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View Full Version : Biggest game on the 2012 schedule is....



soonerboy_odanorth
5/2/2012, 12:55 PM
@ Texas Tech.

Win that one, and this squad stands a chance of latching onto a true "team" mentality (rather than a collection of talented individuals) and gains the confidence and mind-set to be 2012 road warriors and step up to the rest of the considerable challenges on the schedule.

Lose, and you can set the betting over/under on losses for the year at 5, to likely include that next weekend in Big D.... which would suck.

Discuss.

cvsooner
5/2/2012, 02:03 PM
Too many big games on this year's schedule to pick a biggest. First up is Kansas State...and they each get bigger after that.

LVSOONER15
5/2/2012, 02:15 PM
Too many big games on this year's schedule to pick a biggest. First up is Kansas State...and they each get bigger after that.

You got that right cv. Let's handle them one by one, like we are trying to prove something.

soonerboy_odanorth
5/2/2012, 03:49 PM
On the one hand I agree with you both. That, as a player, is a perspective you have to at least try to buy into.

But reality is this: The players themselves, as hard as they might try, do not take it one game at a time. There is no way, about a week out in preparation for the game against Tulsa in the opener last year, that they did not have one eye cocked towards FSU. Sure, as that Tulsa game prep week progressed, they properly got themselves focused. But FSU was looming and we all know it. And take the week after... they sure as heck played against Mizzou as if they were already thinking about Texas.

I'm not worried about them, with two weeks to prepare, being focused on K-State. And it is positively awesome timing that they have two weeks after K-State to get ready for Tech, and really, the rest of their season.

But they better be razor-sharp, and a bunch of revenge-minded bloodthirsty marauders by the time they hit Lubbock. Because no matter how you dress it up, the TT game is pivitol. They can start a roll on a game-by-game basis after Tech if we take them out. But the season stands a fair chance of imploding before it is half started if we can't find some relief from the migrain headache that Lubbock has been for us.

soonerboy_odanorth
5/2/2012, 03:57 PM
P.S. If I may qualify.....

Of course this is with the lens of the whole season still in front of us. That is, right now, this is how in my perfect little world the players would be focused.

If the first 4 are in the rear-view mirror, and we are 4-0, THEN each game becomes progressively more important, and neccessarily more important than Tech was....

Make sense on some level?

NormanPride
5/3/2012, 07:20 AM
No.

IronHorseSooner
5/3/2012, 07:39 AM
I have told folks for a time now that Tech and WVU are the keys to the season. Everybody else, due to talent-level, experience, scheme, or where and when the game is played, should be manageable for this team and coaching staff. Tech, as stated above, is important mentally. Tech, of late, has been a scary place, and they may have the worst fans in the conference. By any other metric (talent, coaching, experience, or scheme), shouldn't even be considered a threat- they are second-division team. But due to other intangibles, it makes them worthy of focus. The good thing is that the staff has two weeks to prep for this, and I think that really helps.

The other, of course, is WVU. On paper, this game should be the most important on the conference calendar. They have an experienced and talented offense, a rabid fan-base in a hostile environment, and a coach who is quite familiar with us. Their Achilles Heel is their defense. If I was the coaching staff, I would look to pound the ball at them and wear them down, and then beat them with play-action. They are the only team on the schedule, and one of the few in the country, who could match us on tempo and scoring next year; hence, the need to temper the offense, wear down their resolve, and keep their offense on the sidelines. In the end, we have more superior athletes and coaches than them, and this game reminds me a whole lot of the FSU game last year. In the end, I expect a hard-fought win in a hostile environment.

nativesooner
5/3/2012, 11:30 AM
I think WVU will be the hardest of them all! Well, until we get to the bowl game. :)