Weekend Open Post | October 25th – 27th
Posted on: October 25, 2024
Quick Post Game Thoughts | South Carolina
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 19, 2024
Gamecocks defeat the Sooners 35-9.
***The Sooners came out and laid an egg against the Gamecocks as the game was lost in the first 6 minutes of play as South Carolina scored 21 points off three consecutive Mike Hawkins turnovers to start the game offensively for OU.
From September 23rd: “I can make a case for starting Jackson Arnold against Auburn and having him on a very short leash because it almost feels like if I don’t, I am signing off on Hawkins being the guy I am going to ride blindly into the night.”
***The clock struck midnight in the first 6 minutes of this game after 2 full games of non-existent offense and that decision lays at the feet of nobody else other than Brent Venables.
***OU fans have every right to be embarrassed at the manner in which OU has handled the quarterback room this year, and in reality, each year that Venables has been the head coach in Norman.
***The defense played fine for the most part, particularly the defensive front who had their moments, but once again, they got no help from the offense. My thoughts at this time simply cannot focus on the defense as the offensive woes simply flood the brain.
***On a day that actually saw the Sooners show signs of life in the running game, they could not consistently put any drives together due to the combination of poor blocking, poor scheming, untimely drops, and penalties.
***The offensive line was not good and when they were, the backs and tight ends were useless in protection. The Sooners gave up 9 sacks in the day. Again, I will repeat it for those who believe Coach Bedenbaugh gets a complete pass…Guys like Michael Tarquin and Spencer Brown have no business being on the field at the University of Oklahoma. Period. Thats on him.
***Make no mistake, this game was lost in the first 6 minutes. You cannot spot any team 21 points when your offense is inept. The entire decision-making process that led to Mike Hawkins being named the starting quarterback at the University of Oklahoma in the year 2024 should be considered a fireable offense. People give you clues as to who they are, and we saw plenty of clues over the first two years in regard to how the QB room was managed.
***There were some bright spots like the play of Jacob Jordan and some flashes from Jackson Arnold, but man, there isn’t a band-aid big enough for this offense and the personnel decision that accompanies it.
***Next up is Ole Miss on the road. You think the noise is loud now…phew lads.
Position Group Progress Report | ’24 Game 7: South Carolina
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 21, 2024
Checking out how the position groups performed in the Sooners loss to South Carolina. OU was a slight underdog going into the game, and South Carolina covered easily.
This will be the seventh 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 South Carolina.
Offense:
QB: Jackson Arnold gets 2 stars for showing up and doing the best he can.
RB: Jovantae Barnes gets 2 stars for continuing to run extremely hard, whether it is into the backs of people or not, he hasn’t quit.
WR: Jacob Jordan gets 3* for actually, you know, playing wide receiver and Brenen Thompson gets 3* for showing signs of life and scoring the Sooners first touchdown through the air in over 2 full games.
That’s it for the offense…here is the report for the rest of them:
This is a depiction of a black hole for those who are not aware. They sucked. All of them.
Defense:
DT: 5* (last week 3*)
Thought this group played an extremely impactful role in how well the defense not only contained the run game but also impacted the passing game as they paved the way for 6 sacks on the day.
I thought OU would find some success up the middle as I wrote in a couple articles last week and indeed they did. Was pretty happy to have called Jayden Jackson getting his first sack and Grace Halton showed up in a big way as well. Damonic Williams was really solid on the day and DaJon Terry played very well also.
This group helped limit South Carolina to a 1.8 yards per carry rushing average. I don’t care who you are playing, that is impressive.
DE: 4* (last week 1*)
Really nice bounce-back performance for this group following their Texas no-show.
Ethan Downs is just a guy who goes out there and gives you his all game in and game out and sometimes that work gets rewarded in the statbook. This was one of those games and I thought Downs played about as well as I have seen him since early in the season.
R Mason Thomas didn’t have the splashy numbers we have seen him put up from time to time this year, but he was consistent and assignment-sound. Really nice to see PJ Adebawore get his flowers with that sack against South Carolina and the way Trace Ford played against South Carolina (very well) really just made me scratch my head in regard to his super low snap count against Texas the week prior.
LB: Low 4* (last week 1*)
Nothing really flashy here on the day, but when your defense is as effective, particularly against the run, as OU was, you expect the linebacker numbers to be very gaudy.
They were in this case as Danny Stutsman piled up 16 tackles and Kip Lewis added 8 of his own. I thought Stutsman was really good on his fits and the Sooner defense as a whole showed much improved tackling as they were charged with only 3 missed tackles on the day.
Kobie McKinzie came in and played very physically as he usually does and the rotation really worked out well for OU on the day.
CB: High 3* (last week high 3*)
Eli Bowen has clearly become the flavor of the day at corner for the Sooners as he not only started his second consecutive game, but he played by far the most snaps of all the corners and held up very well.
Kani Walker was just kind of out there, didn’t make many noticeable plays but also didn’t make any noticeable busts.
Dez Malone took no snaps, and I do not know the reasoning behind that at this time, but Jacobe Johnson appears to have been rescued from the offensive side of the ball as he played the most snaps he has played all season at corner.
S: 3* (last week High 2*)
Billy Bowman and Robert Spears Jennings were pretty quiet on the day as there just were not a ton of plays to be made.
Peyton Bowen got caught cheating a couple of times and the Gamecocks made him pay. Bowen was still very physical in the run game, but he needs to clean up those coverage busts.
Jaren Kanak started at Cheetah and I am not sure why, but he was outplayed in pretty much all facets by Sammy Omosigho when he got in the game. Was an interesting call to go with Kanak, but, Omosigho wound up taking more snaps either way.
ST: 4* (last week High 3*)
Zach Schmit has reclaimed the kicking job and he is having a heckuva nice bounce back year.
Luke Elzinga continues to be a weapon at punter for OU.
Thought the Sooners had a few nice returns on the day.
Not sure who to nail to the wall for the stupid fake punt, so I will just ignore it and blame it on the offense.
Yes it is the SEC
– Super K – Posted on: October 20, 2024
There are a number of topics we are going to get into this week. But one I thought was self evident but apparently isn’t to everybody is this…
Yes, part of OU’s offensive struggles is the absolutely the conference they are playing in.
Let’s leave the run game aside for the purposes of this post (although they are improving as a unit in run blocking).
We’re just talking strictly pass blocking because that is probably the worst culprit right now.
Oklahoma absolutely does not have the talent on the edges (or anywhere but the edges are the glaring problem) of the offensive line to block the kind of talent they are facing in the SEC.
And yes, they are absolutely facing levels of edge talent they never faced with this degree of consistency in the Big 12.
Even against South Carolina they faced two elite pass rushers who are future early round picks. It was the same thing against Tennessee. It’s going to be the same thing against Ole Miss.
In the past, the Sooners have had NFL guys on their offensive edges. Last year they had two draft picks on the edges. The year before they had two draft picks on the edges. Three of those four guys were early round picks.
It doesn’t matter what your scheme is or who coaches Oklahoma’s offensive line, in this league you are facing NFL guys every week so you have to have NFL guys on the edges.
In the Big 12, you can get away with a down year on the edges. Heck, the only games OU has won this year have been against de facto Big 12 teams (Houston and Tulane) and the Sooners are actually better on the OL now than they were at the beginning of the season.
Remember when Lincoln Riley would win the Big 12 and then go play LSU or Alabama in the playoffs and get run out of town? Remember when it took OU’s award winning offensive line a quarter and half to adjust to Alabama’s pass rush and protect Kyler Murray? If I recall correctly, one of the first plays of that game was a big long Alabama DL grabbing Murray with one hand and throwing him to the ground.
Do you remember when OU played Florida in 2008 and only scored 14 points because the back end coverage was so tight and Brandon Spikes was Brandon Spiking?
This is a different league. The days of OU quarterbacks standing behind the line for six+ seconds while Lincoln Riley schemed a guy open are over – even with a massive upgrade to the offensive tackles.
Ask Texas who with two first round tackles yesterday, still struggled to block UGA. And if they think that’s the only time they’re going to struggle to protect, they have another thing coming. Even Kentucky is going to have something for their OL.
This isn’t even debatable. The pass rushers and the defensive linemen in this league are like nothing the Sooners have consistently seen and it’s going to be this way for years to come. This league produces a different level of defensive line talent. And, they are that much more dangerous because the DBs are bigger and faster.
Just look at the NFL production.
Does that mean Oklahoma has good edges, right now? No. But both things can be true at the same time. And yes, they’d be much better at masking these issues and getting better at protecting if they played against the old competition – the days when they faced maybe one early round DE per season.
Now? There is no where to hide.
So, no matter what the Sooners do, they are going to have to upgrade the talent on the edges. Oddly enough, the Sooners typically have NFL guys at both tackle spots. This was definitely the wrong year to not have that.
But, it didn’t just happen. Remember that the gap year in recruiting came when Texas and others had ramped up NIL and the Sooners hadn’t yet. Cam Williams and DJ Campbell both start for Texas and both are likely Sooners had OU been willing and able to match Texas offers. I have a very close connection to Cam Williams and I can say with quite a bit of confidence, he would’ve been at Oklahoma.
If you want proof, OU ramps up the NIL this year and look at their OL class.
You also notice that Tennessee clearly understood this where BV and co didn’t seem to understand it on the same level. Tennessee refused to be outmatched for LSU OT transfer, Lance Heard. I’ll admit, at the time, when I heard how high Tennessee was willing to go for Heard, I was scratching my head. I’m not anymore. They knew something about this league that, while I’ve watched this league for decades, it just different seeing it up close, as it were.
As a side note, the Sooners were willing to drive the cost up to get Damonic Williams.,
None of that matters now but I see a lot of folks being really imprecise with their criticisms of this team and what the root causes are or aren’t.
And I’m shocked to see people actually arguing that if OU was playing a Big 12 schedule, it wouldn’t have made in difference when it’s clear as day they are facing a different level of front attack and it isn’t close.
So, again, whatever the Sooners do in terms of changes in the off-season, it’s not going to matter much if they don’t ensure that they have two or three NFL tackles. As we saw last night for Texas, even that might not be enough. But even it isn’t a sufficient condition, it is absolutely necessary in this league. It was not as necessary in OU’s previous league.
Again, OU is never going back to the days of being able to sit back for six+ seconds like Baker and Kyler and others had the luxury of doing. It doesn’t matter how good they get on the OL. You’re going to have to QBs that can process faster and WRs that can win in tight coverage and win at the release. But they can certainly and must certainly upgrade the talent on the edges and that is a direct function of the upgrade in pass rushers and interior linemen they are facing every week.
Sourced | A Breath Of Fresh Air
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 22, 2024
Been asking around if there has been a vibe shift in the building following the change at OC.
One source said, “Feels like a breath of fresh air, something different.”
I asked if the fresh air was in regard to Jackson being back as QB1 or more about the Littrell move.
Source conveyed that things inside the building were tightly wound and getting more tightly wound after each and every failure. The sources comments weren’t meant to be a slight at Littrell or Hawkins or anyone else. But it does seem that folks inside the building were losing some faith in some of the offensive decisions whether that be personnel decisions, game planning, play calling, etc.
Fresh air is a good thing, but it doesn’t necessarily help to win games. We will see how it plays out.
A Little Perspective Heading Into Ole Miss
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 23, 2024
As I sit here and dig in and prep the ‘Know Your Opponent’ and “One on One’s’, I wanted to first make sure we, as a community, have a bit of perspective on what to expect from the OU offense this week.
Things we know: We know Jackson Arnold will be starting. We know there is a chance of getting Deion Burks back, but that’s about the extent of possible additions to the personnel. We know Joe Jon Finley will be calling the plays and we know Kevin Johns will be working with Arnold and the rest of the quarterbacks through the week.
Things we do not know: We do not know anything about Joe Jon Finley as a play caller. We do not know what plays he favors and what his tendencies are. We do not know if the scheme will trend more toward the Briles scheme or more toward the mashup that OU has unsuccessfully installed under Littrell.
Things we can assume: We can assume that Joe Jon will lean more towards the Briles scheme as that is what he knows and that was the part of the offensive game planning that he was most involved with. We can assume that Jackson Arnold will be very comfortable and familiar with the plays as they are called. We can assume that the wide receivers know the routes and responsibilities and we can assume the backs, tight ends, and offensive line will be familiar with the playbook.
Things we hope: We hope that the OL has a simplified blocking scheme. We hope that the running backs and tight ends know their responsibilities in pass protection. We hope that the wide receivers know the scramble drills and work back to the QB or settle into space. We hope that Jackson Arnold makes sound decisions in the face of pressure.
Things we can reasonably expect: We can reasonably expect OU to have 8-10 base plays they are comfortable with which they can run out of different sets and formations. We can reasonably expect everyone to at least know what they are doing with a slimmed-down playbook. We can reasonably expect the offensive line to know the proper protections and we can reasonably expect Jackson Arnold to assist them when he sees something. We can reasonably expect the wide receivers to catch the passes that they should catch and we can reasonably expect the backs to hold onto the ball.
What we should not expect. We should not expect OU to come out and look like an offensive juggernaut. We should not expect a markedly improved offensive line in regard to their physical abilities and limitations. We should not expect the wide receivers to look like CeeDee Lamb. We should not expect the running back room to look like Adrian Peterson is back on campus. We should not expect Jackson Arnold to look like Baker Mayfield in his prime as he is still a young QB.
What OU cannot have happen. OU cannot have the defense go MIA this game and force the offense to try to go out there and win the game. The defense will be tasked with facing one of the better offenses in the country when they are clicking and they have a bunch of top tier skill position players. The talk around Oklahoma continues to be that the offense is trash but the defense is very good. This is not the game that OU can afford the defense to go off the rails and should that happen, it just opens a bigger can of worms in Norman, which is something nobody needs right now.
Know Your Opponent | Ole Miss – 2024
– Charlie S – Posted on: October 24, 2024
Head Coach – Lane Kiffin (5th year)
Offensive Coordinator – Charlie Weiss Jr. (3rd year)
Defensive Coordinator – Pete Golding (2nd year)
The Rebels are 5- 2 on the season.
Ole Miss has wins over Furman (76-0), Middle Tennessee (52-3), Wake Forest (40-6), Georgia State (52-13), and South Carolina (27-3).
They have suffered their losses to Kentucky (17-20) and LSU in overtime (26-29).
On offense…
Lane Kiffin once again has his offense in high gear as they rank 2nd in the country in total offense. You are all familiar with the high tempo RPO based scheme which is filled with misdirection while spreading out the defense. They are currently averaging 560 yards of offense per game with 360 of those yards coming through the air. They are 8th in the country in scoring offense as they average 41 points per game.
QB #2 Jaxson Dart
RB #21 Henry Parrish Jr.
TE #86 Caden Prieskorn
– Feels like Jaxson Dart came into college with Justin Broiles, but he has gone on to have a really productive career and he is having another big year as he is completing 70% of his passess while throwing for 2.384 yards with 14 touchdowns to this point. He has been sacked quite a bit (16 times) but he has been very good at not putting the ball in jeopardy (3 interceptions).
– Parish is off to a great start in ‘24 at RB as he is averaging 5.8 yards per carry (612 total yards) with 9 rushing touchdowns. He also has 11 receptions out of the backfield. He is not a burner, but he is a quality back who can be a first down machine.
– Prieskorn is a big target at 6’6 and he has 12 catches on the year and 1 touchdown.
WR #3 Antwane Wells Jr.
WR #9 Tre Harris
WR #19 Cayden Lee
– There is Tre Harris and then there is everyone else when it comes to the receiver position for Ole Miss. Harris has 59 receptions which more than 30 more receptions than anyone else on the team. He already has amassed 987 yards receiving to go along with 6 touchdowns.
– Tre Harris happens to be listed as ‘Questionable’ on the SEC Student Athlete Availability Report for this week with a lower body injury. Boy, if OU ever needed to catch a break, this would be the week. Not wishing ill on any player, but I think we can all agree that we believe it would be in Tre Harris’ best interest to rest that injury and sit this one out 😉
– Cayden Lee is WR2 with 27 catches and Wells has 17 catches, so together they still have 15 fewer catches combined than Harris has on his own.
LT #61 Diego Pounds
LG #71 Nate Kalepo
C #56 Reece McIntyre
RG #52 Julius Buelow
RT #57 Micah Pettus
– This really isn’t one of the better offensive lines that OU will see this year…yet they still have the 2nd ranked offense in the country, imagine that.
– The interior is pretty weak when it comes to run blocking, but they are good enough in pass pro to make the offense go. Buelow and Kalepo are both struggling in particular in run blocking and Buelow is a liability all around.
– Diego Pounds is ‘ok’ with his all-around game, but he can be had and Pettus is better as a run blocker than in pass pro on the other side. This is not a group that should have their way with the OU front.
On defense…
Former Bama defensive coordinator Pete Golding enters his second season as the Rebels main guy on defense. Golding brings his version of the ever popular 4-2-5 scheme to Oxford and he has helped turn the Ole Miss defense into a very respectable unit. He has also gotten a lot of help from the transfer portal. Currently, the Rebels rank 13th in total defense and they have tallied an impressive 24 sacks (for comparison OU has 25). They also have 7 interceptions but it all starts up front for them.
DE #15 Jared Ivey
NT #38 JJPegues
DT #2 Walter Nolen
Buck (EDGE) #1 Princely Umanmielen
– This starting front is responsible for 11 of the Ole Miss sacks on the year and is led by Ivey with 5 and Princely with 3.5
– Walter Nolen was everyones all everything consensus pick coming out of high school and once he entered the portal out of Texas A&M, Ole Miss wasted no time in making him an offer he could not refuse (they did the same with Princely). Nolen has 2.5 sacks from the inside and he has 26 total tackles, solid numbers for a nose.
– Keep an eye out for #4 Suntarine Perkins on the EDGE behind Ivey as he has 4.5 sacks of his own in a backup role.
– Really stout front that will cause the OU offensive line some real problems as they can create problems across the entire line.
MLB #6 TJ Dottery
WLB #11 Chris Paul Jr.
– Really like the Ole Miss backers. Both are active and athletic and they like to play fast and physically.
– Paul was a huge pickup from the portal out of Arkansas for Ole Miss and he leads the team in tackles with 46 and has added 2.5 sacks.
– Dottery has come into his own his sophomore season and he is second on the team with 43 tackles.
CB #3 Isaiah Hamilton
S #5 John Saunders Jr.
S #25 Trey Washington
CB #9 Trey Amos
NB #28 Jadon Canady
– Kinda odd to see a corner as a secondary’s leading tackler, but Trey Amos is just that for Ole Miss. Amos also happens to lead the Rebs in interceptions as well with 3 on the season. He is a complete player and someone OU will be wise to account for and he typically lines up on the right side of the defense.
– Trey Washington is their best safety and while he is not the biggest guy (5’10) he is not afraid to throw his body around. He is susceptible to biting on play action as he is so eager to get downhill.
Overall thoughts…
– OU is a 20 point underdog for a reason…Ole Miss is a very good team at this point and OU is not. Pretty simple, right?
– However, Ole Miss does have its warts and they really are underachieving at this point of the year for all the talent they have. They are clinging to their last gasps of playoff possibilities and when you have a collection of mercenaries…does it really mean all that much to them to push a program they have a transactional relationship with to the next level? Or are they content to up their individual stats and collect their nice NIL money?
– Ole Miss is a matchup nightmare for the horrific Oklahoma offense which is coming into the game with a new play caller and a still incredibly overpopulated injury list. Jackson Arnold will have moments where he is simply trying to survive out there if things go as they have gone previously with the offensive line.
– The Sooners defense may catch a break if Tre Harris is indeed held out, but you cannot go into a game counting on that and the secondary will be tested regardless if he plays or not. If the defense plays as they did last week, they will keep the score respectable for OU I think. But if some frustration creeps in and the offense is giving them no reason to believe, things could get dicey and it could be a long day down there.
– Would be happy to have a game that is still in the balance in the second half for the first time in a while.
