2009: what can we realistically expect?

[goingoneight]

We know someone's gonna force Zac Robinson into a redzone fumble, we know Sam Bradford's likely to throw a lot of touchdowns, we know DeMarco will continue to break opponents ankles and make opposing defenders look stupid.

Specifically, I'm curious as to what the team will do as a whole. Offensively, we're good to have Sam, Gresham, Broyles and Brown back healthy. Trent Williams is moving into a new position, so there's possibility for growing pains there. Three senior receivers are out, as are quite a bit of quality linemen. Now, in the words of Stoops, "we aren't throwing a bunch of bums out there." I'm not predicting doom and gloom. I am, however not expecting 60 ppg points in five straight games. Leadership seems to be soild according to the coaches, they really feel like the whole corps of receivers have responded well so far, and we know that comes from more than just having their asses run off of them for dropping passes. The quarterback stable may only have one guy with returning experience, but they do have two quality guys. Stoops has on more than one occasion complimented Landry Jones for his conditioning and how he's playing... that's good news.

Positions of strength (according to depth): 1a RB, 1b TE/FB, 3 QB, 4 WR, 5 OL
* No surprise OL and WR have much to prove with questionable depth.
Could surprise: WR DeJuan Miller, TE James Hanna, RB Jermie Calhoun
* New personnel could cause problems running a no huddle. Team chemistry unproven (obviously... it's March).
Overall, I look at it this way... I always wondered what OU's offense could have done in 2005 had Jason White returned. No fumbled snaps, no rookie-esque forced throws, senior leadership to help an overall young offense grow. Sam Bradford and Jermaine Gresham if anything are BIG returns for us in that regard.

Defense:
Hyped to be very deep and perhaps the strength of this year's team. Even the biggest BV/BJW/JS supporters shouldn't hold their breath. The 2008 defense was very good... it hurts this style of defense not having "the guy" in the middle of the field motivating, leading, lining up and reading the opposition. Losing Ryan Reynolds last year was like losing Jason White IMO in 2001. We had capable guys behind him, but no superstars. Depth at LB was a question mark in 2008 that came back to haunt us.

If I had to guess, I would guess that this year's LB corps as a whole will be better just because everyone's back with added depth (AKA... guys not fresh out of high school are more familiar with the system and game-like situations now).

So the front seven, depth-wise *should* be solid. In other words, if there's repeated runs of ten or more yards happening up front, serious problems exist. Colt McCoy *shouldn't* kill us *repeatedly* with screens and crossing routes directed at confused linebackers. Good offenses are going to make their plays in the BIG 12... they just *shouldn't* make their bread by nickeling and diming OUr front seven this year. of course goes without saying, I expect a BIG year up front provided the unthinkable doesn't happen and we lose a lineman per game. We're three-deep with SOLID contributors and potential All-Americans at more than one spot.

I am most concerned with the place any defense is concerned... the secondary. Truly great secondaries are like shooting stars... the rest are either really fast here, good tackler here, good hands here, smart player there. The middle of the field will be tested unless the exciting happens and no one ever has time to get a 15-yard or more pass off. Odds are one or two quarterbacks will find time one or two plays to strike on us. All that's proven at safety is Quinton Carter. Again, that's nice, but what happens if he turns an ankle, say... against Colt McCoy. Also, if we're questioning depth... anybody know who's subbing in for Brian Jackson and Dom Franks?

Expectations are high with good reason, being Oklahoma, and being a pretty good group... but let's not go expecting a Red River Shut-out or Superman Quinton Carter... the offenses we're playing this year are again very potent and we know how quickly a good offense can exploit a guy out of position, a guy sucking air or an inexperienced guy subbing in. My expectation is that no one racks up anymore than 35 on us this season. Unless we're playing like crap (see: Orange Bowl 2005, Fiesta Bowl 2006, 2007) or something unthinkable happens (suspensions, injuries), we're more than capable of sweeping this year's schedule with a perceived "lesser" team than 2008.

One would think special teams have nowhere to go but up, but we don't know that Tress Way or Bryce Easley are any better, consistent or different than Moreland and Stevens yet. We have good returnmen, but it's up to the blue collar efforts to determine whether or not we stop long returns and make long returns ourselves.

Big games include: BYU (think TCU 2005), Texas, at Kansas, at Texas Tech... and the bowl (in lieu of a three-year skid in the post-season).
Trap games include: Miami (think Colorado 2007), Nebraska (not quite where they need to be yet, but it will be a big dealio to them being in Lincoln).

[soonerfan28]

A crystal football in our trophy case. I'm not looking through crimson colored glasses either. We have the Heisman trophy winner 4 or 5 very talented TB's a nice group of receivers and, in my personal opinion, one of the best lines we've had in the Bob Stoops era at OU. Our receivers are bigger, faster, and more athletic then the ones who just left and our RB's will make up for any experience we may lack up front.

Our defense is going to be one of the best in the nation this year and we have quality depth at every position. We have speed and strength across the board with our front seven and the only real question mark is the safety position next to Q. Carter. That will be filled by Proctor and/or Ibiloye. We'll have a rotation of players on our d-line and maybe even LB's that we haven't had for 4 or 5 years.

[JLEW1818]

Again a National Championship is in reach, anytime Oklahoma takes the field.

[TXBOOMER]

I realistically expect a Big 12 Championship and a shot at #8. I believe we have better players than every team we will play. I think OUr D is going to be much much improved next year with all of the returning experience.

Jlew you can't go wrong with Travis Lewis!

[Blues1]

JMHO ~~~ Sam is coming back to to Win a "National Championship" or at least a BCS Bowl Victory in January - Why expect anything Less ...?
"Rose Bowl or Bust" ~ Lets stay Rockin'

[OU_Sooners75]

I am expecting #8 in 2009!

[yermom]

realistically, a 4th Big 12 title in a row. i'd say 2:1

5:1 playing in Pasadena

i'll have to see what Vegas says :D

[yermom]

Vegas says 9:2. they like us more than i do :eek:

Florida is 3:1

not quite the dooming that USC got with the 2:1 a few years ago, but i'll take it :D

[BornandBred]

If we're going to rely heavily on our D this year, and I think we'll have to, I think it's important that we establish ourselves as the more physical team. I'm not talking about preventing the receivers from releasing cleanly, I'm talking about when they cross the middle, they should be afraid. I was messages sent every game about how the pissed off OU D is back, and not going to be doubted this season. They really started jelling last year towards the end of the season, I hope that continues through the offseason. I expect us to be the best D in the B12.

On O I expect good things. I think the BYU game will be a great measuring stick for the rest of the season. I don't expect the record setting numbers of last year, but I suspect we'll be a top 5 O in the nation. At WR, RB, and TE we'll be just fine. We'll reload at WR this year just like we do every year. As good as they may have been, Sam made Iggy and Manny look better, period. I firmly believe that everything begins with the O line, and I don't know how good they'll be. I thought Loadholt was a bit overrated and made some stupid mistakes, so I think the Williams move might actually be an improvement. The addition of the LSU transfer should help elsewhere. The biggest ? in my mind is at center. Cooper was a beast and was always performing. I've heard there is a healthy competition to replace him, so I hope we get some good performance there.

Bottom line, I think there will be some growing pains for the O line, so Sammy will have to do a bit more work. Hopefully he can show us he's more mobile than everyone seems to think he is. I'm hoping the O continues their high paced theme from last year, but I'd like to see Sammy get more freedom to make the audibles himself. I bet he does this year.

All that said, I wouldn't be surprised to see us drop a game or two we should have won. Talent-wise I think we can play with anyone, but it's all about execution. So, I'd say a B12 title is probable if we can beat UT, as always. I see us in a BCS game, but probably not the MNC. Either way, I hope we play well this season and post season.

[sooneron]

Big 12? 3:1
Making the big game? 8:1
Winning it? 10:1

I'm sorry, I need to see more out of this team and coaching staff to think otherwise.

[OUmillenium]

Easy...BCS loss
some all conference pics, All-Americans, Heisman run, high draft picks, then do it all again

[soonermix]

as always it will depend on the texas game and the main thing i think is how well our o-line as grown as a unit

[hobbes2702]

I am a Horn but for yall to really be good (other than the obvious OLine and WR concerns) the team needs to learn to finish. I know sounds cheesy (especially since yalls team made those wristbands a few years ago) but I am being serious. The past few years the key to beating OU in my eyes is surviving. If a team can withstand the initial surge and keep it close they have a very good chance to pull it out at the end. It is almost like when yall haven't blown people out the team has all of the sudden forgotten how to win at the end. That was the key to our game last year I think. Texas showed they could play with OU and I think OU was expecting a blowout. I think the last few years Bob has lost his ability to prepare a team for the grind. My brother played 2 years for OU and he said the problem with the team before the Orange Bowl against USC was that the team was cocky and warn down. He said the early morning workouts wore them out and the team was not focused on winning as much as being in Miami and having fun. Just my two cents

[JLEW1818]

what's your brothers name?

[OUstud]

Overall, I look at it this way... I always wondered what OU's offense could have done in 2005 had Jason White returned.

As what, a 7th year senior? :D

[goingoneight]

No offense, horn... but we've had a lot of nail-biter wins in recent years. I think losing the heart and soul of OUr defense along with four turnovers resulted in you all hanging with us last year.

[TXBOOMER]

F texass! OUr D this year compared to our D last year will be night and day. I have no doubt special teams will be much better and I think people will be shocked at how good our O line and WR's are. texass is in for an old fashioned a$$ kicking this year.

[BoulderSooner79]

If JW had come back for '05, he might have had an AARP card in his wallet. '05 was a great coaching year, IMHO. The team was as green as could be and it showed in a 2-3 start. The only loss from there on out was a somewhat (ahem) disputed one in Lubbock.

As for '09 it looks maybe even more promising than the '08 team at this same time last year. And there is no way I would have predicted a title game slot going into last season with such a green back 7 on defense. But alas, college football so often comes down to injuries or lack thereof, so making predictions is just building castles on sand. OU has lost 5 games in the last 2 seasons and the only one not heavily influenced by injuries was the head-scratcher in Boulder.

Assuming good fortune on injuries, the conference title will be determined by the "normal" method - the winner of the OU/UT game. No 3rd party this year and the north may be better on average, but no elite teams to challenge OU/UT. The winner has a good shot at a title game slot because the big12 has good cred compared to the other BCS conferences. Probably second to the SEC with USC as a lone wildcard. Sooo.... the key to winning the UT game will be how quickly the O-line gels as a unit. UT will be too good to try to grind it out on the ground or limit the passing game to the short stuff. We'll need the whole playbook.

[sooneron]

Why do ****ing whorns actually feel the need to type out Y A L L? It makes you look ****ing retarded. srsly give it up. dumbasses

[goingoneight]

I think the most glaring issue with kickoff coverage last year was laziness. If you'll notice, every one of those big returns were right after a fast, dominant-driving Sooner score. If we can consistently hit higher and deeper kicks, not necessarily day-dreaming touchbacks everytime, just not giving the opposition a line-drive at their 17-yard line... that's not likely to happen again.

[jumperstop]

OU will be National Champs, Sam will win 2nd Heisman

[madillsoonerfan5353]

The D will be nasty good if they find the SWAGGER that teams in the early 2000's!!!! The SWAGGER that don't take any **** off anyone!!!! If we don't find the SWAGGER I think we could again have a ****ty ending!!!! IMHO

[hobbes2702]

No offense, horn... but we've had a lot of nail-biter wins in recent years. I think losing the heart and soul of OUr defense along with four turnovers resulted in you all hanging with us last year.


If you look at the last three or four years yall have not had many wins in close games. And the ones that have been wins were against teams that shouldn't have even been close in the 1st place. Here is what the close games were.

2005
L 17-10 vs. TCU*
W 37-30 vs. Baylor
W 31-24 vs. Nebraska
W 36-30 vs. Texas A&M
L 23-21 at TTU*
W 17-14 vs. Oregon*

2006
W 24-17 vs. UAB
L 34-33 at Oregon* (I know i was bull **** but still counts as a loss)
W 17-16 at Texas A&M*
W 34-24 vs. TTU
W 27-21 at OSU
L 43-42 vs. Boise St.*

2007
L 27-24 at CU
W 28-21 vs. Texas*
W 17-7 at ISU
L 34-27 at TTU

2008
L 45-35 vs. Texas*
W 61-41 at OSU*
L 24 -14 vs. UF*

11-8 in close games over the past four years.
3-6 in close games against ranked opponents

Now I am not saying that there are anything bad about these numbers but I goes to show that if good teams play OU close they win 2/3 of the time. SO basically it is like I said. Keep OU close and fight through the surge and you can win at the end. OU blows a lot of good teams out but when they let them hang around they have struggled to finish

[Jacie]

OU has been the offensive juggernaut most of these last few seasons that having to rely on the defense sounds kinda strange. Maybe it's my selective memory but there have been seasons when those teams went on the become, overall, the better teams to take the field. From the viewpoint of national respect it would certainly improve the image of the Sooners, which despite scoring points early and often last year, couldn't stop another team when they had to, just outscore them. If this year the onus is on the defense to step up and win for us, I think that makes OUr team better for the times when OU needs to outplay the other team on both sides of the ball.

[soonerfan28]

Before last season didn't Texas lose to K-State and A&M in back-to-back season's. Should those teams have been in those games.

[kangsta]

Horn fan here. Do you guys really expect the RRS to be an *ss kicking? With what both teams have coming back, and as close as it was last year, i don't see it being a lopsided victory for either team.

It seems Texas' weakness will be the D-Line, and OU's the O-line. So in theory it's a push.

I think it's going to be another nail biter.

[goingoneight]

Nobody worth listening to has claimed a landslide victory in the RRS, my friend. Whoever takes care of the football almost always wins in premier matchups. Example: 2007 RRS... One turnover... One possession game. We can't forfeit oppurtunities in any game, but definitely not in Dallas.

[BornandBred]

At last years OU/TX game, I felt like we were the better team, but had poor execution. I thought UT did a good job capitalizing when they had a chance, and we let it happen. Stoops' motto is 'execute' so hopefully we can do that better this time. I wouldn't be surprised to see us win by 20, but I'm with the horn in that I think the close game favors UT.

[soonerfan28]

I think this years defense will look a lot like the Tommie Harris and Teddy Lehman led teams. It also doesn't hurt that we had some pretty talented QB's leave the Big XII this year.

[JLEW1818]

The team with the most rushing yard wins this game, plain and simple. Look at the last 10 years.

[josh09]

Honestly, if we play like we SHOULD, where we go at the end of the year all depends on that game in Dallas. I dont see anyone stepping up to challenge us besides texass, maybe tech if anyone.

[josh09]

But with that being said, I see an undefeated season with a win over Florida in the Rose Bowl. I'm gonna write this down somewhere.

[OUAlumni1990]

I don't think tech is going to be a problem this year even in lubbock. They lost Crabtree and Harrell, well...basically the entire team. They will have a rebuilding year bigtime.

[OUAlumni1990]

What has me wondering is how good Miami is going to be this year?

Then again....nah..:/

[KingDavid]

as always it will depend on the texas game and the main thing i think is how well our o-line as grown as a unit

this.

[KingDavid]

But with that being said, I see an undefeated season with a win over Florida in the Rose Bowl. I'm gonna write this down somewhere.

I hope you have a spare pen and paper laying around.:confused:

[KingDavid]

I believe that if we beat Texas, then we'll win #8 in Pasadena. It'll be against Florida or USC.

[JLEW1818]

USC will lose 2+ games this year, I think. But somehow they are going to be in the national title game, since it is at the Rose Bowl. College football is probably already figuring out a way to get them in.....

[madillsoonerfan5353]

SWAGGER SWAGGER, AND SWAGGER!!!! This team has got to find the SWAGGER from back in the day!! And we will be GREAT!!!!!


:D :D

[SoonerTroll]

#8, Heisman, Coach of the Year, RRS domination...

[MojoRisen]

OU/SHORT HORNS could be #1 vs #2, unlikely UF will go down but complacentcy could sink in for the pimps.

I expect the RRS to be a war on and off the field- after last year. I think tempatures at game time will be pretty high. No chains, knives or brass knuckles - and no permanent damage after a man goes down. See you horns there :)

I think it was huge they loosened up practice a bit with the Live Music- keeps people working at a high level and makes it go quicker.

We have a tougher schedule this year but we should be favored in all games with exception of UTerus who I think will be favored by 2.5 come game time.

[soonerfan28]

I think Florida will go down due to poor play calling and not because they don't have the talent. USC will lose at least 2 next year. Carroll has lost his swagger as a coach and it will be Oregon who wins the Pac-10 next year. I know that USC has recruited well but they have to many pieces missing next year.

[NormanPride]

Having both OU and Texas in the Rose bowl for all the marbles would be sweet. If not just for the looks on all the stuffed shirts out there that think that POS is some sort of holy game.

[soonerfan28]

I can only imagine how Keith Jackson (the announcer) would fill seeing two Big 12 teams in the precious Rose Bowl.

[JLEW1818]

dammit, it's gonna be a long summer.

[IronHorseSooner]

We should be favored in all games with UTerus being a push. UF will lose one, likely @ Ole Miss. Miami is better, but really nothing out of the ordinary. If this team executes, with all of the skill-player experience and talent in the front seven, they should be in Pasadena for another shot. SUC has too much to replace. 'Bama could be good, the same with V-Tech. OSU might be the other Big XII team that makes some noise, but neither UTerus nor OU has much to worry about.

[BoulderSooner79]

Gators don't play Ole Miss this year. But there is some truth to all that SEC bragging and it is likely to take them down. LSU was a big underachiever last year and will be at home against UF. Georgia always has talent and is solid, if not spectacular. I think UF still wins the east and then would most likely face 'bama again in the CCG or worse - a rematch with LSU. I really think 'bama was a year away last year and if they fill the QB slot, they will be very dangerous. But we have our own fish to fry in winning a 4th straight conference title. I don't see us being able to take a loss in conference this year and still get the title. We may be able to recover from a non-conf loss and still get the BCS title if it's a close game and obviously due to inexperience which gets fixed as the season progresses. But we have to beat the horns this time.

[soonerboy_odanorth]

I'm late to the party...

What can we realistically expect?

Disappointment in some form or another because we Chinamen eat too damn much rice.

And we can expect way too many people to bitch themselves silly because Bob didn't trim some hangnail or another "just the right way" and to their liking.

Meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy watching Sam make some team look like drunken clowns after a bad small-town half-ring performance, Demarco light somebody for 250 and a couple of spin moves that twist your nuts just watchin' 'im, Bob grind some dumb-*** Tex-Ex official under his boot until that official starts tossin' out "make-up calls" like kids hopped up on Dr. Pepper and equipped with a jumbo-sized Pez dispenser; and, I'm gonna drink, eat charred animal, and smoke and joke with all my great Sooners and Soonerfan.com buddies righ up until kickoff, where I am going to be in my seat, screaming at the top of my lungs, isolating on Brodie Eldridge just in time to watch him make the other team's middle linebacker flop like a fish because he "don't want no more o' dat mean dude."

We can expect Sooners football. And as long as Bob is in town, choppin' wood every year with these great guys that seem to have really bought into his brand of ownership football, I'm gonna see a whole lot of greatness. And continue to watch the championships fall down like rain.

One of 'em, before long, will have the header "National".

Boomer Sooner!

[JLEW1818]

I think Florida either loses at LSU, or against Arkansas at home.... They have lost a conference home game each of the last 2 years.

[JLEW1818]

summer sucks, and it's not even here yet.