Weekend Open Post | October 18th – 20th
Posted on: October 18, 2024
How Did The Offense Get Here? | Late Night
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 12, 2024
At its very core, college football is still a QB centric game.
If the high point of your team’s QB play is year two under Dillon Gabriel, you either have some low expectations, or your program has not lived up to its expectations.
In this case, it is very clear that OU, who is widely regarded to be ‘QBU’ has not lived up to that billing over the course of Brent Venables’s three years as head coach.
Each and every year there has been one glaring deficiency or another in the QB room.
In year one, OU was forced between a rock and a hard place when Lincoln Riley fled west and took Caleb Williams with him. Spencer Rattler technically could have stayed in Norman, but that was never gonna happen so Venables and Jeff Lebby went out and picked up Dillon Gabriel.
The problem is, they never developed a competent, or even serviceable backup QB to go along with Gabriel despite taking two guys out of the portal as well as signing a 4* recruit. When Gabriel went down with an injury, OU was forced to turn to Davis Beville who led the worst offensive day, production-wise, in the history of the Red River Shootout and one of the most inept offensive performances by OU in general in their long history.
In year two, OU had Gabriel along with Beville and Booty coming back and they landed a 5* recruit in Jackson Arnold who won the Elite 11 competition and was one of the most coveted players in the country. Arnold was named QB2 so OU had a veteran starter and an inexperienced and young backup.
During that season, OU absolutely mismanaged Arnold’s season. Going into the season, the stated plan was not to redshirt Arnold. Jackson played in 4 out of the first 5 games but he was used as a running back in two of those games. After his 4th appearance, there was some talk about suddenly wanting to redshirt him, so they sat him down for a month and a half (and there were opportunities to get him in) until he was needed to play against BYU in late November following a Dillon Gabriel injury. Thus, his redshirt was burned and he basically lost 3-4 additional developmental opportunities in games as OU focused on padding Gabriel’s stats until he got hurt.
Year three was set to be Jackson Arnold’s year and OU even went out and didn’t bother pursuing Dillon Gabriel who announced he was not going pro because of their belief in Arnold. What they based that belief on, I don’t know, because he didn’t get many development opportunities the year prior, but at every chance, all throughout the prior year, Brent Venables let it be known that this was Gabriel’s last year in Norman and Jackson Arnold was next.
OU brought in journeyman Casey Thompson from the portal to provide an experienced voice in the room and they landed Mike Hawkins as a recruit. All offseason we talked about the need to have some patience with Arnold as you know there were going to be some bumps in the road with a young QB. In the bowl game, Jackson Arnold had a rash of turnovers, but the thought was that this would be worked out in time and repetitions. Hawkins had a surprising spring and fall camp, but Arnold was the consensus starter. Hawkins did win the QB2 job ahead of Thompson.
So OU had 2 very young and very inexperienced quarterbacks at the top of the depth chart.
Once the season started, Arnold struggled at times with turnovers and a stagnant offense, but they did put up solid numbers in two of the first three games but then Arnold had a turnover-plagued first half against Tennessee and Hawkins came in while OU was trailing big and he led a couple of scoring drives. Arnold absolutely suffered some of those bumps and bruises we all talked about being possible.
After the game, Brent Venables said OU would go through an evaluation period and a QB competition that next week. The evaluation apparently went pretty quickly and there was no competition during the week as Mike Hawkins was named QB1 on September 23rd. During the presser on the 24th, Brent Venables also went out of his way to bring up the Dillon Gabriel departure and OU’s lack of moving to retain him…unprovoked.
Back on September 23rd I made note that I would put this out as a rumor and speculation note that I was hearing that Jackson Arnold and his camp were seriously considering asking for a redshirt with an intention to transfer following the season. I reiterated that on the day OU played Auburn as I had another source indicate they had heard similar.
So, that is how we got to where we are right now.
OU has a very young and inexperienced quarterback in Mike Hawkins. The Sooners could have and perhaps should have given him a seat on the bench today as the moment just looked too big for him and he looked like you would expect a true freshman who was making his second start ever and it happened to be in the Cotton Bowl against Texas.
But OU really had no other option than to ride out the storm today with Hawkins, because they worked themselves into this position with some really poor management of the QB room, which has absolutely become a pattern for this program.
OU can’t really bring in Arnold, or at least they couldn’t today, because of how poorly they have managed his first two seasons in Norman. The minute Arnold steps onto the playing field he loses his redshirt opportunity.
OU couldn’t really bring in Casey Thompson, because what happens if he goes out there and leads a couple of scoring drives while Hawkins struggled so mightily today?
OU really can’t go out there and bench Mike Hawkins at this point because it already looks like Arnold is likely to transfer and if you bench Hawkins, who knows where his mind wanders off to and you could very well be setting yourself up to be in the same exact position Lincoln Riley left you in.
This all could have been avoided with some massaging of egos and public messaging.
After the Tennessee game, I noted that the looming decision and how it was handled could have a major impact on jobs, trajectory, recruiting, and several other aspects of the OU program. So…this is how we got here and this situation would best be characterized as being quite delicate right now.
How the rest of the year plays out will go a long way in determining how the jobs, the trajectory, the recruiting, and the other aspects of the program are impacted.
One thing is certain…OU cannot, and will not, win very many games in the SEC with the level of QB play they put out there over the last two games.
This Needs to Happen Tonight
– Super K – Posted on: October 12, 2024
Other than Charlie, I’m not sure any of us thought Hawkins would struggle this much.
You can blame a lot of people but it really doesn’t matter if the QB simply won’t throw the ball. As Charlie noted, even on 4th down in your own territory when there is nothing to lose, you aren’t throwing the ball? A deep throw and an INT would have been preferable there.
The offensive line has gotten better. There were flashes of the run game in the first half. But there is no forward pass to speak of.
And here’s the problem, you’re playing in the SEC. The wide open stuff isn’t going to be there. We all remember the 08 OU vs Florida game. They all play tight coverage and you have to trust you can throw guys open.
Bottom line is, this OU offense and the QB plays isn’t getting better and the competition isn’t going to get worse.
Last week, I said OU could’ve beat Tennessee, well, they also could’ve lost to Auburn.
If the offense doesn’t improve and I mean, in a big way, BV will end this season under .500 and may not win another game in conference.
The decision to bench what was essentially a freshman in Jackson Arnold and then open up the competition was clearly not a great one. The short term and long term consequences could be dire.
First, Jackson is a young player with a talented arm who was playing behind an OL that was trying to find itself. Yes, he played bad enough to sit the bench but you can’t open up the competition for a kid as young as Arnold after he’s been in the program and won it. That was too early. That’s especially true after you burned his RS last year.
I don’t blame Arnold for not trusting this staff to let him work through his youth.
I don’t know how good Arnold is ultimately going to be but at this point, you have to try to convince him to take the reins and back him off any thought he might have of a redshirt.
IMO tonight, BV and co need to sit down with Arnold’s family, offer him the starting job and guarantee that he will be on a long leash.
If they don’t do that and this offense doesn’t improve in a huge huge way, I don’t know what the rest of this season looks like.
BV’s defense is good but you can’t expect kids to play without any energy from the other side. You can’t expect them to win the turnover battle every week. They could’ve held Texas to 10 points today and still lost. Think about that.
This is the second time in Brent’s short career at OU that his team has been in dire straits at the QB position. A HC cannot have sustained success like this.
Make the guarantee to Jackson. Use Hawkins in packages. And build.
Sunday Brunch | Short Money and Long Money
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 13, 2024
While looking through the old recipe book and trying to figure out what to serve up for brunch today, I initially was searching for something light that wouldn’t wreak havoc on the digestive tracts of the community at large which I know went through some things yesterday.
I am here to tell you…I got nothing.
I’m gonna need more time to digest what took place yesterday in the Cotton Bowl before I serve up anything worth consumption.
As I sit here, all I keep going back to is believing that I was right about the QB situation and I wish I had gone in even harder than I did initially because the 48 hours that followed the Tennessee game is a time period that looks like it will indeed have a major impact on OU football as a whole over the coming days, weeks, months, and years.
My brain is not focusing on the on-field personnel involved in the drama as much as it lasering in on Brent Venables and his staff continuing to make short-term decisions rather than decisions based on foundational type stuff.
The road ahead does not get easier for OU. In fact, it gets more difficult. With the way things are currently situated, the Sooners have really boxed themselves into a corner.
Mike Hawkins is not currently equipped to help OU win games in the SEC. He just isn’t.
Jackson Arnold had a really, really bad half in the first SEC matchup of the season (and in OU’s history) and he was rightfully shown a seat on the sideline for the rest of that game, and that’s where things went horribly off the rails for OU.
Venables and his staff once again went against what they had been preaching while leading up to the season. The message was that they knew Arnold was a young guy and there were going to be bumps and bruises along the way but that they, as a team, would work through those bumps and bruises and develop the offense together.
Well, none of that happened as the bumps and bruises Arnold was going through coupled with the need to win games now led the Sooners staff to making what now clearly appears to be a panicked decision to change out the face of their program based on one really bad half of football.
Initially, the plan seemed to work, but that really only lasted for the first 5 minutes of the Auburn game as Hawkins put down a 48 yard touchdown run. In doing so, he also alerted every defensive coordinator as to how to defend him because over the next 55 minutes of the Auburn game, everyone could see that OU had virtually no passing game with Hawkins at the helm.
Venables has in the past talked about short-term money vs long-term money when talking about NIL. In this instance, Brent and his staff chose to go with the short-term money as opposed to waiting for the long-term money to start paying off…because they were panicked and a bit desperate.
Yesterday, we saw a solid Texas defense have no issues in completely shutting down the OU offense. The Texas defense, while solid, does not even have the fronts that OU will face in each of their remaining SEC games. That my friends, is a scary situation.
Short term…OU won the battle against Auburn with Mike Hawkins playing a role with that terrific 48 yard touchdown run. Long term, OU is currently losing the war as they have a better quarterback prospect in Jackson Arnold sitting on the bench and mulling over his future while defenses have quickly learned how to completely shut down the OU offense.
OU is set to face South Carolina next week. One thing I can guarantee you is that Shane Beamer and his Gamecocks are hoping OU continues to play the short money game rather than shift things back to the long money game because right now, it is pretty easy to prepare to defend the OU offense.
Answering Pertinent Questions
– Super K – Posted on: October 14, 2024
After this past weekend’s debacle, there are a number of questions floating around. So, I’ll try to answer some of those here.
***What is the upside for this season?
The Sooners have a tough schedule. I’m not saying the teams aren’t beatable. We saw Vandy beat Alabama. We saw three loss USC beat LSU. But we also know that every team OU plays outside of Maine has a defensive line that can run and squeeze and they have back end players that play tight coverage.
And when you’re essentially relying on the legs of your quarterback and he’s hesitant to throw if a player isn’t “open” (and I put that in quotes because in this type of league you’re not going to have many plays where guys are running wide open), then it’s tough to win.
This question has to do with talent assuming (and right now it’s a big assumption) that you have coaches who can put the players in position to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses.
If it’s based on the talent and we assume the staff can put them in good position, I’ll give you an optimistic scenario of the upside being 8-4. But I wouldn’t bet on OU getting there.
What is the downside?
Simple, 5-7.
If the offense doesn’t improve, I think we can all agree that’s on the table.
What part of the offense is most to blame?
I think there are a number of cases you can make.
You can blame the OL for not giving QBs enough time or giving the backs enough space.
You can blame the TEs for whiff after whiff…after whiff.
You can blame the running backs for not taking advantage of the space they’re given and not making anyone miss.
You can blame the QB for not trusting what he sees and getting the ball out of his hands or manipulating the pocket.
You can blame the coaches for not recognizing what they have and properly adjusting. I think it’s pretty clear they need to pivot to some kind of option system.
You can blame the HC because when you’re at OU and your offense is nearly last in the country, how the heck did you not see that in the spring or summer of fall?
There are problems across the board.
But as I look at the staff, here is what I see…
The OL is vastly underperforming what we have come to expect from coach Bedenbaugh but I haven’t been as hard on them because:
a. OL is the hardest position to recruit and develop because of the need to have every piece moving in synch.
b. Everyone complains about their OL coach. It’s like government, no one likes their government. But there is bad government and there is worse government. I was reminded of that in this old exchange between coach Saban and a long time friend of mine…
c. There is actually a standard we are holding the OL to and that’s a standard that Bedenbaugh created. I know it’s unlucky for Brent that of all the years that Bedenbaugh has a good OL, this wasn’t the year for them to take a step back. But that’s why you don’t lose to Okie State and Kansas last year. You build your credit for the down times.
d. There has been NFL production here and the talent is young and incoming (assuming they can hold on to them). In other words, I recognize this year is an exception not a rule. I can’t say that for the other positions.
As for the tight end position, well, I remember Mark Andrews and Gresham. And man, they are far from that. It’s been a position of inconsistency this year, last year and the year before. There isn’t NFL production at this position.
As for the running back position, I’ve already covered this. Up until recently, the rotation hasn’t made sense for the past year or so. No one seems to be developing. The past few years, OU just hasn’t been producing NFL backs.
As for the quarterback position. I know people are pining over Dillon Gabriel but whatever Gabriel might be doing at Oregon, we all remember the absolute droughts the Sooners saw for long periods of time on offense. We remember the pick 6 against Okie State. We remember wide open misses. I’m not saying he isn’t better than what OU currently has but that also can’t be the standard. It’s the same thing, there isn’t NFL production here.
As for the wide receivers, we all know the injury situation and the fact the Sooners still have talented guys on the field is a testament to what Emmett has done. So, we have mostly laid off the wide receivers because we recognize the injury situation is really challenging. Additionally, I don’t really know how good the wide receivers are because there aren’t a lot of bullets flying right now. Could that be because they aren’t open? Sure, but, again, you aren’t going to have guys running wide open in this league. You’re going to have to throw guys open.
Again, there is plenty of blame to go around.
Why can’t we have a good offense and a good defense?
The Sooners absolutely can. But they haven’t because…
Lincoln was a quarterback obsessed offensive guy who didn’t like to blame his coaches. So, he was slow to pivot. He tried to find someone who could run that side of the ball but he gave him too much rope and too much authority. He should’ve know it was a red flag when Grinch was advocating to hire a LB coach as a corner coach in a passing league.
BV is defense obsessed.
And Bob was a guy who had a defensive background but kept his eye on the whole program. The problem is once he hired Mike, he wasn’t going to be able to let him go.
I think guys like BV or Lincoln can make great coaches even though they’re obsessed with one side of the ball. You see it with Saban and Kirby and you’re starting to see it with Sark. But obviously you’ve got to be able to read into small things to help you make good hires. And when it’s not right, you have to get in there and fix it or pivot quickly.
What does the offense need to do now?
There are QBs who are gunslingers and there are conservative QBs. Arnold was a gunslinger. With guys like that, they’re going to trust their eyes and make a throw and early on in their career that’s going to lead to mistakes. You’re hoping that they will remain a gunslinger but reduce their mistakes.
Hawkins is conservative. He can certainly put the ball where he wants but he’s hesitant to do so, so he isn’t going to make many mistakes. Your hope is you can gradually push him to trust himself more and more as things slow down for him. You can’t simply tell him to let it rip, otherwise you risk him turning it over and reinforcing his instinct to be conservative.
I think Seth sees that and was trying to get him out of the pocket a lot in order to play to Mike’s strength in his athleticism but also split the field so that he’s looking at less.
I think you’ve got to continue to do that and I think going to more option game but repping it enough is necessary.
It may not be ideal but it’ll give you some things that you’re doing frequently enough that you can get good enough at it to muster some points.
What changes could we see at the end the season?
That will obviously depend on how the second half of the season goes. But if it’s bad, I gather that nothing will be off the table.
Position Group Progress Report | ’24 Game 6: Texas
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 14, 2024
Checking out how the position groups performed in the Sooners loss to Texas. OU was a substantial underdog going into the game, and Texas did more than cover.
This will be the sixth progress report of the season. I will include the previous week’s ranking at the top of each position group’s report in all subsequent progress reports!
Let’s see how things shook out against Texas.
QB: Nebula (Last week: High 3*)
Just a bad day for a young and inexperienced guy. Gave the ball away while also not giving his skill position players any chance to make plays with his refusal to throw the ball. It’s difficult to develop a QB on the fly when you have so much development to go through just to get to ‘solid’. Decision-making and situational awareness as a whole need to improve by leaps and bounds first and foremost.
RB: 1* (Last week: Low 3*)
Jovantae Barnes looked at least solid when given the opportunity early on. Probably the best of the OU skill position players on this day.
Taylor Tatum looked the best on his two runs, until he coughed up the ball, again.
WR: Nebula (Last week: Low 3*)
Can’t grade a group that really played no factor in the game.
I guess you can say it was nice to see Zion Kearney get some run, but as a whole, the wide receiver room was just out there as window dressing.
TE: Nebula (Last week: Nebula)
Back to back nebula’s for this group. If you’re not going to throw them the ball (they did record 4 catches) they better be able to be useful in the blocking game. They didn’t and they weren’t.
OL: High 1* (Last week: 3*)
The best of the bad? Thought they looked decent in the first quarter aside from Tarquin, but when Texas realized there was no passing threat, they simply overwhelmed this group with run blitzes and they were constantly in the backfield.
Will give a shout to Troy Everett who came in and played markedly better than Branson Hickman at center.
DT: 3* (Last week: 4*)
As a group, I thought the interior of the defense was the best unit on the day for OU.
Damonic Williams doesn’t quit, and while his penalty sucked, it was nice to see some fire. I thought Halton, Terry, and Jackson were more than fine and they stood out early. However, they got worn down and they were getting little help from the EDGEs and the linebackers when it came to stopping the run.
DE: 1* (Last week: 4*)
The three man front didn’t help this group’s impact on the game, but the fact that they forgot how to hold an edge also worked against them.
Ethan Downs picked up a coverage sack on Texas’ first series, but after that, feels like we didn’t see or hear from the EDGE room in any positive manner.
LB: 1* (Last week: 4*)
Maybe I am a bit too low here, but I cannot recall a time when I questioned the effort of Danny Stutsman and that is weighing heavily on my grading here. The fumble into the endzone which Texas recovered while Stutsman appeared to be uninterested in recovering, or even preventing Texas from recovering really summed up the OU defensive performance. Felt like they knew they were up against it with the way the OU offense just could not support them.
I thought Kobie McKinzie played a nice game but Kip Lewis was pretty much a non-factor and at times he was pushed around out there.
CB: High 3* (Last week: Low 3*)
Eli Bowen got the start and he was the best OU defensive player of the day and it wasn’t particularly close. The kid is a dog and he has no quit in him. As I mentioned before the game, Bowen looked a lot like a guy who is turning into that lockdown corner that OU desperately needs.
Kani Walker who started opposite of him had a massive missed tackle and then gave up some easy completions. Was not a great day for him.
The fact that Jacobe Johnson saw more snaps at CB than WR says something about the decision-making of this staff as well. I will let you all decide on your own what that says.
S: High 2* (Last week: 4*)
Billy Bowman made a nice interception in the first quarter, but after that, he went downhill and kind of disappeared.
RSJ may have played his worst game of his career and I am not sure who you blame for him having to run onto the field late, but it helped the Longhorns out on a ling touchdown run right up and through RSJ.
Thought Peyton Bowen was fine, but not a standout.
ST: High 3* (Last week: 4*)
Luke Elzinga was terrific with his punting.
Keltner was 1-2 on field goals.
Returns were decent, thought Sam Franklin was close to breaking one and Bowen was trying his best at punt return.
A Must Win
– Super K – Posted on: October 15, 2024
Of the remaining games on OU’s schedule, I think most would agree the most winnable of those games are Maine, South Carolina and Missouri.
But the profile of South Carolina is interesting in that they appear to be a copy of the Sooners.
Like OU they have a poorly rated offense. And like the Sooners the defense is the strength of their team.
In my estimation this is a must win for Brent and co. It’s critical to put a floor under this season. But it’s also a game that tests the narrative that while Brent has come up very short on the offensive side, he’s built a championship defense. If that’s the case then this is the exact kind of team that your defense can win for you.
Additionally, with both teams having limitations on offense, the better offensive coaches and the better game plan will likely be the deciding factor.
A win here may not calm the waters but it’ll help. A loss at home to a team with a similar profile as the Sooners, will be problematic for multiple reasons. In particular it would further expose some coaching weaknesses.
I’ve noticed lately that the new narrative going around is OU doesn’t have the talent to compete with these teams. I completely disagree and I notice that narrative was conspicuously missing before the season started. But even if that is your narrative in other games, it shouldn’t be in this one. Perhaps I will discuss the talent issue further in another post.
Home game this weekend. BV and co need this one.
Sourced Team Note | Practice Rep Distribution
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 15, 2024
Both Mike Hawkins and Jackson Arnold have played in 4 games to this point of the season.
As soon as the next snap is taken, one of them will lose their potential to redshirt for the year.
It appears as though Mike Hawkins will start the game this weekend based on sources and Brent Venables’s own words last night.
The interesting sourced note here is that sources tell us that Jackson Arnold is still taking QB2 reps, and in fact, he is taking more reps than most backups. Source quantifies it as a 60/40 split in practice over the last two weeks.
Typically, the reps between QB1 and QB2 in the season, particularly when a team is struggling, are split closer to 90/10 or 80/20.
Take from that what you will, because I really have no explanation that follows any sort of direct path to what it does or does not indicate. Last night Brent said Arnold had a great week of practice leading up to Texas, but during the game, they did not feel that was something they needed to do (make the change).
Based on how mightily Hawkins was struggling against Texas, I really do not know what would move OU to make the change at this point if they ‘didn’t feel they needed to’ against the Horns.
So, that leads us back to the notion that Jackson Arnold has made it known that he would like a redshirt and plans on transferring. Ok…but then why would he be given valuable reps in the practice week which could benefit Mike Hawkins?
Something isn’t lining up, but I thought the sourced note about the reps was something that was worth passing along.
Offensive Issues | Addressing Narratives
– Super K – Posted on: October 16, 2024
Let’s go through a few of the narratives regarding the offensive side of the ball.
Is it the scheme and the game plan?
***Speaking specifically about the Texas game, I don’t know what other game plan folks would advocate for.
***Hawkins is struggling as a drop back passer. So, they got Hawkins out of the pocket to give him the option to run or pass while making his pass read easier by splitting the field.
***Additionally, they ran plenty of option which you’d think would suit a running QB. But as BV noted in the presser, there were times where the handoff wasn’t being made even though that was the proper read and there were big yards to be had.
***I’m not sure what folks want the staff to do. I understand it is ultimately on them but what game plan should they have? They had guys at times schemed open. Brent noted that while the line needs to get better, he said they were much better in pass pro and there were open wide receivers that they need hit.
***In the run game, early on, the Sooners found some success against Texas’ edges but you’ve got to pay those off in the pass game. Otherwise, the defense will force you to pass with 8/9 men fronts.
Is it the talent?
***Defensively, the Sooners have a ton of talent. They have one of the most athletic DE rooms in the country. They have good depth at DT and Bates has done a dang good job developing those guys. The safety room is good. The linebacker room is good. The corner room is good.
***Offensively…
***The young talent on the OL is good but it’s inexperienced. Much of the experienced talent doesn’t have the upside. Not an ideal combination. But as Brent noted, they are improving. There is no doubt this isn’t the OL Sooners are used but it’s not bad enough justify scoring three points in any game.
***The wide receiver room has been decimated but the fact the Sooners are still fielding guys like Pettaway and Kearney despite losing so many wide receivers is a testament to Emmett’s ability to build talent and depth. Go look at the Texas wide receiver depth chart tell me what it would like if they lost their top five wide receivers.
***The guys OU is fielding right now are talented and athletic. They are just inexperienced. Still, whether it’s the QB play or the QB + OL play, I think the lack of production at the WR position is less about the WRs and more about them not having enough opportunities to make plays.
Do they need a QB coach?
***Perhaps the Sooners do need a new QB coach but that might be a little too simplistic.
***As many of you already know, QB coaches aren’t there to teach you how to throw. These kids are trained from the time they are little boys to play at this level. Even if you tried to make changes to what they do, their habits are so ingrained it would be difficult. You can modify some things but the QB coach – many didn’t play QB like Lebby – are there to help them understand the offense and get better in their decision making process.
Baker isn’t getting better because he’s a better thrower. He’s getting better because he’s processing faster and is in offense that works for him.
***So, I doubt simply getting a new QB coach fixes the abysmal offensive performances we are seeing. As we’ve said, it’s a combination of a long list of things but there is no doubt that young QBs whether they have upside or not are going to struggle. Caleb Williams got pulled as a freshman. A QB coach can make a difference and I can’t say what impact they’d have right now. But my guess is it would be marginal. More importantly, I want to remind folks that if the problem with your QB is foundational, a QB coach won’t fix that.
Visitors of Note This Weekend
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 16, 2024
The Sooners will be hosting a couple ’25 visitors of note this weekend.
Offensive lineman Austin Pay will be taking an official visit.
Linebacker Kaleb Burns will be taking an unofficial visit.
***Pay (6’6 295) out of American Fork, Utah, is a name we have talked about for a while now as someone to monitor and OU is set to host him this weekend. Pay is a guy who will serve a 2 year mission before he enrolls anywhere, and it is difficult to envision him going anywhere other than BYU at this time, but the Sooners will get a shot to make a move here.
***Burns is a guy who was recently offered by OU and he is currently committed to Baylor. OU offered back on October 1st after having built a relationship with Burns. At that time I reported this visit was set HERE and…
“I’m not gonna dance around it, OU is already in a very good spot, and should they put the full court press on in the coming weeks, I would not be surprised at all to see him be part of the class.”
***I’m gonna walk that back a bit as Burns visited Oregon last week on what was a polar opposite type of weekend for the Ducks and the Sooners as Oregon beat Ohio State and OU got publicly flogged by Texas.
***I am not saying that OU should be counted out, but sources say Oregon made a big move with Burns. OU does have proximity in their favor and I can tell you that his family and others around him are very high on OU, but this is by no means a slam dunk for OU at this time and my feeling is that they trail at this time. OU still has an official visit to offer Burns so this weekend is a good chance to reassert themselves in this race.
Refreshing Change
– Super K – Posted on: October 17, 2024
I know most of you are reeling from last weekend’s game. And many of you are uncertain about how to feel about the staff.
But something that is a refreshing change is not having to follow up the Red River game with a trip to some Big 12 town to play a Big 12 game that means so little.
The beauty of the SEC is you have a chance to redeem yourself. But you also have a chance to get a real sense of your coaches and the team’s progress or lack thereof.
You can’t hide.
In the past the Sooners would be playing a team no one cared about. Even if they won all it would do is offer cover to the staff but ultimately tell the fan base nothing about the team.
The Sooners still have so many games on the schedule. The team has an opportunity to win some respect back. And should they lose, then at least the admin, the alum and the fans will know exactly where the OU program is.
Even the South Carolina isn’t the toast of the SEC, the Sooners are still facing multiple NFL defensive linemen. They’re still facing a talented team and a win over them will not only be meaningful to the rest of the country, it will be exciting and telling.
Know Your Opponent | South Carolina – 2024
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 17, 2024
Head Coach – Shane Beamer (4th year)
Offensive Coordinator – Dowel Loggains (2nd year)
Defensive Coordinator – Clayton White (4th year)
The Gamecocks are 3-3 on the year.
South Carolina has wins over Old Dominion (23-19), Kentucky (31-6), and Akron (50-7).
They have suffered their losses to LSU (33-36), Ole Miss (3-27) and Alabama (25-27).
On offense…
Under Loggains the Gamecocks have moved away from the pro style offense Beamer initially employed and now sport a version of the Briles scheme. Loggains worked with Kendal Briles and he incorporates a lot of his style so the Sooners should be very familiar with the concepts they see from the South Carolina offense. They are currently ranked 92nd in total offense as they average 362 yards per game.
QB #16 LaNorris Sellers
RB #5 Rocket Sanders
TE #6 Joshua Simon
– Sellers is a big dude at QB (6’3 242) and he is an absolute load to take down when he get son the run. He is raw as a QB, but has shown flashes and can beat you with his legs as well as his arm. Sellers has 4 TD passes and 4 interceptions on the year and is completing 62% of his passes. He has been sacked 20 times, which is a bit alarming for the Gamecocks. Sellers is second on the team in rushing attempts as well so OU will have to be ready for the QB power run game.
– Rocket Sanders is a guy OU kicked the tires on a couple times as they pursued him out of high school and when he hit the portal. He is averaging 4.9 yards per carry and has 5 touchdowns on the ground. Not a huge threat in the passing game as he has 8 receptions on the season.
– Simon is a weapon at Tight End and he has 16 receptions on the year with 1 touchdown among those receptions. He is a big target and a chain mover for the Gamecocks.
WR #8 Nyck Harbor,
WR #7 Gage Larvadain
WR #3 Mazeo Bennett Jr.
– Bennett is the leading receiver for South Carolina with 17 catches and a touchdown. He comes out of the slot so the safeties will have to keep track of him.
– Not listed as a starter is #8 Nyck Harbor…he is an athletic freak that you may remember from his HS days when OU was recruiting him. He is starting to find his way and with his size (6’5) and speed, he is a nightmare matchup.
LT #74 Josiah Thompson
LG #52 Kamaar Bell
C #53 Vershon Lee,
RG #76 Torricelli Simpkins III
RT #75 Cason Henry
– Not a great group by any stretch, but they are battle tested.
– Simpkins is their best offensive lineman and the tackles are rough.
– Henry and Thompson have combined to allow 8 sacks on pash rush plays (a couple more coverage sacks) and Vershon Lee has allowed 4 sacks from the center spot. The OU defensive line has a chance to take over the game.
On defense…
The Gamecocks run a version of a 4-3 base (how refreshing is that to read these days?) and they have a very good pass rush, particularly from their defensive ends. They typically play 2 linebackers and a nickel who serves as your SAM for the most part. Could call it a 4-2-5 defense if you want, but the ends do not have a lot of coverage responsibilities so the front is truly a 4 man front and the backend gets dressed up in different clothes throughout the games. The group is ranked as 20th in total defense and they have 19 sacks on the season.
DE #6 Dylan Stewart
NT #91 Tonka Hemingway
DT #90 TJ Sanders
DE #5 Kyle Kennard
– Of the 19 sacks that South Carolina has recorded, Kyle Kennard has accounted for 7.5 of them. At 6’5 254 Kennard is a lot to handle and the Gamecocks picked a good one out of the portal. The OU tackles will face their stiffest man-on-man test on Saturday.
– Dylan Stewart on the other side is no slouch either and he is even bigger than Kennard as he stands 6’6. Stewart has 3.5 sacks of his own to his credit and he and Kennard represent the best pair of bookends that OU will have to deal with this year, in my opinion. They are ferocious coming off the edge.
– Hemingway and Sanders are good interior defenders and Sanders is actually 3rd on the entire team in tackles. They obviously benefit from the EDGE pressure the Gamecocks generate, but they are stout against the run and can even generate some pressure as between the pair they have 3 sacks. Really impressive defensive line overall.
WLB #0 Debo Williams
MLB #22 Bam Martin-Scott
– Williams and Martin-Scott have 31 and 25 tackles on the year respectively. They are not asked to rush the passer too much, but they are both active and athletic. They can struggle with tackling at times.
– #17 Demetrius Knight is my favorite linebacker for the Gamecocks and he is the first guy off the bench for them and he is a very sound tackler who flies to the ball. He can and does play the SAM when South Carolina goes to the 4-3.
CB #3 O’Donnell Fortune,
SS #1 DQ Smith
FS #7 Nick Emmanwori
CB #20 Judge Collier
NB #24 Jalon Kilgore
– Nick Emmanwori is the Gamecocks leading tackler with 38 tackles on the season. He also has a pair of inteerceptions.
– Kilgore, who you may remember from his high school recruitment, was a guy OU was very high on and they were near the top of his recruitment. He has 3 picks at this point in his sophomore season to go along with 20 tackles.
– As a group the Gamecocks defensive backs have all 8 of the teams interceptions on the season and they are a long and athletic group who are also very physical.
Overall thoughts…
– If the OU defense shows up and has a short memory from last week, we could be staring down the barrel of a 10-7 game that goes into extra innin…I mean, over time as both of these offenses have shown the propensity to struggle.
– The OU offense has its work cut out for them as you simply hope to slow down the pass rush of South Carolina. One way to do that is to run right at the spot where the rush is coming from…problem is, the Sooners have not been able to establish a solid ground game to this point.
– If Mike Hawkins has not made a big step from last week, OU could be in trouble based on him continually rolling into pressures instead of stepping up in the pocket. It will be crucial for him to get rid of the ball and find the quick routes and know where his hot route is. Expect South Carolina to employ the same defensive strategy that Auburn and Texas did in regard to spying Hawkins and taking away his first read.
– As we sit here on Thursday, I really do not know how OU will move the ball consistently against South Carolina based on what we have seen over the last two games. But…that is really more of a reflection on OU than South Carolina.
– South Carolina is not the 85 Bears, but their strengths on defense really line up with some of the Sooners most glaring deficiencies on offense (ability to block the edge with OL/TE and the inability of the QB to effectively distribute the ball quickly).
– Defensively, it is pretty straight forward for OU…they need to limit Sellers effectiveness on the ground and limit his ability to improvise and create. The Sooners need to be better against the run this week than they were last week and I think they will be. You hope last week was the exception rather than the rule when it comes to OU being able to effectively defend the run.
– As a whole, I am of the opinion that OU has a more talented roster than South Carolina and this is a game that they should win at home…the problem is, we have yet to see OU play anywhere close to their talent level and at this time, this game looks to be a toss-up.
One on One’s | Oklahoma vs South Carolina – 2024
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 17, 2024
The Sooners are 4-2 on the season and they take on South Carolina in their seventh game of the season!
South Carolina comes into the game at 3-3 with their 3 losses coming at the hands of Alabama, LSU, and Ole Miss. Bama and LSU were very close games.
There are several key one-on-one matchups to choose from both on the offensive and defensive side.
Let’s have a look at a couple I pulled out.
One on One Number One
Oklahoma Offensive Tackle Jake Taylor vs South Carolina Defensive End Dylan Stewart
Most of you were likely expecting to see the matchup of OU offensive tackle Jacob Sexton vs Kyle Kennard, which absolutely is the marquee matchup on the day (so long as OU doesn’t do something incredibly stupid like put Tarquin back out there at left tackle to take on Kennard) but I’m already giving some wins to Kennard in that one and counting on him to likely have a couple of sacks on the day.
The reason I am focusing on the Taylor vs Stewart matchup is that if you can at least minimize the impact Stewart has, you can deal with Kennard having a little success while also scheming up some help for Sexton. Look, this isn’t about Sexton being bad, this one is about Kennard being that good. Kennard has 7.5 sacks on the year and 13 QB hurries.
It will be important for Taylor to neutralize Stewarts pass rush to allow that extra help to flow toward helping to contain or limit Kennard. Also, if Taylor can have success against Stewart heads up, it helps the guys on the interior deal with two solid South Carolina interior defensive linemen. I think the Taylor vs Stewart matchup will go a long way in determining the outcome of this game…so long as OU can get a little contribution from the QB position. Stewart has 3.5 sacks on the year and 7 QB hurries.
One on One Number Two
Oklahoma Nose Tackle Jayden Jackson vs South Carolina Center Vershon Lee
I could have easily gone with Damonic Williams or DaJon Terry against Lee as those guys will get their chances, but I just have a feeling that Jayden Jackson is close to having a real breakthrough here.
I already feel like R Mason Thomas could have a big day against the Carolina tackles (they are not good) and OU could really use another EDGE to step up because here we are again, one EDGE has been performing at a very high level while the rest of the bunch have been very pedestrian, but that’s another story for another day. If Jackson (or Williams/Terry/Halton) can get some sustained pressure from the interior, that will be a huge plus for OU.
Jackson has yet to earn his first sack as a Sooner, but he has been consistent and impactful through the first half of the season. He will get his opportunities against Lee who has surrendered 4 sacks in true passing plays and 6 QB pressures.
Here is to hoping Jackson puts it all together and gets his name in the stat book. Overall, it could be a big day for the entire OU defensive line. We will see if that comes to fruition.
One on One Number Three
Oklahoma Linebacker Kip Lewis vs South Carolina Quarterback LaNorris Sellers
Last week vs the Longhorns, the Sooners had 15 missed tackles. Kip Lewis was not among those who missed tackles.
LaNorris Sellers is a big, speedy, and powerful runner who gets his number called frequently. The QB run game is a huge part of the Gamecocks offense. Kip Lewis will likely be used as a spy on passing downs and he will also have his normal run-game responsibilities.
LaNorris Sellers is 6’3 245. He is a load.
Kip Lewis is listed at 6’1 215. He is giving up 30 pounds and at least 2 inches to Sellers.
Lewis, and the rest of the defense, have to be on point when it comes to tackling because Sellers is a guy who can find extra yardage and turn it into a chunk play or even points.
Honorable Mention One on One’s
Sooners Head Coach Brent Venables vs Hesitating When a Move Has to Be Made – This is a must win game…sometimes that calls for winning decisions rather than indecision.
Sooners Safety Billy Bowman vs Gamecocks WR Mazzeo Bennett – Bowman has been caught cheating early in games and Bennett coming out of the slot will be important to keep track of.
Sooners CB Eli Bowen vs Gamecocks WR Nyck Harbor – Just want to watch the vertically challenged but very sticky and sound Bowen line up on the speedy skyscraper Harbor who is coming into his own. *Could be a chance for an interception here as SCar may try to exploit the height advantage in that matchup and Sellers isn’t all that accurate while Bowen is a guy who will be in phase and position.
Sooners QB Mike Hawkins Against the Learning Curve – Things have to speed IP for Hawkins and he has to make better, quicker, and more decisive decisions as time will be short on occasion with this SCar pass rush.
