most disappointing in my lifetime...

[ouwino]

this 2011 OU football team is the most disappointing team in my lifetime. i am 55. yes i am considering the blake, gibbs, and snelly years. yes, i am considering the very early 80's when Barry slumped a little. when i say this team is the most disappointing i am referring to the players on both sides of the ball, and the coaches (head and assistants). i have never seen OU with so much talent and promise perform the way they did at times this season. it is not only disappointing, it is embarrassing and unacceptable.

i dont think it will happen, especially this year. but, i do think changes need to be made. if the players dont perform, then the coaches need to be replaced. it is the coaches responsibility to have the players ready. they clearly could not do that this season. stoops lost this team at some point. i am not sure when. after the way we played at tallahassee and in dallas, this team should have not had a problem winning out.

i know some will say "injuries". i know that was a factor. but this team was supposed to be deep. and it was. we had 4 running backs who could have started at most other schools. yes we lost 1, but someone else should have stepped up. we lost the best receiver in football history. but, we had others with a lot of experience. some would argue even more talent in at least one case. and they didnt step up. whether it was because the coaches could not motivate them, or because their talent was over-rated, it was the most disappointing sooner team in my lifetime.

[WileyCoyote]

Given the "kiss-of-death" No.#1 ranking and the general expectations, I certainly tend to agree with you. At least we beat saxeT, but that seems like sour grapes. Winning whatever Toilet Bowl we play in won't be much consolation. The OU Football Monster is stirring and it can get ugly if it isnt fed.

[Threeup]

Agree 100%. I'm 57 and have seen a lot of teams overachieve, but never have I seen one underachieve as this one. The team autopsy will show that there was plenty of talent but there was a total lack of the one thing great teams have: heart. Job one for Stoops is to determine how he lost this team. Boomer Sooner!

[soonercoop1]

coaching has been pretty bad for several seasons based on the supposed "talent" recruited during that time period...the D will never ever be Top 10 with BV as coordinator...

[Big D Sooner]

1. We gave up over 600 yards to Baylor and Texas Tech using this defensive scheme with 3 down lineman and small outside linebackers. We played an offense with a similar scheme and got a similar result. What did the coaches think was going to happen? No pass rush, inability to stop the inside run, and (despite dropping 8 into coverage often) wide receivers running wide open .

[Neath a Western Sky]

Thank you for posting this, OP, and to those of you with the additional comments. My thoughts--and age peers--exactly. Followed the Sooners for nearly half a century and this is indeed the farthest we've fallen short for what he aimed/hoped.

[Always_Sooner]

Neath, dead on in your assessment. This is a disappointing team that had the talent and skillset to compete for a national title. Injuries will always be a part of the game, and this team was supposed to have 29 players that had starting experience. There have been a lot of seasons except for 2008, in the past 5 years that OU does not respect the opponent they will be playing. I miss those days when OU was re-establishing themselves, and Bob would talk about how he was looking forward to the challenge. It's a shame that it has come to this point for some possible changes to be made, but if Bob does not make any changes this off season then it will never happen.

[wishbonesooner]

I'm 59, saw my first game in Norman with my dad when Bud was still on the sideline. I'm tired of being called a bad fan when we suggest Bob has to make changes. The next few weeks will tell us all what Bob Stoops thinks about his program. If he's content making 5 mil a year and beating up on the weak sisters of the pitiful Big 12 and one or two OOC games a year, he'll do what he has after the last 5 or 6 seasons. Nothing. If he truly still has that fire inside him he'll put friendship aside and steer the ship in another direction. It's his legacy. Time to see how much that means to him.

[ouwino]

Neath, dead on in your assessment. This is a disappointing team that had the talent and skillset to compete for a national title. Injuries will always be a part of the game, and this team was supposed to have 29 players that had starting experience. There have been a lot of seasons except for 2008, in the past 5 years that OU does not respect the opponent they will be playing. I miss those days when OU was re-establishing themselves, and Bob would talk about how he was looking forward to the challenge. It's a shame that it has come to this point for some possible changes to be made, but if Bob does not make any changes this off season then it will never happen.

and if he does not make the necessary changes, and if he can not get the "fire' back in his belly, then next season should be his last on the OU sidelines.

[C&CDean]

Very disappointing year. However, it's looking more and more like we've believed our own press. Are we really that talented? I don't think so. Play on the field has pretty much proven it.

[ouwino]

bob stoops is a good man. no question about it. but, he is paid to win championships at OU. not just games... championships. he is not being paid to lose to teams like tt, baylor, and osu. if he has indeed lost the "fire in his belly", then it is time for him to step down. if he still has that "fire", then next season will tell. stoops has always done things the right way. for that i commend him. for years he did things by the rules and won because he had that competitive fire to win. i hope he still does. but, i am beginning to think otherwise.

[PLaw]

51 here. Introduced to SOONER football in 1963 with an OU helmet and football on Christmas morning. Attended my first Sooner game the day after Thanksgiving, 1971. Most underachieving season since 81-83 era.

Doubtful that we will be in the TOP 10 to start next season - and we shouldn't be. We haven't had a dominant defense in a long time. We will not win a National Championship until we put a dominant defense on the field. I guess I'm spoiled, but a dominant D is something that I have taken for granted at OU.

I would much rather have a dominant defense with a pedestrian offense, than a prolific offense with a D that gives up 500+ and 40+ to good teams.

BOOMER

[cherokeebrewer]

Very disappointing year. However, it's looking more and more like we've believed our own press. Are we really that talented? I don't think so. Play on the field has pretty much proven it.

It's like Longhorn fans..."With all this talent"...Now Sooner fans..."With all this talent"...

We needz more talent...a very disappointing season indeed.

[Jacie]

There are a whole bunch of people in Austin, TX reading these posts holding their collective breath and talking in whispers amongst each other saying, "Is it true? Is it true? It can't possibly be true! Do they really want to get rid of Stoops? Oh, but we should be so fortunate!"

[ouwino]

51 here. Introduced to SOONER football in 1963 with an OU helmet and football on Christmas morning. Attended my first Sooner game the day after Thanksgiving, 1971. Most underachieving season since 81-83 era.

Doubtful that we will be in the TOP 10 to start next season - and we shouldn't be. We haven't had a dominant defense in a long time. We will not win a National Championship until we put a dominant defense on the field. I guess I'm spoiled, but a dominant D is something that I have taken for granted at OU.

I would much rather have a dominant defense with a pedestrian offense, than a prolific offense with a D that gives up 500+ and 40+ to good teams.

BOOMER

part of the problem with our D the past few years is our O. this hurry up crap. i know it is the fad, but what happened to controlling the ball and the clock? i guess i am old fashioned, but why cant we huddle-up anymore and snap the ball with 3 or 4 seconds left on the play clock? run the ball a little more. a no gain run play takes more time off the clock than an incomplete pass. and it gives your D a chance to rest. i guess i am just to old and senile. but, sometimes i yearn for the 3 yards and a cloud of dust days.

[C&CDean]

There are a whole bunch of people in Austin, TX reading these posts holding their collective breath and talking in whispers amongst each other saying, "Is it true? Is it true? It can't possibly be true! Do they really want to get rid of Stoops? Oh, but we should be so fortunate!"

Not to worry. Stoops ain't going anywhere unless he decides to quit. And that's a very, very good thing.

[LiveLaughLove]

Very disappointing year. However, it's looking more and more like we've believed our own press. Are we really that talented? I don't think so. Play on the field has pretty much proven it.

I agree that we aren't as talented as we thought we were.

Overall though, I believe this to be the most disappointing season in the Stoops era. I certainly havent enjoyed this season much, starting with Box's death. Its just been awful with the exception of the FSU and Texas games. Even a lot of our wins this year have not been fun to watch.

Very disappointed in Josh's slowing the offense down, and overall lack of creativity. BVs wide open gash with the run and the pass defense is horrid, and Bobs special teams are special K (dont even know what to do on an onsides kick).

[kevpks]

I'm happy about the extra practices we get for the bowl game. I'm hoping they don't feel this bowl game is beneath them. They need to win this game. I hope we have an influx of game ready JUCO talent coming in here next year because there seem to be some glaring weak spots in our lineup. A Pasha Jackson or Lance Mitchell type guy would be nice. I might even settle for a Chijioke type guy at this point. We need depth.

[yur-out]

part of the problem with our D the past few years is our O. this hurry up crap. i know it is the fad, but what happened to controlling the ball and the clock? i guess i am old fashioned, but why cant we huddle-up anymore and snap the ball with 3 or 4 seconds left on the play clock? run the ball a little more. a no gain run play takes more time off the clock than an incomplete pass. and it gives your D a chance to rest. i guess i am just to old and senile. but, sometimes i yearn for the 3 yards and a cloud of dust days.

I agree with what you say. The problem with the 3 yards and cloud of dust is ....... when we got behind by 2 or more td's in the wishbone days, it took us so long to score, that we would run out of time. We all wished then that we could throw the ball like we do now.

[LiveLaughLove]

I'm happy about the extra practices we get for the bowl game. I'm hoping they don't feel this bowl game is beneath them. They need to win this game. I hope we have an influx of game ready JUCO talent coming in here next year because there seem to be some glaring weak spots in our lineup. A Pasha Jackson or Lance Mitchell type guy would be nice. I might even settle for a Chijioke type guy at this point. We need depth.

What makes you think these players will care any more than they have most of this season? The total appearance of "I dont really give a darn" has been the one constant this season except for the first game.

I think a bowl win is going to be tough. I will expect it, but think its going to be tough with this group of coaches and players.

[wishbonesooner]

Bob isn't getting fired. Mike Stoops isn't coming back, that's absurd.

[tulsaoilerfan]

Very disappointing year. However, it's looking more and more like we've believed our own press. Are we really that talented? I don't think so. Play on the field has pretty much proven it. I agree Dean; IMO we do not have enough competition for starting positions so we are stuck with what we have on the field; we have maybe 3-4 guys on defense that could make the 2 deep at Bama or LSU and i may be generous in that assessment

[SoonernMilw]

Very disapointing season and If we cant control the line of scrimage on both sides of the ball we aren't going to win championships

[kenth68]

Agree 100%. I'm 57 and have seen a lot of teams overachieve, but never have I seen one underachieve as this one. The team autopsy will show that there was plenty of talent but there was a total lack of the one thing great teams have: heart.

There it is, heart. The Sooners came out expecting to win, and boasting about it, because of the past record against OSU. After losses to TT and Baylor, I couldn't imagine taunting anyone because of a school record. OSU came out to win, and you could see how ready they were to play. Oklahoma looked like they just got out of bed. Quitting entirely in the fourth quarter is unacceptable.

Sure, we can't win every game. But we can go out there and play like we want it. I can accept a loss if they played their hearts out and still lost.

[SoonerorLater]

I have generally been supportive of Bob Stoops but have gradually come the the conclusion
that we are not likely to win another championship with Stoops as head coach. I think what we are seeing is the evolution from a new hungry head coach to an entrenched coach going through the motions. The sad part is that I think a lot of the problems is because Stoops is a guy that has his priorities in life more or less in perspective. He believes his staff should have time with their families and is loyal to his staff to a fault. Stoops even carves out time in his day to drive his kids to school just to have time with them. He tries to run a clean program and he won't pull scholarships from disappointing on field performers. I hate to say it but I'm not sure this is the profile you want in a head coach if you expect to win championships. Sad but true.

[Jacie]

I have generally been supportive of Bob Stoops but have gradually come the the conclusion
that we are not likely to win another championship with Stoops as head coach. I think what we are seeing is the evolution from a new hungry head coach to an entrenched coach going through the motions. The sad part is that I think a lot of the problems is because Stoops is a guy that has his priorities in life more or less in perspective. He believes his staff should have time with their families and is loyal to his staff to a fault. Stoops even carves out time in his day to drive his kids to school just to have time with them. He tries to run a clean program and he won't pull scholarships from disappointing on field performers. I hate to say it but I'm not sure this is the profile you want in a head coach if you expect to win championships. Sad but true.

There is a fellow named Jim Tressel that would love to take his job. Heck, he won't even have to update his wardrobe all that much . . .

[aero]

part of the problem with our D the past few years is our O. this hurry up crap. i know it is the fad, but what happened to controlling the ball and the clock? i guess i am old fashioned, but why cant we huddle-up anymore and snap the ball with 3 or 4 seconds left on the play clock? run the ball a little more. a no gain run play takes more time off the clock than an incomplete pass. and it gives your D a chance to rest. i guess i am just to old and senile. but, sometimes i yearn for the 3 yards and a cloud of dust days.

Agreed. Sound, basic football. Good special teams. And a nasty defense with a bad attitude. Winning football combination. We used to have very good to great defenses. Harris, Calmus, Lehman, Strait, Dvoracek, Dan Cody, Torrance Marshall, Clint Ingram, Roy, Rufus - we've had some good players but seems they've tapered off the last few years. Well, maybe we've still got good players but they are NOT being coached up. It feels like we are where Texas was a few years ago. Just kind of skating by on their laurels and letting the program run on autopilot. Yes, they won some games as we have but against what competition. I think getting complacent is something everybody fights when they've done something for a long time. Stoops can get a second wind as others have but he needs some revitalizing forces (new coaches) to help him get some new energy and excitement about what they are going to do. Not what they have done or are doing but what they are going to do to. Maybe when you are at the top its harder sight in on a target or goal. You are the target. Well, now we've got some targets and goals. Something a little more meaty than "we're the best, we know it this year, and we deserve to be in the title game". Now we can see how hard we can work to get to the same level as LSU. Or Bama. Or Oregon. Or OkieSt. No reason to go on. The coaches have plenty of goals they can try to reach. And that's really where the excitement comes from. And the rewards are so much sweeter. I think the 2000 MNC might be my favorite of all time because of where we came from and how those players fought to get to the top.

I do know 3 things. The Dallas Cowboys will never win a Super Bowl with Tony Romo. OU will never win a MNC with the hurry up offense or BV running the D.

[Peeb]

*Box (RIP)
*Broyles
*Whaley
*Ronnell Lewis
*Stephens

You pull that kind of talent out of any team and see if "coaching" can compensate for it.

My vote: no way.

This season was like a greek tragedy for OU due to the catastrophic losses, but the program is still not only sound, but elite.

Always will be. Always.

Peebs (an OSU grad)

[AlboSooner]

From NC hopes to toilet bowl hopes

[ashley]

Lots of our players were overrated, especially our D tackles and secondary. Plus we have not been good since we lost our running back and receiver. We will be ok, do not go beserk over this year. We lose three games and some want to fire the head coach.

[Okie35]

Expectations were wayyyy too high this year and they shouldn't have been.

[SouthFortySooner]

I am replying to this thread only once. I will have a little arrow beside it to remind me. Yes, most dissappointing. To go from sitting on the edge of my seat on my old butt, to tilting my head like a puppy at what or where has the magic gone with this team. SFS

[bluedogok]

Very disappointing year. However, it's looking more and more like we've believed our own press. Are we really that talented? I don't think so. Play on the field has pretty much proven it.

Expectations were wayyyy too high this year and they shouldn't have been.
I never understood the preseason #1 ranking, I just didn't see the deficiencies of last years team getting that much better and why the media thought they would deserve the #1 ranking. I thought before the injuries this was a top 10 team at best.

I think they need to recruit players by researching the players themselves and get away from recruiting by recruiting service rankings.

[SoonerKnight]

Very disappointing year. However, it's looking more and more like we've believed our own press. Are we really that talented? I don't think so. Play on the field has pretty much proven it.

I have a theory......The recruiting pool out os Saxet sucked and we didn't know it. Saxet got burned by it. We got the better recruits but they still aren't as good as they shoukd be!!! We need physical WR's. Broyles is not the fastest guy on the field and sure as hell not the biggest but he is physical and that drive to win makes him do so. Without that we suck. Oh and he's an okie!! Remember all NC teams at OU were majority from Oklahoma!! For a reason I am sure.

[SoonerorLater]

I am replying to this thread only once. I will have a little arrow beside it to remind me. Yes, most dissappointing. To go from sitting on the edge of my seat on my old butt, to tilting my head like a puppy at what or where has the magic gone with this team. SFS


I agree. Whatever it was that we called "Sooner Magic" just doesn't seem to be there. To me Sooner Magic was the ability to turn the game situation around. Whatever form it appeared as, successful trick plays, special teams or just a sheer will to win, OU fans were truly surprised when we didn't win. That's not the case any more.

How many people really thought OU would come back to win the game last night when OSU went up by two touchdowns? Not many I'll bet. Now you can usually tell after one or two series if OU came to play. comebacks are rare. Why is that? I'm waiting for our head ball coach to figure it out.

[SoonerKnight]

I have generally been supportive of Bob Stoops but have gradually come the the conclusion
that we are not likely to win another championship with Stoops as head coach. I think what we are seeing is the evolution from a new hungry head coach to an entrenched coach going through the motions. The sad part is that I think a lot of the problems is because Stoops is a guy that has his priorities in life more or less in perspective. He believes his staff should have time with their families and is loyal to his staff to a fault. Stoops even carves out time in his day to drive his kids to school just to have time with them. He tries to run a clean program and he won't pull scholarships from disappointing on field performers. I hate to say it but I'm not sure this is the profile you want in a head coach if you expect to win championships. Sad but true.



WRONG!

[8timechamps]

Very disappointing year. However, it's looking more and more like we've believed our own press. Are we really that talented? I don't think so. Play on the field has pretty much proven it.

Yep. I'm disappointed, but I also bought into the #1 rankings. Which, in hindsight, is completely foolish (I do it every year though).

In the end, we just had too many obstacles to overcome, and didn't quiet have the talent to overcome them. Still love Bob and my Sooners though, and that will not change because we lost to OSU.

[SOONER44EVER]

I'm not really that disappointed. I kinda expect 2 or 3 losses like this every year.

[oudavid1]

I am nineteen, this year sucked for 2 reasons, blew the home winning streak, Baylor streak, and OSU streaks. AND Tennessee lost to kenyucky. But '09 Texas game was worse FOR ME because it was one of the few games where we were really just one play away in more than occasion.

[picasso]

We were thin on defense. Did you guys miss that part?

[Soonerus]

Underachievers...

[aero]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Play_like_a_champ_OU.jpg

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Maybe they didn't underachieve..Maybe they was overrated from the beginning...I felt like they were talent wise anyway.

[TUSooner]

My Old Fart credentials: started going to games in the Bud & Gomer Jones years.

There are many fair points in this thread: Expectations too high; overrated talent; injuries. But also, lack of heart. That's hard to define exactly, but I think of it as the lack of the will to PREPARE to win, and the lack of the focus needed to do the "little" fundamental things right ALL the time, and to rise up and make a great play when the chips are on the line. My major culprits on the field are the c*ck-of-the-walk linebackers and pass droppers. (You can insert their names.) Heart is also the fire to go out and take control of EVERY game.

Everything except talent comes down to coaching:Training. motivation, and preparation. Every time I heard a coach say that player X blew an assignment or made a mental mistake, I pinned the blame on coaching, which is exactly where it belongs. Thisis the bigtime, if you can't get the players ready for every game, go do something else.

A man shouldn't get $5 million a year to come up with the nation's best explanations. I presume players are held accountable - some have been suspended for various failings - but where is the accountability for coaches? And yes I mean BV. Either change the coach, or change the philosophy, but this current scheme seems to have gone as far as it will go and is now sliding back down the hill.

[Rock Hard Corn Frog]

I don't think we played a single team this year that had more talent than we did. I think we did play about 6-8 teams this year that were hungrier than we were and 3 times it came back to bite us. Now I do think the defense was missing that one dominant lineman that would draw double teams or would be in the backfield the whole game freeing up the secondary to ball hawk. In the absence of that our secondary was often exposed. We had too many guys worried about their shark routine apparently and not worried enough about covering WRs.

IMO though all the talent was there and will be there again next year. The question is will the hunger be there. The Baylor loss could have happened to any of OU's teams. Baylor was a pretty good team. There is no explaining TT or getting blasted by one of your top 2 rivals with a conference title on the line other than saying they were more hungry.

My opinion is the team next year will be as good as they really want to be. I just am a little pessimistic right now that until there is some shake-up in the coaching staff that things will be too comfortable and there won't be the hunger that it takes.

[StoopTroup]

I can accept a loss if they played their hearts out and still lost.

You might be able to but there is a shiotload of folks who can't. It's why some are complete a-holes about it. There is an opinion about what Stoops should do, one that says force him to change, one that says we will never win a MNC with BV as DC (yet we have one...lol That one I really don't understand...lol), another with National Rankings about how our defense has never been good yet in 2008 it was #8 in the Nation (if it had only been #1...we would have won a MNC...lol), Some that say it's the secondary Coach, Some that say it's the money they make and that they are lazy, some that say it's the Trainer Jerry Schmidt because of all the injuries.....it goes on and on. When you take a position of Trust in Stoops you get called out for **** you can't even control and neither can the folks that call you out. It's pure insanity and it's nothing we haven't seen before. It's always gonna be around as long as OU Plays football. I have learned to accept the fact that some folks will never ever be satisfied with anything except winning a MNC each and every year. I think they should expect that too. I mean...it sounds reasonable right? :D

This is a meltdown in all it's glory.

I continue to participate as I think it's just as possible that Stoops could win one next year just as easily as some think he was gonna walk away with one this year. I don't think I ever really expected to actually see us win a MNC this year but if we won out...it could have been possible Bob could have given us a shot at winning it and really that's all a Coach can really do. Once you are sitting there waiting for January 9th to roll around the week before you get all caught up in Press Conferences and trying to make sure your Team stays out of trouble but has some fun and does a little preparing for the damn Game. It's really up to the players to follow your game plan and go out there and try to win that last game and pull off a perfect Season. Now...some might accept a MNC where you defeat an Undefeated...I would too....but it's not the same as going undefeated and winning it all. That's the real trick and it's one that Teams who pull it off deserve to get accolades for when they do it.

All the rest of this horse**** about firing this guy and that guy is just really a bunch of conjecture. Oh yeah...I forgot about the talent opinions. There's some real conjecture at it's finest. Some are less ill imformed than others of course but really, even the NFL Coaches don't always measure talent well.

I heart Sooner Football. Always have...always will. Now Heart is something you can measure IMHO. Heart isn't conjecture but if someone tries hard enough I'm sure they can find a way to prove me wrong on that...LMAO.

[SOONER44EVER]

I don't think we played a single team this year that had more talent than we did. I think we did play about 6-8 teams this year that were hungrier than we were and 3 times it came back to bite us. Now I do think the defense was missing that one dominant lineman that would draw double teams or would be in the backfield the whole game freeing up the secondary to ball hawk. In the absence of that our secondary was often exposed. We had too many guys worried about their shark routine apparently and not worried enough about covering WRs.

IMO though all the talent was there and will be there again next year. The question is will the hunger be there. The Baylor loss could have happened to any of OU's teams. Baylor was a pretty good team. There is no explaining TT or getting blasted by one of your top 2 rivals with a conference title on the line other than saying they were more hungry.

My opinion is the team next year will be as good as they really want to be. I just am a little pessimistic right now that until there is some shake-up in the coaching staff that things will be too comfortable and there won't be the hunger that it takes.

I agree we have more talent than everyone we played. We just don't have enough talent to overcome the coaching.

[Augusta_Sooner]

"There is an opinion about what Stoops should do, one that says force him to change, one that says we will never win a MNC with BV as DC (yet we have one...lol That one I really don't understand...lol),"

BV was not the defensive coordinator in 2000, Mike Stoops was. BV coached the LBs.......that's why ppl want BV replaced with a coach like M. Stoops or someone else who plays a more physical, aggressive style defense.

[OULenexaman]

We were thin on defense. Did you guys miss that part? It showed in week 1....showed in the Mizzery game.....even showed in the Gayhawk game for a half.....other games it just could not be masked for 4 qtrs. Who let twitter boy david into this old farts thread?

[OULenexaman]

and with all the HC's openings I'd say some of this staff will jump off at this perfect time.

[thecrimsoncrusader]

Very disappointing year. However, it's looking more and more like we've believed our own press. Are we really that talented? I don't think so. Play on the field has pretty much proven it.

Coaching makes a team look talented or not talented. Oklahoma looked talented in the 2000, but they weren't that talented, nor athletic, especially in the trenches. Of course, that was back when they had a much better coaching staff in terms of assistants. This is a very talented team, with unfortunately, less than stellar coaching.

[vtsooner21]

Not calling for Coach Stoops head being served to us on a platter quite yet...One thing that I'm VERY grateful for not only for this season, but in the last few is that Coach Stoops has run an honorable program. In this day of programs getting slammed for this and that, I'm proud that the Sooners football program is held in high esteem. What is a source of frustration for me is having such great personnel, and falling short in performance. Every year OU puts up a team that many believe is on par with a NC team. A curse as we've stated previously...Or maybe a target? I despise under-achievement as well as I'm certain most of you do. It tears at my very core to see the defense give up HUGE chunks of yards. It's truly time to build a D that will come to play and show that desire on the field. I'm referring to consistency here! What I would give to find guys that allow their on-field play to do their talking as opposed to playing to a crowd or cheerleading along the sidelines.Tired of depending almost solely on an offense that every year historically loses integral parts of their lineup due to injuries. Have been, and always will be a Sooner Fan...
Boomer

[stoops the eternal pimp]

You guys that believe we are so much more talented...Go position by position with our top competition in this conference and see what you think...

[TUSooner]

You might be able to but there is a shiotload of folks who can't. It's why some are complete a-holes about it. There is an opinion about what Stoops should do, one that says force him to change, one that says we will never win a MNC with BV as DC (yet we have one...lol That one I really don't understand...lol), another with National Rankings about how our defense has never been good yet in 2008 it was #8 in the Nation (if it had only been #1...we would have won a MNC...lol), Some that say it's the secondary Coach, Some that say it's the money they make and that they are lazy, some that say it's the Trainer Jerry Schmidt because of all the injuries.....it goes on and on. When you take a position of Trust in Stoops you get called out for **** you can't even control and neither can the folks that call you out. It's pure insanity and it's nothing we haven't seen before. It's always gonna be around as long as OU Plays football. I have learned to accept the fact that some folks will never ever be satisfied with anything except winning a MNC each and every year. I think they should expect that too. I mean...it sounds reasonable right? :D

This is a meltdown in all it's glory.

I continue to participate as I think it's just as possible that Stoops could win one next year just as easily as some think he was gonna walk away with one this year. I don't think I ever really expected to actually see us win a MNC this year but if we won out...it could have been possible Bob could have given us a shot at winning it and really that's all a Coach can really do. Once you are sitting there waiting for January 9th to roll around the week before you get all caught up in Press Conferences and trying to make sure your Team stays out of trouble but has some fun and does a little preparing for the damn Game. It's really up to the players to follow your game plan and go out there and try to win that last game and pull off a perfect Season. Now...some might accept a MNC where you defeat an Undefeated...I would too....but it's not the same as going undefeated and winning it all. That's the real trick and it's one that Teams who pull it off deserve to get accolades for when they do it.

All the rest of this horse**** about firing this guy and that guy is just really a bunch of conjecture. Oh yeah...I forgot about the talent opinions. There's some real conjecture at it's finest. Some are less ill imformed than others of course but really, even the NFL Coaches don't always measure talent well.

I heart Sooner Football. Always have...always will. Now Heart is something you can measure IMHO. Heart isn't conjecture but if someone tries hard enough I'm sure they can find a way to prove me wrong on that...LMAO.

Well really, we do have high expectations, but this whining will blow over by the start of next season, when the eternal Sooner optimism will rise again. But let's be honest - we were start-of-season #1 and yet finish with three losses, 2 to clearly inferior teams in terms of talent and the other an shameful blowout in a game for all the conference marbles. You bet your asz I am disappointed! And I want to bitch and moan about it for awhile, I dang-sure will.

[NormanPride]

You guys that believe we are so much more talented...Go position by position with our top competition in this conference and see what you think...

This. We have five or six great players and a bunch of mediocre guys. Jefferson, Ronnell, Frank, Ryan, Landry, and Fleming all had good to great years. Everyone else was hanging on for most of the season. Shead was a nice surprise on the OL, but then he got injured like everyone else.

In two years we will view this season as a disappointment, but then remember how incredibly banged up we were and write most of it off. I just hope the coaches don't. Venables gets a bit of a pass scheme wise because we lost our pass rush with Ronnell and Frank out, but the whole reason we had to rely on that was because he couldn't recruit/develop a LB to save his live since '04. Heupel had some great game plans, but after we lost Broyles he pooped himself consistently. How much was him, and how much was Norvell? Heupel called the plays most of the time, and the game plan was a team effort.

I think we need a Co-DC to help Venables concentrate on the LBs. Bring in a great secondary guy to do it (NOT MIKE). Heupel was in his first year so we will just have to wait and see...

[SoonerLaw09]

51 here. Introduced to SOONER football in 1963 with an OU helmet and football on Christmas morning. Attended my first Sooner game the day after Thanksgiving, 1971.

That was a heckuva first game to be at. :)

What I'm getting from this thread are a few very important points; namely, that the players believed their own press/hype, and we were overrated. Injuries affected us more than we thought. The O truly went downhill after Broyles got hurt. And I also have it on good authority (can't say from where, but no BS) that losing Austin Box *really hurt* in more than just an emotional way. Our D was thin to begin with and as we all saw, one or 2 injuries and suddenly we're swiss cheese. In each of the 3 losses, we had D starters out. And on Saturday, the O-line was missing one guy (or was it 2?) and Ben Habern was only 75% or so. So, swiss cheese and Landry is running for his life all night. And Landry does not do well when he's being rushed hard; we have all seen his "deer-in-the-headlights" look and he makes bad throws and bad decisions when that happens.

We just didn't have the depth necessary to handle the injuries. These days with only 85 scholarships you have to consistently recruit well to maintain your depth; if you have a class that goes south or doesn't pan out, then injuries to your starters can tank the whole season. We've had some big recruiting problems the past few years with guys not getting on the team for either academic or stupidity reasons. Or, they get thrown off for stupid **** later in the season. Sad, but really nothing to be done except try again with the next class.