goingoneight
10/8/2007, 12:43 AM
Trip was good from Tulsey Town through OKC and onto Dallas. There was one little traffic jam getting onto 35 South (lots of OU fans had the same idea I had), but it smoothed out once I got past the entry.
Friday Night, about 8:00 pm, I went to some Steakhouse in the West End. Boy are fans lame when they're fresh off a loss. Naturally, a few hours of drinking brought out the rivalry that is OU/Texas. I saw one Sooner fan and four Texas fans get arrested. I actually think the Sooner was just pulled aside, because we wasn't cuffed or thrown in the van like the whorns I saw. It was awesome down there as usual. I actually had a cool talk with some Hook 'em fans in the restaurant. I said "good luck tomorrow," and he said "go **** yourself, Sooner" with a sarcastic smiley... we laughed, it's all in good fun. Wish I had thought of that, actually. :cool:
Saturday Morning Breakfast was Carnie food.
Once inside the fair grounds, I felt like I was home again. The game losing field goal was erased from my memory. And it felt good. I met a whorn fan at a concession stand who told me he felt the same, that the RRS experience makes up for the disheartening loss to Kansas State. To which I pointed out I wasn't disheartened at all by Texas losing to K-State. :D Once again, we had a good laugh. Lunch was carnie food as well.
Fair food will one day be the death of me... book it.
THE GAME:
Holy cow, was this one for the ages? Maybe the best game I've ever seen live (from the actual game site) in ay sport. We score, Texas scores, Texas scores again (we fall behind :(), we score... wow... tied at the half. Most "experts" would say a tied half would erupt into a Sooner victory, but Vegas had it right. After we score, Texas scores again, we take the final lead and a Garrett Hartley missed FG is the only separation from covering the spread. I gotta say, I've been really impressed with Vegas's picks in recent years at times.
Was that or was that not the best crowd in the Stoops/Brown era? In the midst of a horribly humid, elbow-to-elbow sauna, people were still on their feet at screaming their lungs out from beginning to end (well, when it mattered... we didn't do much when they called timeouts).
I was surprised with better seats than we usually have. We were just under the top level, shielded from the rain with a perfect view of the field. When your best friend asks you who "Jackson" is (could see the name on Brian Jackson's jersey), you know you're in pretty good seats. I saw Malcom Melly make a fantastic catch almost smack-dab in front of us. I saw DeMarco Murray dance his way into the endzone right in front of us.
OFFICIATING = B+... they missed some calls that at times hurt us and we had a bunch of bad spots, but Texas had an equaly frustrating day... so meh. Nothing that would change the outcome of the game.
Good guys OFFENSE = A+... Sam Bradford had only two or three balls that were considered "what the hell is that?" passes. The rest were smart throws or right on the money. That over-the-top pass to Iglesias followed by the same play to Kelly was a thing of beauty. You can recruit arm strength and speed, but you can't recruit poise and accuracy. Sam Bradford played a better game than Jason White did in 2003... that's saying something for a freshmen. DeMarco Murray showed why he's no lesser a running back than Allen Patrick. AP just didn't have what it took to school this defense. Same could be said fro DM early-on when he looked a bit nervous carrying the ball. That said, I don't think there's a better 1-2 punch than Patrick-Murray right now. Murray appears to be getting sharper in every game he plays, and it definitely showed in the 2nd half in this game. I have said it already, I'll say it again... the orange aggies will need to figure out a way to keep him under 300 yards TO in Norman. Stoops pointed out that if not for penalties, he would have had over 260 yards TO (KO returns included) mistakes included.
Good guys DEFENSE = B-... we were solid covering their deep threats, but couldn't cover the shot down the middle. I ask, what is the difference between letting Colt McCoy throw a 50-yard pass and letting him throw a TE screen that goes for 45? They still put the Hook 'em's in a position to score, so both are bad busts. Maybe Ryan Reynold's knees still sore, we may just be weak there. Don't get mad, get better.
Good guys SPECIAL TEAMS = B+... my only gripe is tackling. Freaking tackle a return guy and we're in much better shape in that game. Blocking is better, but still not where it needs to be. Why is it that Stoops's team (and my favorite team) always finds a way to get nit-picked for illegal block in the back? I saw several whorns holding and blocking below the waist and only once were they called back. Not a gripe at the officiating, more of a frustration, I guess.
Texas did play their best game fo the season, and I'll bet people don't beat them quite as easily beyond this point. They had a very disciplined OL and an unblockable DT rotation that literally shut down OUr North/South running game. Hence the shutdown of AP and the explosion of the better outside runner, DeMarco. They're weak in the secondary... really weak. Only once did I see their corner make a good play, and that was a diving knockdown of a Sam Bradford pass to Joe Jon Finley. Anyone with a big TE needs to use him to have a hope of beating Texas. And if you can't put Colt McCoy on the ground, he's going to beat you.
SATURDAY LATE NIGHT
We decided to leave early just to get home and not have to pay for another hotel, and the ride back was awesome listening to how many "top teams" continued to be humbled as we were in Boulder. Can you say "Stanford," anyone? I look at Stanford as the Baylor of the PAC 10... and USC is very similar to UT right now. They lack leadership and identity. I've seen moments where Booty looks like a Heisman candidate, and I've seen moments where Booty looks like, well... an a$$ (no pun intended).
So anyways, I'm back now and taking a week off. I'll be watching the game from the comfort of the Lazy Boy next Saturday. Boomer Sooner and beat uozziM.
Friday Night, about 8:00 pm, I went to some Steakhouse in the West End. Boy are fans lame when they're fresh off a loss. Naturally, a few hours of drinking brought out the rivalry that is OU/Texas. I saw one Sooner fan and four Texas fans get arrested. I actually think the Sooner was just pulled aside, because we wasn't cuffed or thrown in the van like the whorns I saw. It was awesome down there as usual. I actually had a cool talk with some Hook 'em fans in the restaurant. I said "good luck tomorrow," and he said "go **** yourself, Sooner" with a sarcastic smiley... we laughed, it's all in good fun. Wish I had thought of that, actually. :cool:
Saturday Morning Breakfast was Carnie food.
Once inside the fair grounds, I felt like I was home again. The game losing field goal was erased from my memory. And it felt good. I met a whorn fan at a concession stand who told me he felt the same, that the RRS experience makes up for the disheartening loss to Kansas State. To which I pointed out I wasn't disheartened at all by Texas losing to K-State. :D Once again, we had a good laugh. Lunch was carnie food as well.
Fair food will one day be the death of me... book it.
THE GAME:
Holy cow, was this one for the ages? Maybe the best game I've ever seen live (from the actual game site) in ay sport. We score, Texas scores, Texas scores again (we fall behind :(), we score... wow... tied at the half. Most "experts" would say a tied half would erupt into a Sooner victory, but Vegas had it right. After we score, Texas scores again, we take the final lead and a Garrett Hartley missed FG is the only separation from covering the spread. I gotta say, I've been really impressed with Vegas's picks in recent years at times.
Was that or was that not the best crowd in the Stoops/Brown era? In the midst of a horribly humid, elbow-to-elbow sauna, people were still on their feet at screaming their lungs out from beginning to end (well, when it mattered... we didn't do much when they called timeouts).
I was surprised with better seats than we usually have. We were just under the top level, shielded from the rain with a perfect view of the field. When your best friend asks you who "Jackson" is (could see the name on Brian Jackson's jersey), you know you're in pretty good seats. I saw Malcom Melly make a fantastic catch almost smack-dab in front of us. I saw DeMarco Murray dance his way into the endzone right in front of us.
OFFICIATING = B+... they missed some calls that at times hurt us and we had a bunch of bad spots, but Texas had an equaly frustrating day... so meh. Nothing that would change the outcome of the game.
Good guys OFFENSE = A+... Sam Bradford had only two or three balls that were considered "what the hell is that?" passes. The rest were smart throws or right on the money. That over-the-top pass to Iglesias followed by the same play to Kelly was a thing of beauty. You can recruit arm strength and speed, but you can't recruit poise and accuracy. Sam Bradford played a better game than Jason White did in 2003... that's saying something for a freshmen. DeMarco Murray showed why he's no lesser a running back than Allen Patrick. AP just didn't have what it took to school this defense. Same could be said fro DM early-on when he looked a bit nervous carrying the ball. That said, I don't think there's a better 1-2 punch than Patrick-Murray right now. Murray appears to be getting sharper in every game he plays, and it definitely showed in the 2nd half in this game. I have said it already, I'll say it again... the orange aggies will need to figure out a way to keep him under 300 yards TO in Norman. Stoops pointed out that if not for penalties, he would have had over 260 yards TO (KO returns included) mistakes included.
Good guys DEFENSE = B-... we were solid covering their deep threats, but couldn't cover the shot down the middle. I ask, what is the difference between letting Colt McCoy throw a 50-yard pass and letting him throw a TE screen that goes for 45? They still put the Hook 'em's in a position to score, so both are bad busts. Maybe Ryan Reynold's knees still sore, we may just be weak there. Don't get mad, get better.
Good guys SPECIAL TEAMS = B+... my only gripe is tackling. Freaking tackle a return guy and we're in much better shape in that game. Blocking is better, but still not where it needs to be. Why is it that Stoops's team (and my favorite team) always finds a way to get nit-picked for illegal block in the back? I saw several whorns holding and blocking below the waist and only once were they called back. Not a gripe at the officiating, more of a frustration, I guess.
Texas did play their best game fo the season, and I'll bet people don't beat them quite as easily beyond this point. They had a very disciplined OL and an unblockable DT rotation that literally shut down OUr North/South running game. Hence the shutdown of AP and the explosion of the better outside runner, DeMarco. They're weak in the secondary... really weak. Only once did I see their corner make a good play, and that was a diving knockdown of a Sam Bradford pass to Joe Jon Finley. Anyone with a big TE needs to use him to have a hope of beating Texas. And if you can't put Colt McCoy on the ground, he's going to beat you.
SATURDAY LATE NIGHT
We decided to leave early just to get home and not have to pay for another hotel, and the ride back was awesome listening to how many "top teams" continued to be humbled as we were in Boulder. Can you say "Stanford," anyone? I look at Stanford as the Baylor of the PAC 10... and USC is very similar to UT right now. They lack leadership and identity. I've seen moments where Booty looks like a Heisman candidate, and I've seen moments where Booty looks like, well... an a$$ (no pun intended).
So anyways, I'm back now and taking a week off. I'll be watching the game from the comfort of the Lazy Boy next Saturday. Boomer Sooner and beat uozziM.