Cool article about how big the loss of RR was

[Collier11]

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/big12/0-3-228/How-much-has-Ryan-Reynolds--injury-devastated-OU-s-defense-.html

[85sooners]

:gary:

[phislammajamma]

i cringe at other fans who make excuses as to why we beat them. can't stand it when they say they would've won if it weren't for an injury to certain players. that's why i won't do it here. if reynolds didn't get injured who knows. however, on the flip side, certain of our players didn't step up, certain coaches didn't make right calls and -- as much as i hate saying it -- texass beat us fair and square. not that this means they're a better team. but they were that day.

[cvsooner]

For one quarter, anyway.

[Dan Thompson]

Not to mention some really bad calls.

[BermudaSooner]

i cringe at other fans who make excuses as to why we beat them. can't stand it when they say they would've won if it weren't for an injury to certain players. that's why i won't do it here. if reynolds didn't get injured who knows. however, on the flip side, certain of our players didn't step up, certain coaches didn't make right calls and -- as much as i hate saying it -- texass beat us fair and square. not that this means they're a better team. but they were that day.

I don't think this was meant as an excuse, but rather more praise of RR and how important he is/was. There is an "if" for every game Stoops has lost--heck if a few things went our was in 1999, we could have been 11-2, or 12-1 rather than 7-5. There are also many "ifs" that if they went the other way would have derailed our 2000 season. What if Terrance Marshall drops that interception?

[Collier11]

Or what if Torrance Marshall had dropped his INT, that one was even bigger ;)

[BoulderSooner79]

I agree this is not an excuse; just showing how important Ryan was to the team. We were supposed to be stacked at MLB with Reed, Lofton and Reynolds this year, but it didn't work out. You would hope someone else could step in and not be such a drop-off, but some players just too important. If Sam went down, we would instantly be a mediocre team and that's not a knock against Joey.

[NormanPride]

I think that's the first time I've ever seen the loss of a defensive player affect a team so much. Him going down killed any momentum we could have had.

[soonervegas]

How many points did Texas have at the time of Reynold's injury? If my memory serves me correctly it was 20...hardly slowing Texas down. But let's keep drinking the koolaid anyway.

[BoulderSooner79]

How many points did Texas have at the time of Reynold's injury? If my memory serves me correctly it was 20...hardly slowing Texas down. But let's keep drinking the koolaid anyway.

7 of the 20 came on a kick return. And RR wasn't hurt in the 3rd qtr - he was hurt in the 2nd, he just gutted it out until the 3rd. But there is no koolaid being served here; it's just respect for RR. Players get hurt and teams have to deal with it and so far, OU hasn't found any magic formula on this one.

[MamaMia]

We are OU. We should be 3 deep and ready.

[BoulderSooner79]

As pointed out before, the coaches had Mike Reed, Lofton and Reynolds lined up for this position. Reed was a huge surprise that he didn't work out, Lofton a huge surprise that he was so good that he left early and RR got hurt. Schollys have to be planned at least a couple of years in advance - hard to ding the coaches planning on this one.

[Curly Bill]

As pointed out before, the coaches had Mike Reed, Lofton and Reynolds lined up for this position. Reed was a huge surprise that he didn't work out, Lofton a huge surprise that he was so good that he left early and RR got hurt. Schollys have to be planned at least a couple of years in advance - hard to ding the coaches planning on this one.

We knew coming into this season that Lofton and Reed would not be here, we also knew that Reynolds has a history of being injured, and yet we had no one remotely close to being able to come in and effectively play when RR went down -- that's poor planning and poor coaching.

[BoulderSooner79]

I said hard to ding the coaches, but you're good at it. Certainly didn't know about Lofton/Reed during this or last year's recruiting. And a true freshman isn't usually going to help much anyway. As to poor coaching, I don't know - I get the feeling it's just too soon for Crow or he just doesn't have high potential or he would be given more PT. Box is a RS Fr. with no playing time. I guess they could have tried to go the JC after Lofton declared and also knowing that Reed didn't win the job last year. Still looks like a tough situation to me.

[Curly Bill]

I said hard to ding the coaches, but you're good at it. Certainly didn't know about Lofton/Reed during this or last year's recruiting. And a true freshman isn't usually going to help much anyway. As to poor coaching, I don't know - I get the feeling it's just too soon for Crow or he just doesn't have high potential or he would be given more PT. Box is a RS Fr. with no playing time. I guess they could have tried to go the JC after Lofton declared and also knowing that Reed didn't win the job last year. Still looks like a tough situation to me.

With Reed not making it and Lofton leaving early I understand us not being as set at the position as we would have liked to be. My problem is we knew that going into the season, and we knew of RR's injury history, yet didn't have anyone remotely close to being ready to step in should he go down.

[47straight]

Fine, stuff happens. Players leave. ADJUST THE DADGUM SYSTEM TO THE PLAYERS AT HAND.

[Spray]

We are OU. We should be 3 deep and ready.

If it were 1972 that might be possible.

[goingoneight]

We knew coming into this season that Lofton and Reed would not be here, we also knew that Reynolds has a history of being injured, and yet we had no one remotely close to being able to come in and effectively play when RR went down -- that's poor planning and poor coaching.

Poor planning that Joey Halzle isn't Sam Bradford, either, eh? You know... Kejuan Jones wasn't AD, Bomar wasn't Jason White and so far while we're doing nice at WR... no one else has been a Malcom Kelly. This isn't like the wishbone where you just plug a new one in, nor is it the 1970s where you have the depth to even do that. Reynolds was a 4th year guy following in the footsteps of every great MLB before him until that injury. For years now, OU's defense has centered around the MLB position, and not once have we lost one if my memory serves me correctly. RR meant a lot as far as leadership and getting guys lined up, his experience more than anything else made us better. RR was like a big brother out there, everyone else we've got is like an intern thrown into the fire right now until they get their feet wet.

[sooneron]

Poor planning that Joey Halzle isn't Sam Bradford, either, eh? You know... Kejuan Jones wasn't AD, Bomar wasn't Jason White and so far while we're doing nice at WR... no one else has been a Malcom Kelly. This isn't like the wishbone where you just plug a new one in, nor is it the 1970s where you have the depth to even do that. Reynolds was a 4th year guy following in the footsteps of every great MLB before him until that injury. For years now, OU's defense has centered around the MLB position, and not once have we lost one if my memory serves me correctly. RR meant a lot as far as leadership and getting guys lined up, his experience more than anything else made us better. RR was like a big brother out there, everyone else we've got is like an intern thrown into the fire right now until they get their feet wet.

STOP MAKING EXCUSES!!! [hairGel]