Positive takeaways from the Insight Bowl

[soonerboy_odanorth]

There were some frustrating microcosms of the 2011 season to be sure. But I wanted to note encouraging signs for 2012.

Our defensive line play was really good most of the night. RJ Washington appears to have turned the corner and looks ready to have a great senior year. I'd go as far to say that when he was in he worked Iowa's stud left tackle as bad or worse than Alexander did. He abused him on a number of plays. David King continues to be really stout. And the DT trio will continue to be solid. And in my mind any defense, regardless of scheme, always starts up front.

Ibiloye had as many mentions as I can remember. He really seemed to be flying around. Wort continues to be frenetic and fun to watch with the energy he brings.

I thought Clay looked as good as he has ever. Stats bear it out, too. He only had 9 carries, but for 44 yards. So about 5 yards a pop. I'll take it.

Millard may be one of the studliest dudes we've ever had here. He's not good, he's great.

Kameel Jackson made a big time catch. He should be fun to watch.

Franks looks like he is putting it together in the kickoff return game. Bet he houses one next year.

Those are the main things I picked up on. What did you see?

[soonercoop1]

Bell was great as always...LJ looked lost again...Millard is a beast...D-line looked fine but have to be honest the D allowed them to come back from 21 down to within a TD in the 4th...not good...WRs pretty much are average at best...hopefully with Mike back we can actually have a great D for a change...need to get away from the gimmicky Tech-like team they have become...excited about the underclassmen if the buy into the team effort and not individual...all in all a decent showing against a very average to bad Iowa team without their starting RB...

[BoulderSooner79]

What's the over/under on how many posts in this thread before it is no longer "positive" ?

I'll add one: It was good to see the players happy and celebrating a win going into the offseason.

[sooneron]

Aside from their LT, I'm not sure how good their OL was, but Jamarkus finally looked like he was near his billing as a recruit. Been a long time on that one... I've always been a fan of King and I think Washington will be solid. We need depth at DT, SOlid depth. It has seemed like DE has been a plug and play type of position in the past which has worked out ok... Beal, Hammer, English etc... We have to get better at shoring up the middle to occupy blockers to free up our smallish LBs.
Fleming and Hurst played well. As well as I thought they could play coming into the season.

I have been one of the people that has not been happy with Martinez, but I sorta feel for the dude. His first year here, he was breaking in two new starting corners and his second year, he was breaking in two starting safeties. That can't be easy to deal with that kind of turnover. Oh well, life isn't always fair and it's never easy.

I was pretty impressed with Clay, but I did want to see Finch more. Millard is a STUD.
Blake ran as well as I could have hoped for, but I don't like the dozer away from inside the ten. I'd prefer if it were red zone only.
Owens did well and I am optimistic about him next season. I'm really nervous about not having a TE going into next season. If we are breaking in a new qb, a TE can be the safety net, we don't have one that we know of...

[SoonerInFortSmith]

I think the whole team played with considerably more effort (heart, desire, etc.) than they have most of the year. Donald Stephenson played angry. So did R.J. Washington. Demontre Hurst lit a couple of dudes up. That kind of intensity should serve the team well going forward.

I also wouldn't be surprised to see Jaydan Bird make the full time move to fullback next year.

[SoonerMarkVA]

I hope Heupel works out some more packages for Millard getting the ball out of the backfield, and not just receiving. He reminds me of Gumbo with the ball, only better. Build out more variation in the Bell/Rip/Millard package. Just have to get Bell able to throw that ball some and that's an offense that could rip some heads off.

[sooneron]

I also wouldn't be surprised to see Jaydan Bird make the full time move to fullback next year.

Is Ripkowski done for good? B/c if he is, I don't see Bird getting much pt out of the dozer with Millard and Rip back there.

[S.PadreIsl.Sooner]

If Jaydan Bird moves to fullback full time, where does Millard go? He MUST be on the field.

[SoonerInFortSmith]

Millard isn't going anywhere. Ripkowski has a back or neck injury. Stoops already said he will miss spring practice.

[yermom]

i liked hearing McFarlands name

another plug for Millard too

[NormanPride]

I think the best thing you can take from the game is the effort our guys put in. with all the transfers and defections they could have mailed it in. instead, they went out with fire and played hard within themselves to win the game.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Millard isn't going anywhere. Ripkowski has a back or neck injury. Stoops already said he will miss spring practice.

He was on the sidelines in a Jewitt brace which is normally used for compression fractures of the spine.

[SoonerInFortSmith]

Which means there's a chance he may never be the same. Not to mention the likelihood of reinjury. I just think Bird did an outstanding job blocking in the bowl game and he may be better suited to add depth there than to play linebacker against the spread offenses of the Big XII

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Good things:

Saw some flashes from Chuka Ndulue. Dude actually drew a double team out there which cracked me up.

Tress Way continues to be one of our best weapons. If we could get a D that will cause 3 and outs, then we'll win the field position battle every game.

McFarland played well and more importantly was the one taking the calls from the sidelines for the DTs.

Hurst didn't play well for most of the game but snapped back at the end.

Jackson made a heck of a catch in traffic and played well. The guy is pretty good out of his breaks but still tends to round his routes off. He is one of the few players on the team that seems to be able to cope with Landry airmailing it.

Clay looked like he had a step back which honestly was the only reason he hadn't been effective all year, not sure if this was him or the lack of speed of the Iowa D.

If I were a pro team, I'd be looking for Fleming in the 4-5th round. He is one of those corners that just frustrates WRs.

[JiminyChristmas]

Hunnicut made a kick when we needed one and set the freshman record for FGs made in a season, i think.

Maybe that position will become a strength over the next few years.

[yermom]

Hunnicut seems solid already. who was the last kicker to make a FG from 50+ at OU?

he made a WTF miss or two early on, but we are in MUCH better shape. if he was kicking in 2009, we probably win 2-3 extra games

[cccasooner2]

There was also a lot of praise from the players and Stoops on a number of guys in practices leading up to the game. LBs Shannon and Lindley, DB Hayes, DE Grissom, DT Phillips, OG Kasitati were singled out from various articles/tweets/blogs/other forums. Should be an interesting spring.

[StoopTroup]

He was on the sidelines in a Jewitt brace which is normally used for compression fractures of the spine.

Yeah....he didn't look none to comfortable.

[StoopTroup]

Hunnicut seems solid already. who was the last kicker to make a FG from 50+ at OU?

he made a WTF miss or two early on, but we are in MUCH better shape. if he was kicking in 2009, we probably win 2-3 extra games

He is a solid kicker but I still say that we will have a damn good back up in Eric Hosek. If you get to the game at Home early on....or go to the Red/White Game....check out Eric. I think he is as good as Micheal. Dude can kick from 45 out at least and maybe has even more leg than Micheal.

[sooneron]

Then he should handle kickoffs, because we can't get it in the ez without a 30 mph tailwind.

[StoopTroup]

He was a Red Shirt.

[East Coast Bias]

For me the best thing to come out of the game was seeing Broyles laughing and smiling and talking about feeling good at 5 weeks out of surgery. The last picture i had of him was crying on the sideline post injury. I hope he gets it all back, even if it takes some time. I always thought he would be a Welker type possession receiver in the NFL.

[CowboyMRW]

If Josh is smart, Bell starts next year and you run the single wing every play next year. When that gets figured out you run a counter to Millard and then go back to Bell. I know it's not flashy but that is a championship formula. Who cares if it's not flashy enough for the fans. That formula alone would win a lot of games.

[FaninAma]

I liked the defensive attitude. They were aggressive from start to finish and didn't have any lapses in aggressiveness. It was almost like Mike Stoops was involved already in the defensive game plan....but we all know that's not the case.

[picasso]

If Josh is smart, Bell starts next year and you run the single wing every play next year. When that gets figured out you run a counter to Millard and then go back to Bell. I know it's not flashy but that is a championship formula. Who cares if it's not flashy enough for the fans. That formula alone would win a lot of games.
The formula we have now wins a lot of games.

You don't run the single wing with the skill players we have coming in.

[Blue]

If Josh is smart, Bell starts next year and you run the single wing every play next year. When that gets figured out you run a counter to Millard and then go back to Bell. I know it's not flashy but that is a championship formula. Who cares if it's not flashy enough for the fans. That formula alone would win a lot of games.
This is pretty ridiculous.

[CowboyMRW]

It wins a lot of games but not all, because there is always 1-2 games a year where your QB is off so your offense sputters.

[picasso]

It wins a lot of games but not all, because there is always 1-2 games a year where your QB is off so your offense sputters.
Dude, calm down and watch your game.

[Big D Sooner]

This is what pisses me off. They win one Bedlam game in 9 years and 1 big 12 title and now all of a sudden they are acting like we need their help figuring out how to play football. I think we've got it down, go fuk yourself.

[TXBOOMER]

It is hard to take any positives out of beating a very mediocre Iowa team.Iowa is not very good. It is hard to tell anything from that game.

[CowboyMRW]

This is what pisses me off. They win one Bedlam game in 9 years and 1 big 12 title and now all of a sudden they are acting like we need their help figuring out how to play football. I think we've got it down, go fuk yourself.

I think you're reading way too much into this man.

[Soonerwake]

I think you're reading way too much into this man.

Or, he's spot on. Go away...

[BoulderSooner79]

What's the over/under on how many posts in this thread before it is no longer "positive" ?
...



It is hard to take any positives out of beating a very mediocre Iowa team.Iowa is not very good. It is hard to tell anything from that game.

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner at post #30.

I have to admit, everyone has stuck to the "positive" theme of this thread for far longer than I thought. Even this post wasn't exactly negative other than telling everyone else they must be full of sh*t. Where is oumartin on this one - asleep? A thread with the word "positive" in the title is like putting out a big bowl of punch and handing him a steaming turd to drop in to it.

:D :P

[the-rover]

I liked the defensive attitude. They were aggressive from start to finish and didn't have any lapses in aggressiveness. It was almost like Mike Stoops was involved already in the defensive game plan....but we all know that's not the case.

The D did look good....except for in the 4th when them Iowegians scored twice against the soft zone that somebody likes to play all too often.

[Boomer Mooner]

I think the best thing you can take from the game is the effort our guys put in. with all the transfers and defections they could have mailed it in. instead, they went out with fire and played hard within themselves to win the game.

This! Too many times we've been clobbered by inferior teams in our bowl game because we weren't playing in the one we wanted. I also thought we played with fire to end the year and can't wait for September!

I hope we start the new season ranked in the mid teens so we have to fight to the top.

[Seamus]

The D did look good....except for in the 4th when them Iowegians scored twice against the soft zone that somebody likes to play all too often.

I nearly lost my mind watching that Friday night. I was practically begging him to play man defense.

Truthfully, I want to take that zone defense, wrap it up in several layers of aluminum foil -- which has been crumpled and torn to make it extra rough -- then coat it with a thick salve of Gorilla Glue and poison ivy juice, then roll it around in ground glass and a powder made from Indian Ghost Peppers, and then I want to jam it up Brent's arse and yell:

"i'm going to do this to you every ****ing time you slip back into that passive zone defense!"

[soonercoop1]

The formula we have now wins a lot of games.

You don't run the single wing with the skill players we have coming in.

But rarely a BCS bowl game win and never a MNC win....this Tech-like O and soft, porous, complicated D make those difficult to accomplish...

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

The D did look good....except for in the 4th when them Iowegians scored twice against the soft zone that somebody likes to play all too often.


I nearly lost my mind watching that Friday night. I was practically begging him to play man defense.

Truthfully, I want to take that zone defense, wrap it up in several layers of aluminum foil -- which has been crumpled and torn to make it extra rough -- then coat it with a thick salve of Gorilla Glue and poison ivy juice, then roll it around in ground glass and a powder made from Indian Ghost Peppers, and then I want to jam it up Brent's arse and yell:

"i'm going to do this to you every ****ing time you slip back into that passive zone defense!"

So I just went back and watched Iowa's 1st TD drive to see if I remembered the game differently.

I 1-10 I36 [SG], 16-Vandenberg, J. pass complete to 33-Canzeri, Jordan for 2 yards to
the IOWA38 (5-Ibiloye,Joseph).
---Zone----

I 2-8 I38 16-Vandenberg, J. pass complete to 86-Fiedorowicz, C. for 3 yards to the
IOWA41 (32-Fleming,Jamell;28-Lewis,Travis).
---Zone---

I 3-5 I41 16-Vandenberg, J. pass complete to 7-McNutt, Marvin for 16 yards to the
OU43, 1ST DOWN IOWA (1-Jefferson,Tony).
---Man---

I 2-7 O40 16-Vandenberg, J. pass complete to 83-Staggs, Steven for 6 yards to the
OU34.
Previous play was reviewed and ruling of a complete pass stands.
---Zone---

I 3-1 O34 16-Vandenberg, J. pass incomplete to 86-Fiedorowicz, C., PENALTY OU
holding (28-Lewis,Travis) 10 yards to the OU24, 1ST DOWN IOWA, NO
PLAY.
---Man---

I 4-3 O17 [SG], 16-Vandenberg, J. pass complete to 86-Fiedorowicz, C. for 6 yards to
the OU11, 1ST DOWN IOWA (14-Colvin,Aaron).
---Man--- Note: We had a robber defense here with McGee loafing or he would have been right in the passing lane. Colvin was soft to invite the throw for the robber.

I 2-7 O08 [SG], 16-Vandenberg, J. pass complete to 7-McNutt, Marvin for 7 yards to the
OU1, 1ST DOWN IOWA, out-of-bounds (6-Hurst,Demontre).
---Not sure if Man or Zone here----

I 1-G O05 [SG], 16-Vandenberg, J. pass incomplete to 11-Martin-Manley,K.
---Zone---

I 2-G O05 [SG], 16-Vandenberg, J. pass complete to 86-Fiedorowicz, C. for 5 yards to
the OU0, TOUCHDOWN, clock 14:46.

---Zone--- This is the one where Lewis drifted out of his zone or it never would have been completed


Its interesting when you go back and look at these. You just don't realize how bad the run killed us on these drives until you look at all the missing plays.

[BoulderSooner79]

jkm, you have to stick to the tread topic for at least 1 post - positive takeaways from the Insight. Could just be you liked the nachos or you like a commercial if you watched on TV. :D

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

jkm, you have to stick to the tread topic for at least 1 post - positive takeaways from the Insight. Could just be you liked the nachos or you like a commercial if you watched on TV. :D

I did earlier. ;)

I'm not saying we didn't make some mistakes with the zone including 1 that was a structural fault that we got away with (Iowa had an illegal formation). However, in general, our shell plays zone better than man. The problem is that our linebackers have no feel for a zone at all and are very robotic about their drops.

[Seamus]

JKM, I haven't gone back to review the film yet, but do the same for the second TD drive. Me and a buddy -- a Mizzou fan who watched it live with me -- were appalled by how easily they were cutting us up. I'm pretty sure it was that drive.

But I was drinking, so ...

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

JKM, I haven't gone back to review the film yet, but do the same for the second TD drive. Me and a buddy -- a Mizzou fan who watched it live with me -- were appalled by how easily they were cutting us up. I'm pretty sure it was that drive.

But I was drinking, so ...

Notes: There are about 5 plays where one side of the field looks like its in man and one side zone mainly because Wort is just standing in the middle of the field. Since I can't see the full 11 on 11 I'm going to have to assume this is a bust on either Wort or the Safety on that side for not latching up on the receiver who ends up running free. The net result was that Iowa would send out 5 receivers and 4 were blanketed in man coverage and one wasn't covered at all.


I 2-5 I27 [NHSG], 16-Vandenberg, J. pass complete to 3-White, Jason for 5 yards to the
IOWA32, 1ST DOWN IOWA (5-Ibiloye,Joseph;6-Hurst,Demontre).

--Zone--- (flair behind the LOS)

I 1-10 I32 [SG], 16-Vandenberg, J. pass complete to 7-McNutt, Marvin for 13 yards to
the IOWA45, 1ST DOWN IOWA, out-of-bounds (6-Hurst,Demontre).

---Man----

I 1-10 I45 [SG], 16-Vandenberg, J. pass complete to 6-Davis, Keenan for 18 yards to the
OU37, 1ST DOWN IOWA (6-Hurst,Demontre).

---Man--- (looked like busted coverage on Wort as it was a robber with RJ who covered the guy and then released him underneath)

I 1-10 O37 [NHSG], 16-Vandenberg, J. pass complete to 11-Martin-Manley,K for 21 yards
to the OU16, 1ST DOWN IOWA.

---Zone--- (Wort didn't get deep enough)

I 1-10 O16 [NHSG], 16-Vandenberg, J. pass incomplete to 6-Davis, Keenan
(32-Fleming,Jamell).

---Man---

I 2-10 O16 [SG], 16-Vandenberg, J. pass incomplete to 7-McNutt, Marvin
(32-Fleming,Jamell).

---Man---

I 3-10 O16 [SG], 16-Vandenberg, J. pass incomplete to 6-Davis, Keenan
(32-Fleming,Jamell).

---Man---

I 4-10 O16 [SG], 16-Vandenberg, J. pass complete to 6-Davis, Keenan for 14 yards to the
OU2, 1ST DOWN IOWA (1-Jefferson,Tony).

---Man---

I 2-G O09 16-Vandenberg, J. pass incomplete to 6-Davis, Keenan.

---Man---

I 3-G O09 [SG], 16-Vandenberg, J. pass complete to 33-Canzeri, Jordan for 9 yards to
the OU0, TOUCHDOWN, clock 06:56.

---Man---

[cvsooner]

And almost no pressure getting to the QB on any of those plays. The holding call on Lewis on the first TD drive kept Iowa going when we had gotten a stop. Well, Lewis is graduated, and hopefully some of this semi-kinda fixes itself.

[BoulderSooner79]

Everyone seems to scream for press, man coverage until that results in a big play. Even mid-level teams have enough passing skills these days, defenses must be able to play multiple coverages and be good at disguising them in order to confuse the offense. A dominant D-line that can provide consistent pressure w/o having to blitz will make most secondaries look good - there is no harm in a busted coverage if the QB is sitting on his backside. Obviously, any D will get burned if that is a common occurence.

On the positive side, RJ Washington showed us a couple of flashes at the bowl game. Maybe he has a breakout senior year ala Alexander.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Our D this year was a pick our poison D. Our linebackers are a serious liability in coverage but do better in man. However, we just don't have enough consistent intensity to play man 100% of the time.

For example, on that 2nd series for the TD.

Up until that 1st and 10 play, McNutt had 1 catch in the game. Hurst basically doesn't even cover him on that play and he gets a 13 yard reception. We then bust a coverage for 18 and then get lazy on a drop for 21. So we gave up 52 yards on 3 plays because of laziness. We then turn it on and lock them down for 3 plays until we get lazy again...

[OUInformant]

A win is a win. It was a good way to salvage a disappointing season.

The Good:

1. The defense played reasonably well, but gave up too many points towards the end of the game. RJ Washington did play quite well. Ibiloye had a good game. Our defense has a chance to be pretty strong next year. I'm very curious as to how much influence Mike Stoops will have, i.e., if he is actually given a job by older Stoops.

2. Hunnicut appears to be a pretty good kicker, something we haven't had in years. Also, our kickoff coverage is better than in years past. In general, if we can find a better punt return guy than Kenny Stills (as he sucks fielding punts), our special teams has a chance to be an advantage for us.

3. Trey Millard is a beast that should be splitting touches with Whaley next year. Brennan Clay looked faster than I've ever seen him, and I'm more excited about his upside now (besides, he was 5-star on Scout).

4. Kameel Jackson looks like a really nice player. With some experience, he could become our go-to guy, as it appears that Kenny Stills doesn't want to be that guy.

The Bad:

1. Landry struggled. LJ has probably been the most disappointing single player on the team. While he has NFL size and a strong arm, he seems to be a very streaky thrower. At times he is very accurate, at other times he appears very rattled. He is no threat using his legs, and is not the run/pass kind a guy that I want to have at OU.

2. If Landry was the most disappointing player this year, the WR corps was the most underachieving unit. The Iowa game did nothing to change my mind. Kenny Stills managed to turn a seemingly promising year into a very bad one. Dejuan Miller's career ended badly and the comments by his dad cemented that.

3. It would be nice if the defense could stop someone when it counted. We very nearly gave up our lead.

[SoonerMom2]

We were at the game and was so happy to see the intensity out of our players -- they were at this game to win ande were not going to be denied. Brennan Clay showed what he can do when healthy and was happy to see him have a good game. We had a great time at the game and I have a glove from #75, Tyler Evans, he threw after the game. The players were extremely happy after the game and all smiles as they came over to greet the fans. Personally as a fan enjoyed the Insight Bowl in Tempe more than last year's Fiesta Bowl. I like the Sun Devil stadium and Tempe much better that the U of Phoenix stadium and Glendale. Only bad treatment we had was from Cowboy fans on Saturday with smart aleck remarks about why are the Sooners still in town. Had some laughs at their neon orange shoes. We met quite a few Sooners who live in Tempe and surrounding area on Saturday.

Felt very positive about the Sooners for next year after the game as they played hard and with heart.

As for Cowboy fans at our hotel, they were rude, obnoxioius, very loud, and spent a lot of time smoking outside the front of the hotel and throwing their cigarette butts on the ground. We started going in the side door so not to have to walk through smoke. The ones at our hotel who kept a lot of the hotel guests awake late into the night on Saturday night did not represent our state well. The lack of class on Sunday morning at breakfast was disgusting on top of everything else. I cannot stand to be around people that shovel food in their mouths and their kids do the same thing. Iowa and Stanford fans were both really nice. Only rude remarks I head out of any fans came out of the Cowboys towards Sooners which I would expect but they treated Stanford like us. Classless to the core.