As for the Big 12 offense vs SEC defense goes...

[jkjsooner]

I don't know if this has been discussed since the game but I know it was discussed over and over before the game.

Big 12 fans said their offenses are much better than the SEC and SEC fans said it was only because of weak Big 12 defenses.

In my opinion, after this game the reviews are mixed.

This game clearly showed that Florida's offense is not on par with the best Big 12 offenses. They did not move the ball on us like Texas did. Several teams put more pressure on our defense than Florida did.

As for SEC defenses, well Florida's was good. We were able to move the ball on UF and played well enough to score more than 14 points but give credit to Florida for stopping us twice in the red zone.

I think we also proved that Big 12 teams can play some defense as well. I don't like giving up 24 points but it was nowhere near the 40 or so Florida fans were predicting.

If I had to draw conclusions from this one game I would say the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

[L-Boy]

I would agree with your ultimate conclusion about somewhere in the middle, but I would quibble with a couple of minor points.





I don't know if this has been discussed since the game but I know it was discussed over and over before the game.

Big 12 fans said their offenses are much better than the SEC and SEC fans said it was only because of weak Big 12 defenses.

In my opinion, after this game the reviews are mixed.

This game clearly showed that Florida's offense is not on par with the best Big 12 offenses. They did not move the ball on us like Texas did. Several teams put more pressure on our defense than Florida did. .

I disagree with this conclusion pretty strongly. I think with 5 weeks to prepare, BOTH teams defenses had time to deconstruct the others offenses, and that was evidenced last night. All the Big 12 offenses did not look quite as good in the bowl games vs regular season, especially on the scoring front. If you are going to come to the conclusion that UF's offense was not as good based upon this one game, then you also have to come to the same conclusion that OU's offenses and all Big 12 offenses were not as good as advertised.


As for SEC defenses, well Florida's was good. We were able to move the ball on UF and played well enough to score more than 14 points but give credit to Florida for stopping us twice in the red zone.

I think we also proved that Big 12 teams can play some defense as well. I don't like giving up 24 points but it was nowhere near the 40 or so Florida fans were predicting.

I agree that OU has a good defense, that is a point I was not willing to concede prior to the game. They are fast, the line is good, they swarm to the ball. Due to their style they may let some get by occasionally, but they gave UF fits most of the game. I think TX has a respectable D also. But TT and Okie St or MO, no way, those are weak defenses.


If I had to draw conclusions from this one game I would say the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Agree with your conclusion.

[OUMedMan]

I don't know if this has been discussed since the game but I know it was discussed over and over before the game.

Big 12 fans said their offenses are much better than the SEC and SEC fans said it was only because of weak Big 12 defenses.

In my opinion, after this game the reviews are mixed.

This game clearly showed that Florida's offense is not on par with the best Big 12 offenses. They did not move the ball on us like Texas did. Several teams put more pressure on our defense than Florida did.

As for SEC defenses, well Florida's was good. We were able to move the ball on UF and played well enough to score more than 14 points but give credit to Florida for stopping us twice in the red zone.

I think we also proved that Big 12 teams can play some defense as well. I don't like giving up 24 points but it was nowhere near the 40 or so Florida fans were predicting.

If I had to draw conclusions from this one game I would say the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Okay, let's go over this once more. . . . .

Florida averaged about 445 yards of total offense a game this year.

So how many yards did the Gators have against the #2 defense in the Big 12?

Well, the Sooners "held" them to 480 yards -- about 35 more than their average.

And. . . .how many yards did Texas have against the Sooners this year?

Texas had. . . . .438 yards -- 42 yards less than Florida.

On the flip side, consider how Florida's defense did against OU. . . . . .

What was the Sooner's offensive yardage average this year -- against all the teams other than Florida? About 558 yards.

And how many yards did OU roll up against the Gator's D? I think it was 363 yards -- nearly 200 yards less than their average.

So to sum it up. . . . . . .

OU's defense allowed Florida to gain 35 yards more than their average this season.

Florida's defense held OU to about 200 yards less than their average this season.

Now which defense would you judge to have done a better job?

[TXBOOMER]

Considering we were scoring at will for most of the year I would say Florida has a heck of a defense. The better the program, the better the athletes etc. OU and texass would be good in any conference for that reason. I do believe the SEC has more athletes overall but OU and texass are right up there with the top sec teams as far as athletes. I have came to the realization over the years that you can't make a true comparison of conferences. You can say what conference is the deepest but who fu*^ing cares. As good as Tebow played last night, I think Florida fans and the media should give a little more credit to the defense and players like Harvin. He is good but he has one heck of a supporting cast.

[pappy]

I don't think ou really ran their offense like they had been all season. it seemed like they offense played scared and I'm not saying that as the players played scared but more the playcalling was called scared by kw. seriously the game is being reshown right now on fsn. all year long we came out and hurried up and ran plays as fast as humanly possible and def couldn't handle it and we really didn't do it against florida we would line up really fast and then kw would change the play about 3 times and then the snap would happen. early in the game fox had a clock on the screen showing how long it would take us to snap the ball and after a while they took it down b/c we were clearly not running our fast break type offense. everytime we actually ran it like had been all season and not changing the play a million times at the line of scrimmage we were productive and moved it right down the field and florida couldn't stop it but we only did it a couple times all game. it was a bit frustrating to watch.

[Circle City Gator]

I don't think ou really ran their offense like they had been all season. it seemed like they offense played scared and I'm not saying that as the players played scared but more the playcalling was called scared by kw. seriously the game is being reshown right now on fsn. all year long we came out and hurried up and ran plays as fast as humanly possible and def couldn't handle it and we really didn't do it against florida we would line up really fast and then kw would change the play about 3 times and then the snap would happen. early in the game fox had a clock on the screen showing how long it would take us to snap the ball and after a while they took it down b/c we were clearly not running our fast break type offense. everytime we actually ran it like had been all season and not changing the play a million times at the line of scrimmage we were productive and moved it right down the field and florida couldn't stop it but we only did it a couple times all game. it was a bit frustrating to watch.


Oklahoma was able to do tha because the other side wasn't ready. In this game the Sooners came out, lined up quickly, and saw that Florida was ready and waiting for them. Once that happened the Sooners offense turned into Meerkat Manor, the whole team popping up and looking over to the sideline to see the signals for Plan B. Oklahoma did not change their offense. Florida changed Oklahoma's offense. The point of Oklahoma's speed up was to catch the defense unprepared. It is counterproductive to go with speed when the other side is prepared. Then you do what OU did all night, look to the sideline for a signal in response to how the D lined up.

[AgriGator]

Oklahoma was able to do tha because the other side wasn't ready. In this game the Sooners came out, lined up quickly, and saw that Florida was ready and waiting for them. Once that happened the Sooners offense turned into Meerkat Manor, the whole team popping up and looking over to the sideline to see the signals for Plan B. Oklahoma did not change their offense. Florida changed Oklahoma's offense. The point of Oklahoma's speed up was to catch the defense unprepared. It is counterproductive to go with speed when the other side is prepared. Then you do what OU did all night, look to the sideline for a signal in response to how the D lined up.


I don't know if anyone here read how the Gators prepered for the up tempo game. The defense practiced against two complete teams. One team would run a play and at the completion of the play, the next team would run in from the sideline and line up. It actually was a faster tempo than OU could run as the offensive players didn't have to run back to their line of scrimmage.

I think OU coaches did a good job of preparing their defense as UF was definitely out of their game in the first half.

The refs seemed to be doing things to slow down the game some with all the replays about the clock too. WTF happened there?

[Circle City Gator]

I don't know if anyone here read how the Gators prepered for the up tempo game. The defense practiced against two complete teams. One team would run a play and at the completion of the play, the next team would run in from the sideline and line up. It actually was a faster tempo than OU could run as the offensive players didn't have to run back to their line of scrimmage.

I think OU coaches did a good job of preparing their defense as UF was definitely out of their game in the first half.

The refs seemed to be doing things to slow down the game some with all the replays about the clock too. WTF happened there?

That's easy. Ron Cherry is a moron.

[ratedrsuperstar]

Moving the ball on a SEC defense doesn't prove much for how good a Big 12 Offense is, but them holding OU to 14 points (40 below thier average) does prove that their defenses are better than the Big 12's.

We have to take off the Crimson glasses and admit that the SEC (and possibly the PAC 10) was better this year based on the bowl games.

[MarylandGator]

Okay, let's go over this once more. . . . .

Florida averaged about 445 yards of total offense a game this year.

So how many yards did the Gators have against the #2 defense in the Big 12?

Well, the Sooners "held" them to 480 yards -- about 35 more than their average.

And. . . .how many yards did Texas have against the Sooners this year?

Texas had. . . . .438 yards -- 42 yards less than Florida.

On the flip side, consider how Florida's defense did against OU. . . . . .

What was the Sooner's offensive yardage average this year -- against all the teams other than Florida? About 558 yards.

And how many yards did OU roll up against the Gator's D? I think it was 363 yards -- nearly 200 yards less than their average.

So to sum it up. . . . . . .

OU's defense allowed Florida to gain 35 yards more than their average this season.

Florida's defense held OU to about 200 yards less than their average this season.

Now which defense would you judge to have done a better job?
good post. solid numbers.

[GG84]

The extra time to prepare was key for both defenses. If this game had been played one week after the conference championship games, I bet there would have been a lot more scoring.

The Gators use about a zillion different formations with all kinds of motion to try to confuse the defenses and Oklahoma uses their tempo to catch defenses out of position. With only one week to prepare, both offenses are nearly impossible to stop, but if you give good coaches several weeks they can get things figured out.

[OU_Sooners75]

Oklahoma was able to do tha because the other side wasn't ready. In this game the Sooners came out, lined up quickly, and saw that Florida was ready and waiting for them. Once that happened the Sooners offense turned into Meerkat Manor, the whole team popping up and looking over to the sideline to see the signals for Plan B. Oklahoma did not change their offense. Florida changed Oklahoma's offense. The point of Oklahoma's speed up was to catch the defense unprepared. It is counterproductive to go with speed when the other side is prepared. Then you do what OU did all night, look to the sideline for a signal in response to how the D lined up.

There were 5 total drives that OU lined up and ran what they usually did. Guess what...2 of them led to TDs. 1 Led to a INT at around the 23 Yd Line with OU going in. And 2 led in 4th and goals that were not converted into points.

My hats off to Florida. They did what they needed to do to win. However, they better count their blessings that OU shot themselves in the foot a few times.

OU was in the position to score at least 28, maybe even more. Florida scored everytime they threatened.

[OU_Sooners75]

Moving the ball on a SEC defense doesn't prove much for how good a Big 12 Offense is, but them holding OU to 14 points (40 below thier average) does prove that their defenses are better than the Big 12's.

We have to take off the Crimson glasses and admit that the SEC (and possibly the PAC 10) was better this year based on the bowl games.

Anyone that judges a conference based on Bowl games are morons...plain and simple.

So I take it you are a moron. :pop:

[TUSooner]

Oklahoma was able to do tha because the other side wasn't ready. In this game the Sooners came out, lined up quickly, and saw that Florida was ready and waiting for them. Once that happened the Sooners offense turned into Meerkat Manor, the whole team popping up and looking over to the sideline to see the signals for Plan B. Oklahoma did not change their offense. Florida changed Oklahoma's offense. The point of Oklahoma's speed up was to catch the defense unprepared. It is counterproductive to go with speed when the other side is prepared. Then you do what OU did all night, look to the sideline for a signal in response to how the D lined up.

OU did that in every game, not just vs UF.

[Harry Beanbag]

I don't think ou really ran their offense like they had been all season. it seemed like they offense played scared and I'm not saying that as the players played scared but more the playcalling was called scared by kw. seriously the game is being reshown right now on fsn. all year long we came out and hurried up and ran plays as fast as humanly possible and def couldn't handle it and we really didn't do it against florida we would line up really fast and then kw would change the play about 3 times and then the snap would happen. early in the game fox had a clock on the screen showing how long it would take us to snap the ball and after a while they took it down b/c we were clearly not running our fast break type offense. everytime we actually ran it like had been all season and not changing the play a million times at the line of scrimmage we were productive and moved it right down the field and florida couldn't stop it but we only did it a couple times all game. it was a bit frustrating to watch.


This is correct. It was frustrating as hell.

[Harry Beanbag]

Oklahoma was able to do tha because the other side wasn't ready. In this game the Sooners came out, lined up quickly, and saw that Florida was ready and waiting for them. Once that happened the Sooners offense turned into Meerkat Manor, the whole team popping up and looking over to the sideline to see the signals for Plan B. Oklahoma did not change their offense. Florida changed Oklahoma's offense. The point of Oklahoma's speed up was to catch the defense unprepared. It is counterproductive to go with speed when the other side is prepared. Then you do what OU did all night, look to the sideline for a signal in response to how the D lined up.

This is wrong. The purpose of the hurry up is to run more plays in a game due to the clock changes and to prevent the defense from substituting players due to the flexibility of OU's personnel, not to catch the defense off guard. There have been several plays this year where the defense was milling around and OU changed the play anyway instead of snapping the ball.

[delhalew]

I don't think ou really ran their offense like they had been all season. it seemed like they offense played scared and I'm not saying that as the players played scared but more the playcalling was called scared by kw. seriously the game is being reshown right now on fsn. all year long we came out and hurried up and ran plays as fast as humanly possible and def couldn't handle it and we really didn't do it against florida we would line up really fast and then kw would change the play about 3 times and then the snap would happen. early in the game fox had a clock on the screen showing how long it would take us to snap the ball and after a while they took it down b/c we were clearly not running our fast break type offense. everytime we actually ran it like had been all season and not changing the play a million times at the line of scrimmage we were productive and moved it right down the field and florida couldn't stop it but we only did it a couple times all game. it was a bit frustrating to watch.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

[L-Boy]

This is wrong. The purpose of the hurry up is to run more plays in a game due to the clock changes and to prevent the defense from substituting players due to the flexibility of OU's personnel, not to catch the defense off guard. There have been several plays this year where the defense was milling around and OU changed the play anyway instead of snapping the ball.


Since you guys watch more of OU than we do, I will defer to your knowledge. However, it just seemed that this hurry up offense was not quite as advertised. I keep reading about the ferocious pace and how the defense is never ready, but most of the time it seemed like they were checking off, so that largely nullifies the advantage. I would have thought against other teams they were not checking off nearly as much, and that they do catch the other team off guard and get off more plays. On OU's second touchdown play, I don't think OU checked off and UF did not seem fully ready, that was the only time I recall UF D not being ready.

I have not looked at the number of plays in this game vs the season average. In all fairness, I think the ungodly number of commercials really slowed the pace of the game down - it affected both teams, but I think it played to the Gators advantage.

[VMG]

For all the quack about team speed and physical play in the SEC (particularly at ESPN...), OU looked faster and more physical on both sides of the ball -- particularly in the first half. A few plays here and there and we end up with a different result. That's what happens when two teams are evenly matched and the stakes are high.

As other posters have noted, the up-tempo no-huddle appeared more like no-tempo. May be incidental, but when the 'up' side was used the ball was moved almost at will.

In the failed red zone incursions, the offensive scheme appeared to retreat into its all-but-forgotten patterns of predictablity from previous years. However, Sam simply made a bad decision on the interception just before halftime -- something he rarely has done this season. It was subtle, but my sense was that he locked down, or pre-decided where the ball was going a little bit more than the regular season. I'm sure there are a few incompletions that he would like back in that regard.

It is clearly disappointing to everyone connected to the crimson and cream that OU didn't get the additional 14 points in the first half -- in my case not so much for the obvious reason (being ahead on the scoreboard), but because a 14 point deficit (or any other momentum altering play(s)) significantly changes the emotional content of the game for those participating. Being down like that often sucks the energy out of a football team. It's as much a part of what eventually shows up on the scoreboard as anything we can actually see happening on the field. We can't see it, we can only sense it. Even St. Tim wasn't so energetic or demonstrative each time he tossed to ball to the wrong jersey.

Oh well... Disappointing result, but it was a fine effort by the team. And, in spite of the loss, an effort that proved that the vast majority of those who get paid as college football analysts oughta give some of that money back. ;)

[tommieharris91]

Moving the ball on a SEC defense doesn't prove much for how good a Big 12 Offense is, but them holding OU to 14 points (40 below thier average) does prove that their defenses are better than the Big 12's.

We have to take off the Crimson glasses and admit that the SEC (and possibly the PAC 10) was better this year based on the bowl games.

LOL the Pac-10 went 2-5 against the Mountain West.

[wishbonesooner]

It seems to me that there is a huge difference in a hurry up offense and a no huddle. We ran a lot more no huddle than hurry up, not just in the CCG but all year. We just didn't have the guys circle up and hold hands while the play was called, a hurry up means you snap the frikking ball BEFORE the damn defense can get ready. One of those strategies was working pretty good the other night and one didn't. Guess which one we seemed to want to use the most? That's our gripe with the offensive coordinator's performance.

[tommieharris91]

Okay, let's go over this once more. . . . .

Florida averaged about 445 yards of total offense a game this year.

So how many yards did the Gators have against the #2 defense in the Big 12?

Well, the Sooners "held" them to 480 yards -- about 35 more than their average.

And. . . .how many yards did Texas have against the Sooners this year?

Texas had. . . . .438 yards -- 42 yards less than Florida.

On the flip side, consider how Florida's defense did against OU. . . . . .

What was the Sooner's offensive yardage average this year -- against all the teams other than Florida? About 558 yards.

And how many yards did OU roll up against the Gator's D? I think it was 363 yards -- nearly 200 yards less than their average.

So to sum it up. . . . . . .

OU's defense allowed Florida to gain 35 yards more than their average this season.

Florida's defense held OU to about 200 yards less than their average this season.

Now which defense would you judge to have done a better job?

You just missed one of the better, more telling stats as to why Florida was held to their season low in points (Repeat: 24 was Florida's season low in points.): Tebow threw 2 interceptions. He threw 2 INTs all season long before that game.

[goingoneight]

Moving the ball on a SEC defense doesn't prove much for how good a Big 12 Offense is, but them holding OU to 14 points (40 below thier average) does prove that their defenses are better than the Big 12's.

We have to take off the Crimson glasses and admit that the SEC (and possibly the PAC 10) was better this year based on the bowl games.

Based on bowl games, anyone who wins one is automatically considered a success, while those who lose one are considered failures.

Based on bowls, the BIG 12 North is better than the BIG 12 South. Tell me you're not buying into ESPN's conference versus conference bullshat...

We lost to Florida. That's that. It doesn't mean a damn team in the SEC was any better than us. In fact, I bet we go 12-1 or better in the SEC also.

UF caught every bounce in that game. Now... the goal line stand? Sacking Sam Bradford? That's great defense. Intercepting him after the ball bounces off of the Sooner's hands in the endzone when you have two LBs and a safety in the area to grab it? That's pure, dumb luck. No different than Gresham catching the 70-yard TD tip-ball against :stunned:.

Catching breaks gives you momentum, especially if catching a break comes in the form of a turnover.