What ever happened to the days when a championship defense...

[Soonerus]

...usually held all teams to 250 yard total offense or less...I guess the spread offense has something to do with it but I am disappointed with the yards we allowed to Baylor tonight...

[Curly Bill]

...as are many of us. :confused:

[KC//CRIMSON]

http://www.crawlspacemedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/bush_wallpaper.png

[LSUdeek]

http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/natlRank.jsp?year=2007&div=4&rpt=IA_teamtotdef&site=org

LSU will move to #1 in total defense after Ohio State gave up 400 yards to Illinois and LSU allowed 256 to LA Tech. It will be a margin of .6 YPG though (236.8 to 237.4)

[Stitch Face]

The spread offense is full of sound and fury, signifying a crapload of yards but not necessarily a lot of points.

Very enticing to a young team looking for a leg up.

[Curly Bill]

http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/natlRank.jsp?year=2007&div=4&rpt=IA_teamtotdef&site=org

LSU will move to #1 in total defense after Ohio State gave up 400 yards to Illinois and LSU allowed 256 to LA Tech. It will be a margin of .6 YPG though (236.8 to 237.4)

As much as I hate LSU I like the way they play "D" ... being aggressive and getting after people's arses.

[LSUdeek]

As much as I hate LSU I like the way they play "D" ... being aggressive and getting after people's arses.

I like it too.

Unfortunately, we've given up a lot of big pass plays for scores (UK, Ala). What we haven't done is allow teams to put sustained drives together throughout the course of a game and amass large amounts of yardage.

[Soonerus]

I like it too.

Unfortunately, we've given up a lot of big pass plays for scores (UK, Ala). What we haven't done is allow teams to put sustained drives together throughout the course of a game and amass large amounts of yardage.

That's probably why LSU is a good bet for MNC this year...

[SoonerBOI]

As much as I hate LSU I like the way they play "D" ... being aggressive and getting after people's arses.

I agree. They swarm you w/ defenders.

[Crucifax Autumn]

A championship defense allows more points than their offense scores...

Though I do remember the days you speak of...was nice when we could shut teams down entirely, but for me it's always nice when, despite my 70-o predictions, we win by a nice margin like tonight. PArticularly when the opponent has their best game of the season from throwing it all out to beat a real team.

[SoonerDood]

The spread offense is full of sound and fury, signifying a crapload of yards but not necessarily a lot of points.

Very enticing to a young team looking for a leg up.

Right on. System offenses give good defenses trouble for about a quarter and a half. They get one big play in the 2nd half and that's about it.
Much like we saw at Tulsa and tonight. Lots of yards, not enough points.

[Blue]

That's probably why LSU is a good bet for MNC this year...



nm

[AlbqSooner]

I remember the days when 24 points was considered a high scoring game.

[OU-HSV]

It was very disappointing to see our defense allow so many big plays and so many 3rd down conversions. IMO We've got to play better on D if we expect to be able to beat Tech, sheephumper U and KU (or MU again). And we certainly need to play better D for our bowl matchup (whoever it may be).

[rubyspirit]

I wasn't disappointed at all. Once we got Whitaker's number, he wasn't a factor the rest of the game.

The team played awesome yesterday. No complaints here.

[soonersn2007]

It's obvious that the defense didn't play well, I rewatched the game and have to lay alot of the blame at the players feet rather than coaching. Stoops at halftime calmly remarked that he wasn't happy, I can imagine how he may not so calmly remark to the team during film day.

[rubyspirit]

Watch his comments after the game. Stoops said he was happy with the players and the outcome.

[Scott D]

Well, first off to be fair LSU has given up yardage and sustained drives to plenty of SEC competition. They also have the advantage that other than Florida, nobody really runs much of a spread offense with any success in the SEC. On average across the nation, defenses are giving up more yards than they were even 5 years ago.

As for the OU game, the defense gave up about half the yards they gave up in the first half which is what changed the demeanor of Coach Stoops on the matter.

[aurorasooner]

Chizek may be right. Perhaps we are soft and play defense by scheme more than being a physical and tough defensive ball club. If you look a Baylor's previous Big 12 performances they didn't run the ball on anyone, and perhaps that was our game plan to play the pass 1st and not really worry about their running game. (To also get ready for Tech). It was certainly a good (bad) team for our defensive coaches and players to be taken to the "total yardage woodshed". I see quotes on the Major Media Outlets like OU cruises, OU routes Baylor etc, and this was a pretty damn good game until we came out in the 2nd half and torched them deep, and it would've been real close unless DM returns that KO. It looked like to me Baylor came out just like Iowa State and hit us in the mouth instead of just rolling over.
Texas Tech holds Baylor to 282 yards (91 rushing yards) and 7 points in Waco, K-State holds Baylor to 318 total yards (13 rushing yards) and 13 points in Manhattan, Texas holds Baylor to 292 total yards (8 yards rushing) and 10 points in Waco. KU holds Baylor to 202 total yards (62 yards rushing) and 10 points in Lawrence. Baylor puts up 465 total yards and 23 points on CU but only 55 yards rushing in Waco. aTm holds Baylor to 254 yards (only 60 yards rushing) and 10 points in College Station. In their previous Big 12 games Baylor only rushed the ball for 91,13,8, 62, 55, and 60 yards rushing, yet they come to Norman and almost out rush us putting up 170 yards on the ground and a whopping 450 yards total offense.

[Scott D]

Chizek may be right. Perhaps we are soft and play defense by scheme more than being a physical and tough defensive ball club. If you look a Baylor's previous Big 12 performances they didn't run the ball on anyone, and perhaps that was our game plan to play the pass 1st and not really worry about their running game. (To also get ready for Tech). It was certainly a good (bad) team for our defensive coaches and players to be taken to the "total yardage woodshed". I see quotes on the Major Media Outlets like OU cruises, OU routes Baylor etc, and this was a pretty damn good game until we came out in the 2nd half and torched them deep, and it would've been real close unless DM returns that KO. It looked like to me Baylor came out just like Iowa State and hit us in the mouth instead of just rolling over.

To be fair in that regard, Whitaker's 149 rushing yards, 103 came on two runs in the first half, he was held to 30 yards on 11 carries in the second half.

[The_Red_Patriot]

Scoreboard!! The only stat that matters.


Stop crying about nothing.

http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/1795210/2/istockphoto_1795210_cry_baby.jpg

[RADsooner]

stoops said post game they were blocking it diffrent than they expected,and after they adjusted to it,then didnt get any more big runs--- coach speak??

[Desert Sapper]

It could be that 21 points against our D in Norman is what Guy Morriss needed to keep his job. They may not have beat us, but they showed they could stay competitive for a half. This was the best Baylor could have hoped for, and it didn't hurt us in the long run.

[AlbqSooner]

So many sportswriters and poll voters just look at the score and have no idea how the game actually played out. Perhaps this week, unlike a few times in the past, it works to our advantage.

[TexasEx4OU]

A championship defense allows more points than their offense scores...

Maybe I'm not reading this correctly. If a D allows more points than its O scores, that = loss...right?

[TexasEx4OU]

Watch his comments after the game. Stoops said he was happy with the players and the outcome.

He also made several comments, including during his post-game, on-field interview w/ABC, that he was not happy with the defensive performance.

[SoonerBBall]

So many sportswriters and poll voters just look at the score and have no idea how the game actually played out. Perhaps this week, unlike a few times in the past, it works to our advantage.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by this. The box score shows that we thumped Baylor and on the field we......thumped Baylor. They had 3 long plays that helped them look slightly competitive, and one of those was negated by an interception on the very next play.

[aurorasooner]

So many sportswriters and poll voters just look at the score and have no idea how the game actually played out. Perhaps this week, unlike a few times in the past, it works to our advantage. The trouble with that game is it was a national telecast on Fox and started in the 'tween time between ABC afternoon and night games so most people probably only watched the 1st half or up until we went up 28-14 and then switched games when it was obvious there was not going to be an upset. Baylor putting up all those yards on us in the 1st half was not impressive but when they look at the final score they'll hopefully just write it off as a slow start. One thing they'll be impressed with is Bradford's efficiency. 20 of 25 350 yards is just awesome, but look slim when you throw Ganz's numbers in there from yesterday. 7 TD passes and over 500 yards passing is/or should give him national player of the week. The Big 12's returning QB sheet next year probably will be the best in history of either the Big 12 or Big 8/SWC.
One thing that was missed from yesterday is that M. Johnson got in to the Big play mix in a big way. Leach may be licking his chops over our lack a defense performance against Baylor, but he's got to be Sh&^%ing bricks on how to to stop our offense. One things for sure, with our D this year, a 21 or even a 24 point lead in Lubbock in not by any means a safe lead. I just hope we can run the ball effectively on them and don't get involved with having to let our D win it for us on the last series.

[mightysooner]

Being at the game last night.....one thing that was glaringly apparent was how badly missed Austin English was for sure. I didn't see anybody getting any pressure on Baylor's QB all night. More of the same with our opponents WR's running free in our secondary.

Question: How does everybody feel about Gerald Mccoy and Demarcus Granger? I can't say I'm too terribly impressed with either of these guys so far in their admittedly young careers.

[Cam]

Watch his comments after the game. Stoops said he was happy with the players and the outcome.
Brent's comment on the D last night: "We played like crap."

He also stated that Baylor lined up in formations that they haven't used all year which caused major confusion the first half.

He didn't mention him by name, but you could tell he wasn't pleased with Reynolds' pass coverage. He got sucked up bad by the threat of the running game since it was successful early.

[JohnnyMack]

He didn't mention him by name, but you could tell he wasn't pleased with Reynolds' pass coverage. He got sucked up bad by the threat of the running game since it was successful early.

Big shocker.

[The Maestro]

FWIW, I just read the DO and TW recaps and Venables blasted the defense and the coaching of the defense...so no need to praise them if they weren't doing it either. Glad to know they thought they played bad...I would be nervous if we tried to paint it as a 30 point win and that makes it all better.

[Vegas Vic]

I'm just glad to see OU keep winning, but this is OU's weakest defense since 1999.

[The_Red_Patriot]

I'm just glad to see OU keep winning, but this is OU's weakest defense since 1999.

I know, way worse than that 05 team!

Give me a break!


How did you come to this conclusion?

OU has played good D the whole freaking year.

[LSUdeek]

Well, first off to be fair LSU has given up yardage and sustained drives to plenty of SEC competition.
But not consistently, which is why they lead the country in total defense.

EDIT: and to address your other point,
LSU in 2003 gave up an average of 252.0 yards per tilt, so we are 16 yards ahead of that nation-leading clip at this time.
TCU in 2002 gave up 240 YPG
Texas in 2001 gave up 236

The season isn't over yet, and Arkansas could certainly roll up a ton of yards against us on the ground, but we are right at where the previous nation leading defenses have been with the exception of 2006 VT at 219 YPG.

[Texas Golfer]

It was very disappointing to see our defense allow so many big plays and so many 3rd down conversions. IMO We've got to play better on D if we expect to be able to beat Tech, sheephumper U and KU (or MU again). And we certainly need to play better D for our bowl matchup (whoever it may be).

I agree. The only Big XII team that let Baylor score more than 21 points on them was Colorado who let them get 23 (last minute TDs against the Buffalo backups). The Bears only got 7, 10, 10, 10, and 13 against the other conference opponents.

[Vegas Vic]

I know, way worse than that 05 team!

Give me a break!


How did you come to this conclusion?

OU has played good D the whole freaking year.

I'd say it's close between this year's defense and the 2005 defense. The front seven in 2005 was better, especially the linebacking corps, which is one of OU's weaknesses this year (except for Lofton, of course). Lewis Baker and Ryan Reynolds are good players, but they're not in the same talent level that OU has enjoyed over the past seven years in that position group. Reynolds is also a huge liability in pass coverage.

Yardage wise, I think the 2005 defense gave up a little over 300 yards per game, and they also had to deal with a truly pathetic offense with freshman Bomar at the helm. OU's defense was on the field a lot in 2005, and their yardage numbers are actually fairly respectable when you factor in all of the bad positions they were frequently put into.

[Desert Sapper]

The front seven in 2005 was better
Coincidentally, we are again without our top two DEs. Prior to the season starting, we bid farewell to Rufus Alexander, an All-American LB. None of our front seven started with any regularity last year. Considering the circumstances, I'd say our front seven is doing just fine. And I must disagree with the comparison. We are much better up front than we have been since 2003.

[Tulsa_Fireman]

Question: How does everybody feel about Gerald Mccoy and Demarcus Granger? I can't say I'm too terribly impressed with either of these guys so far in their admittedly young careers.

Put down the pipe and step away. Crack kills.

These guys are a force.

What are you looking at? Tackles? Hurries? Sacks? The DT spot is so much better than last season, it's not even funny. Stronger. Faster. They clear blocks better and maintain gap assignments. They're blazingly quick on the stunt and they do a fantastic job maintaining the line of scrimmage and forcing downblocks and doubles. Point being...

Not everyone is a Tommie Harris.

But these guys are damn good defensive tackles right now. And they're YOUNG. Given the considerable question marks we had last season at the DT spot, I'm happier than a pig in sh*t with our defensive front four.

[Curly Bill]

Question: How does everybody feel about Gerald Mccoy and Demarcus Granger? I can't say I'm too terribly impressed with either of these guys so far in their admittedly young careers.

Very pleased with both of them, Granger especially has been excellent, and McCoy is getting better and better as of late. Because of the position they play, and the way we scheme OUr defense they're not going to have big statistics, nor get their name called a lot on TV, but they're doing exactly what they are supposed to do: stuff the LOS, and free up the LB's to make tackles. They are a big reason that Curtis Lofton has made eleventy-billion tackles this season.

edit...Plus the fact that Lofton's a stud.

[Blitzkrieg]

After the 46 defense that the bears popularized terrorized pro then moved to college football to teams like Miami, the spread was seen as the answer to the defenese "bringing more defenders than you could block." In the old days, the corners only had to man up for a few seconds, because the QB was going down. By spreading teams out, you then had to put a man on each WR, or the screens were going to gain 10 yards a pop.

A couple of rule changes helped this, first of all, no contact whatsoever with a WR past 5 yards, and let's be honest, if you make a great play and are with a yard of the WR, they'll toss the flag 80% of the time. Another was that a lineman could release and block downfield before the ball was caught if the pass was behind the line of scrimmage. You can't do this in the NFL, because no one would ever stop screen plays.

The rules really beg you to take advantage of the passing game. The spread allows a team that could never drive block, or sustain a pass rush while the QB takes a 7 step drop, to occupy their defender for a second or two until the pass is away. This is why appalachian state can beat Michigan, or Baylor can hang 400+ yards on OU.

I'd like to see the pass interference rules relaxed, and say that QBs can't use the shotgun. Then defenses would have a huge advantage once again. The whole key to winning on defense now is getting a pass rush with no more than 4 rushers. Blitzing is effective, but dangerous. WE suck at blitzing this year, at least compared to when we had guys like Roy Willaims and Brandon Shelby doing it. Harris just doesn't have the timing down, and he "sticks" to blockers.

[Leroy Lizard]

Whatever our defensive scheme was last night, it was good enough to win.

[rubyspirit]

Complain, complain, complain. This fansite is very hateful. Appreciate the entertainment and understand nothing is flawless. Not even you!

[SoonerKnight]

Our defense has allowed yardage but we have played the spread a lot this year. We have not allowed a lot of points to be scored on us. We can give up plenty of yards as long as we do not allow the points to be scored! :D

[SoonerJedi]

Complain, complain, complain. This fansite is very hateful. Appreciate the entertainment and understand nothing is flawless. Not even you!

The only fanbase in the nation putting up "the sky is falling" threads alongside "how we could play in the NC game" threads.

[JohnnyMack]

The only fanbase in the nation putting up "the sky is falling" threads alongside "how we could play in the NC game" threads.

The Monster is hungry.

[yermom]

The only fanbase in the nation putting up "the sky is falling" threads alongside "how we could play in the NC game" threads.

:D

[sooneron]

Being at the game last night.....one thing that was glaringly apparent was how badly missed Austin English was for sure. I didn't see anybody getting any pressure on Baylor's QB all night. More of the same with our opponents WR's running free in our secondary.

Question: How does everybody feel about Gerald Mccoy and Demarcus Granger? I can't say I'm too terribly impressed with either of these guys so far in their admittedly young careers.
You really don't watch what is going on in the trenches, do you?

[sooneron]

Complain, complain, complain. This fansite is very hateful. Appreciate the entertainment and understand nothing is flawless. Not even you!
Hateful? Uh, ok whatever you say.

[JohnnyMack]

Hateful? Uh, ok whatever you say.

**** you.

[sooneron]

My points on the gaylor game...

1. We didn't execute defensively in the first half.

2. Our number one playmaker on the DL was out of the game

3. We need to keep 4-5 in the box instead of playing a "oh, **** we won't get burned with 7 playing so far off the line.

4. Sam came out rusty and got it together magnificently

5. DM is a force

6. I like to see us slinging the ball around, but not to start off the game. Get some rhythm going - HB dive then follow it up with the deep pitch or play action.

7. The bears executed their offense about as the best that they could. They played above themselves, and we helped that early. Syzmanski was on target constantly. Some of this is due to English and the line not getting enough pressure on him.

8. Our OL isn't there yet - still too many penalites, but Sam wasn't sacked to my knowlege.