The Red River Cuts the Deepest
Posted on: October 13, 2015
Image via www.star-telegram.com (Brandon Wade)
The Sooners have lost games before. Even under coach Bob Stoops, the winningest coach in OU history, the Sooners have lost plenty. But for some reason this past weekend’s loss seemed a little different in so far as the reaction from fans was even more…fanatical…than in previous losses. I haven’t taken a poll or anything. My observations are based on online reactions and perhaps more so on reaction from friends of mine.
A couple of friends of mine who are die-hard, life-long Sooner fans who have always been firmly in coach Stoops corner…and rarely cuss…wavered on both fronts this past weekend. Both were dropping four letter words after this past weekend’s game.
A couple years ago the Sooners were favored in the OU/TX game and lost the game. And it certainly wasn’t the first OU/TX game that the Sooners had lost. But none seemed to elicit the same response, at least amongst my friends. So what was it about this past weekend’s game that evoked such a response?
I can’t answer the question definitively and maybe it isn’t just one thing but I thought of a few reasons.
– Hope dashed…again. At the end of last season a lot of folks were really questioning coach Stoops ability to coach a national championship level team at Oklahoma. In the off-season some, but not all, changes that fans wanted to see were made. There was an initial frustration from some that certain changes weren’t made but most folks believe that coach Stoops has earned the benefit of the doubt. So folks got on board but maintained a healthy level of skepticism. But at some point, even the most ardent skeptic, starts to believe again. You see all the weapons, you see Mayfield putting together a highlight reel, you see some signs of life from the defense and you want to believe. After all, it’s no fun thinking your team is going to lose! The college football season comes once a year and it’s short and precious. Then comes this long off-season of guessing what will happen next year.
So after the miraculous come-back at Tennessee, Sooner fans start looking at a very manageable schedule. When the Sooners handled a good West Virginia team it looked like it would be smooth sailing till late in the season. There was a chance to prove the doubters wrong. Oklahoma fans thought last years woes were in the past and whether they are or aren’t I don’t know. But the loss this past weekend reminded folks of that lackadaisical team we saw towards the end of last season.
– Texas is down. That overall record looms in the back of Sooner fans’ minds. Every year is a chance to continue to creep towards owning the all-time record against Texas. Additionally, Texas had just come off an embarrassing loss to TCU. There were recruits that both OU and Texas are recruiting in the stands. The Horns came into the game 1 and 4 (I’ve heard that’s their worst starting record in like…50+ years). Texas had a player retweet transfer tweets. They had seniors calling out other seniors publicly. The psyche of the Texas team was fragile. They seemed like one gut punch away from dropping. And I think folks believed that the Sooners would provide that final blow. It was all set up for OU to lay the final blow against their rival. But instead, they saved their rival. They gave another coach his signature win.
– Couldn’t stop the run. In Oklahoma there is a saying that goes something like, “My daddy told me you better smart or tough…and I’m real tough”. These days people will forgive poor defensive performances. There are too many offenses that are so good in both areas of offense that they create tremendous run pass conflicts. You just can’t expect them to be stopped all the time. But I don’t care what anyone says, in Oklahoma’s DNA…defense is king. Defense is a point of honor to Okies. It’s been that way long before coach Stoops came to Oklahoma. There might not be anything harder to swallow for Oklahoma fans than to watch their defense not be able stop the run when everyone knows it’s coming. You want to throw for a thousand yards? Go ahead. Sooner fans will rightly call you a pussy for not wanting to fight. But when you line up against an Oklahoma defense and tell em you’re running…you ain’t running. But Texas ran.
– Sooner fans still care about OU/TX…but it didn’t look like the team did. The Red River game isn’t like any other game to either fan base. Charlie Strong saved his job beating Oklahoma. He could end the season with a losing record but the Golden Hat bought him another year. I don’t think the Notre Dame would’ve done the same. Texas is Oklahoma’s rival…records be darned. And for whatever reason the Oklahoma players didn’t look like they wanted to destroy the team to the south. Multiple Sooners had scripted kill shots available to them when Marcus Johnson was tip toeing the sidelines but they seemed content to just kindly nudge him out of bounds…something he refused to do. There were no Major Wright strikes. In fact OU’s “big hitters” at safety never laid a lick. Perhaps this point is beginning to blend in with the previous point but there just hasn’t been a sense of urgency. Once upon a time a Bob Stoops team came out fast and physical. Once upon time if you pulled a 220 lb safety out of Miami who liked to hit in high school, the Oklahoma program would turn him into a monster. It was hard to watch that same safety on Saturday get stiff-armed to the ground by a wide receiver. Once upon time if you faced an Oklahoma linebacker in the alley, you were f*cked.
Having said all that…
There is a lot of season left to play. As hard as it may have been for you to watch this past weekend’s game, it would be unfair to say this team hasn’t demonstrated resilience. We are only a few weeks away from an impressive and gritty come back win against Tennessee. And again, Oklahoma soundly beat a pretty good West Virginia team. Oklahoma still controls their destiny within the conference at this point. Oklahoma is a flawed team but their inherent or unfixable flaws aren’t what’s putting them in insurmountable spots. I hate to say it because I know it’s so oft-repeated but it’s the lack of execution and in my opinion, the lack of a sense of urgency.
Late in the 2nd quarter and into the early part of 3rd quarter, the left guard was just flat out being beaten. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes you’ve got to go with another player and hope he does better. When you’re out-athleted, you’re out-athleted. But what can’t happen is high school level mistakes…like not identifying obvious pressure. What can’t happen is a fumble on special teams. What can’t happen is missed tackle after missed tackle. The Sooners have to play with a sense of focus. There was more than enough talent to beat Texas but they just weren’t clean enough. Often times that comes from a lack of effort. You can get beat because you aren’t good enough but an Oklahoma team should never lose to Texas due to a lack of effort.
The Sooners face a critical juncture this weekend. Win, and perhaps the Texas loss is just that necessary teaching moment that teams often need to launch them into greatness. Lose, and things could spiral out of control. It’s fitting that this Oklahoma team will get a chance to prove how tough they are against one of the toughest, even if not always the most talented, teams in the country
383 Comments
Super K, I love you, breh. If we are to ever meet in the real world, I’ll ask to borrow a couple of bucks from you and then buy you a beer.
Keep writing and keep the faith. Boomah!
LOL much appreciated my man!
On a more serious note, from one writer to another, love your stuff. The tone meets the content and has a nice flow. I’m able to read top to bottom, even when the language becomes technical, without any real difficulty. Really nice work.
Super K, I’m not an X’s and O’s guy. So I hope you can help me out. Did we do anything new on offense or defense that Texas wouldn’t have been prepared for or did we just run what we have been running all season? Did we have NEW wrinkles to our game plan that we threw at them or did we basically play straight up thinking/knowing we have been playing well and would win most likely?
There were a few things they did that they’ve done but not frequently that they chose to do more of in this game. Perhaps I’ll outline it in a post
I would like to read that, even if it was short and simple.
Sure didn’t see the Wildcat.
I think the Texas loss looks bad right now but looking at their schedule (if this was their turning point) then they should or at least could win all but the Baylor game. So if the 2-4 Texas turns into a 7-5 Texas then I think this win becomes less of a bad loss. Now if they go 5-7 then it’s still an ugly loss.
If OU wins out I don’t think it’ll matter what Texas does from here on out. People often forgive rivalry game losses regardless of records. I certainly am not saying the Sooners can or will win out but if they do, I have little doubt they end up in the playoffs.
Thanks Super K! I thought OU looked like it was a business as usual game when they came out and that bothered me all day Saturday. I hope the team tackles and blocks better this week!
I was thinking the same thing (that this loss could turn this team around) about the 08 team. I understand that was a vastly more talented team but the loss to Texas caused that team to elevate themselves to a new level and steamroll the rest of their opponents. Hoping this team has the same response.
Awesome write up. The voice of reason. I wish YOU were coaching OUr Sooners.
Thanks for reading Slim! And no, you don’t…lol
Yes, I think he does and so do I. I want to see the old OU team’s that if you tried to run the ball they would de-cleat your ***! I am so tired of watching flag football.
In all honesty, it is my belief that the urgency in the players was lost when you began solely “recruiting nationally”. If you look at most great rivalries, they are based on a sense of familiarity. Our recruiting approach does not favor getting a majority of kids from Texas/Oklahoma at this point. Much of our approach is to head to California and Florida for athletes. I don’t believe that this guys tend to have the same passion or knowledge of the rivalry. I believe that we should focus more of our attention on Texas and Oklahoma then attempt to pluck from outside for very special athletes. Texas is recruiting mainly Texas kids so they understand the importance of the rivalry while kids from all the various locales that OU pulls from aren’t truly familiar with the depth and breadth of the rivalry’s intensity.
We were doing that, and TCU, Baylor, aTm, and other SEC teams, and even OSU, started landing enough of the kids we were after, that it hurt recruiting. We’ve recruited pretty well nationally, but I still think the majority of our kids are from OK and TX. Personally, I don’t think this was a factor at all.
Bud Wilkinson drew a circle around Norman, I can’t remember the diameter something like 500 miles, that he recruited in that included 4 states. That worked well until the late ’50’s and the WWII veterans were no longer occupying his roster.
After looking at the numbers, the truth is almost 43% of our signees come from outside of Texas and Oklahoma. What makes rivalries great is there is a sense of being slighted and having to prove that you are worthy. Another poster made an astute observation, they stated that over the last 3 years we have played with more intensity against schools out of the SEC than against Texas. If you look at our recruiting you will see a clear effort on our part to recruit “SEC country”. We have really made an effort to recruit Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. Funny how we hear OU players and coaches up in arms about the SEC but don’t seem to have that same fire when it comes to playing Texas. Could it possibly be that half of our team didn’t dream of going to Texas or playing in the Cotton Bowl for that matter prior to attending OU? (Just for the record, only about 18% of Texas’ team comes from outside of Texas and Oklahoma)
That’s not it.
Rashad, I would buy some of that except it doesn’t coincide with the fact that a competitor, regardless of where you come from, wants to win. Wanting to win should have been enough.
I understand the idea of having a competitive spirit but competition seems to go to the next level when bragging rights are on the line or else there would be no such thing as a rival. Rivals tend to bring out the best in you. Which speaks to the point that when you recruit an abundance of players from other locales you tend to lose the sense of rivalry because you haven’t play against these guys or haven’t been over looked by that university. The motivation to prove them wrong just is not as prevalent.
Can we focus our recruiting in Oklahoma and sprinkle in some 4* and 5* players in. 10 in state and 10 out of state every year.
Who’s with me?
You like winning 6 games a year?
1. Tramonda Moore, 2. Calvin Bundage, 3. Jon-Michael Terry, 4. Dillon Stoner, 5. Z’Quan Hogan, 6. Austin Quillen, 7. Chandler Garrett, 8. Rowdy Frederick, 9. Tyler Brown, 10. Logan Roberson
Add some of the out of state talent and it would be a solid class.
I agree we need to add more in state talent.
Ok, some years only take 5 in state players, other years take 10-12. There are some really good players coming up. Moore has Casey Thompson and the Walker kids who may be the best Lineman in the country. Just saying, these kids would not come out flat.
Never mind, Bob said they didn’t come out flat.
I think you should only take national approach to recruiting when it’s for the elite guys. Other than that I wouldn’t take a 3 star from Cali over a 3 star from OK or TX. Speaking of which USC lost 2 5 star guys in the last couple days and both have some interest in OU and both are LBs. I doubt we can get those 2 plus Caleb kelly but it would be something the coaches entertain for sure.
I would like to see bedenbaugh load up on in state guys this year.
Obviously I have no problem recruiting kids like Moore, Thompson, and Walker. Nor did I have a problem with recruiting guys like McCoy or Lehman, or Bradford.
Most of the time, we’re recruiting considerably better than what the 10th best player in the state of OK is. And you are paying zero consideration to positions as well.
Some poster(s) made a big deal about this last year, and I went and did the research. Our roster is comprised of about the same percentage of Okies, and Okies and Texans, as it almost always has been dating back to Barry’s teams.
Lehman was a nobody from Fort Gibson. OU saw him in a camp and offered him. Bradford was a 3 star & if it wasn’t for Chuck Long, he wouldn’t been here. If the Okie player is equal to a Cali kid, take the Okie kid, he wants to wear the OU uniform for life.
But this state does not produce enough good players year-in and year-out to stock a competitive FBS program.
Never has—-never will.
Bundage?
I’ll pass on that one.
Reason? I’m just saying that the Oklahoma kids would have more passion for Oklahoma football. Some kids won’t work out, and I get that.
Don’t care for his attitude or demeanor.
You sure about that? OU has recruited a lot of OK kids lately that didn’t seem all that eager to commit to OU when offered. On the flip side, when people have interviewed some of these kids from Cali, they seem to have better things to say about OU, and know the history.
I think some of you are overthinking this Oklahoma HS kids thing. I don’t want to forget about them, but we should be recruiting the best players we can.
To me I think one of the biggest issues we, as fans, have a problem with is every year for the last 5 years the team lacks passion. As fans we are very passionate about OU, and the lack of it from the team bugs the crap out of us. At least that is what bothers me. The Bedlam game a few years back that was back and forth at the end, if we lost it would suck but at least the team played their asses off. I don’t know if it’s leadership amongst the team or if it starts at the top, but with it being over such a long period one has to start wondering. I’m not saying fire Bob now. I just want to see some fire, pride, and passion.
Some of you guys are still pumping a 4″ stream of kool-aid, and far to many are knocking people out of the way to get your fix. This team, this coaching staff stinks to high heaven. Coaches aren’t preparing the team with the right game plan and in game adjustments, players are listening to the mass group of sunshine pumping fans, then getting thrown under the bus by their coaches. Wake up people!
Easy, Bill. There is enough room on these threads for optimism and skepticism. We’re all fans here.
Believe it or not, that is “easy” for how I feel being a 60+ year Sooner fan. The whole team is in disarray, coaches and players. I for one can’t accept lack of effort, lack of motivation, we are OU. We are a proud program who can’t sit by and see the situation we are in without being upset and want channge.. real change. That is just how I feel. Not saying the majority feel the way I do, but I feel that way.
I understand. And it’s perfectly fine to feel that way and to voice your opinion. But it’s not fine to speak for others (re: your statement about Kool-Aid drinkers). Whether an optimistic fan or a skeptical fan, the two are still fans. And both want to see the program succeed.
There is an issue, something missing or just not right. I don’t fully agree with you but will say something just isn’t right. JC is in a much better position to judge this.
Honestly, it doesn’t seem like anybody, coaches or the team, are working toward any sort of goals nor do any of them aspire toward any sort of greatness. I haven’t seen it [ambition] with anybody on this team.
Do you feel better?
He might, but I need the five seconds added back to my life for reading it along with some eye bleach.
Damn it! It took me six seconds. Okay, I’m going to have to get that time back.
What good thing happened to you today?
I stopped after kool-aid, I only need 1.5 seconds back. LOL
A busy and profitable morning.
Et vous?
It’s all good. My family is doing well. My son has adjusted to what’s required of him in the IB program. It was a rude awakening but he’s stepped up to the plate.
Today is like my Monday’s. I’m working on standing up a a support team. Arrgh!!
All is good.
The alternative to being busy isn’t pleasant, either. 🙂
Some people just long for everyone to be as miserable as they are. Makes their head spin if they cannot achieve it.
Not really
Why can’t we just blame everyone? The coaches, the players, the fans, everyone!
You’re to blame. You’re to blame. Everyone’s to blame.
I must admit, it is all my fault. I was hoping no one would find out, but you have discovered my shame. I will now commit Sudoku.
Hahaha!! Struggle with puzzles do you? Might I suggest committing seppuku then?
I don’t wanna kill myself, I just wanna waste my time at work doing puzzles.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. What did I do to deserve blame? I’m not on the field playing. lol
Super K, did you read the interview with Samaje on FoxSports web page today? I would like to know your take on his comments about the players just did not show up to play (even though Bob said they were not flat).
I didn’t see it. You mind linking it? Thanks!
Here you go:
http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/oklahoma-sooners-samaje-perine-sooners-didn-t-take-the-longhorns-seriously-101215
Thanks for link. Great article.
How can the players not be fired up for texas? Most of them are from there and weren’t recruited by them. It’s our biggest rival. 2013 wasn’t long ago and last year could’ve easily been a loss. Just mind boggling. What does get the players excited if this game doesn’t? Just strange and disappointing. I’m a fan and I was extremely up, excited, ready. How the players can’t be is garbage.
Did you read the article? It really shed some light on their play Saturday. And I agree with you, I do not know how they cannot be fired up to play the shorthorns.
Yes, I read the article thanks to your link.
Did not mean for that come off the way it did. I was just asking. Sorry if I sounded like a whiny pre-teen school girl.
I didn’t take any offense to your comment whatsoever. I was just answering your ?
Thank you. After I read it, I thought you might and wanted you to know I meant none. It comes off different when I type it than it does in my head. Thanks!
Here are the facts, over the last 5 years 42% of our recruits that signed with OU are not from Texas or Oklahoma. I believe that this causes them to treat Texas as just another game. When they go home they don’t have to hear what happen against Texas. Nobody ask!!!
Because has now decided to treat Texas as just another game, another business trip like the other 10 games. And he wonders why they don’t get amped.
You are completely wrong.
Super K, looks like your friends aren’t the only ones dropping some uncharacteristic 4-5 letter words, LOL. Great to feel the passion in the writing.
I think all week the Defense were preached Contain, Contain, Contain, they ran around trying to push guys out of bounds and watched the Qb run right past them. The bend but don’t break Defense we all loathe! I can understand it if you have a great run/pass QB but to play contain on a team that runs the ball 80% of the time is idiotic. Mike Stoops Defense had been punched in the mouth for the past two years by Texas and it was more of the same on Saturday…
It didn’t look to me like the defense was prepared in any sort of way for Texas.
I was hoping Mike would unleash the hounds. He didn’t. It was disappointing. I think that has a lot to do with the team’s attitude. Just my opinion.
Yeah, it seems the team as a whole gets a fire in its belly when Mike is aggressive.
And I think this is why I whine we are playing off the WR’s. Just because when Mike is aggressive the entire team feeds off of it.
Fo sho. And we have the personnel: Physical DL and LBs who can move laterally. Let the dogs eat.
I hope we see that this coming weekend. Beat the other team in to submission!
Rage!
the corners decide their own alignment: Press, Off, somewhere in between. That’s not Mike being conservative. That’s him letting his players do what their most comfortable with.
Oh I fully understand that. And it is to each corners comfort level as to where they play. (I was just using that as an example)
I’ve been in the “Mike calls the games scared” camp for awhile.
Not every game, it seems. But definitely when a QB is mobile. I wonder if the 2013 Manziel fiasco had something do with that.
Yeah didn’t mean every game but it happens more often than not.
More than we’d like. That’s for sure.
Great write up and excellent articulation of how many of us feel. I have not necessarily been in the “defend Stoops” camp the last couple of years, but I have been hopeful and willing to give him the opportunity to turn it around. I actually expected a couple, if not a few, losses this year. I tempered my expectations quite a bit. But the way we lost Saturday, to a rival team that is one step away from complete irrelevance… its just inexcusable, and these kinds of games have happened over too many years with too many different staffs. You grow weary of it. And of course, you want to rout for your team, even after a loss. But losses like these year in and year out make it really difficult.
Toughness, nastiness… Super K is exactly right, that’s been lost. Rocky, Teddy, Roy, Everage, list goes on, those boys loved to hit. Whose the last Sooner that struck fear in a defense that way? Don’t get me wrong, we have talented players; Striker is tremendous, and a talented speed rusher. But that mentality of we’re the baddest-you-know-what-around ain’t there- and I blame the coaches. They need to preach that into that players, get them to believe that, and teach them to play that way. Take pride in putting fear in an offense.
Nice write up, K.
“You can get beat because you aren’t good enough ” Sorry, but I’m pretty sure that won’t wash around here either. 🙂
What’s gonna matter in the long run is not so much what happened in the Texas game, although I’ve been around long enough to know exactly how important that game has been over the years and in some sense still is, but rather how the players, and staff, respond to it going forward.
Great write up! Spot on! I do have a question. I was at the game and haven’t been on social media or listened to interviews after the game. So, this may have been covered somewhere. But, were the coaches asked why we ran almost exclusively a 3-3-5 defense? They can call it a 3-4 if they want. But, to my eyes, we had 3 lineman, including 2 in the 250-260 lb range. 3 linebackers, with one being around 210 lbs (Striker). And, 5 db’s, with Parker coming down into the box. That is not much size to handle a power running attack. Meanwhile, Texas was keeping 2 backs in plus Heard and 5 O-linemen. So, we were not only outnumbered in the box on almost every play, but we were at an EXTREME size dis-advantage. Is Frank Shannon THAT far away??? Are the coaches just not confident enough in anyone else? I know they talk about getting the 11 best on the field. But, was that REALLY the 11 best against a large, physical team who TOLD us that they were going to run until we proved we could stop it??? I say this…but, at the same time, I feel the defense held up fairly good under these circumstances. 7 points off a turnover and besides that only gave up 17. But, we couldn’t get stops when we absolutely had to have them. Thoughts???
You want to throw for a thousand yards? Go ahead. Sooner fans will rightly call you a pussy for not wanting to fight.
Boom.
K, I don’t think our next group of starters that will come from the 2015, 2016 classes (maybe some of the 2014 guys) can get here fast enough. Just such solid classes of recruits and there are some definite head hunters in each class that I’m sure wouldve loved to drop the hammer on Marcus Johnson.
That picture of Strong with the Golden Hat boils my blood. If only someone had pooped in it.
I say that picture gets posted all over the football facilities starting January. Charlie Strong is launching at you, Mayfield, Perine, Mixon, Alexander, Evans, Evans, Evans…
Schmidtty: “Now whatchoo gon do ’bout it?”
I went to school at OU during the years of 1973-1974 and have always been a devout OU fan and a huge fan of Stoops. Of course I always loved offense, but my true love has always and will forever be defense. And I haven’t got to watch any defense in a long time. The product that we put on the field today is just mind boggling to me. When I heard that OU does very little tackling in practice, that kind of turned my stomach. You are what you practice, fire sharpens steel, etc etc. Never thought I would say this but while I am still a supporter of Stoops, it would not bother me to go in a different direction. This game was not an aberration, it was a continuation of the same old, same old.
Once upon time if you faced an Oklahoma linebacker in the alley, you were f*cked.
OMG this is the best f-cking article I’ve ever read on this site.
“f*cking”
FIFY
I like my version better. 🙂
I at messing with ya Rainy.
I understand your points and agree with almost all of them. But, the main problem? It is of course the fact that we don’t seem to even be able to tackle sometimes for the last few years and that was far too close to what we did in several games last year where the players gave up! I won’t accept players not playing like they want to win! That is not OU football. We could lose game after game and it wouldn’t bother me half as much as seeing lazy plays, and people not trying. And that is what it looked like happened to us on Saturday, and in several games last season. Give it your all and we fans may be disappointed, but we were fighters until the end. That’s what we do! Or at least that is what we used to do. How do you forget to tackle!!? It just seems to point to a problem with the team that outsiders can’t know the origin of- but coaches ought to know and fix.
First, please take down that picture or I will find you and beat you with feathers. Great write up. However, the Sooners are in trouble. I’m calling it now, KSU will beat our Sooners worse than Texas. The O line can’t improve enough because they don’t know how to be physical in the trenches. Watching whiff after whiff and basically standing flat footed with no ability to move a defensemen one inch backwards. Its not going to get better.
I’m willing to wager a 6 pack of Pepsi on it. I still love the Sooners, but I’m writing off any chance of victory against Baylor, TCU, Kansas State, or Texas Tech, OU is as soft as charmin tissue.
They need to put that picture everywhere the players go. If it pisses us off it better piss them off. Now get out there and destroy K-State!
I don’t think it would piss off the players. Maybe some but not all. That’s the problem.
Seems you are the charmin here. The RRSO is replete with the better team getting upset by a far worse team. One loss and we are done for the season.
OK its a wrap all. Ash says so.
You will see come Saturday.
Yup that is true.
I agree. It’s just a gut feeling, but I think KSU beats the brakes off of us Saturday in Manhatten.
haha you clearly don’t think much of this Sooner squad. KSU is verrryyy mediocre.
I just saw this Sooner squad get dominated by a less than “mediocre” team.
The only part of this team I see playing with any sort of consistency right now are the kick off and punt coverage teams and our kickers and punter. That’s it.
and you think if OU and Texas played again this weekend, the result would be similar?
Yes. What would they do differently?
Win
How so?
Im sure they’re watching film and frothing at the mouth. They may not have the same quality athletes that other team has but, KSU is very disciplined and play sound football.
They didn’t look to soft when they fell down by 17 on the road against Tennessee. They also didn’t look too soft when WVU brought the game back to within 3.
The funny thing about hearing this type of garbage is, we have heard it all before. Those of us that have been fans for a very, very long time remember. I don’t know if this bad loss will be a stumbling block or a building block, only time will tell. 40 years ago in 1975, I remember the Sooners being ranked #1 in the nation, They were 8-0, playing pretty well, came to the KU game. KU was unranked and 5-4. KU took it to OU, beat them 3-23. I remember reading the same garbage of they are done, they are awful, they have been exposed, fire Barry. That team sucked it up won the rest of their games, finished #3 in the nation with an Orange Bowl win. They finished 11-1 that year, they beat 7 ranked teams and had 1 very bad loss. The 2015 Sooners have the same opportunity this year. They can suck it up and win a bunch of games this year like the 75 team, or fold like you say, but “calling” it at this point is simply garbage.
And I remember a really bad beating to a horrible Missouri team in the mid 80’s as well. But the team rebounded. And one other thing all these pity party people forget is name Bob Stoops last losing season?
I was at that KU game. The final series when the offense took the field they were loudly boo’ed by the OU fans. The student section were the only ones standing and cheering for that absolutely wonderful team. Only time that I was ashamed of our fans.
We had tickets, were going to have pretty good seats. Mom was diagnosed with cancer and had surgery the day before. I listened to the game from her room on a small transister radio that I had picked up. Sooners lost, but recovered the year, Mom recovered and lived another 15 years and we looked forward to the 1976 team.
Hey Rick, you won the most important battle and you got to enjoy your Mom another 15 years. Kind of defines what’s most important.
Exactly, even in mom’s sick haze that Saturday, she would occasionally wake up, tell us she loved us, and ask what the score was.
My Mom was a huge Sooner fan. I can remember her getting down on her knees and saying “Lord, you’ve got to help them” when they would fall behind. Of course, that was listening on the radio cause hardly any of the games were televised back then.
True, I still enjoy to listen to the radio and kinda look forward to those Saturday’s when I “have” to listen to the game, rather than see it, it’s hard to explain, but all those years, the whole family would gather on “the porch” around this huge radio to listen to the game. The reception would be bad, the older men would adjust the antennae to gain better reception, and the younger ones were forbidden of making any sort of noise during the broadcsast so no one would miss anything. We always looked forward to the few televised games, usually Texsa and Nebraska so we could watch them. Now, all the games are televised, even when we can’t watch, there is always FSSW for the replay, etc. I find I really enjoy going back to the radio, listening to the beautifully biased Toby, giving the play by play.
I told my boys how I would always be on a tractor working when the Sooners played and I always listened to them on the radio. They looked at me funny and asked, how do you listen to a football game on the radio. I said you just have to see it in your mind. I loved those days. I also remember when the VCR came out (I grew up with my grandparents), and my grandma and grandpa spend an entire Friday evening figuring out how to record off the TV and the first thing they ever recorded was an OU game for me to watch. Wow was I surprised by that. I watched that tape over and over again. (I can’t remember the year but it was OU/OSwho)
Yep, this week, I was moving a large oversized load, listening to the radio with one ear and to my escorts with the other ear, not ideal, but did work. Sattelite radio and TV in the truck along with high speed internet has really changed the life style of the “over the road” businessman.
I thought the game against Texas would be an indicator of the extent to which this 2015 version of OU is ruthless and lacks pity. They aren’t ruthless and do have pity for their opponent.
Texas was in the perfect situation to dismantle.
Charlie Strong was in the perfect situation to shade his current employment status just a little more pink (i.e., pink slip).
Bob and team were in the perfect position to show to us and themselves that the Tennessee comeback win and confident West Virginia win were real.
Bob and team were in the perfect position to show to us and themselves the range of tools in their tool belt, that they can beat a “traditional” SEC team, high-powered passing/Texas High School offenses, and a nearly one-dimensional running team.
Bob and team were in the perfect position to show to us and themselves that they understand the current context of current college football, that they have the urgency to win now.
They didn’t.
I think that with the proliferation of Texas High School offenses and the playoff winning a national title has gotten harder.
You have to be good every game.
You need to have urgency every game.
You have to be ruthless every game.
You need to have a complete lack of pity for your opponent every game.
It’s time for OU to show this. Unfortunately, the above is not easily “turned on.” So far, this season, OU has not shown ruthlessness. They’ve started slow many times. They’ve not started the game, won the game in the first half or by the 3rd quarter, and gone home.
I think OU’s season starts now. We have KSU, TTech, Baylor, TCU, and OSU. These games will not be easy. OU will need some combination in each game and across games of good defense and/or scoring a ton of points to keep this season intact.
They can do it, but they have start it now.
Good points. But I’m not going to believe this team again until the season is over and they’ve done something other than disappoint. OU could have put a hurt on Texas that would have put that program back for a decade and failed to get off the bus. How do you fail to kill the one thing that is out to kill you when you have the chance? I can’t defend Bob Stoops any longer. Look at what Brent V is doing for Clemson. It wasn’t Brent, it’s Bob’s direction and he is failing and we as fans keep our blinders on.
I haven’t seen that since the last 6 games of 2008… wanna play some ball? We’ll drop 60 on your @ss.
Top down has to reflect this. Good post.
Very good points. I don’t see the nastiness.
I did see Brown beating his chest. He was inspired. I saw Mayfield jawing with a texsa player. He has the fire. I didn’t see it much from anyone else.
I’ve said it before: I want to see OU score as many points as there are available to had, while flipping off Mike Lupica.
Question for you guys… Does beating Baylor and TCU (but mostly Baylor) validate losing to Texas? I am finding myself more willing to accept a Texas loss than another Baylor beatdown
I refuse to accept any loss
Validate does not accept mean you have to accept. Does it quell the call for Stoop’s head. In my opinion, it should, since it shows resolve to get better.
If OU ends the season with one loss, I will be ecstatic. That would almost assuredly put them in the playoff. I don’t see many undefeateds this year, if any.
It College football. Any team any day.
OU tied UT in 75 and still won the NC.
We lost to at terrible KU team after beating UT and still Won the NC> Early losses are much better than a late season, especially if you beat a top 5 team at the end of the season.
I hate losing to UT.
Makes two (and millions other fans). But the question remains.
I guess it should….but even we go undefeated the rest of the season….seeing that one loss and who we lost to will always piss me off.
Always appreciate your articles, Super K.
I do understand what this piece is about, but I just can’t shake “17 points” out of my brain pan.
The 24 really doesn’t bother me, we had two opponents score that many and one 38 and we beat all three of them. I just don’t view the defense as being the phase of the game as the one holding this team back.
The one area where I have seen little or no improvement, unlike the defense, is the OL. It breaks my heart to see that, since that is the part of the game that I relate to the most.
Yeah, I’d like to say the OL took a step back in their development (perhaps Brown did), but really, there has been no improvement at all this season. Even against Tulsa Baker had to do some razzle-dazzle.
I will give them credit for drastically reducing the number of stupid penalties this past week. They aren’t cohesive enough or experienced enough to understand and contend with all the various fronts and blitzes teams have thrown at them.
Ain’t that the truth? I’m also excited to see Bobby Evans develop. Kid has the feet and the attitude, it seems.
I watched him in high school as a soph and junior. He will be memorable, bank it.
I agree, Brown has looked like he’s regressed since camp. The kids don’t realize that these are perishable skills and you need to constantly work at them to continue to improve. But it seems like once school started, other things (besides school) took priority.
I hate to hear that. As a longtime ex-undersized, underwhelming, and very mediocre OL, I would have killed to have their size and ability. Edit: And opportunity!
100%
“Perishable Skills” I’m going to borrow that.
I would like to say that the OL is a work in progress. Would like to say that but I won’t. To add to the problem we have no TE that can block and Flowers has not shown to be a good blocker yet. Perine and Mixon are also not good blockers, Brooks is the better blocker.
About the TE: I get that Andrews is not an in-line blocker. But neither was Amaro. And like Amaro (perhaps more than Amaro), Andrews is one fuh-reak of an athlete. If we’re going to abandon the run so quickly anyway, why not have the best athletes on the field?
I also fear, if the playcalling continues towards the “Air Raid” style of play, that Mixon transfers. I probably shouldn’t even say that aloud.
Amaro didn’t need to be a great blocking tight end. One thing you can say about Tech is that their OL is always pretty dang good.
Also a good point.
Just get Mixon the ball. He doesn’t care if you’re handing to him or throwing it to him.
As for using TEs to block, in my opinion, I don’t recommend it. Occupying a defender by forcing them to partake in pass coverage is as effective as a block.
Good point, Sam.
RR, how have you been, my friend?
Saturday was a trip, but I’m alright now. LOL! How ’bout choo?
There is absolutely no debating this point. We have to get Mixon the ball. I don’t think he even saw the field until the 2nd qtr. Could be wrong on that but it was several series into the game.
I expected some growing pains from the offense this year. New system, new QB, new line… all makes for a rough go of things. This game though, the defense, IMO, let the offense down. Texas just walked all over them. OU knew what was coming on almost every play and didn’t do anything about it. And, with the game on the line and a chance to get the ball back, the D just bent over and took it. Just absolutely got their @sses handed to them.
I’m sorry, 24 points means nothing to me in this day and age, not when we have shown the ability to score far more, especially to a Texsa defense that couldn’t stop a toddler on a Big Wheel.
I get your points, and I agree to an extent. But for a team that ran on 90% of it’s plays, 24 points is pretty good in my opinion. It’s a symbiotic relationship though and neither side is helping the other.
The Ross fumble really hurt, coming when it did and where it did.
That 80 yard run at the end of the 3rd qtr should have been called back, but wasn’t, because the Texsa TE wrapped his arm around Jordan Evans in a choke hold long enough to let the RB go by.
The offense never had good field position due to turnover or poor officiating. They had to earn it and 17 points is not going to win any games, except for Akron.
Texas has shown all season they couldn’t even get out of their own way. We made their offense where getting out of their own way the only thing they had to do.
And our offense showed them what not to do.
I agree. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been so confident. I didn’t feel comfortable last year that we would out score our opponent. I thought it would be different this year.
Having said that, Mayfield missed Mixon in the flat on a couple of occasions. And, I think held the ball too long.
People called Landry happy feet, I think we are now in the HFBM era. Much of which is due to lacking confidence in his OL.
Due to lacking in his OL FIFY
Not entirely, he bails far too soon too often when the line is holding, he just doesn’t have any confidence that they will.
That’s a fact.
3-12 on third down and 6 sacks was the biggest issue. Tackling needed to be better but like you said 24 points doesn’t bother me either. This offense needs to average 42 points per game. Which we were. The 17 against Texas probably brought us down to last year’s average of 36.
I watched the game again and on the first possession, our receivers dropped two passes when they were wide open and the drive stalled.
We had receivers trip/fall on needed plays, including one in the end zone.
While I am disappointed in the lack of consistency and dominance on the OL, there are many factors that effected the offense this past week.
I think we have to understand the defense in context with the new offense and the team OU is playing. It wasn’t long ago that OU would goose egg a one dimensional team. The other thing is that many of the wide open no huddle hurry offenses pair it with a very aggressive defense. The reason is because rhythm offenses need snaps. You’re better off attacking on defense and forcing them to get a quick three and out or score quickly. Allowing them to salt time away and keep the offense from finding a rhythm will lose a hurry up team a lot of games.
Conversely, an offense that is moving the ball and scoring rests their defense and puts more pressure on the opposing offense. The Texsa offense was never under pressure after the Ross fumble.
Our feckless offense this past week let our defense down and left them on the field far too much, and the defense played well enough to win if the offense takes care of business.
Bingo
Agreed. When I was at the game I kept thinking the o-line was the whole problem. After reading these great posts, I realize it was the whole offense including Baker.
If you don’t have the ball, you can’t move it. Works both ways. This loss was more on the D than the O.
Not in my eyes it wasn’t, 17 points doesn’t win games in this conference.
Neither does 24 usually.
Those were the good ole days, now just have a ave def at best
Couldn’t agree more. Mike has a target on back due to past games, perhaps deservedly so. But I left the game with nothing on mind but the O. How could they lock us down that badly? THE HORN D?!?! They gave the D almost no help at all. Live, it felt like 3 & outs for us all game. Even the few moments we got a little something going, it was by hair of chin.
I was blown away when I got home at 3:30 only to see entire boards lit up with vitriol about the D.
If O could have even done 20% better, it would have taken 7 off Horn score & rested our D.
We scored 17, against that D. Hard to let that sink in.
I just can’t get past it…17 effing points…against Texsa.
/dang
So right on 17 points. Also this is the second time OU has only 3 points at halftime. Hate to beat a dead horse but blocking and tackling are basic rules to winning a game. (sarcasm). But hell it’s Tuesday and I am concerned what OU must do to beat Kansas State.
Here is the reason more fans are mad at the defense. The Defense had a poor scheme and that is why they couldn’t get off the field. They played a 2-4-5 defense against a team that could only run and lined up with a running QB, RB, FB and TE. OU didn’t have enough mass to penetrate the line nor get off blocks. LB and Safeties have an easier time tackling when near the line as well, but alexander and evans weren’t filling he hole aggressivley and the small DL alignment wasn’t slowing UT down or making them even change direction. Everyone could see the OL getting blown up and getting out athleted and it is hard to be mad when a guy is just not strong enough to hold his block. It is easier to get mad a coaches on the sidelines and the booth who are making mental mistakes. The O-coordinator made mental mistakes too (trying to protect with 6 and throw deep repeatedly against a massive pass rush), but it was his first bad game where Mike has had numerous bad games.
Did you not read this:
https://thefootballbrainiacs.com/a-fatal-flaw-but-a-correctable-one-ou-vs-ut
All sounds well & good, but they started out in 3-4 in 1st qtr (gave up 14pts), then switched to 2-4-5 in 2nd qtr. (gave up 0 pts)
So, there’s that. 10pts given up in 2nd half should be plenty good for a win if O could have done anything at all.
Yeah it should have. But I also think OU defense, i think, has the players to shut out or get a near shut out of UT if they had better coaching.
Yeah. The tackling and the 17 really bother me as well. I’m especially disappointed by the fact that we were out-coached and out-played once again. This is happening all too often. I don’t know the solution, so I’ll stop my complaining here and focus on KSU. They know how to tackle and score more than 17.
The defense gave up right at its average. The offense scored well below their average. Therefore, it is the defenses fault. Yep, message board logic at its best.
We knew coming into this season that we had three big issues:
1) New offensive scheme
2) We graduated five offensive linemen and were short on experience and talent in the upper classmen
3) We had a very suspect defensive backfield.
The hope was that we could scrape by with some wins early on until those problems could be fixed. Up until Saturday, we had actually managed to do that. I think too many people assumed we were over the hump.
However, #1 and #2 didn’t get solved fast enough for us to win this game. The main thing that concerns me is that the Oline looks like it is going to take long enough to fix that we may lose a couple of more games. Texas drew up a game plan on how to disrupt our offense. Some teams may not be able to exploit it, but several will. Hopefully, we can find a way to not lose too many more.
The thing is those three items are all things that we have made changes to fix. Changing coaches now would just reset us back and have us starting over. Not much to do right now but give them time to get it done.
I seriously dont understand the reason for not making adjustments.
(Oline, safety, dline )
A guy is playing poorly, take him off the field.
A upperclassmen that struggles by injury or otherwise shouldnt be protected. There are hungry underclassmen that would love to step on to the field. Where’s the spirit of competition???
The offensive line is not playing the best five. I agree with someone on tfb… get these young guys of the field. Competition!!
brown dalton alvarez nila samia
Bad coaching. We are becoming numb and avoiding the answer. At some point, a new voice is needed. It’s like getting the courage to dump a longtime girlfriend who isn’t lighting your fire anymore. It will hurt at first, but it has to be done. OU will survive after Stoops.
I disagree.
Easy to forget being lost in the wilderness with new coach after new coach. Unlike the two great coaches most remember fondly, since so much time has passed, is Coach Stoops has never had a losing season. I would much rather long for a MNC and have a chance at one, than hope and pray for a winning season like we did many times under the two previously mentioned coaches.
Plus it would be very difficult if OU splits the sheet with Stoops to get a quality hire. Stoops would need to retire or take a job elsewhere. One loss and panic. the 1990s were enough for me.
I also remember the sixties, Bud’s losing seasons in the early part and cast into the wilderness until Fairbanks/Switzer, then the 90’s.
There have been some very ugly periods after seeing a great coach leave.
I remember Chuck Chuck and Bury Barry also.
I was just this morning trying to remember what all of those stickers used to say, thanks.
You are welcome. My favorite has always been the quote “how much rice can a chinaman eat” which is why the Sooner fans were called chinamen for many, many years. The quote was in reference to the Sooners only beating some opponent by 30 or 35 and the OU fans were not happy. Don’t remember who said it or what game it was referring to but that quote has always stuck to me.
My dad had gotten me a “Bury Barry” sticker for my car. I didn’t put it on. I didn’t believe in it then, or now. The one that I totally didn’t remember till you said it was Chuck Chuck. His teams were TOUGH. He brought some nasty to the table.
Just speaking of the 90’s makes me want to puke. The Sooners starting QB one season was a backup QB on his HS team that was coached by his father. This HS had only 150 students in it.
So, because our most winning coach has failed to win a conference championship in 5 years, hasn’t won a NC in 14 years, and hasn’t had a losing season we should be happy.
Why play each season if you’re not fighting to win the conference and compete in the playoff? At this point he is collecting a check, but not delivering the goods. I guarantee he would bolt tomorrow if OU decides not to extend his current contract until he puts some more hardware on the shelf.
I appreciate his service as OU’s coach, but he still needs to do the job. If he can’t deliver, step aside. OU HAS NEVER HAD ISSUES FILLING THE SEAT. It just has trouble picking the right man for the job on occasion.
Not winning championships doesn’t please anyone, least of all the coaches or players. And it is they who are most deeply invested in doing so, not forum rants.
I’ll take a winning coach that is always competitive for championships than some unknown coaching wizard, especially considering the history of coaching changes at OU and around the country, not to mention what it would do to the roster with transfers and more unknown coaching wizard assistants.
A change may seem scary , after all it’s been more than 15 years when we tried the method, and it’s logical to be faced with skepticism.But 1) we got more than 5 million “reasons” to persuade a great coach to join, and 2) i think there is nothing worse for the team to be “satisfied” with 9-3 seasons and losses like the one against Texas. What was considered an anomaly is slowly becoming the norm.Just my opinion ….
Great article Super K and very insightful. Over on Sooner4OU, we saw the same angst over the loss to Texas and it was fairly ugly.
Well, I’ve been laying low for a few days, hoping the rants would die down. Looking below, guess that hasn’t quite happened yet.
The reason we lost: they scored more points than we did (yes, I’m stealing this line from one of my friends on here). On Saturday we will beat KSU because we will score more points than they do. That’s the way it works.
The results of games are unpredictable. You win some games you shouldn’t and you lose some you shouldn’t. They talent level between teams is even enough that rarely does a team cruise through a season without being challenged or possibly losing games. Given the circumstances of OU and Texas this season, we would probably win 80+% of the time. But it’s not unreasonable to have an occasional bad game and lose one you shouldn’t.
I don’t think anyone would argue that we are a dominant team this year. Many of us have thought we were another year away. We’ve got a defense that’s playing the same secondary; we had to expect that improvement would be incremental. We have a brand new offensive line which has limited talent in the upperclassman. This isn’t some new thing we discovered at the Cotton Bowl; we knew this was a limit on how good we are. We have a new offensive system; I’ve argued all year that you don’t make a change like this and iron out all of the wrinkles in just 4-5 games. We have an new OC who is still learning how to apply his system to his players and the B12 opposition. He’s not going to do as well now as he will later in the season or next year. There are just too many issues with this team to expect them to dominate everyone.
They had a bad game. It happens. That doesn’t mean it’s time to fire everyone and/or bench everyone, It means you pick yourself up, learn from your mistakes, show some class, and go out and whip KSU.
We’re supposed to be fans. Personally, I think fans should pull for their team. They should scream and hollar when they win. They should feel badly for the team when they have a rough game, and encourage them to pick themselves up. Fans should expect perfection, and then be understanding when a particular game comes up short. Real fans don’t think they are “owed” something by the team, except to go out there and do their best every week. But if we really are fans, we “owe” them something: loyalty. Loyalty doesn’t mean piling on them when they have a rough week. Loyalty is backing them through good and bad times.
K, I really appreciate your balanced perspective on what happened Saturday.
Nice
I agree. We need to show support. We can still have a very good season. Lots of football to be played yet.
I agree with you. I have had this mindset for awhile. However, at some point, I think fans who spend their hard earned money to go and support the team deserve to be upset when the team comes out flat against a team they should beat by at least 10 and gets whipped and then some of the players (Sanchez for one) claim they have nothing to answer for. I am totally fine with them getting beat by a team that is better than them. What bothers me is when they don’t play hard and don’t take their opponent seriously.
I personally think they played hard. I think they tried their best; it’s just that their best last Saturday wasn’t anywhere near what they are capable of. But when you perform below your best, it isn’t always due to lack of effort or bad coaching or whatever. Isn’t that true of all of us? Don’t we have good days and bad days, and there’s not always a definable reason for one or the other?
If I have very many of those bad days on my job , my boss says your out of here .
I agree… “Real fans don’t think they are “owed” something by the team, except to go out there and do their best every week.”
But do you think this was their best? You see, it’s not losing, it’s how you lose.
Amen Exiled! Preach it!
Exiled, you are the man. Thanks for posting. This was much needed. I hope it’s a beacon of calm during this, seemingly, time of chaos.
I agree with all you’ve said.
Here here. Very well put. Pragmatic, wise….all that stuff.
I’ve watched enough football over the years to understand all this.
Obviously many have not.
My line 😉
Welcome back to the board!
I have been a fan since 1950, I was six years old sitting at the kitchen table listing to the games on the radio. I have experienced great times, good times, and bad times. I have never not been a Sooner fan.
LB Mique Juarez decommitted from SC.. Visiting Norman for TCU game…
That’s good news.
Sweet!
Did anyone else notice Sam Grant get some playing time at TE? That’s something TFB’s own JY was calling for earlier last week!
Many will disagree, but I don’t believe we were out schemed. The fact is, we play soft, we lack the discipline to play fundamentally sound football and there is no sense of urgency in what we do. This is why we can no longer have an off day and still out-athlete the next guy. This is why we have an inexplicable loss or two each year. When we are met with adversity, when we get punched in the mouth, we become a different team. And that goes for everyone, both the coaches and the players. And that’s what makes these losses so hard to take. It’s not losing, it’s how we lose. We’re a soft team.
Football is a big boy game and our teams are no longer built to be competitive week in and week out like we’ve seen in the past. It’s not by design I’m sure, but I believe the coaching philosophies in Norman have migrated away from the things that instill toughness and discipline in a program. Oklahoma Football is a shell of its former self. Teams are no longer scared or intimidated to play us. There is no aura of invincibility to the program. We’ve got to find that again, and it’s possible, but we first must somehow somehow change the atmosphere around this program before we can.
You’re right, we weren’t outschemed. Texas didn’t do anything inventive or creative to beat us. They lined up, and won their man on man battles. When they didn’t, their skill players fought tooth and nail for every inch. Instead of tackling with force and striking the ball carrier, we were just trying to knock them over.
Since the beginning of the year I’ve thought the BIG 12 conference to get into playoff needs a team that goes undefeated.
IMO Playoff is out for OU
There are 12 other undefeated teams in P5
If we win out the rest of year, there will most likely be just 1 spot left to choose. SEC champ is in, BIG 10 champ is in, PAC/ACC champ, last spot would go to the best overall. OU resume against all other 1 loss P5 conferences with extra championship game would leave us out.
Big IF to win out. The way we look right now its a Alamo bowl vs PAC-12
There will probably only be one undefeated team come playoff time. Maybe 2. History doesn’t support there being more than that.
If OU could some how win out, I have very little doubt we’ll have a spot in the Playoff.
I don’t see it that way at all. The committee will not take a 2 loss conference champ over a 1 loss conference champ, with the only exception being possible the SEC but even then it would depend on the team and circumstances, and they will not take a 1 loss non-champ over a 1 loss champ. All things equal and every P5 conference has a 1 loss team, I still think the Big XII gets in over the ACC. That would have been the case last year had FSU not been undefeated.
I can see a B1G team going undefeated, but that is about it.
First of all I realize this sounds a bit silly but I think the reason fans get soooooooooo pissed off and frustrated by losses like this are because when you hear multiple players talk about being flat, not showing up, etc., it makes you ask yourself, “why do the fans care more than the actual players?”
I don’t necessarily think we do care more than they do. In some instances that may be the case.
You know something I have noticed lately as I have watched some of the earlier teams at OU, I think Venables might be the biggest coaching loss we have had in a while. Stay with me and queue up the Tim Kish lovers who will murder me for even saying it, but while we have some athletic freaks at linebacker, I don’t see the physicality play in and play out. occasionally you see a flash, but that is about it. LBs getting dragged for 3-5 yards by a running back is not physical. I recall when Tom Wort just knocked the living piss out of the Texas player on the sideline. He was physical and he was 100% filled with hate for Texas. I am not saying Tom Wort was the greatest LB ever just illustrating a point. I think we have some good LBs but to me they seem soft overall. The nastiness, as everyone seems to be calling it, just isn’t there. Really it is nowhere on our defense besides maybe striker and that is about it. I am not calling for any coaches job just saying I think you have to look at your team honestly and see what is missing and I personally think that mean nature is missing. Not quite the Miami crazy thug type mean nature, but that we are OU and we are not scared and even if you beat us, we are going to make you hurt.
These are Bob Stoops approved players. He signed all of them. So, when they don’t perform, fail to play hard, miss tackles and the like he needs to accept the responsibility and not throw players under the bus. His, “I don’t play,” quote almost made me get feather duster and clean the house.
You overlook a critical point here, K. This isn’t the first time we’ve been flat out whipped by Texas in a game we should’ve won by double digits. In fact, it’s the 3rd time in a row. The 2013 squad had no business losing to Texas. The 2014 squad somehow won on the scoreboard despite getting beat in every other measurable way. And this year’s squad was beaten by a team with no ability to pass the ball whatsoever. To me, this last bit is the real sticking point. It’s the straw that breaks the schooner’s wheel.
Once upon a time, you understood what you were getting from OU. We might struggle with dual threat QBs hurting us on the fly, but the pure running game was NOT going to beat us. On Saturday, I watched Texas utterly abandon their downfield passing game when it was clear that our DB’s had their WR’s locked down in coverage. And they still moved the ball almost at will.
What’s worse is that on our final drive, when we NEEDED to score just to stay in the game, we netted a total of -3 yards on our drive (excluding Striker’s false start penalty). We started out strong with two good pass plays, and then we were promptly marched backwards.
C’est la vie when you have no semblance of a line.
Flat out whipped?
We lost by 7 points, gave them 7 points on a turnover, and twice in the last 6 minutes or so of the game was driving to tie the game.
You probably think we got our butts kicked by LSU and Florida too, huh?
300 Plus yards rushing, vs 60 something yards rushing for us? ya, we got whipped.
We kept it close on the scoreboard, but it was obvious who was controlling the game.
Please. OU was in this game until the end, and a couple of big, stupid plays are what did us in. I’ll go as far as to say had Ross not lost that fumble, or had OU not allowed the big run by Foreman in the 4th quarter, I think OU probably wins that game. That is not a “whipping” in any sense of the word.
We got outgained by 100+ yards by an offense that was like 115th in total offense coming in.
Our offense didnt even manage 300 yards on a defense ranked like 110th coming in.
Ya, we kept it close on the scoreboard, but thats about it. Only reason we kept it close is baker made some pretty amazing throws, when he wasnt picking himself up off the turf.
3rd year in a row they have manhandled us on the line of scrimmage.
My issue is the continued pattern of october collapses. EVERY year we come out strong, look like a top 10 team, then falter when october hits.
Bob has changed every single position on the staff, sans gundy, and yet the same issues continue over, and over again.
Never expected to go undefeated, but after beating WVU, i fully expected to hit 9-0, at worst 8-1 with a loss to TTU or KSU, which is a hell of a lot more acceptable than losing to a terrible texas team.
Bob wont be fired, nor should he, but i simply dont see a path where we get back to an elite team with things are the way they are now.
So if they’re still 8-1 going to Waco does it matter who the loss was? I don’t think tech and ksu are that much better than Texas. Neither of them played notre dame, cal or ou yet.
They have played tough games but not as many as Texas. I really thought Texas would be the 4th best team in the conference this year, they have a chance to rattle off 5 or 6 in a row which I hope they do.
It does matter, IMO, because it once again reinforces the same pattern we keep falling into, which is losing to yet another inferior team.
TTU and KSU gave TCU all they could handle(and honestly both could have, and should have, won), losing to them wouldn’t be near as bad as losing to a team that lost to TCU 50-7.
Every year over the last 5 years, we have lost to a team we have an 80% or better chance to beat. Thats pretty hard to explain away.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/conferences/standings/_/id/4/big-12-conference
Here’s the current big 12 standings. Texas is tied with tech and a half game better than ksu right now. If we beat ksu that will make them 0-3 in conference so far. Texas has played the tougher non con schedule and already an equal in conference schedule to those teams. I’m just saying at the end of the year if they would have had one loss to any of Texas, tech, or ksu…they would all look the same. Now we just need to take care of business and get to Waco 8-1.
Then maybe try to shock the world. I don’t see us beating Baylor in Waco but if we do that will catapult us to the top 5. Then we have opportunities vs tcu and osu which would keep us in the top 5 if those become wins.
It’s suggested that a 11-1 ou would make the playoff but I can see us on the outside because we don’t have the 13th game and we have a bye on the last week of the season.
That said 10-2 was my preseason prediction so I’ll stick with that.
Good job, Zack! Just brace yourself for the haters in 3-2-1….
Realistic discussion is hating? gotcha..
Most of the time, otherwise it wouldn’t be the same. Fire coach A, Fire coach B. He’s got to explain, He’s responsible, he owes me because “I bought my ticket”. It’s never been this way, It’s always been this way. He’s too loyal, he’s not loyal enough. Haters gonna hate.
Ive literally not said any of those things. I even expressly stated in my original post that bob shouldnt be fired.
Youre telling me losing to a UT team that couldnt get out of its own way for the 1st part of the season, isnt concerning to you in the slightest?
You can call me a hater, i really dont care. Im a realist.
I never said you did, I just said most of the negative remarks are pretty much the same, everytime it happens. I would however, like to know statistically which type of motivation is more productive most of the time, positive reinforcement or brow beating.
I got 2 kids, sometimes positive reinforcement works, sometimes it dosent. Sometimes negative reinforcement works, sometimes it dosent.
You’d think playing your arch rival would be enough motivation in and of itself, wouldnt you?
I’ve got 4 kids and 8 grandkids. My experience says point out the mistakes, go over the correct way to correct the mistake, praise the heck out of the right things they do. Yes, playing your arch rival “should” be enough motivation, but sometimes it’s not. Please read down to a post by Golfluvr13 made earlier in this thread, it was a link for a Fox article, where Samaje was interviewed. I won’t try to steal any of his thunder, but it was very eye opening as to the series of events last Saturday. I’ll see if I can find it and re-link it for you.
I found it and read it. Thats pretty disconcerting. All the setup was there, coaches harped on not underestimating them, even the players harped on not underestimating them, and it all just faded away on gameday.
I honestly have no idea how you correct that.
That’s my point, there is no correction for that. The coaches get it, some of the players get it, but not all. I would suppose the coaches did some positive reinforcement and some butt kickin, and they still layed an egg. The best team did not win last Saturday. When it comes down to it, who wanted the win more? (Rhetorical) What do we do? I have no idea. I will just continue to support my team like I have for many years. Sometimes stuff just happens.
My original point, was that this issue continues to occur, no matter what changes we make.
Thats a problem.
Once in a blue moon, sure, i could accept that sometimes things happen.
But every year for 5 years in a row?
Ill continue to support the team as well, guess ill just have to accept the fact we wont be elite anytime soon.
I’ve watched OU be elite 5 times under 4 different coaches (Switzer was dominant, then sucked, then dominant again). I’ve watched teams that wasn’t supposed to win, get up and do the impossible. I’ve also seen teams that were suppposed to win, roll over to teams that weren’t supposed to win. I have witnessed this with Wilkinson, Fairbanks, Switzer and Stoops. It does come around ever so often, and it never remains the saime. It just happens. There will be another team sometime, that will have the attitude that nothing is going to stop them. They will have a superior mind set and they will be “the best” again. Oklahoma is far too great a school for it not to happen again.
I dont disagree with you. I just honestly dont think we get there again under stoops. Missed our window of opportunity with the 3 title game losses, should have won 2 of them.
I think hes lost his fire, and his players are a reflection of him.
He deserves to go out on his own terms, hes been an amazing coach, and an even better person.
Sometimes a change of scenery is all it takes. I fully expect him to tear it up at his next job(assuming he dosent flat out retire)
Here is Golfluvr’s link, hope it answers some of the questions you have been asking. http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/oklahoma-sooners-samaje-perine-sooners-didn-t-take-the-longhorns-seriously-101215
Im not talking conference standings, im talking eye test. Not all 0-2 conference records are created equal.
TTU and KSU held leads on TCU in the 4th quarter, UT was done within 5 minutes of the game starting.
I had us at 9-3, which i feel is still probably about on point.
There’s no column for “4th quarter leads against really good opponents!!!” Which Texas would have 2 of those close losses to good teams in cal and osu.
No, theres no moral victories on the stat sheet, which is why i mentioned the eye test.
You think UT beats either KSU or TTU? i dont. In fact, i fully expect them to continue to Sh*t the bed after beating us.
There’s a good chance they got up for one game and that will suck if that’s the case. And if I were a Texas fan I would be pissed if they don’t win another good game.
As an ou fan losing to tech or ksu would sting just as much as the Texas loss. And to be honest if we lose to Baylor that will be the most infuriating loss even though I completely expect it to happen.
This staff needs to use the aggression they have toward the media and sec country, against Baylor, tcu and osu. Those teams are complete sh*t IMO and stoops needs to have his sites set on knocking them back down.
Every loss stings, but this one is going to carry a much worse perception. We all know perception is king in CFB(Looking at you, SEC).
We dropped 9 spots for losing to UT, a loss to KSU or TTU would have dropped us 5, maybe 6 spots.
We are OU, every game we play we have a huge target on our back, because people know beating us can springboard their season.
But we arent PLAYING like we have a target on our back, which is a huge issue.
As for the national perception of OU, there hasn’t ever been a favorable perception of OU. This just gives the local and national goons a chance to pile on.
There is nothing OU can do to change that perception, not even winning all of its games.
The team has to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and get back to it.
Fans of OU, here’s all you have to do: be encouraging, not discouraging, be supportive, not a cancer, scream your lungs out for these boys, not mumble and gripe. I’m not saying you aren’t entitled to be disappointed. All I’m saying is that the team needs you more than ever. When they are not on the road, they should feel welcomed. Norman is home. Let’s rest them up, lift them up, and encourage them to keep going.
EXACTLY!
As a Sooner fan for 60 years I learned long ago to never have a care what the national perception was, in fact I revelled in it as the Sooners irked those clowns the more they won. Let those goofs have their little one-liners and jabs, we stand in defiance of their labels.
I am a 60+ year fan also, and don’t care what the national media thinks, but I do care what the local media thinks and writes. Right now the local media is down on the program for good reason and until the team, coaches and players start showing they care, don’t expect to see or hear good things being said by those people. The media has been treated like they were idiots when they ask tough questions. That’s not going to change as long as the same ol same ol goes on.
That circus of clowns: the local media. They couldn’t plagiarize a good story. They jumped on OU in the 90s just like they’re jumping on OU right now. The only difference is this team has a winning record since 1999. It’s not justified. It’s personal.
I don’t care what they say or think, either.
Hard not to be treated like an idiot when you are one. 🙂
The only reason the local media is down on Stoops, is he doesn’t bow to them. They think they are the stars, they think people are holding on to every word that passes through their auto corrects. They are mostly all arrogant, egotistical, narcissitic, know it alls, and some people actually agree with them. Most of them wouldn’t know a fresh idea if it kicked them in their ALL KNOWING a$$e$. Whew, maybe I should back off the caffeine, rant over.
The other side of the coin is he has always bristled at any question that questioned the direction of the program. Fans that would like answers hate the softball questions, and apologist dislike tough questions and label those who ask them as antagonist.
It goes both ways. Yes he does bristle. Perspective would show at times that “tough questions” are sometimes, just offensive comments tailored to get a negative response from a fiesty individual. Some “apologists” are actually just optimists. We all look at the world differently, otherwise there wouldn’t be conservatives/liberals, Christians/Muslims, light meat/dark meat. Whether you are an apologist or an antagonist, both are usually trying to seek the best answer possible in their own minds, but the other side of the coin is naked to the other. Bob is gonna bristle at stupid questions, we as OU fans are gonna argue points of motivation for our team, hopefully the answer for each of us is found somewhere in the middle.
I disagree strongly with your first statement. People know it’s good for CFB when teams like OU are good. I can’t even count how many times OU got the benefit of the doubt or a nod to a big game just because it’s Oklahoma. I can think of one very recently, in fact. The perception of OU right now is something that OU has brought on itself, nothing more.
Really? Since when has the national media acted like they act towards the $EC, or towards U$C, or toward oregon? NEVER!
I don’t understand your question, but in the early 2000s it was all OU/Texas. It was always the most meaningful game that year. Maybe a few teams here an there like Michigan, tOSU, et…
What he’s saying is when Bama scores 13 points and wins by one point, they are the best things to ever happen to CFB. Plus, what has USC did to warrant such attention. They are possibly the worst team in CFB but they always get the nod.
As for Bama, if you think Stoops should be fired, I’m not saying you do, Saban should really be on the hot seat. That man has no business ever losing a game, given where his last five recruiting teams have been ranked.
Who’s really underachieving? OU or Bama?
Gotcha. What I’m saying is it hasn’t always been like that. Remember when OU shut out Texsa 12-0? That was a HUUUUUGE deal. It goes in cycles.
It does go in cycles. But, that was good football then. Now, not so much. Score 12 points today, you better hope you’re opponent can’t line up correctly.
Sorry, but Sam did explain what I was talking about. My wife was in my office badgering me for work stuff. LOL
Yes, when OU won 12-0 it was a huge deal, but both teams were ranked in the top 10. But Bama loses to an average at best Ole Miss team at home and suddenly Ole Miss is the best team in the country put them in the playoff. Go ahead and stop the season. Then Ole Miss goes and lays an egg (which I am sure there will be more of) and all of a sudden Bama should now be back in the playoffs. Then they write stories about how bad Stoops and Oklahoma are, when in reality this was a “rebuilding” year of sorts for our offensive line. E$PN and all of the other national media bias spewing idjits out there care very little about a storied program with the most wins in college football since WWII and the least amount of losing seasons ever. I would give you a reason, but I do not know why. They play up aTm like they are the gods of the gridiron, yet what have they ever done really? Ok, getting off of my soapbox.
My point, Rainy, is that OU is not the flavor of the month. I don’t believe there’s anything they can do to get a positive review. Come from behind win in Tennessee, a place they touted as difficult for this team, and nothing is said. Not one mention. Glazed over because it’s not what they wanted to perpetrate.
Well, sure. I agree with that. But it’s not totally unjust. Tennesee has fizzled out and OU has looked mediocre. Why would anyone tout that?
That’s my point: Bama’s perception would not be tied to Tennessee’s performance.
I agree. The media has jumped on the OU bandwagon so many times. We’ve been over rated, over hyped, and we haven’t lived up to that as much lately. Granted, we earned that with our consistent play of the past. But I wouldn’t say there is a bias toward OU. We just need to shut them up like we did in the Sugar bowl. And where did they rank us the next year after that great victory. #5. Playoff bound. Not so much.
Agree with everything you said Sam except for the “rest them up” part. My opinion is that this team needs to line up the good on good in practice and get after it. This team is soft and only one thing will cure that. If we lose some players on the practice field to injury, so be it.
Fair point. I get what you’re saying.
I’d argue that going undefeated for the rest of the season, which means beating both TCU and Baylor, would change national perception quite a bit. OU beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl had a lot of media eating crow. It would also help if Texas starts beating other teams, seeing as how all 4 of UT’s losses are to ranked teams. I don’t think anyone would take issue with putting OU in the playoffs if they could somehow win out.
The media truly hates eating crow, since they prefer Tabouli. 🙂
Even then, tabouli has to have the right mixture of ingredients to taste good. LOL!
Of course, but not meat. 🙂
“not a cancer” … I like that!
Thank you K for putting into words alot of what I have felt and did feel during the game. I was only a h.s. player a very long time ago and spent most of my playing time just being a practice player. However, I still remember getting excited to go out on the field whenever we played our biggest rival. I was ready to play hard if called upon. (I wasn’t very good so thankfully that did not happen). The point of my rambling is this…. the Sooner team that went on the field Saturday is made up of 18-20 year olds, playing a game. Sometimes they show up and other times they don’t. I will not give myself a heart attack or ulcer worrying about one game. Yes, I am frustrated over the results and have begun to question Coach Stoops desire. But, I have supported the Sooners through the good and the not so good and won’t stop now. Again Thanks K, your break down is the reason why I no longer visit other Sooner sites, Keep up the good work (all of the Brianiacs)
I know there is some conversation below (and has been touched on in the past) about locale of recruiting and whether going more national has hurt the teams commitment to Sooner excellence, particularly against our main rivals. I don’t really know about that. Could be true, maybe not. Here’s one glaring thing I notice though:
We have played 3 SEC teams in the past 3 years. The effort, swag, in your face, Sooner attitude, etc. was there for EVERY one of those games. Not just the players, but the fans as well. The number of fans at the Sugar Bowl and at Neyland was astounding and the Tenn game at home was the loudest I remember in recent history.
In those same 3 years we have come out lackluster with no edge against Texas. Striker is a prime example. He went beast mode in ALL 3 of those SEC games, yet was simply solid against UT. Definitely not the same passion or performance.
Does anyone think our program has become more focused on proving the SEC a myth than worrying about taking care of our most hated rival and the business at hand? It sure seems that way. We obviously have the talent to compete with/beat anyone when you see those 3 examples. Is the coaching staff setting that tone? or do our players believe it to be more important to prove something against SEC opponents?
K, any thoughts here?
No. I don’t think national recruits aren’t focused on the Texas game.
Not what I said. Do you not see the same thing? I certainly saw a different team (same players) in those 3 games vs almost if not all other games we have played the last 3 years. My point was where is that coming from?
I think this is a fair assessment.
I had planned to smoke a pork loin early in the day but got wrecked the night before and didn’t get the fire goin till late, too late. Saturday was ruined. My drinking ruined the overall performance of the team. I Sarkd it up and lost the Red River Shootout.
Running the stairs for an hour and we will absolve you of the error of your ways.
And 25 hail marys
No, it was my fault. The Universe was seeking balance after my high school won a huge blood-feud rivalry game on Friday night. I probably shouldn’t have whooped it up so loudly and proudly for the Heavens to hear. My bad.
Since the family tradition was to never eat steak the week of the Longview game(because we would rather beat them than eat steak) my 8oz filet, baked tater, salad and garlic toast still went down good Saturday night.
Well Tex, you are just going to have to keep company with Colfax while he runs the stairs.
It was quite a win, though and very exciting. Running stands is well worth it.
Check out this clip. Home team(in red) is leading 28-25, 90 seconds left in the game, the foe has burned their time outs and it is 4th and inches at their own 47. Watch the stud RB #5 become a blur between 4 defenders.
https://youtu.be/IztUDoHrcAw?t=2h53m
That was a heckuva run
It was, and what is even more remarkable is he put the team on his back and made all of the yards on that clock killing drive from their own 6 yard line.
It was my fault. I went to Missouri for a wedding. I missed more than half the game. I had never missed ou/texas game since birth. I kept the score of the game on my phone. All the mizzou fans were telling me it was alright. OU will win. After they lost, I couldn’t help but notice at the bar slamming beers, why the hell do I have mizzou fan friends!! and WHY THE HELL DID THEY HAVE A WEDDING ON TEX/OU WEEKEND!!! It’s a damn conspiracy!!
I should have stayed home, did my preparation, and kept all my normal traditions… OU would have won!
To heck with it, everyone on this forum is going to have to run the stairs.
I bet 20 pushups on the game. 20 pushups in front of 115 people, while every pushup you had to say the other team was the best. That was humiliating for me to pay off. And they have it on video. UGH!
That ain’t right. Since I weight about twice as much as most of you, I should only have to run half the stairs.
Hit the stands…twenty times.
My wife’s entire family, save for one nephew, are huge mizzou fans. That one nephew, I managed to bring to the Sooner side. LOL But I feel your pain.
I humbly accept that it was your fault @disqus_UrrKRweCfL:disqus, your fault @Birddawg:disqus, your fault @robertsonrobertson2016:disqus, and your fault @metzker:disqus.
Agreed
Mea culpa.
You can add me. I did not get my OU flag out on my house as early as normal nor did I wake up as early as normal on a Saturday to get my Sooner jersey on. My wife and I were up late the night before, for other reasons….
Good, so it was your fault. Otherwise, I was going to have to blame myself for running over a squirrel and not stopping to check on it.
No, no. It was my fault. I washed my right pit before my left the night before. Everyone knows it’s left then right. I shouldn’t have been so derelict in my duties.
Damn guys, the stairs aren’t that wide.
I also blame Sam and Sooner Ray and Toats and Golfluvr and Jed and you and…
Fess up, you scumbags!
Ummm well i will confess
I must admit that for the first time this year I did not wear my OU socks.
Uhhh…. here!
We all suck! 🙂
The only comment on here all day that everyone can agree with. Well played.
Hit the stands, twenty for your culpability and twenty for showing up late.
…on his hands.
I’m only late because I’ve been in the yard tackling everything in sight!
Yeah, but did you de-cleat anything.
Couple barn cats, and a word of caution…..don’t play Oklahoma drill with a mule. 🙂
I would rather OkDrill with a mule than a cat.
They are too quick and have twenty razor blades.
LOL! Good one!
“Why, you pathetic, no-good waste of space. What are you doing? Why, I’ve seen more capable scum scraped out of a monkey cage. If I had to choose between you and a dirty mop, I’d pick the dirty mop and beat you with it. You make me want to puke, just so I can have room in my stomach to bite off your head.”
–My mother’s wedding vow
Was mom a drill sgt. by chance?
Close. A kindergarten teacher.
Still laughing!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m sitting with Rick laughing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BkIh1R5utY&index=10&list=PL6435F82FF2BE3CF8
LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOO
Cracked me up.
I dont recall ever seeing those thanks
I remember the first one, but not the second one.
There are a bunch of them.
https://youtu.be/SB7nQCc1peY?list=PL6435F82FF2BE3CF8
“Your 4 fumbles weren’t a factor? Not if the other guys would of jumped on the ball. Leon can’t do everything”……hilarious
https://youtu.be/s_thpzKuhOo?list=PL6435F82FF2BE3CF8
LOL! Thanks for this, Sam.
Happy to oblige: try this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Iu8PjILyis&index=4&list=PLD038B516143A4DCB
Heck, we have found the problem. Texas must have hurt our psyche.
Priceless. LOL
I can’t find the first one. His line went something like this: “Well all athletes should start with themselves first. And, since we know it’s not my fault, I’m going to have to place the blame squarely on my team mates.”
I like this one:
https://youtu.be/SL7f4KiarJM?list=PL6435F82FF2BE3CF8
This one is great.
https://youtu.be/ow1RGK0XX_U?list=PL6435F82FF2BE3CF8
I DID! I DID! Look up a few posts. LOL
As long as I’m the last to fall.
LOL! Well you do not want my bad knees in the lead.
Seems like we’ve did a great job of eliminating ourselves. LOL!
We will run in a single file line. That way when the lead runner falls, we all fall.
TMI
Today More Information? Well, okay. If you insist:
The only way to shave one’s gooch is not with a hand mirror, but with a wall mirror laying north-south between one’s feet. That way you have a free hand for lifting purposes. 🙂
LOL! Stop now. LOL
I’m too old, had to look up gooch…..and still laughing!
At least you showed that bar tab who’s boss…
I just give em nilla wafers.
I went and got a keg from the liquor store, invited a bunch of people over, and stayed up until 5am drinking my sorrows away. Sunday was awesome.
I think the part that makes it so hard to take is, you had your primary rival down in the dumps and looking at a losing record, but instead of stepping on their throat, you bent over and let them go in dry. It happened last year with little brother too! Had the chance to end their season, but instead you pull the bone head coaching decision of all bone head coaching decisions and gift them a victory. A victory that not only got them bowl eligible, it gave them another month of practice to get better and now look at them…..6-0 with confidence building with every game. As head man, you’ve got to be able to kick the enemy when they are down. Bob doesn’t have that fight in him any more. The competitive juices just aren’t flowing and his practice of hiring friends/family has now caught up to him. I’ll be surprised if Bob ever has another 10 win season and certainly won’t compete for any kind of championships. As a life long fan, I expect better and more from the head coach.
that pic of strong should be the new wallpaper for all the player facilities and coaches offices starting now for at least the next yr
Here’s a prior Brainiacs article that is still (unfortunately) directly on point. https://thefootballbrainiacs.com/ou-sooners-football-demanding-the-oklahoma-standard-bob-stoops
Seasons over…o-line sucks…worst since Rhett Bomar…another 8-4 or 7-5 year…gotta go baby…gotta go………………….
Good, glad to see you go.
I’m back!!
looks like you have the wrong president in this picture.
No…it shows what Oblameya is doing to this country
One angle that I never hear discussed is atmosphere of media, fans, and campus life. Now to be clear this is on some level an excuse no doubt, but at the same time these are 19-21 year old young men and they are just as all of us are influenced by the world around them.
Think about the 2000 run of destiny. Going into the season there was great optimism and excitement, but not one person on campus, media, or fan was calling that team a championship contender. As a matter of fact I remember everyone talking about our three game stretch of Texas, Kstate, and Nebraska that if we came out of that 1-2 that would a victory. So the atmosphere was optimism but with skepticism. In other words there was an atmosphere of questions. Can they win, will they be able, do they have the talent, are they really any good or are they just infused with energy because they have a new coach? Any time you question a competitor they want to prove you wrong. Also that year with every win the energy on campus, in the media, and among fans just grew and grew. After the three game stretch victories people were stoked, but the atmosphere was even if they lose out from here it has been an incredible season. It was a win, win atmosphere all year long. The team was playing with chip on their shoulder because they were constantly being questioned and that was motivating to play. They were super stars in the whole state and that motivated them to play.
Compared to the current state of the atmosphere. They will beat texas, they will beat texas they will beat texas. There is no way this team loses to _____________ We have way more talent than_____________________, I can find any reason to think OU loses to _______________. Then when they do lose it is, This team just is not talented. These coaches just are not good coaches. What has happened to this program? How in the world could them come out so flat…….Atmosphere. You said day after day and hour after hour that they couldn’t lose. They were too talented. Every player and coach doesn’t know what they are doing because they lost a rivalry game that you said they didn’t have to practice for.
I understand that coaches are paid to find a way to motivate and inspire players. I am just saying it is really hard to find a reason to want to play with fire when the whole word tells you are the best team ever, and then when you do lose or win close the only thing the campus, fans, and media can do is complain about the backup QB not playing.
That is what you sign up for at Oklahoma, I get that. Buts lets not be so hypocritical in that this team wasn’t ready to come out and fight when the reality is that none of were. We all said and did sleepwalk to Dallas until it was 14-0 and then we wanted to actually play the game. What if fans, campus and media handled themselves like 2000. Where every game mattered to them as much as 2000. Would we see a different fire in the team?
A dumb thought I know but it was fun for me to write.
tldnr 🙂
When Ahmad Thomas and Hatari Byrd were announced as the starters again, I knew we were fucked on defense.
Whether a 2-4-5, or a 4-3, those guys should not be starting for OU.
Ya not awesome there but when you realize we gave up 14 quick points (7 off a turnover) in the first quarter and then only gave up 10 after that I thought the defense was not what lost us this game. Riley got too cute for his own good in this game.
It’s obvious that Sanchez and others really get fired up when some fans rip their performance on twitter. How about bringing in a disgruntled fan each week for a pre game speech to really let them have it? Perhaps this would provide the motivation they need to “show up.”
The fan/s would never do it, they would lose their bravado and caustic words if they said in person the things they are saying when they are unseen and anonymous.
Yeah maybe so, but just a funny hypothetical. My point was how ridiculous it is that-sanchez, neal- even let that stuff bother them. They’ve both been here 4-5 yrs so it’s not like they haven’t heard it all before. They are lauded after a victory so it works both ways and has to be taken with a grain of salt.
Of course we don’t exactly what was said to Neal that set him off, either. Based on some things I have seen people post it wouldn’t surprise me if it was egregious. Brandon even tweeted about how Sooner Nation should be better than this.
https://twitter.com/BrandonTFB/status/653004244555988993
Exactly. That made my point. Why the players even care about what some random person says on twitter is beyond me. First of all, how can anyone even say for certain the derogatory tweets were from actual OU fans. There are people all over the Internet with altered identities that pose as fans. We get that here as you well know. I am buddies with our punter, Mike Knall, from the 08 team and his roommate was Matt Clapp. I’ll tell you firsthand that they used to get berated on twitter and that team played for a title. They both would just laugh and get a kick out of it. They knew it was just part of social media and being a player at OU. They got it.
Once again, not knowing what was said makes a difference. I imagine Neal had heard plenty before now, yet he was appalled.
I got ya. Ultimately the guys choose to be on twitter and put themselves out there. So they need to grow a little thicker skin rather than being appalled or taken aback by some tweet not to their liking. That’s all.
I don’t know for the life of me why you would attack the person you say you love, wears the team colors, give it all on Saturdays.
If you can’t tweet something supportive, shut it down.
Interesting points, but, since this is the third straight year we have been handled by Texas, I have to wonder: what is it about the OU-Texas rivalry that recently seems to NOT bring out the best in the Sooners? Because we have bounced back from UT losses and gone on to have good seasons – the outcome of this game doesn’t seem to correlate with the caliber of the team. I think maybe it’s because OU treats it like the Red River Rivalry, but Texas views it as the Red River Rumble. Which is what it really is.
I’ve said it several times, this game means more to Okies and Texans than it does to Cali’s and guys from other states. We have left our recruiting roots and ran all over the country signing guys. OU has become the 3rd or 4th choice for Texas kids. They only sign with us now, in most cases, when UT, AM, and now Baylor and TCU also, don’t offer. We even continue to slow play our own home grown guys til they committ to another school. Take Levi Draper for example, we acted like he wasn’t worth having while the rest of the country was offering. He committ to osu then we offer.
Roy Williams, Torrance Marshall and Kenny Stills sure seemed to get fired up at the RRS.
I agree some do, but it’s hard to make a kid from somewhere else understand the hatred that is supposed to exist between the 2 states.
I don’t think there is that much hatred between the 2 states, but there is between the two schools.
Most of them that don’t know find out PDQ, like Charles Tapper did the first day he showed up on campus wearing his high school jacket which was orange.
I meant between the schools but also the fans.
Last yr it was busts. The year before it was a freshman LB on defense and A TE playing QB on offense. This year it was a lack of effort and passion as much as anything
Peace out TFB Family. I’m going to let this simmer. I can’t add any value to the topic so I’ll “hush up,” until the noise level comes down; my work, here, is done.
As Mother Abigail said in “The Stand” at the end, “come on home boys, you done good.”
I probably won’t be back around anymore today either, not with that new thread up with a title that sounds like the same old song with lots of negativity, bile, snark and sneer.
While I’m waiting on my son to finish swim practice, I thought I’d give you some more from Leon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYB6xteh5TA
This loss was a more severe kick to the nuts than in past years.
Apt title – I HATE, HATE, HATE to ever lose to texsa. The last 3 years have seen very poor shorthorn teams win 2 of 3 and outgain OU in the single loss. Beating one’s main rival is as important as having a great record. Yes, I’d take a texsa loss to be 11-1, but I would personally rather be that 8-5 average team that beat them than 10-3 losing THAT game.