I am really enjoying OU football right now

[lexsooner]

Yes, the season is over, but I am especially enjoying it now because:

We won our bowl game and finished with wins over two ranked teams.

We are having a strong recruiting year.

Texas got beat in the NC game and karma is a beatch, etc.

This past season was a freak of nature, but our defense looks strong for next year and the offense will be improved, so next year should be sweet.

We are one of the most storied programs in college football history and our present teams are continuing this storied tradition.

USC is about to get pounded into the San Andreas Fault by the NCAA and all their recruits and Pete Carroll are running like Big Mac inmates who get over the fence.

How sweet it all is! Boomer Sooner!

[SPuL]

BOOMER

[SunnySooner]

After the season of injuries from hell, things could only get better...8 months til kickoff, woo hoo!!!!! :P :D

[BoulderSooner79]

I agree with everything you listed, but I still feel cheated by this season. Was it because the 8-5 record or mediocre offense? No - shat happens and the great thing about sports is there is always next year. I feel cheated because I didn't get to watch Sam Bradford fill the air with pin-point perfect passes while extending every OU passing record to ridiculous heights. And there is no next season for that privilege. Of course I'll follow Sam at the next level, but it's just not the same as seeing him perform in crimson.

[StoopTroup]

I guess if you want to live your life on the shoulda woulda couldas....that's your business.

Me....I saw some guys who are very special and fought hard for the Seniors who were able to continue in Sam and Germaine's footsteps. I saw a Gerald McCoy help a buddy with a broken leg off the field and let him know he'd be fighting to the end.

I saw Trent Ratterree play his best game as a Sooner. I saw Ryan Broyles step up his game so much that I think he might very well become one of the best WR's ever in a Sooner Jersey. The sideline catch they called inconclusive was a thing of beauty. I saw DeJuan Miller step it up too. David King's play on Gerhart in the fourth quarter was awesome. Landry...what can you say...he's getting better. We're gonna step it up next year...I just feel it.

So many things to be thankful for IMO.

[westcoast_sooner]

Injuries happen as a part of the game. Who knows what would have happened had Sam been healthy all season? Who knows what would have happened had Colt been healthy through the BCS Championship game. I missed Sam all year, but the upside is this, IMO.

Before the season, everyone expected that Landry would be the QB next year - 2010. He would come in as a RS Soph and would light up Big XII Defenses.

What we're going to get is a "seasoned" Landry Jones, not a "rookie" who will continue to progress and develop between now and August. (BTW for anyone who was critical of Landry during the season, yeah he made mistakes, but the development between NU and Stanford was incredible, IMO.)

What we're gonna get in 2010 is an offensive line healing up and starting to build into a cohesive unit, a QB that has started to turn the corner, and a WR corps that is starting to get on the same page as their QB.

This 2010 team will still be VERY young, but will have a chance to challenge for the South against a very good UT group (wouldn't be surprised to see a win in Dallas) and play for the Conference Championship. OTOH, we could see some early losses - but I'm encouraged by the performance and mental toughness in El Paso.

Hope we get all the guys who have committed so far, and maybe pick up a couple of USC decommits as well. Just my take.

[MamaMia]

Just like all the other positions on Owen Field, the QB spot at Oklahoma is there for the taking.

[King Barry's Back]

I just don't know what to make of this season. I really don't.

Biggest eye-popping stat is 5-losses, which should mean the season (the team) sucked like a bucket of ticks.

On the other hand, we were a hair's breadth away from finishing as a top-10 team. Maybe even top-5.

We've all talked about it -- IF we'd had slightly below avg (instead of far below avg) field goal kicker, had we taken a pick or near pick "to the house" in Dallas, a play here or there, and we could easily have gone to Lubbock w/ a loss, or even none.

And when we went there, we were already demoralized.

Even accepting ALL the injuries, the loss of a Heisman winner, and how completely awful the o-line and receivers were, we were oh-so-close to another Big XII championship. (Never really have considered what would have been had Sam stayed healthy, cause given our line play, he was doomed, IMHO.)

So, does that mean this team, by losing so many uber close games, were heatless/soulless underachievers? Or does it mean that by facing so many hurdles and still coming so close, that they were overachievers?

And I can't help but think -- The team played with great spirit in El Paso. Had we played that way, instead of sleeping through road games, for the rest of the season, would we have been back in a BCS bowl?

Off season food for thought I guess.

[SunnySooner]

I guess if you want to live your life on the shoulda woulda couldas....that's your business.

Me....I saw some guys who are very special and fought hard for the Seniors who were able to continue in Sam and Germaine's footsteps. I saw a Gerald McCoy help a buddy with a broken leg off the field and let him know he'd be fighting to the end.

I saw Trent Ratterree play his best game as a Sooner. I saw Ryan Broyles step up his game so much that I think he might very well become one of the best WR's ever in a Sooner Jersey. The sideline catch they called inconclusive was a thing of beauty. I saw DeJuan Miller step it up too. David King's play on Gerhart in the fourth quarter was awesome. Landry...what can you say...he's getting better. We're gonna step it up next year...I just feel it.

So many things to be thankful for IMO.

Don't forget Ronnell. He makes me all happy inside. I can't stop watching this clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw4OKUgBciE

[SoonerMom2]

Sun Bowl game was awesome and you could hear the Lewis hit in the stands. Looking forward to next year and having a lot of our pieces already in place. Landry Jones looked so much better in El Paso then he looked early in the season -- like the whole game slowed down for him. He also didn't have happy feet. Would bet he is going to be really good after the spring and the August practice.

Boomer Sooner!

[westcoast_sooner]

I just don't know what to make of this season. I really don't.

Biggest eye-popping stat is 5-losses, which should mean the season (the team) sucked like a bucket of ticks.

On the other hand, we were a hair's breadth away from finishing as a top-10 team. Maybe even top-5.

We've all talked about it -- IF we'd had slightly below avg (instead of far below avg) field goal kicker, had we taken a pick or near pick "to the house" in Dallas, a play here or there, and we could easily have gone to Lubbock w/ a loss, or even none.

And when we went there, we were already demoralized.

Even accepting ALL the injuries, the loss of a Heisman winner, and how completely awful the o-line and receivers were, we were oh-so-close to another Big XII championship. (Never really have considered what would have been had Sam stayed healthy, cause given our line play, he was doomed, IMHO.)

So, does that mean this team, by losing so many uber close games, were heatless/soulless underachievers? Or does it mean that by facing so many hurdles and still coming so close, that they were overachievers?

And I can't help but think -- The team played with great spirit in El Paso. Had we played that way, instead of sleeping through road games, for the rest of the season, would we have been back in a BCS bowl?

Off season food for thought I guess.

I feel your pain. But I'm taking a somewhat philosophical view of 2009. The first 3 losses (BYU, Miami, Texas) were by a total of 5 points. Assuming we had either a better FG kicker or Sam in the lineup, we probably win all 3 of those games.

The same likely holds true for the Nebraska game. Sam doesn't throw 5 INTs, but even if he was hurt, the difference between a win and a loss there is mighty slim, IMO.

Can't explain the game against Tech, just a huge letdown and a bad day. I'll accept that more as an anomaly at this point as we hadn't played that poorly on defense all year, and managed to pull it together to beat OSU and Stanford to finish the season.

2010 will present it's own challenges - I'm looking forward to it. I think there is a possibility of some bumps as the OL matures, and as we fill in gaps where guys have moved on. If we survive the OOC schedule unscathed I think OU will be a force next year.

[BoulderSooner79]

I'm not talking about what might have been in terms of W/L if Sam had played. I'm talking about my pure selfish desire to be entertained by watching the player I most enjoy watching (or would have enjoyed). If we had ended with the same record with Sam at the helm, I would not have felt cheated. Plenty of things to look forward too - as I said, there's always next season. And lots of things to watch this year too. Ryan Broyles and about everyone on defense come to mind. But I wanted to watch Bradford.