OU Texas Thoughts By: JY Posted on: October 13, 2017

Early in the year I posted that I thought Oklahoma could win every game, but I was concerned about a few of them Ohio State and Texas being a couple of those.  I said that they should win the game that they lost last week, and they would most likely end up with one or two losses given the question marks defensively etc and so on. Well I got laughed at by people who thought that Texas would stink this year, and after they lost to Maryland I got ripped pretty good for being a Texas bandwagoneer and those who believed I was in the Texas is back camp.  To all of those points and some others here are some thoughts about what I’ve seen from both teams.

 

  1.  Texas is rounding into form right now.  Okafor is starting at Left Tackle and Kerstetter is at right.  Im of the mind that if this was the starting lineup against USC then they don’t lose.  Nickelson was a liability at the tackle spot, but the two youngsters are functional and Texas actually has an offense that doesn’t have liabilities up front.  Are they Oklahoma’s O line?  No, but they are much better than they were early on.

 

  1. Todd Orlando is going to attack the Oklahoma offense.  While he has a reputation for blitzing a lot and he does, it’s just that his d-line is more active with twists, stunts etc.  He has a good feel to timing of his blitzes.  He’s not going to set back and let Baker Mayfield run around all day.  If Oklahoma is going to win, they have to control the Texas front 7.

 

 

  1. Oklahoma has to do something defensively.  The Sooners are not aggressive with how they call the game and how they play the game on the defensive side.  We’ll see a lot early as to whether Lincoln Riley has addressed this issue or if he sees it as an issue at all.

 

  2. Texas will want to turn this into a low scoring affair.  I don’t think they can score with Oklahoma if it becomes a shootout.  I do expect this to be one of the best defenses that Oklahoma has faced.  Malik Jefferson is an animal and will cover a lot of ground.  Most of the time Baker Mayfield can out mobile the spy.  He can’t do that with this guy.

 

  2. Oklahoma’s ability to run the football will determine the outcome of this game.  Without the play action, this offense doesn’t click.  If Texas can stop the run, the Horns will have a chance to win.  Outside of Lamb, Oklahoma doesn’t have a guy who has really stepped up as a guy who can get open and make plays when everyone knows that it’s a pass.  Lincoln Riley will eat your lunch if you can’t stop the run game.

 

  2. If Texas can have success offensively early, then it may not end well for the Sooners.  The confidence of this defense is Fragile.  If the adjustments and the rah rah all week long from the staff didn’t take hold or doesn’t have effect, then I don’t think this team has the moxie defensively to stand up to early adversity.

 

  2. Finally I expect Todd Orlando to try to create some turnovers with his defense.  This is the same staff that took a Houston team into NRG stadium and beat the Sooners last season, so they know the blueprint.  They know this team well and they will come out with their hair on fire.  They may give up a big play, but if Baker can’t find his hot reads effectively, and the Sooners can’t run, it’ll be good night Irene.

 

If I were a betting man, and I’m not, I think that Oklahoma is playing down right now and Texas has improved…A LOT.  This is a HUGE game for both teams.  Texas could vault themselves into contention for the Big XII title, or Oklahoma could rebound and put the dumb stuff behind them.  Either way we’re going to learn a lot about both teams Tomorrow.  Oklahoma showed us stones to spare in Columbus but they’ve been absent since.  Texas stood up and took USC to the wire and beat a favored K-State last week.  I think it comes down to guts, heart and desire.  Who has the most?