBALL
‘Three questions Oklahoma football needs to answer in fall camp’ (DMN)
We linked to this Sam Bradford story last week, but they have since added to the article. Good read. (philly.com)
Dynamic duos: Ranking CFB's top 10 RB tandems. –> http://t.co/E63u3sf0TM pic.twitter.com/2TgEhWoMCE
— CollegeFootball 24/7 (@NFL_CFB) June 15, 2015
Which teams will challenge Baylor, TCU in the Big 12? http://t.co/lZSvweuLX1 pic.twitter.com/mvODPQLCEc
— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) June 15, 2015
.@CGTechnology_ has released its conf. championship odds, and TCU is Big 12 betting favorite: http://t.co/K4omcjgqFZ pic.twitter.com/WqpGVvWiQ5
— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) June 15, 2015
Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione: "I'm not going to hire a jerk. I don't care how good they are." http://t.co/gBVdWPiMQw pic.twitter.com/JVdOXobZId
— Zach Barnett (@zach_barnett) June 15, 2015
GALLERY: Check out photos from the @Geraldini93 Football Camp via @NewsOKPhoto: http://t.co/9vx3cJJSJ6 pic.twitter.com/Q3csHpak80
— NewsOKSports (@NewsOKSports) June 15, 2015
Adrian Peterson has his eyes on Emmith Smith's all-time rushing record: http://t.co/ObriaKDRpD pic.twitter.com/IUd0aRBR3p
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 15, 2015
A letter from @KState_Football coach Bill Snyder is the best award in college football. http://t.co/HQwBsjuLHH pic.twitter.com/iB0RDJfMkr
— Athlon Sports (@AthlonSports) June 15, 2015
Good read before the big decision: 20+ Power 5 head coaches weigh in on early signing day http://t.co/wa1EXmQ8rN
— Max Olson (@max_olson) June 15, 2015
OTHER
Four perfect games in a single season. And she's only a freshman! No. 10 of 2014-15: http://t.co/c9Pawmz0JT pic.twitter.com/XK91RjuiuB
— Sooner Sports TV (@SoonerSportsTV) June 15, 2015
https://twitter.com/OU_Athletics/status/610478317678956544
.@KolbeyA and @anthonyhermelyn earn ABCA All-Midwest First Team. Release: http://t.co/xEFziSypHY pic.twitter.com/XkbosXymJr
— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) June 15, 2015
Smooth.
Not smooth.
87 Comments
No matter how many times you see it. Still love the “SUPERMAN” play. Roy Williams was a beast.
I hated Chrissy Simms. That play will live forever.
I am very excited for this year, i can’t wait to see what this new offense brings and the development of the QB’s are going. I am hoping Mayfield gets the opportunity to start and show the stability we haven’t seen at that position since…Landry.
I get excited every year and I love that about college football. Not like the pros where you pretty much know who’ll end up where prior to the season.
Since Landry……. Never thought I would hear that.
Some said we would miss him, I miss his arm.
never thought i would say it.
Watching the game winning plays clip, back in Bobs early days it seemed OU always made the play in the 4th quarter when needed, but lately they don’t. Maybe those earlier teams were just mentally tougher in crunch time?
Definitely agree about mentally tougher. They never gave up on there selves when the tough got going. It made them play smarter rather than panicking. But that is just my opinion.
We also had more complete teams, guys who could truly dictate a game in pressure situations (defensively), and little to no turnover on the coaching staff.
We will get back there, just have to let people get settled in!
Some people have all he tools except the most important one: patience.
I can wait. I will wait. OU will dominate again. People will be surprised but I won’t because I don’t think they’re that far off.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: my prediction for 2015 is a National Championship.
I like your attitude and agree that we weren’t that far off. It’s a pretty fine line between competing and getting shown up at the top level of Div I football.
All that said, 2015 would be a surprise natty. Just too many question marks for everything to fall together. IMHO.
Seems like 2000 was quite the surprise also.
You make a point. And I’d love to be so surprised once again!
I called that one also. People should listen to me. Huh? Huh?
LOL!
You are amazing!
I didn’t call the NC but I really called the Nebraska game. I thought the NU fan I worked with was going to hit me when I told her that not only did I think we were going to win but that we would win by more than two touchdowns.
I think we are two years away from NC. But this year will be a big improvement. I think it comes down to us and Baylor for Big XII title.
every year i honestly believe we will win it all.
Wouldn’t want to be any other kind of fan.
I sometimes wonder if Stoops has put such a emphasis on recruiting off the field character guys that he is not getting the on the field character guys. I remember reading an article about IBM some time ago about how they were finding there mental health benefits were costing them more than most companies. Seems they had put a lot of emphasis on getting really bright guys but had not done much to evaluate whether they were mentally stable (which really bright guys often aren’t). They had to add that component to the evaluation. Maybe we are not putting enough emphasis on guys who have in game character.
I think that’s a good observation, Bob. I also think that the team’s been guilty for a few years of giving conflicting directions. Example, you install an offense that emphasizes QB decision making and then forbid him to make a decision.
In the IBM case, one thing they found was that they had selected guys who were independent thinkers…and then tried to force them into being cogs in a vast machine. Not surprisingly, they got a .lot of very stressed out people.
Oh, you mean the zone read that everyone on the planet knew wasn’t an actual read. Heupel didn’t seem to understand that you actually had to let the QB keep it occasionally for it to be a viable threat. Even if Bob was the one that said protect Trevor then stop calling the dad gum play if you aren’t going to let him keep it.
breathes deeply then sighs
Yes, that’s the thing to which I refer. How Heupel could do that to a QB when he himself was an on-the-field decision maker, I’ll never understand.
its a matter of TRUST……………a different perspective once Josh became the OC……..
Hmm, hadn’t thought about it that way. Are you saying they don’t have the killer instinct because they are good guys?
Possibly. There’s a certain element of violence inherent in football. Especially on defense. The Gerald McCoys of the world, who can turn that on and off are a rare breed.
what Bob said plus the possibility the team was asked to do things offensively & defensively ) the players were unable to physically or mentally implement………
Pardon?
I might not say it that way, but yeah.
As always, you make your point.
Bob, well stated as always. My biggest concern about our team is that we have developed a reputation as being soft. Several teams have stated that if you hit OU in the mouth they will quit. I would like to see us change our practices to more 1’s-on-1’s, game type scrimmages and if we absorb some injuries then next man up. I also believe that the national perspective of OU is that we are soft and until that changes we are not going to get any media love.
Yeah, and I remember when we said that about Texas earlier in the Stoops era. Is Bob becoming our Mack Brown?
Stoops has become an enigma to me. Early in his career he was the ultimate river boat gambler, and gradually each year that intensity slowly changed to being much more conservative. When I go back and look at games from 2000 thru 2004 and compare them to our recent teams there is a huge difference in game intensity. I haven’t seen any mad dog intensity in a long, long time.
Age and having more at risk. People tend to get more cautious as they age, because they don’t want to lost what they had. The irony is sometimes the caution is what causes them to lose it.
Agree. That is the reason why you turn your staff over and bring in young energetic talent. I loved most of the coaching changes he made on offense but he quit way too soon on the defensive side.
Has Carol started baking cookies for the team, yet?
High dose of empty conjecture there, dear.
Something else struck me as well about those early days, they almost all were on the defensive side of the ball and the later games it was almost all on the offensive side of the ball. I went back and counted the plays…14 on D, 8 on O, and 5 on ST. Maybe that trend is because the defense hasn’t been good enough to make the game winning play the last several years. In the one glaring case where the defense played well the last few seasons, the 2013 Sugar Bowl, the game winning play was on defense.
There were probably times when the offense put the defense in position to seal the win, but none of those early games were 50-49 type games. Only a couple overall where high scoring. Stating the obvious here, but the defense needs to shape up for OU to have any success.
YES
Good analysis.
+1000
I would say that the probability of your analysis being correct is very high.
Which is why we replaced the offensive coaches ….
Well the offense had problems too, particularly the lack of a coherent scheme and trying to use a fifty second play clock instead of the one on the field.
I think the assumption on D is that the DB situation was so screwed up it was going to take time to fix. Bob did move in that direction with the reorg and hire. Not sure I agree, but I think that is the logic.
Sorry for the negativity, but the irony just got me a bit.
No I think most agree with you, and I do to an extent. I think Bob did take steps to make changes in the D. He “retired” BJW and hired a new DB coach. And he moved Mike out of the DB’s.
If I read it correctly, Bob thinks Mike can do the DC job but the DB’s needed to be fixed. I agree about the DB’s. But, if it were me, I would probably have replaced Mike too.
Bob————————many agree with that thought…….
The front seven probably played well enough to win 11 games, so hopefully Bob’s analysis is correct.
Think so? I thought the pressure on the QB was inconsistent. I know it’s a pick your poison scenario – rush and blitz and put people in man or rush three and try to cover the field with eight.
I thought Grissom and Tapper played below expectations, but I thought the front seven wasn’t what cost us games.
Exiled—————–shared by many……………………
LOL, the best part of a good joke is timing. You hit the mark perfectly.
yes, indeed !!!!!!
Amen. Preach it Brother.
Even though the defense made some good plays in the Alabama/Sugar Bowl , Alabama outgained OU in total offensive output with over 500 ( midway to 600) yards……so, YES, the defense must shape up….
You value total yards more than, uh, final score…
OU’s defense in 2013 was in the 30s for many of the advanced stats. They weren’t terribly spectacular in defending big plays, however; the plays that Bama got on us (see Henry, Cooper, and White).
TCwho will not win the B12 this year. Will not.
The question is not who will win, but who will be the runner-up. Sooners win it!
I like the way you think!
By the way…. Have the Ohio State fans simmered down or are they still crowing about their championship?
They crow all the time, whether they win or not. It’s disgusting.
Good article about Bill Snyder. I wonder who of college football’s top 15 or 20 coaches could achieve what Snyder does yearly at KSU?
Snyder is obviously a great coach, but I think he gets more credit than he should for supposedly cobbling together a bunch of scrubs and somehow shaping them into a solid team year in and year out. He’s always been good at finding underrated talent at the HS and juco levels, not players without much talent that need a wizard to turn into All-Americans, and even better about creating a culture that is able to absorb all the jucos and walk-ons every year and get them to play as a team.
I don’t know Eric. “Cobbling together” seems an understatement given the obstacles he encountered and still does. Snyder doesn’t appear to shy away from a challenge. It’s been said before but I will repeat it: he has performed an amazing turn around at KSU. Not once, but twice. I think you’re spot on with the word “wizard” but use it in the wrong context. I think he had to be at least that, a wizard, if not a genius to make KSU relevant. However, inexplicable losses to teams like NDSU give me, an old coach as well, great hope as they also reveal he is human.
I suspect it’s an error, but the 247 timeline shows that OU offered Levi yesterday.
I don’t see that he tweeted anything about an OU offer.
Hale posted on 247 that mike stoops was going to offer him yesterday take that for what its worth.
Mike didn’t finish “evaluating” him till yesterday or till bama and florida st offered.
I saw that post and though it was odd. I don’t ever remember a post like that ever. It sounded like he was trying to CYA for Mike Stoops. Very odd.
It had me thinking that way also mike dropped the ball.
Don’t know how OU does it w/o looking a bit foolish at this point other than to say they were waiting to offer in person. #latetotheball
Yeah, as I said when he posted it… it’s just a coincidence that we “finished our evaluation” of an instate player just after 2 of the big boys of college recruiting offered.
I seen that.
I don’t see him with an offer. I see him with a prediction of OU, but no offer.
If you go to Levi’s page, it shows no offer in list of schools, but in the timeline below that it shows OU offered yesterday.
OK, weird.
On the list of teams it shows OU listed warm with Kish as his recruiter, but no offer is checked like it is for Alabama. The time line does show that OU offered. Should hear more about this from TFB if there is an open post. We shall see.
When the offer goes out does it have to be cleared by bob or can a coordinator make it on his own wish?
Pretty successful road trip for Levi and the Draper family. Pick up scholarship offers from ‘Bama, FSU and Clemson. Maybe OUr staff doesn’t feel like Levi is a good fit as a B12-2 LB? Anyway, would be painful to see him in one of those unis but happy for him and his folks.
G-Day minus 81
Brandon had some nice pump-up moments.
https://youtu.be/hHLTJt3BUKI
Wow, never realized how many long pass TDs he had. Fantastic! Thanks for posting.
And Jason threw a beautiful ball.
You just kind of knew it was going to be a perfect pass almost every time. I long for those days.
Regardless of what the odds are concerning the Big 12 champion- OU will have a say in who that is. Unlike Texass, a program’s whose recent history I have compared to OU’s performance/trends, Bob Stoops doesn’t just want to play well but wants to win. If OU can recapture its home fileld dominance ( OU lost more home games last season than in Stoops first ten years combined) and get back some of its kick-butt-and-take-names attitude then OU will require every team it plays to play its best game of the season if they hope to beat the good guys. Pisses me off to no end to see OU so dismissed- though I understand the reasons for it.
That “Game winning plays” video makes me happy lol. I wish someone would create a Vine with Striker tackling McCarron and then the “Got ’em” dude after the sack.