Trench Warfare | Oklahoma vs. Houston
Posted on: September 5, 2016
Hey all, I was and am a little more shocked than disgusted after watching the game Saturday. Not shocked that Houston beat the Sooners as the Cougars have a very good team. I had a sneaky suspicion this may happen, and alluded to it in an earlier post. What I’m shocked at is that the Sooners were completely dominated in time of possession…35:06 to 24:54, and arguably two of the best backs in the country only get 6 carries a piece.
To further confound me, most of the carries for both Mixon and Perine happened in the first quarter and half and had significant success. Mixon ended with a 6.7 average and Perine followed up with 5.2. While it can be argued that most of Mixon’s yardage came on the long TD, that’s what playmakers do, make big plays when you give them the ball.
Beyond that the Sooners only ran 60 plays to Houston’s 80. Even though the Sooners largely shut down the Houston run game, the Cougars ran the ball 40 times. The Sooners had less than 20 called runs. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not framing this to be one of those it wasn’t the O-Line’s fault posts, but beating on teams and wearing them down throughout the game is what opens the run game up in the later stages. I don’t know if we know what the Sooners have up front, as they never really were allowed to set the tone. When the defense knows it’s most likely going to be a pass, they’re coming. When my wife who’s never played a down of ball in her life asks me why they’re only throwing swing passes and bubble screens, somethings amiss. Nevertheless I relent. I had hoped to have more to show in the first tee-dub of the year, but…
Early in the game when Houston had to respect the run game, and the OL was able to give Mayfield a pocket, He stands tall and delivers a strike on the out route to DeDe Westbrook. You see Samaje working protection inside out, and the protection was clean on this play.
Not sure whether this play was a bust or if it’s just a great play by the all everything Freshman Ed Oliver (whom I have circled). If you notice, the Sooners have 7 guys to block 7 defenders on this rollout left.
What has to happen in my opinion is that either Samia or Perine has to seal the backside. This confuses the heck out of me because when I look at Orlando and Cody, they’re facing to the right with their hips outside, while Samia is blocking down. You also have Flowers blocking over there on the left. If Perine or Samia just wall him off over there, then Mayfield isn’t running for his life. Even Andrews is conscious of play away as he’s releasing straight off of the ball here holding the edge defender in place. Somebody busted here.
Here on Samaje’s first carry, the Sooners have the run/pass flow workin pretty good. They schemed it well too as you see all of the red jerseys to the bottom side of the screen. Still, I don’t like seeing the double team pushed back a yard, and Alex Dalton has to swing his hips to the outside here. Flowers gets stoned as well, and early on, even though this play was a win for the Sooners, Houston was playing fast and physical.
Later on in the same play, Samaje is 15 yards downfield before he gets touched. Guys like Samaje and Mixon are special when you can get them one on one with DB’s. I hate to say it because it’s something that we’ve felt time after time in the Stoops era, but I’d expect the OL to clean things up and for Riley to commit more to the run game, but damn, you’d think they’d be ready to go against a 13 win team from last season.
Ok, 1st time this year you’ll hear me say that running the ball is as much about being physical as it is about outnumbering people at the point of attack. Note that there are 5 guys even with or to the right of center in the box…I made a little red box there for ya.
And imagine that, Joe Mixon takes off for a 32 yard td. The unblocked defender on the overload side who I circled can’t get across the formation, and even though it wasn’t blocked cleanly Mixon goes on to score. Alvarez has his feet crossed up, Dalton almost gets beat, and Orlando brown is letting his guy penetrate. Still, if you got a numbers advantage which the Sooners did to the left, you can overcome stuff like that.
On the very next series, Mayfield goes down the seam to Mixon who gets a long gain. Here, the Cougars are only rushing four. The previous offensive play, Mixon went untouched for a 32 yard TD, and at this point in the game, Houston still had to respect the run game. Mixon’s success on the run is what froze them on this play. The linebackers had to respect the play action fake. Later in the game, Houston didn’t have to respect the run game, and some of the success that the Sooners saw on all of the play action stuff early wasn’t there any more. 8 of the 12 combined Mixon and Perine carries came in the first half. On this play still, the middle of the pocket gets collapsed four yards. I thought that Samia and Brown played good games. I’d like to see the middle of the offensive line have a more physical performance, but I’ll get to that in a second.
As I mentioned, Mixon was able to run by both of the linebackers and get it down inside the 20 on a big play action seam route. I know the O line came under a lot of heat, but for the life of me I don’t understand how or why your two best offensive players in Perine and Mixon only had their number called as little as they did. When Riley gave them the ball, they got significant yardage. Normally the run game takes longer to be effective during the course of the game, but the Sooners had it working early. Why they abandoned it leaves me scratching my head. While Perine was dinged up, if he’s healthy enough to play, you have to give him the ball. Even if he can’t go, give Mixon 20 carries at least and hitch the wagon. Why you’d put the game on an unproven receiving corps rather than two of the most talented backs in the country is ludicrous. Make the game simple.
Against an even front and six in the box, the Sooners had an advantage numbers wise to the right with Flowers lined up off of Samia’s right. You gotta be able to run against six in the box, and with 5 OL and a fullback, there’s no free player to tackle Samaje if you get a hat on a hat. This is how you get the play action game going. Block everyone in the box and force the safeties to make the play…
And here, Perine gets right behind Cody Ford and shoots upfield for a gain of eleven yards. The safety to the top of the red arrow is the only guy who can make the play, and it’s an automatic 1st down. With the difficulty that the defense was having getting Houston off of the field on 3rd down you’d think that the Sooners would want to eat up some clock and give the defense time to adjust. After this play, the Sooners went pass, pass & pass for a punt. With 4 minutes to go in the 1st half and a one point lead I would like to have seen the Sooners keep the ball for the rest of the half, especially with Houston getting the ball coming out after halftime. After this play with 4 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter, Samaje only got two more carries. Even if you say he was hurt, how do you justify giving Mixon only two more carries? Offensively Mixon averaged 10.90 yards per touch….let that sink in for a minute. Including three kick returns he averaged overall 13.14 yards per touch. Why is it a mystery on who to hitch your wagon to? If Andrews and Westbrook are your only two receivers who can make a difference at this point, force the defense to commit everyone else to the line of scrimmage so it frees those other two up.
Besides a jump ball in the 2nd half that Andrews came down with for a td, there wasn’t much to see. Basically the defense knew the Sooners weren’t going to run the ball and committed their LBs to rushing the passer outside. The pressure got worse and worse for Mayfield because they were consistently sending more guys than the Sooners had blockers, and on top of that Ed Oliver is a special talent who was tearing them up inside. It tears me up inside to see a performance strategically and tactically like what we saw Saturday. The Sooners have the talent up front and in the backfield to do special things. What they do with it from here remains to be seen. I hope you guys heal up after a couple of days.
182 Comments
It has to be our M.O. with the personnel we have on offense. Run first, pass second. Get away from this air raid crap and play Oklahoma football
You can run a variation of the spread that is run heavy. You just have to commit to it. Baylor has had a lot of success with a run heavy spread system. Like you mentioned, it would play to the strengths of our personnel.
Check the rushing stats after the Texass game last year please.
I am aware of how well we rushed last year after the Texas game. I think you and I are more on the same page than you suspect. I am arguing for a more run heavy version of the same spread (air raid) system we ran last year. My point is that you can get it done in this system with a commitment to the run.
That’s exactly what wasn’t done, “play to the strengths of our personnel.”
The playcalling on offense would make one think we had a couple of stud wide receivers on the team…if only.
We can’t continue to ignore the amazing talent we have at RB. It must be utilized or the season is lost because there are no “free agent” wide receivers available in college football to add to the roster.
They told me in the other thread I was suggesting Riley’s playcalling incompetence in this game was “insane” and then tried to tell me that the run game wasn’t working.
What’s sane, or even intelligent, about how he called this game?
What is troublng is that it seems LR didn’t learn from his bad games last year, in which he didn’t adjust to the game as it unfolded.
He has a quick “pucker muscle”. Once he perceives any sort of rough waters, he freaks and reverts back to what he knows which is scorched earth pass, pass, pass. That’s a sign of inexperience.
Abandoning the run was a mistake, and I think even LR acknowledged that. The results speak for themselves. I have confidence that he is smart enough to up his game and adjust play calling.
Can we get a chart of the run plays, in sequence? It sure seemed to me like the run wasn’t working after the first couple drives. Looking at averages at the end of the game doesn’t tell the story. What WAS working in the 1st half was the pass. When we’re completing literally every pass and running for nothing, we should be throwing a lot. Once Houston adjusted and started pressuring Mayfield every play, we should have gone back to the run more. I know the idea of running it to wear the other team down, but if you’re in third and long consistently because you are getting stuffed on 1st and 2nd, you’re not going to be picking up first downs and not going to wear down the D.
Nice JY. I’ll be able to comment more tomorrow. But I thought the OL as a whole did an ok job. Both Cody and Alex struggled. Baker bailing and holding the ball didnt help. Oliver is good. Hes one of those players that exploit gaps and can wreak havoc on pulling plays. Orlando struggled ona few plays snd Samia had one olay where was flat out beat to the edge. We need to run the ball more as eveyone is talking about. We have the horses to dominate on the ground.
You should listen to Brandon’s podcast , he had a interesting note about the oline.
whats his podcast?
I feel like the TT/Leach system is dated. I’m not trying to be overly critical of the offense, but do you not think we would have loads more success running the ball if we switched to the Baylor/Tulsa scheme? Just look at how Tulsa, a way lesser opponent, put up huge numbers on us last year.
The Hal Mumme air raid spread offense is the Windows 95 version of spread offenses currently. Modern spread offenses feature all kinds of power running packages and vertical routes none of which are present in the crappy Hall Mumme old version. Our spread offense isn’t even modern. It’s 20 years old.
Let’s be real here: It was 19 years old last year and we went 11-2, won the Big 12 and got into the playoff by averaging close to 300 yards rushing after the Texass game. We need to stop making excuses for lack of execution!
That offense has never scored more than 19 points in any of his national title appearances against teams that don’t even have to face it all year. And last year in the CFP was no different. Let’s be real about that.
We’ve been talking about execution every year for the last 10 years every time we fail to meet expectations. His record when he’s highly ranked in the pre-season doesn’t lie. When the pressure of expectation is on him, his teams wilt, and they’ve been doing it for years, and blaming it on “execution”. Our national perception is accurate, because it’s true. And no “air-raid” teams are winning anything of note.
Perine and Mixon running a combined 12 times for 5.9 y/r is not an .execution problem. It is a game plan/scheme issue. The Houston game was not a single example of failing to run the ball we did the same thing last year against Akron, WVU and Texas.
Rest assured when faced against a team that can make running the ball Riley will again not show the patience to keep pounding the ball until he wears the defense down. He will revert to throwing the ball 3,4,5 and 6 consecutive times. That is where he has confidence and knowledge. Riley is a Mike Leach clone at heart.
First as always thanks for the hard work but you don’t need NCIS to explain to us what happened . …when you can come out and disect it so easily tells me poor leadership got us there in the first place..make sense?…This kind of reminds me of Mercedes Benz..for years those guys thought they could get buy on a logo alone…point being it can say Oklahoma on your chest but you still have to feel it in your heart Ala Alabama
and when Bama can’t feel it leadership steps in.
Bob Stoops is great..he’s also so yesterday we need our own identity the swagger Houston showed on the sideline unlike OU who was scratching their head wondering why they have to actually play the game to win….enough said OU is not going to get any where any time soon with this kind of leadership that’s the bottom line
Honestly, I hated to see the loss, but I’m not convinced that that bodes ill for the rest of the season, yet. The first half our offence seemed on, especially for the first game of the season. Baker wasn’t missing anything and we had some explosive plays. The problem that half, I thought, really fell on the LBs. They seemed to disappear. I think this affected the dbs and they started pulling up. This allowed the Houston WRs to get behind them multiple times. The second half it looked like Baker and Riley started trying to do too much too quickly. Stick with the game plan and I think this is a completely different ending. The DL in the second half must have had the best half time speech as they came out lit. This covered up for the LBers and allowed for a much better second half defensively. OU always comes out like they are trying to think too hard and not make ANY mistakes. I think if Bob just allowed players to play and live with some of the errors we would see the Sugar Bowl type team every week. If we can put all of this together and just play I honestly believe we can and will beat tOSU in two weeks!
Thanks JY. Very helpful.
https://twitter.com/Boomer145/status/772120469361168384
We need hard hitters.
JY, greatly enjoy your analysis. The would’ve, should’ve, could’ve must be very frustrating to break down or do you just get caught up in the semantics and not let it get to you?
I hate losing too. The thing that bugs me the most is that it seems the Sooners are content with being an upgraded Texas tech.
And if that is the case we will always be so-so. Running and D is what wins games.
Run the ball, stop the run wins a lot of games!
It’s not the system, it’s the players. When you don’t have WRs it’s kind of hard to run the air raid. Mead and braxter are not talented. Only dede and Andrews are any good. The rest need to go to Iowa state. We hear all this talk about Miller and he has yet to do anything. Green the same thing. Easier to stop the run when you the WRs don’t pose much of a threat.
Give me a break. They are playing at OU. You think think they can’t run and catch. Just have to build confidence through SUCCESSFUL experience. game has to slow down and not be afraid to drop one because you know more are coming and your team believes in you.
Give me a break. They are playing at OU. You think think they can’t run and catch. Just have to build confidence through SUCCESSFUL experience. game has to slow down and not be afraid to drop one because you know more are coming and your team believes in you.
The very point of the air raid is you can run it without NFL talent. Sorry you missed this completely.
Don’t give me that OU got out talented by Houston.
JY, I have one question for you and I don’t know if you would know for sure or not. Do you think they played their best 5 OL in the game and if not who do you think OU’s best five are?
I think so. I’m not real sure, but I think these guys are the 5 best right now.
Thank you for your insight. The next question I have is who would like to see play more to see what they can do. Do you think any of the freshmen we go see playing time this year?
Thank you, JY. I love these posts. Hopefully this will be the only painful break down for the rest of this season.
Great post. If you have some some new OLmen, run the ball. Period. It’s natural for them and it gets them in the flow of the game and who they are playing. Backs start to feel out their lanes and then the pass works. To go into panic mode, IN the 1st half almost made me sick. We had the momentum, keep pounding down their throats. When we did panic, we lost our mo and game. tuff to watch as it was coaching IMO rather than one specific group of players.
It blew my mind that we didn’t stay with the run. We I saw that Perine/Mixon only had a total of 12 carries, I was dumbfounded. You keep using them until they fall over with exhaustion. They better fix it fast or this is going to be a long season. SMH!!!!
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I still respect Riley, and especially his admission that he wasn’t patient enough.
However, I’m wondering how many offensive coordinators across the country would have limited those two running backs to 12 touches, with their talent level and knowing that obviously you want to do everything possible to keep the Houston offense off the field?
OU rightfully should be considered one of the elite programs in the country, but that wasn’t elite playcalling by any stretch of the imagination.
To me Lincoln said Saturday I am a pass first guy talent be damned. He displayed his Mike Leach “air raid” mentality when the going got tough. Did the same thing last season against Akron, WVU and Texas last year to start the season when Perine and Mixon got a combined 16,22 and 16 rushes for their games.
I thought Jimbo Fisher at FSU showed how you use a prime time running back. Dalvin Cook had 12 yards rushing on his first 7 carries but Jimbo stuck with Dalvin and he had 23 carries for 91 yards plus 7 receptions for 101 yards. That is 30 touches for 192 yards. The result being coming back from being down 28-6 to win 45-34 outscoring the Rebs 39-6 to end the game.
That’s an excellent example of continuing to get the ball in the hands of your best player(s). OU doesn’t have great players at WR, thus no reason to keep them the focus of the offense. Adapting the offense is critical.
It was really impressive the adjustments Fisher made at halftime and then they came storming back to win the game. It’s been a while since OU made such impressive adjustments during a game against a quality opponent.
The double pass should have gone for a TD, loved that call. I wonder if he really called so few runs or we have a run/pass audible that consistenlty went to pass? if so, that needs to be chaged, we have a the H backs and Andrews to block.
I have absolutely no doubt that if the running game had been OUr focus the entire game, OU would have won. It would have kept the Houston offense off the field and it would have worn down their defense. Maybe, OU would have been down at half-time, but their defense would have been tired in the second half. Instead Houston’s defense was fresh the second half and they won the game.
Thanks JY – you always bring insight to what transpired. I was surprised (baffled may be closer) that so few screen passes or swing passes were tried. With two back, faking to one and passing to the other seemed like a natural to loosen them up. The swing pass even worked…when we used it.
Great stuff as always JY. Really appreciate everything you guys do here.
As for the OL, execution is one thing, but it looks to me that the talent is just okay. Not great.
Talent vs. Execution are two separate things. I think that when you never get an opportunity to show who you are, naturally you’re not going to look very good.
It was the only 17 pts. scored, (until the garbage one), that worries me.
When we were stuck on 17, the theme did cross my mind: there goes that 17 offensive points again. Point total in UT loss and point total in Clemson loss last year.
And essentially the total here.
And in the 1st half, too. Or at least UH and Clemson. I can’t remember on whorn if any of the 17 came in the 2nd.
When we were stuck on 17, the theme did cross my mind: there goes that 17 offensive points again. Point total in UT loss and point total in Clemson loss last year.
Nice breakdown, JY. I don’t disagree that they should have probably run more, but the plays that Riley was calling were open for short gain, ball control type completions on many occasions where Baker held the ball, looking for something bigger downfield and ended up scrambling, or getting sacked, or even stripped. There was also a designed option where Perine was open for the pitch and a big gain, but Baker held the ball. Both Stoops and Baker alluded to all this, and clearly completing those plays would have completely changed the complexion of the game. Sigh… Barring injury, I would expect to see a much heavier dose of Perine and Mixon going forward, and better decision making by Baker as well.
Agreed. Like they said in the movie the Program…”joe’s tryin to win the heisman on every damn throw.”
Nice breakdown, JY. I don’t disagree that they should have probably run more, but the plays that Riley was calling were open for short gain, ball control type completions on many occasions where Baker held the ball, looking for something bigger downfield and ended up scrambling, or getting sacked, or even stripped. There was also a designed option where Perine was open for the pitch and a big gain, but Baker held the ball. Both Stoops and Baker alluded to all this, and clearly completing those plays would have completely changed the complexion of the game. Sigh… Barring injury, I would expect to see a much heavier dose of Perine and Mixon going forward, and better decision making by Baker as well.
Watching the replay of the game and Obo wasn’t the only one who killed us with a late hit. J Evans pushed Ward down which drew a late hit penalty middle of the second quarter. When are we going to learn discipline? J Evans is a veteran!
Yeah, saw that. Evans is a 4 year starter.
Yeah, saw that. Evans is a 4 year starter.
Good stuff as always, JY.
Taquon Graham to texas. 1st casualty from opening weekend.
Need a great showing against Ohio St.
We’ll have to improve a LOT to even make that game competitive.
He was a Texas lean throughout his recruitment.
Back to the pro style hurry up. Let’s get downhill. Theses air raid offenses are for teams who lack talent.
https://twitter.com/BrandonTFB/status/772925796478365696
Great breakdown JY….Thanks!
Charles Tapper diagnosed with previously unknown condition.
http://247sports.com/Bolt/Cowboys-Charles-Tapper-diagnosis-was-more-serious-than-thought-47236331
That stinks. Hope he can get through it without any future problems.
Thanks as always JY! We always appreciate you “taking us to school”!
What you talked about and the mistakes we made…Personal Fouls…Turnovers…and Spaghetti leg from the kicker….Was all Houston needed…..
Thanks JY. We appreciate all these breakdowns. They are very beneficial for guys and gals that play other sports and don’t know the details to look for. Should be a much more enjoyable breakdown next week.
Great stuff, JY. Love it. Keep it coming.
I honestly think the problem wiith the offense was a pre-determined mindset. All summer long we kept hearing the SAME narrative about Houston: its Achille’s heel was the secondary and they could be beat over the top. (Statistics from last year did, in fact, reinforce that narrative.)
So LR and BM went into the game looking for the long ball at every opportunity instead of “matriculating the ball downfield.”
Yes sir. Well said
I look at the FSU offense and would love to see OU run something like that. Lotta snaps under center and downhill rushing attack. Mix in some shotgun, do some play action and take the top off the defense.
Im more in favor of what ole miss is doing….we dont have the beef up front besides Brown to run a pro style
Your probably right about the line. But I would love seeing Perine/Mixon out of pro style run attack
We don’t have the beef up front? We’re 300+ lbs right across the line.
Yeah, our line is plenty big. I guess it’s whether they call her Janet, or Ms. Jackson ’cause they’re nasty.
We desperately need nasty and sinewed, tough and feisty. Pretty sure Ford is, and it seems Brown and Samia are at least somewhat. Not sure about Alvarez and Dalton.
I seem to remember JY doing an analysis of some of our recruits a couple of years ago and he was saying how he really likes those nasty/ mean type OLs. As I recall at that point he put both Ford and Alvarez in that category.
JY feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
If you go by the eye test, Alvarez is the nastiest lineman ever! But he doesn’t stand out to me that way on the field. Then again, I’m far from an expert, and I hope they turn it around this week and come out the rest of the year making me look like a fool for doubting them.
No you’re right. Running foo-foo stuff rather than letting them run over them is a whole different story altogether.
We had that in 2008, still lost to Texas.
I prefer the spread or TCU’s offense.
We already have TCU’s offense.
You mean the offense that’s losing?
Great stuff JY..
After all of the OL trash talk this weekend from everybody this should make everyone feel better about the potential of the OL rather than worry about the lack of skill. Ofcourse, great breakdown JY!!!
Some people want to make this about talent. Out of the five recruiting classes that make up these teams Houston never finished closer to OU than sixteen spots in the class rankings. If there is a talent gap it’s in the coaching not on the field.
I’m curious how many hours Herman put in versus Stoops. You know he outworked him.
I don’t think you really want to know that.
I’d be willing to bet that it’s where the biggest gap was in terms of overall team preperation.
That’s what led to Steve Spurrier’s decline.
It’s just as much a credit to Herman. Stoops couldn’t afford to put in as much time for one game with OU’s schedule. Houston had all offseason to prepare for OU without having to worry about teams like Ohio State or TCU.
0800 to 0900?
I don’t know the hours each put in, but the difference in preparation and attitude was obvious.
Yup. Most of the time, people rake OU over the coals because of the recruiting rankings. Then when we get beat by a team where the recruiting rankings heavily favor us, then the argument is just talent without considering the rankings. The rankings aren’t gold when it proves where we lack, but meaningless when comparing talent in a loss.
Houston has a few players OU would have wanted, and definitely Oliver. But OU has greater talent across the board. This is Tom Herman is a freaking stud right now, and/or he is a master at hiring his assistants–or both. He is what Stoops was ’98 to about ’03. Stoops is struggling to find his way back to the top of the heap. I think he’s doing better, but as Saturday proved there are still some major chinks to address.
I don’t put big stock in recruiting rankings. A few points here or there don’t mean much. But we are looking at about and average of 40 points lower for Houston. That is significant. I can believe we have a talent gap when it comes to Bama, Clemson, or tOSU, but not Houston. This one was, more than anything, the result of coaching, offense in particular.
I agree that OU is the more talented team but I also believe that in one area, Houstons WRs vs OUs DBs they had the talent edge and that turned out to be key.
Agreed. They exploited the areas where they had favorable match ups to perfection.
If it wasn’t clear, I’m agreeing 🙂
Bob, not sure if you saw my post below, but I postulated that, because of the prevailing narrative that Houston’s secondary was vulnerable to the long ball (based on last year’s stats), LR and BM went into the game intent on attacking them over the top. Had many missed opportunities with open receivers on shorter routes.
FSU blows , that Ole Mi$$ dline is legit.
OU needs a D line like Ole Piss. I guess money can buy you this
They’ll get to use that line for at least one more year…if the NCAA actually does something to an SEC school.
This is off topic but did Caleb Kelly play?
No, unfortunately.
Mississippi is doing to FSU what they did to Okie St. Their offense is pretty damn good.
Yes, it is. FSU is giving them some help, too, with miscues.
FSU i feel your pain. Their 3rd down defense is struggling.
Nice play Dalvin lol
Ouch! Four point swing.
OU got some much help from all these other highly ranked teams getting smacked.
Yes. I suspect their won’t be an undefeated by season’s end…but we got to get to 11-1.
Yes, only team I’m worried about going undefeated is Clemson. Outside of Florida St. they don’t really play anyone.
And Alabama but I think they’ll trip up somewhere again.
The reality of playing real games in week one. Some highly ranked teams risk losing early (as we are all too aware).
I keep hearing about freshmen making an impact in big games this weekend, while ours seem to be locked to the bench waiting to develop consistency. Venting.
Hopefully that changes this weekend.
I wanna see alot of the young studs rotating next game.
No reason they shouldn’t. Push those starters and if they perform better make them the starter. Let the best man play, period.
I would like to see some meaningful involvement at positions where the upper classmen are underperforming (WR/CB). I know we will have to underwrite some mistakes, but we have to start developing our talent a little faster and a little better.
Hell, we keep hearing about all these guys doing well and rotating in yet we never see them. Deberry, McGinnis, Gallimore, Overton, Kelly, Jackson,Jr., and the list goes on. What is the deal?
Bob tends to get conservative when a big game is on the line. He’s not one to experiment with freshmen unless the game is already decided. I do think that we see them more next week.
I understand that but they probably would not have done any worse and could at least spot play and yes we will see them against ULM when we are up 30.
I agree with you but Im not Bob.
The problem is everyone is playing their talented youngsters, everyone except us that is. This may explain some of our recruiting problems the last few years. Hell guys know that they don’t have much hope of playing early.
Bob basically said Jones will be in there as soon as they are confident that he will pick up protection and be where he’s supposed to be. If a guy isn’t assignment sound, he’s not gonna see the field, no matter how much talent or how much the fans want him out there.
Bob, and Mike, and several of us here, grew up in a time where freshmen were not ready to play and couldn’t be trusted to play. Times have changed and he has acknowledged it by not red shirting many but I think his (their) brain has a hard time actually letting it all loose.
I grew up in the same time, and I think you hit the nail on the head. It seems like the player development model does need to adjust with the times.
I see it all the time in the business world. Seniority over productivity. Loyalty and seniority is great for breaking even and not making waves but if you are wanting to bust through the ceiling sometimes you need to take a chance with the young and hungry, letting the experienced guys take a supporting role. I’m not a coach, I just drink beer and watch this sh$t so keep that in mind. 🙂
Same here, and at the end of the day, Bob has forgotten more about football than I know, but the need for some change in this case seems kind of obvious.
Exactly!!!! Big game Bob has become percentage Bob. Does not coach with an edge any more.
Bob, and Mike, and several of us here, grew up in a time where freshmen were not ready to play and couldn’t be trusted to play. Times have changed and he has acknowledged it by not red shirting many but I think his (their) brain has a hard time actually letting it all loose.
They need to play in games like that so they can one, get used to the speed of the game and two when we play tosu, they have experience in a game like that. I’m sorry but some of these freshmen need to play now not in spot duty. You don’t recruit talent just to sit the bench.
I am in agreement with most of you about giving some of our young talent a chance. You just never know when a star will be born. Since none of our WRs seem to be able to get separation on Sat., why not give Mykel Jones a chance?
There was separation with some of the WRs but Bake wouldn’t throw it cause he wanted a deeper play. I was there and watched routes form and couldn’t believe my eyes. I do agree that I would like to see AD instead of Mead and Mykel. May be some others too.
Whoa..
https://twitter.com/thejalenreagor/status/772872067762888704
OH MY number 2.. talk about some wheels!
Looking forward to some of that when he’s dressed in crimson next season. Lawd know we could use some.
Can he enroll like tomorrow?
That’s what I’m talking about!!! The talent level is about to rise.
Damn, That’s a sick play.
This kid is so fast!
And whoa…
https://twitter.com/marceliassutton/status/751253501926334469
OH MY….. looks like a bunny out there hahah
Craziest jump cut I’ve seen
Wow. Have not seen hops like that since Lil Joe.
I guess you missed the time I stumbled into a campfire, 🙂
Don’t think they had camera phones back then. ; )
Thank God!
NICE!!!
OU just doesn’t have the “dogs” or they aren’t getting played either way when we play schools like tOSU, and Texas it won’t be pretty for us
Love your passion.
I’m sorry but I have to ask is that sarcasm?
Damn good thing that watching is optional.
Good stuff JY. Head scratching for sure. Got a bald spot from all the scratchin. You snuck some technique in there and Coach Bedenboom needs to be on some guys this week. A lot of work to do but the line progressed so much last season there’s no reason they can’t this year. Again, let the nasty loose and get the run game going.
Thanks JY, I stepped away from most of the post game meltdown but your red and blue pen always says more than most of the comments from us dummies. Agree with everyone about getting away from the run, but was a little confused seeing all the blame put on the O line. Improvement needed? absolutely, but I remember seeing Baker dancing with the ball for at least four to five seconds many times. What more can you ask when the a heavy rush is dialed up? Was glad to hear him admit receivers were coming open and he just didn’t pull the trigger. I expect to see improvement on all levels from here on out.
Haven’t watched the whole game. but the Ole Miss cash register seems to be broken.
Unfortunately because of the sanctions they could only afford the first half…
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Early look at ULM spread: Secondary will be tested at least.
The Qb had 150 yards rushing. They had to face Bama after Bama lost to Old Miss, now facing OU after our loss. anything less than 50-14 I’ll be bothered.
ULM by 1
Thanks so much JY. Things like this are so great, particularly to a relative football newbie.
Trench warfare is by far my favorite part of the season. Linc is what Linc is. He was brought here to install an air raid offense. You might as well call it Heup 2.0. But, give credit where credit is due, at least they can get a play off, most of the time. When he gets into a bind he goes back to his roots. As you stated, once UH figured out we had abandoned the run, game over.
I don’t understand why Stoops said on his show that getting behind, by 16 points, changed their play calling. The fact is, they changed their play calling long before getting that far down.
Is it just me or did we run the ball with more frequency in the second half of games last year? If our conditioning is up to speed we should be running with more frequency in the second half of games letting the dynamic duo beat the snot out of the opposing D. Break their will.
Is it just me or did we run the ball with more frequency in the second half of games last year? If our conditioning is up to speed we should be running with more frequency in the second half of games letting the dynamic duo beat the snot out of the opposing D. Break their will.
Really enjoyed this and it’s right on the money. At least both Baker and Lincoln admitted their mistakes. Which means, there is hope for the future. BOOMER!
I think the inexperience of Lincoln Riley showed. He panicked when a couple of things went wrong. He tried to play catch up by throwing the ball instead of staying patient. One reason I always liked Kevin Wilson is because he would stay with the run. I also like that he would run some heavy sets. Our guys never get down and plow people. It’s a spread run blocking scheme that I personally don’t trust. If there hands are not in the dirt how can they drive.
Agree, got out coached in all 3 phases. There was some bad calls, but OU can’t control those. I would like to see a write on, for the defense, how a 2 man rush is supposed to work on 3rd and long?!
JY I don’t know if you looked at noticed Mixon in pass protection. Just the few times I watched it didn’t seem to be his strongest skill. How much of that can or possibly lead to happy feet Baker besides the lack of running game.
Great stuff JY! Thank you for your hard work and taking the time to put this together.
Thanks JY. Excellent commentary, but my one complaint is, it doesn’t make me feel any better. What’s your take on the second half? Just that Houston only needed to concentrate on pass rush/blitzing?
Pretty much. Kind of like when an offense is down by 20 and the d knows you’re not running it. Except they werent down by 20 for any stretch of time and 1 score gets you right back in it.
I completely agree, however I believe the secondary has to shoulder some of the blame. Even our “best” corner looked lost in man coverage. Our inability to force a three and out led to long Houston offensive drives and a tired D-line not putting any pressure on Ward.
The corners did a terrible job at times, but if you told me before the game that our D would hold them to 26, I’d have said we would roll them big time. I think the D as a whole did what I would have wanted. Walker was a beast in the second half, but the O couldn’t score; or move the ball at all in the second half.
I agree. D-line and LB’s as a whole played excellent besides a few busts. Also loved how physical our safeties were.
Offensive play calling really hurt every aspect of our offense no doubt.
Something is going on with the O in the second half of recent games. Are we giving up some sort of signal to the other D’s that tell the plays or is it just ineptitude?
Quite frankly I pin it on bad play calling. We get into panic mode far too soon, and in turn start trying to do too much. Baker needs to focus on making the smart play and not always going for the SC top 10 play. He is an excellent leader and playmaker, but he quickly makes the offense one dimensional when the run game is lacking or non-existent.
Agree. I like his moxie and play making ability, but sometimes I wish he would just dump it off for a 5-6 yard gain instead of running for his life back there. And I agree with virtually everybody else, in that we should have run, run, run.
Countless times I found myself yelling for Baker to dump it off to a wide-open Joe Mixon. He needs to mature in his reads.
Thanks JY !! I enjoy learning facts of the game from you and look forward to your analysis each year. Sometimes it confirms my thoughts, while other times it shows how little I know about the technical aspect of the game. Thanks again.
Ed Oliver is an absolute stud, he reminded me of Tommie Harris in his first start against NC. BUT, in one of the replays where he was causing problems it showed pre-snap and he was lined up in the A gap. It appeared that Dalton and Alvarez were going to double team him. When the ball was snapped Dalton’s first step was with his right foot, Oliver beats the double team. I don’t understand how you make that basic mistake at this level.
Thanks for the mark ups & insight. Was desperately waiting for some insight on the meltdown that occurred in Houston. I’m still confused as to why we abandoned the run. Across the board, we have better athletes, and more depth, we are breaking in new receivers, with the best RB tandem in the nation, we should have just pounded the ball. Moreover, Perine heats up as the game goes on. I think this is a weakness of Riley’s in moving away from the run.