The Football Brainiacs

Image via SoonerSports.com

My neighbor is an OU graduate and about the most passionate Sooner fan I know. As my wife and I walked the two houses down, with our kiddos, my wife asked me if OU should win easily. My answer of “yes” seemed to be untruthful the first quarter and a half, and my lovely wife kept her distance from me as I tried to wrap my head around what was going on with the Sooners.

BIG TAKEAWAY #1

Oklahoma is loaded with very young talent, and even the seasoned players are early 20’s “kids.” It is hard to get so hyped for a game such as the Sooners played last week in Columbus, then know you are facing an inferior team the next.

Regardless of what coaches like to say, OU knew they were better than Tulane. The talent up and down the roster does not compare. Mentally, the Sooners just had to get over their “ho hum” approach and take advantage of the moment.

With all that being said, the Sooners settled in and took a business-like approach in the second half. That’s what great teams do. I’m not yet ready to say OU is great, but they did what some Oklahoma teams in the past few years would not have – put the game out of reach before the fourth quarter.

BIG TAKEAWAY #2

8 yards in the third quarter. That’s the total offense from Tulane in the third quarter. Read that again. Eight yards. I don’t care who you are playing, that’s a great defensive effort.

After the first 20 minutes or so, I wondered aloud if the Sooners would be making any adjustments because, at the time, it sure didn’t seem that way. There were missed tackles, gaping holes, and really just a general lack of effort.

The fact that the defense regrouped and kicked it up a notch really gave hope that this team may be a little different than those the past few seasons, at least defensively.

Other Takeaways

– CeeDee Lamb is even better than I expected. His body control, which was evident in his HS film, has more than translated at the highest level of collegiate football. He has exhibited great speed, great field awareness, and great hands. He is phenomenal.

– I’m still a bit concerned with the run game. Am I dumb to think this? Maybe…but this leads me to my next point.

– Riley plays the guys who fit the system of the opponent. Look at Ohio State. Trey Sermon’s physical style was more conducive to success. Last night, the quickness of Adams and Sutton gave OU an upper hand in the run game.

– Baker Mayfield needs to improve on the deep ball. Someone tweeted me about the same last night. I agree, but it’s not like this makes him a liability. Still, he needs to be more consistent in this area.

– Why was Mark Andrews playing? I’ll hang up and listen. See note below.

– I think Grant Calcaterra is going to be a star.

– The gameplan was very vanilla last night. If you stop and look at the final production numbers, it is still a great outing.

– Parnell Motley, in case you haven’t already noticed, is a stud. He really is. He’s set to have a great season.

– Kenneth Murray rebounded nicely from a rough start. Sooner fans need to understand it’s going to be a process with him. Kid has a ton of potential and has flashed that ability enough times to be patient.

– Lampkin needs to get it figured out. He’s got the on-field part, but his off the field demons need addressed.

– Addison Gumbs is going to be really good. Mark it down.

– Kyler Murray is a dadgum stud. A real hot take for you here…he would start at 99% of FBS programs right now (I made a D in College Algebra, by the way).

– I think Riley got too cute with the play calling and realized it. That’s a huge deal.

– Tre Brown is fast. Film at 11:00.

– Marquise Brown might be seeing more meaningful minutes. Get ready.

There will be hot takes for the Baylor game this week. It will be the first conference game and an opponent with recent success against OU. I will be watching quite a bit of film this week.

As always, fire questions and comments to me on Twitter.