Brady Ackerman told me Sooners play better than on paper

[oupride]

You might enjoy reading this. Brady Ackerman is a former running back at the University of Florida.






Brady Ackerman
ESPN-Gator Country

OU Defense Stands On Its Own (http://www.gatorcountry.com/football/article/ou_defense_stands_on_its_own/5279)

Oklahoma’s defense has played second fiddle to its record-breaking offense all season long. The Sooners have set records for points scored and have a Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Sam Bradford, so it’s understandable.

Still, the question remains: How good is the Oklahoma defense?

Anyone who knows the history of Florida football and its former defensive coordinator Bob Stoops, the architect of the defense which helped Steve Spurrier’s Gators win the 1996 national championship, realizes this man knows defense. Stoops won his only national championship at Oklahoma following the 2000 season by shutting down one of the best offenses in Florida State’s football history.

With a month to get ready, I expect Oklahoma’s defense to show up in Miami looking to make a name for itself and the Big 12. How it plays will help determine if the Big 12 was a conference of great offenses or if the Big 12 was one with average defenses.

The Sooners play a 4-3 defense which likes to pressure and squeeze offenses. Bob Stoops cut his teeth teaching man cover 1 in his early days, but as he has gotten better athletes he has allowed them to play a more attacking zone-style defense. OU will give you plenty of looks in the front seven and the Sooners do like to bring linebacker blitzes. They had 42 sacks in the pass-happy Big 12, including four against Texas and four against Texas Tech.

Oklahoma can get after the quarterback, but the defense also will give up the big play. Oklahoma gave up 29 pass plays over 25 yards in 2008, compared to just 11 for Florida. Big 12 apologists will say look at the teams the Sooners played and the margin of victory and that may be true, but on film OU looks vulnerable. The secondary had 17 interceptions led by gambling free safety Lendy Holmes with five. Dominque Franks is a young but talented cover corner and the freshman weakside linebacker Travis Lewis had four interceptions.

One interesting stat I found about the Sooners’ secondary is that it gave up 20 touchdowns all season, but all of them were when they were ahead or tied. Much like Florida, the Sooners hardly trailed all season. They look vulnerable across the middle to me and that bodes well for Aaron Hernandez, Percy Harvin and Deonte Thompson.

The run defense is led by sophomores – defensive tackle Gerald McCoy and defensive end Jeremy Beal who combined for 24 tackles for loss. These guys are big and physical and will get off the rock in passing situations. The defense is weak at middle linebacker but has been good out of the gate dominating the first quarter when teams have tried to run. The opposition scored just one touchdown and averaged 1.8 yards per carry coming out of the gate.

Florida wants to be balanced and the first quarter will provide a good test to see if OU has done its homework on the Gators’ rushing attack. Nebraska had 208 yards rushing on the Sooners but got blown out. The Texas game was a good barometer – the Longhorns didn’t have an established run threat at the time but was able to get 161 yards on Oklahoma.

Florida will look at the Missouri and Texas games closely because both have similar offensive styles to the Gators. The Sooners have given up just 30 points all season in the first quarter. They have led every game this season at the half. So if you are Florida, it is best to break down only the first half of most of the rout games plus the Texas game, the Sooners’ only defeat. The Sooners have given up most of their yards on the ground and touchdowns in the second half.

So how good is Oklahoma’s defense? I think it is pretty good. The Sooners have dominated the first quarter of games and have put away almost all of their opponents by halftime. Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma State hung around at the half but all the others were extinguished by this aggressive defense.

I think the Sooners are vulnerable to big plays and it will be interesting to see how they respond in a close game. They never really slowed down Oklahoma State late in the season and that leads me to believe they have a good defense but not a great one. Oklahoma State does not run Florida’s offense like Missouri and Texas do, but the Cowboys did run the ball well and that is something UF will look at closely.

I think on tape Florida has a better defense but there are too many variables to take into account with Oklahoma. How good were the Big 12 offenses? In games which Oklahoma scored 60 points, does it matter that it gave up 27 points per game? Is this the defense on paper that looks average or the one in the first quarter that is dominant when challenged? And how come Texas figured this defense out and OU could not stop them in the second half?

I will say that I have a lot of respect for Bob Stoops. I think the Sooners will play better than they look on paper and on film, and with the one-month layoff, I expect a spirited effort from the Sooners on defense.

[A-M]

Our D will play better then they have all year. They will be the key to our great success when we win #8!

[Widescreen]

And how come Texas figured this defense out and OU could not stop them in the second half?

Pretty good analysis. But I'm surprised he doesn't know the answer to this.

1) Ryan Reynolds blows out his knee.
2) The coaches had no one ready to step in when a player with known health issues is out there.

I lay that one mostly on the coaches.

[jwlynn64]

Looks like he studied the box scores and didn't watch the games.


...but the Cowboys did run the ball well and that is something UF will look at closely.

A scrambling Robinson got most of their yards. Same with McCoy in the Texas game.


And how come Texas figured this defense out and OU could not stop them in the second half?

Maybe it was because we lost our starting Middle linebacker and we didn't have an adequate backup? Once again, please watch the game film.

Overall I thought it was a decent article, just used a too few many shortcuts.

[Thin White Duke]

I think that is a good article and I feel the same way. In another post I said that I am very worried that the Sooner's D has a big psychological edge on our offense. I think that our offense may believe the media when they say that the Big 12 has poor defense. I believe that the Sooner's have a very good D that has not had to play an entire game very often because your offense is so good. So they give up some big plays later in the game when they are not focused. If Oklahoma wins this game I think it is because your D plays much better then people think they will. I worry that our offense is going to think they can go in there and do what they want and try to force make too much happen with big plays. If this happens then your D will come up with some turnovers. if our offense takes what is given and takes care of the ball then I believe it will be a great game. I can't believe we have too wait another week.

[fadada1]

A scrambling Robinson got most of their yards. Same with McCoy in the Texas game.


this is the difference between tebow and mccoy/robinson. mccoy and robinson scrambled a lot an managed to use their athleticism to find holes to run through (mostly after the defense has allowed holes to develop). tebow, imo, isn't much of a scrambler - he's going to run it because that's the play or the read. i guess if he has a weakness, it would be that he doesn't scramble like the smaller guys (mccoy, robinson, daniel) because he's not quite as quick (relative to those guys). this is where disciplined defense is going to be so important.

that's just what i see. i might be wrong.

[Widescreen]

I'm sure Stoops is 100% involved in the defensive gameplanning and preparation. The offense will do what it does and Wilson is capable of implementing whatever wrinkles he thinks are appropriate given what UF does on defense. But I'm guessing Stoops is taking all this "bad defense" talk personally.

[ETGator1]

The Texas RB with the funny name ran all over the OU D in the second half. Yes, I watched the game. (G)

[DCGator]

this is the difference between tebow and mccoy/robinson. mccoy and robinson scrambled a lot an managed to use their athleticism to find holes to run through (mostly after the defense has allowed holes to develop). tebow, imo, isn't much of a scrambler - he's going to run it because that's the play or the read. i guess if he has a weakness, it would be that he doesn't scramble like the smaller guys (mccoy, robinson, daniel) because he's not quite as quick (relative to those guys). this is where disciplined defense is going to be so important.

that's just what i see. i might be wrong.

Tebow will tuck it and run if a hole opens up in the defense, usually just N/S. He doesn't usually scramble side to side unless it's a designed rollout or option play. He is not as fast as McCoy or Robinson, so he's a bit easier to catch behind the line of scrimage. He is also a bit harder to bring down though. As with any mobile QB, you are usually only going to sack him if you bring pressure up the middle.

[Boomer Mooner]

The Texas RB with the funny name ran all over the OU D in the second half. Yes, I watched the game. (G)

Glad you watched the game. Guess you know what the guys above mean when they talk about losing our starting middle linebacker with no one ready to step in. I'm sure you will remember that's when and where they ran the ball all over us in the second half.

[Blitzkrieg]

He busted one long run, other than that, not much problem.

[Sooner13]

The Texas RB with the funny name ran all over the OU D in the second half. Yes, I watched the game. (G)

I don't like making excuses, but he did have a whopping 6 carries for 8 yards in the first half. All in all he had 2 carries totaling 92 yds (62 yarder and a 30 yarder in the 2nd half). That leaves 13 other carries for 35 yds (2.7/carry)

Maybe it's just me but I wouldn't consider that "running all over our D".

[ETGator1]

Glad you watched the game. Guess you know what the guys above mean when they talk about losing our starting middle linebacker with no one ready to step in. I'm sure you will remember that's when and where they ran the ball all over us in the second half.

Puhlease! Excuses, excuses, injuries are part of the game. UF played the last two games with 1s and 3s at DT and will against the Sooners as well. Harvin missed most of the FSU game and all of the Bama game. Rainey missed the SECCG as well. You play with what you have. No excuses.

If the Sooners didn't have a 2 ready to go at Mike for Texas, the coaching isn't very good or the Sooner defense is a bit weak up the middle as Brady touched upon in the article. I'm inclined to think it's not Bobby's coaching.

For proper credit, Chris Ogbonnaya is the Texas kid that ran over the Sooner defense in the 2nd half.

To top things off, where was the Sooner running game? Texas completely shutdown the Sooner rushing attack.

[Pieces Hit]

I watched a couple of "your" games as well but missed that big Misisisisisisisippi game.

[ETGator1]

I don't like making excuses, but he did have a whopping 6 carries for 8 yards in the first half. All in all he had 2 carries totaling 92 yds (62 yarder and a 30 yarder in the 2nd half). That leaves 13 other carries for 35 yds (2.7/carry)

Maybe it's just me but I wouldn't consider that "running all over our D".

Excuses? Yes.

I see 15 for 127 and an 8.5 pre carry average. In the 2nd half, Ogbonnaya had runs for 6, 30, 12, and 62. I'd say that qualifies for running over the Sooner D.

Whomever you have at Mike won't matter. UF is going to run on the Sooner D. The public perception is that Bama led the SEC in rushing. They didn't. UF led the SEC in rushing. We actually outrushed the Tide in the SECCG without Harvin or Rainey.

[jwlynn64]

Why the anger? Maybe your trying to convince yourself of something? Four rushes, even long ones, is not "running all over OUs D".

OUs run game didn't get going until after the Texas game. It is much improved since then. Although I have to wonder what that has to do with OUs D being able to stop the run? :confused:

Is this your way of saying that your Dad can beat up our Dad?

Great thing about this is, we only have to wait a little over a week to find out how tough "your Dad" really is.

[NormanPride]

I don't think anyone actually thought Bama lead the SEC in anything offensive.

[Pieces Hit]

Oh man, your whole team musta been hurt that day:

L FLORIDA
W OLE MISS

Too bad you weren't playing a creampuff team like Texass.

I fart in your general direction.

[SoonerBacker]

Ya gotta love Gator fans coming around to "educate" us about the games we played.



After Reynolds went down, the Whorns' ypp doubled. That's not an excuse. It's a fact. And almost all of it was across the middle, the area vacted by Reynolds. So I'd have to say the primary problem was that the coaches did not have the backup ready. Yes, the coaches should have prepared better for that potential situation. They didn't. No excuses. It took a few games after the tu game before we got that problem solved. But the coaches did get it solved.

[SoonerShay]

Your really coming off like an a s s with your excuses tripe. Texass had -3 yards rushing before OUr MLB Ryan Reynolds got hurt and went out of the game.
2 plays after he went out texass busted a run for 30 yards, coincidence? I don't think so.

In our defense the MLB calls the alignments and behind RR there were freshmen and Jucos. When he went out in the 2nd half and the next 2 games turned out to be our worst defensive performances. We had 3 different players getting their first start at MLB. Go ahead and tell us your going to kill us because Kstate put up 550 and 35 points on us too. We actually watch the game and know that game really doesn't mean *hit.

Your the fan of a team that lost to Ole Miss, so I'm guessing your just going to say they beat you straight up? Then if your going to say that you have to believe we will do the same if you can lose to an average team like Ole Miss.

O by the way STFU

[boomermagic]

Excuses? Yes.

I see 15 for 127 and an 8.5 pre carry average. In the 2nd half, Ogbonnaya had runs for 6, 30, 12, and 62. I'd say that qualifies for running over the Sooner D.

Whomever you have at Mike won't matter. UF is going to run on the Sooner D. The public perception is that Bama led the SEC in rushing. They didn't. UF led the SEC in rushing. We actually outrushed the Tide in the SECCG without Harvin or Rainey.

Do you have any EXCUSES for the Mississippi loss ? Or, did you just get your *** kicked by a really bad team ? No wait, fu is so good they couldn't lose to the likes of a Mississippi or even an Oklahoma... All I have to say is Be ready we will..

[Pieces Hit]

OLE MISS = SEC POWER HOUSE.

[oupride]

Whomever you have at Mike won't matter. UF is going to run on the Sooner D.
Thanks for the warning.

[ETGator1]

I can't beat your logic so I'll throw Ole Miss out there.

You have great points so you are angry.

Well, the way I see it is your team just isn't that good if you have to make excuses. Oklahoma fans making excuses just doesn't seem right to me.

Could be wrong, but Brady Ackerman seeing a weakness up the middle of your defense says the OU D is in trouble with a Tebow led offense. Do you guys think UF has a weak OL?

[adoniijahsooner]

Puhlease! Excuses, excuses, injuries are part of the game. UF played the last two games with 1s and 3s at DT and will against the Sooners as well. Harvin missed most of the FSU game and all of the Bama game. Rainey missed the SECCG as well. You play with what you have. No excuses.

If the Sooners didn't have a 2 ready to go at Mike for Texas, the coaching isn't very good or the Sooner defense is a bit weak up the middle as Brady touched upon in the article. I'm inclined to think it's not Bobby's coaching.

For proper credit, Chris Ogbonnaya is the Texas kid that ran over the Sooner defense in the 2nd half.

To top things off, where was the Sooner running game? Texas completely shutdown the Sooner rushing attack.

It must be great to be ignorant? And even though I am writing this you will still believe what you are saying, because mentally there is fallow ground that needs to be tilled. Texas did not shut down our running game; Kevin Wilson shut down the running game. Chris Brown only ran the ball 7 times, and he averaged 4.1 yards, which is pretty good, huh? Demarco only ran the ball 7 times, but his average was much lower. That is only 14 times between our 2 running backs. Anyone who knows football understands that average per carry is not as important as rush attempts. If Chris Brown had kept running the ball maybe like 20-25 times, he may have had 80-90 yards. Kevin Wilson even stated that he was disappointed with his play calling in that game; I am guessing he will not make the same mistake Jan. 8.

[Pieces Hit]

Do you guys think UF has a weak OL?

I think they have a GREAT OL. DUH.

I also think you shouldn't talk sh!t if you can't take it - especially when it's true:

You got beat by a 3-loss, unranked team on nearly the same date.

I didn't get to see the game though.

We don't get anything but OU football, wrestling, and chicken fights here.

[BoulderSooner79]

After Reynolds went down, the Whorns' ypp doubled. That's not an excuse. It's a fact. And almost all of it was across the middle, the area vacted by Reynolds. So I'd have to say the primary problem was that the coaches did not have the backup ready. Yes, the coaches should have prepared better for that potential situation. They didn't. No excuses. It took a few games after the tu game before we got that problem solved. But the coaches did get it solved.

I wish that were true, but I don't see the problem as solved. As Stoops said, there is no waiver wire in CFB and we are thin at MLB. Box couldn't come in against UT or KU because he was hurt too and he is not a replacement for RR. The coaches have worked around the best they can and improved the overall D and I like the way it has progressed.

[SouthFortySooner]

Floreda got beat by an unranked 3 loss team nearly the same time we lost to Texas?

Thats good stuff rat there. :D

[soonerfan28]

I think when you match lines it's not good.
OU O-line vs. FU D-line = Even
FU O-line vs. OU D-line = Not even close. OU will be in FU's backfield.

[P3 Gator]

Looks like he studied the box scores and didn't watch the games.



A scrambling Robinson got most of their yards. Same with McCoy in the Texas game.



Maybe it was because we lost our starting Middle linebacker and we didn't have an adequate backup? Once again, please watch the game film.

Overall I thought it was a decent article, just used a too few many shortcuts.

Texas was 1/3 way through the season and OSU was right at the end. Does this mean the OU defense hasn't solved the mobile QB issue?

[Okie35]

Texas was 1/3 way through the season and OSU was right at the end. Does this mean the OU defense hasn't solved the mobile QB issue?

robinson had yards but he also had like 2 fumbles if i can recall and an int... and daniel tried to run but got pretty much killed also fumbled and threw ints... colt was able to pick up most his yards from facemasks being called(besides the fact he only averaged 2.2. yards a carry in the game) ... locker(uw) didnt do too much damage... dalton(tcu) didnt do too much either ... johnson(a&m) had negative yards.. griffin(baylor) had over 100 yards but lets face it hes faster than tebow and more agile... all in all id say they've faired well against mobile qbs... and also made qbs make some terrible decisions or cough the ball up in pretty much every game w/ the exception of the whorns

[Okie35]

Excuses? Yes.

I see 15 for 127 and an 8.5 pre carry average. In the 2nd half, Ogbonnaya had runs for 6, 30, 12, and 62. I'd say that qualifies for running over the Sooner D.

Whomever you have at Mike won't matter. UF is going to run on the Sooner D. The public perception is that Bama led the SEC in rushing. They didn't. UF led the SEC in rushing. We actually outrushed the Tide in the SECCG without Harvin or Rainey.

yea id say it is too when unexpectedly your lb goes out...:rolleyes: whats the excuse for uf against ole miss? nada i just saw spikes get blew by off a mccluster direct snap :D ... and snead throwing to wide open receivers... and im sure everyone on uf was 100%... and about the bama thing you had harvin and rainey in the ole miss game matter of fact harvin put up his best numbers statistically wise in that game...

[PalmBeachSooner]

Looks like he studied the box scores and didn't watch the games.



A scrambling Robinson got most of their yards. Same with McCoy in the Texas game.



Maybe it was because we lost our starting Middle linebacker and we didn't have an adequate backup? Once again, please watch the game film.

Overall I thought it was a decent article, just used a too few many shortcuts.

I'm sorry but I would argue that Tebow is a better QB than McCoy and OU should be concerned with his ability to run and/or scramble.

[P3 Gator]

I'm sorry but I would argue that Tebow is a better QB than McCoy and OU should be concerned with his ability to run and/or scramble.

No, Tebow has a long delivery, throws a floating quacker virtually every throw, is slow, his movement does nothing to pull defenders out of position and is nothing better than a glorified fullback (or so I've been told repeatedly).

[ETGator1]

Ole Miss explanation:

-2 in turnovers - UF is +22 on the year - Hernandez fumbled in Ole Miss territory in the 2nd quarter. Harvin fumbled at the UF 24 on the first UF possession of the 3rd quarter. Tebow fumbled at the UF 18 on the second UF possession of the 3rd quarter. Ole Miss put 10 quick points on the board on a short field to tie the game that I think the UF players thought they were going to walk away with in the 2nd half. The UF players were not mentally ready for a dogfight with Ole Miss.

The offense hadn't blossomed as quickly as most thought it would. UF tried to play 2 man offense with Tebow and Harvin. It got us beat. The Gators have done a much better job of spreading the ball to its playmakers since Ole Miss. Tebow missed open receivers, held on to the ball too long allowing sacks, and generally played his worst game as a Gator. His post game comments of taking blame and promising hard work for himself and the team are already legendary.

The biggest reasons UF lost is that Ole Miss is well coached (Houston Nutt), has good talent with two DTs and a DE who will be playing in the NFL after this season, and the Rebs came ready to rumble. The Rebs had more fire and desire and it showed. Ole Miss deserved to win. On that gameday, Ole Miss was the better team. No excuses.

[Sooner13]

Ole Miss explanation:

-2 in turnovers - UF is +22 on the year - Hernandez fumbled in Ole Miss territory in the 2nd quarter. Harvin fumbled at the UF 24 on the first UF possession of the 3rd quarter. Tebow fumbled at the UF 18 on the second UF possession of the 3rd quarter. Ole Miss put 10 quick points on the board on a short field to tie the game that I think the UF players thought they were going to walk away with in the 2nd half. The UF players were not mentally ready for a dogfight with Ole Miss.

The offense hadn't blossomed as quickly as most thought it would. UF tried to play 2 man offense with Tebow and Harvin. It got us beat. The Gators have done a much better job of spreading the ball to its playmakers since Ole Miss. Tebow missed open receivers, held on to the ball too long allowing sacks, and generally played his worst game as a Gator. His post game comments of taking blame and promising hard work for himself and the team are already legendary.

The biggest reasons UF lost is that Ole Miss is well coached (Houston Nutt), has good talent with two DTs and a DE who will be playing in the NFL after this season, and the Rebs came ready to rumble. The Rebs had more fire and desire and it showed. Ole Miss deserved to win. On that gameday, Ole Miss was the better team. No excuses.

If this is legendary then legendary=lame.

BTW, apparently fumbles don't count as part of the game :eek:

[jwlynn64]

Texas was 1/3 way through the season and OSU was right at the end. Does this mean the OU defense hasn't solved the mobile QB issue?

Contrary to popular opinion on this board, players from the other teams actually are trying to win as well. Give Robinson credit for playing well and making things happen. Also give Colt credit for having the half of his career and taking advantage of a deficiency in the OU D.

Are you saying the Tebow is a mobile QB or is he a QB that runs the ball? Big difference in my opinion.

Now lets talk about reading comprehension and staying on topic. My replies were to address two specific points in the column and I'm pretty sure they didn't have anything to do with Florida. Remember, not everything revolved around Florida. I wasn't "saying" anything to address your points.

[AlbqSooner]

If this is legendary then legendary=lame.:eek:

Don't forget, we played against THE LEGEND of Chase Daniel.

[HiFiGator]

I find it very amusing that you guys are over here discussing a Brady Ackerman article of all things. The guy is a hack. Calling him a "former running back" at the University of Florida is an absolute joke. His big claim to fame is his one touchdown run in a blowout game against our homecoming fodder that year. It was somebody like W. Texas St or Central Michigan. In any case, the guy is largely useless. His nickname among several of my friends is Brady Ackerman, Ackerman-Hackerman-Yackerman-Smackerman! He currently does a morning talkshow from 7am-10am on AM900 and AM1230. The guy was a bad undersized football player and he's an even worse radio personality.

[BigRedJed]

Excellent. They are eating their own.

[HiFiGator]

I am on public record and have been for quite a while, pointing out that Brady is pretty much of a pretentious egotistical twit, who has little to no reason to be that way. If that is "eating my own," then so be it.

[Widescreen]

If that is "eating my own," then so be it.

Cool. It be.

[Jdog]

He busted one long run, other than that, not much problem.

The 3rd down scrambles by McCoy is the other half of their rushing yards for the day. and Don't forget the 4 sack for roughly minus 27 yard.

[Jdog]

I find it very amusing that you guys are over here discussing a Brady Ackerman article of all things. The guy is a hack. Calling him a "former running back" at the University of Florida is an absolute joke. His big claim to fame is his one touchdown run in a blowout game against our homecoming fodder that year. It was somebody like W. Texas St or Central Michigan. In any case, the guy is largely useless. His nickname among several of my friends is Brady Ackerman, Ackerman-Hackerman-Yackerman-Smackerman! He currently does a morning talkshow from 7am-10am on AM900 and AM1230. The guy was a bad undersized football player and he's an even worse radio personality.

HiFi, thats good stuff - I knew some OSuE players that had bigger egos then ability. There were even some OU players in the earlier 80's that I knew that were regretably that way.

[Jdog]

I'm sorry but I would argue that Tebow is a better QB than McCoy and OU should be concerned with his ability to run and/or scramble.

I would say that Tebow is by far a better "wild (name your team-hog,frog,dawg,wildcat,rebel) type of running Fullback, (thats why few think that he'll be an NFL QB). But I think (and it's killing me to say this) that McCoy is a more mobile scrambling runner, and a more accurate passer than Tebow.
Tebow is a power runner like a fullback, where McCoy does it with his legs and speed.
But I agree with your original point - that we need to be very concerned with his running ability - because he can hurt people.

[soonerloyal]

Don't ya just love it when fans of opposing teams come on our board and say we have "excuses" for our loss - but their loss comes with an "explanation"?

I'm a girl and have no problem "manning up" to a loss. Pity I'm not seeing the same stones from the FL guys.