This Season Should be More Engaging
– Super K – Posted on: August 6, 2024
Was chatting with a friend of mine whose nephew plays for Texas and we were talking about the changes happening this season.
The two most obvious being the move to the 12 team playoff system and OU and Texas moving to the SEC.
Of course the novelty of it is exciting – I’m sure fans are going to be more engaged in a battle between OU and Auburn or Ole Miss or TAMU or Missouri than they were against Iowa State or Kansas.
But something we latched on to was how much fuller and richer the entire season has the potential to be.
In the past, if Oklahoma lost one or two games early, there was little reason for hope that anything special was going to happen.
Now? With twelve teams getting into the playoffs coupled with the fact that OU is in a conference that will probably send something four or five teams to the playoffs every year, your season is far from over if you stumble even twice, early.
A team can find its footing under, say, a young quarterback who finds his stride, go on a run, and slide into a playoff spot. And even if you don’t get in, the hope of it remains for much longer into the season than in the past.
Additionally, even if a team has a really bad first half and loses four games and a playoff berth is unlikely, the kind of opponents you face in the SEC gives a fan base a better gauge on where the team is headed going into the off-season and it continues to give the team a chance to prove themself against respected opponents.
The days of OU slipping up early then maybe losing Texas and then having to spend the rest of the season watching OU pointlessly beat Iowa State and Kansas…those days are gone.
There are so many more paths for redemption and excitement. And so many more tests that can tell a fan base what kind of future they have under a coach.
Out of Conference Schedule Preview and Prediction
– Charlie S – Posted on: August 6, 2024
I’m starting to go over the Sooners 2024 schedule in earnest and dig a little deeper into the teams they face in 2024.
OU has four out of conference games this season and that alone should account for four winds on the season for the Sooners.
That Maine game on the first weekend of November is something we are not accustomed to for the Sooners, but it is the way of the SEC to have a cupcake in the middle of the conference schedule. Maine is the very definition of a cupcake.
8/30 vs Temple – The Owls roll into Norman coming off of three consecutive 3-9 seasons. Stan Drayton took over two years ago and while he has elevated the culture in the locker room by all accounts, he has not raised the win total for Temple. In the offseason, the Owls lost the best parts of their team to the transfer portal, including their QB, and they made a change on the defense to switch up schemes and move to a 4-3 defense. OU is favored to win this game by 42 points or something…I am having a difficult time seeing how they don’t cover that spread. Could be something along the lines of 63 – 10 at the end of the evening with a lot of second and third string reps for the Sooners.
9/7 vs Houston – Dana Holgorso…wait…Willie Fritz is the new head man in Houston and he comes in with a pretty barren cupboard offensively and a lot of second and third chance guys defensively. He has his work cut out for him and I do not expect the Cougars to be a very competitive football team, particularly early on in the ’24 season. Houston does have a solid QB returning in Donovan Smith, but they lost their entire offensive line…and rebuilding an offensive line at Houston is not like rebuilding an offensive line at OU. They will struggle. Defensively, Houston brought in a ton of transfers who are largely guys who had no other options. Ther linebacking crew (led by former Sooner Jamal Morris) is likely their best unit. Fritz will do big things in Houston I believe, but it won’t be in time to stave off a beating by the Sooners in September. No clue what the line will be, but it will likely be in the high teens or low twenties in favor of OU.
9/14 vs Tulane – Willie Fri…nevermind…Jon Sumrall, the former head coach at Troy, takes over the Green Wave program which has been riding relatively high over the past few years which was punctuated by a win over USC in a bowl game following the ’22 season. With the new staff comes a new QB as Michael Pratt has finally moved on and Ty Thompson transferred in from Oregon. They should be ‘solid’ offensively as their line is experienced and they have decent skill players, but by no means will they be the juggernaut that they were at times with Pratt at the helm. Defensively, they return some experience on the line including Patrick Jenkins who is a very good player. Bottom line…Tulane should provide the strongest test of the first three out-of-conference opponents, but the Sooners should have no issues dispatching them with superior talent and a lot more depth. I would imagine OU goes into the game as a double-digit favorite and I expect them to come out with a convincing victory.
11/2 vs Maine – The FCS Black Bears are coming off two consecutive losing seasons. I’m not going to waste my time or your time digging into this one. They stink and are a low ranked FCS team…OU will basically have a bye week at a very good time.
So I have OU winning their four out of conference games on the year with Tulane being the most likely to put up a fight.
Not a glamorous out-of-conference slate by any stretch, but probably one that is welcomed in Norman, particularly with the strength of the SEC schedule they drew.
Concerning The Gibson Injury
– Charlie S – Posted on: August 7, 2024
…I know rumors are wild that there have been other significant injuries.
What I can tell you is that at every camp, guys miss time with bumps and bruises.
We generally only pass along injury info if it is something serious.
At this time, I am not aware of any additional serious injuries aside from the Gibson injury.
Sooners and Texas bit by the Injury Bug
– Super K – Posted on: August 8, 2024
This weekend both the Sooners and Texas suffered an injury. The Sooners WR Jayden Gibson and Texas RB CJ Baxter.
I think Gibson was primed to have a potential breakout year and his size would have come in handy in the SEC. But given the Sooners depth at WR and the various body types and skill sets of the guys in the room, I think the impact could be fairly minimal.
However, for Texas it may be a different story. My suspicion when I heard the news was that this was quite a blow to Texas.
But I wanted to check with both Darius and CJ to get a sense of their thoughts as both of them not only know the program well but they have connections to the program.
They confirmed my own intuition that this was a tough blow for Texas. I think it’s important to also under that this loss comes in the context of Texas replacing all their key WR targets.
Darius said, “It’s a big deal…[he’s] their best pass blocking back.”
CJ said, “I think it’s very big.” He talked about the fact that even though they have Jaydon Blue, Blue is more of a 12-15 touch guy. He also noted that none of the young guys are getting the kind of praise Baxter was during camp last year as a freshman.
Praying for a speedy recovery for both.
