Tear Down This Wall
9/10/2009, 11:31 AM
I’ve had this discussion over the years with several fellow Sooner fan and figures I’d test it here.
There premise is that Bob Stoops’ penchant for leaving starters in when OU is blowing out an opponent robs younger player of valuable game time experience. The result is that the Sooners have huge gaps in experience whenever upperclassmen play out their eligibility or when injuries strike.
The contrast is Barry Switzer. The King would often begin pulling starters before halftime if his Sooners had a game well in hand. You often saw the third team quarterbacks such as Rod Pegues and Eric Mitchel in the fourth quarter of games.
Charles Thompson saw so much time in 1987 that when he was called upon to replace the injured Jamelle Holieway for the Game of the Century II in Lincoln, he was able to “shock the world” by leading the Sooners over first-ranked Nebraska. Thompson had played extensively throughout the season during blowouts. He wasn't walking into the game cold.
So, the question is, why doesn’t Bob Stoops do the same? Is the team really developing with an eye to the future when starters play the third quarters of games that were, for all intents and purposes, over midway through the second quarter. Are Heismans and scoring records really preferable to developing the team for the future?
In the Stoops era, the inexperience has manifested in multiple position changed for some players, particularly in the defensive backfield. The defensive back-linebacker shuffle, the cornerback-safety shuffle, tight ends moving into the offensive line.
Players caught in the shuffle have included Chris Chester, Eric Bassey, Keenan Clayton, Lendy Holmes, Reggie Smith, and now Brody Eldridge. All good athletes, some with NFL success. But, you’ve got to separate that from college.
Jake Delhomme was a solid NFL quarterback, but it had little to do with college. In the NFL, you have 52 other professional players around you on the roster as well as a coaching staff of professionals with many years, often decades, in the business. Not so in college.
Chris Chester was flipped into an inexperienced line in 2005 and the results were poor. OU was blowout by UCLA and Texas. A late inteception deep in their own territory by Clint Ingram preserved the Sooners’ last known bowl win later that year after the offense struggled to put 17 points on the board.
Bob Stoops is well into his career as head football coach at OU. This is his 11th season. There really is no excuse for lack of depth to the degree OU has shown over the past two seasons at some positions. By now, if a lineman goes down, there should be a scholarship lineman to replace him. Or, a middle linebacker. Or, a tight end. Or, a quarterback.
And, those backups should already have game experience. The only reason ours don’t is that Stoops leaves the starters in blowouts far too long. And, I'm not talkng about playing the last half of the fourth quarter, handing the ball off 20 times or taking a knee experience. Heck, Texas had a 45-10 lead against Louisiana-Monroe, and on their last two touchdowns, Mack had the second team kicker doing the PATs. He seems to get it.
Yes, Bob Stoops has won more Big 12 titles. But, Mack hasn’t had any let down years like we had in 2005...and which we may be about to experience in 2009. Mack and other coaches truly do reload because they have their eyes on the future even with their feet firmly planted in today.
I sincerely hope that the 2005 experience and the fall camp/game one experience of 2009 will change Stoops' mind about how long to leave starting players in games. Surely, he knows that he should be in this position when injuries hit his team. He can do something about it by getting the younger players into games sooner during blowouts every season.
There premise is that Bob Stoops’ penchant for leaving starters in when OU is blowing out an opponent robs younger player of valuable game time experience. The result is that the Sooners have huge gaps in experience whenever upperclassmen play out their eligibility or when injuries strike.
The contrast is Barry Switzer. The King would often begin pulling starters before halftime if his Sooners had a game well in hand. You often saw the third team quarterbacks such as Rod Pegues and Eric Mitchel in the fourth quarter of games.
Charles Thompson saw so much time in 1987 that when he was called upon to replace the injured Jamelle Holieway for the Game of the Century II in Lincoln, he was able to “shock the world” by leading the Sooners over first-ranked Nebraska. Thompson had played extensively throughout the season during blowouts. He wasn't walking into the game cold.
So, the question is, why doesn’t Bob Stoops do the same? Is the team really developing with an eye to the future when starters play the third quarters of games that were, for all intents and purposes, over midway through the second quarter. Are Heismans and scoring records really preferable to developing the team for the future?
In the Stoops era, the inexperience has manifested in multiple position changed for some players, particularly in the defensive backfield. The defensive back-linebacker shuffle, the cornerback-safety shuffle, tight ends moving into the offensive line.
Players caught in the shuffle have included Chris Chester, Eric Bassey, Keenan Clayton, Lendy Holmes, Reggie Smith, and now Brody Eldridge. All good athletes, some with NFL success. But, you’ve got to separate that from college.
Jake Delhomme was a solid NFL quarterback, but it had little to do with college. In the NFL, you have 52 other professional players around you on the roster as well as a coaching staff of professionals with many years, often decades, in the business. Not so in college.
Chris Chester was flipped into an inexperienced line in 2005 and the results were poor. OU was blowout by UCLA and Texas. A late inteception deep in their own territory by Clint Ingram preserved the Sooners’ last known bowl win later that year after the offense struggled to put 17 points on the board.
Bob Stoops is well into his career as head football coach at OU. This is his 11th season. There really is no excuse for lack of depth to the degree OU has shown over the past two seasons at some positions. By now, if a lineman goes down, there should be a scholarship lineman to replace him. Or, a middle linebacker. Or, a tight end. Or, a quarterback.
And, those backups should already have game experience. The only reason ours don’t is that Stoops leaves the starters in blowouts far too long. And, I'm not talkng about playing the last half of the fourth quarter, handing the ball off 20 times or taking a knee experience. Heck, Texas had a 45-10 lead against Louisiana-Monroe, and on their last two touchdowns, Mack had the second team kicker doing the PATs. He seems to get it.
Yes, Bob Stoops has won more Big 12 titles. But, Mack hasn’t had any let down years like we had in 2005...and which we may be about to experience in 2009. Mack and other coaches truly do reload because they have their eyes on the future even with their feet firmly planted in today.
I sincerely hope that the 2005 experience and the fall camp/game one experience of 2009 will change Stoops' mind about how long to leave starting players in games. Surely, he knows that he should be in this position when injuries hit his team. He can do something about it by getting the younger players into games sooner during blowouts every season.