Kadosh
9/25/2012, 06:35 PM
ESPN on a Sooner tear today. Pretty much stating that the Sooners are not prepared for this season and need to get caught up really quickly otherwise it's going to sad season.
Jake Trotter Article (http://espn.go.com/colleges/oklahoma/football/story/_/id/8418282/oklahoma-sooners-disastrous-season-improvement-made)
After a loss at home to Kansas State, Landry Jones and the Sooners could be in for a long season.
NORMAN, Okla. -- On his team's opening drive, Kansas State coach Bill Snyder made a peculiar decision.
After an impressive drive, the Wildcats faced fourth-and-1 at the Oklahoma 36-yard line. But despite possessing a quarterback tailor-made for the quarterback sneak, Snyder elected to punt.
And in three minutes, Snyder's game plan became apparent. Don't give OU any breaks -- and wait for the Sooners to shoot themselves in the foot.
The Sooners obliged Saturday night, committing three turnovers that led to 17 points, as K-State exited Norman with a 24-19 victory.
"We just put the defense in bad spots," center Gabe Ikard said. "Kind of uncharacteristic stuff for us there."
But the reality is, such discombobulation is becoming too characteristic of this program. And given the remaining schedule, OU could be teetering on the verge of a disastrous season if rapid improvement is not made.
"I guess we came out there and people were shaky, I don't know," safety Tony Jefferson said. "We just lost focus. You can't go against a top-25 team like that regardless where you're at, home or away."
Guess what? The Sooners have six Top 25 teams left on the schedule.
Seventh-ranked West Virginia continues to look like one of the best teams in the country not named Alabama. No. 14 TCU's defense has been stifling so far. Tenth-ranked Texas might be the most improved team in the Big 12, and No. 11 Notre Dame might be the most improved squad in the country.
The Sooners would have lost to any of those four opponents playing the way they did last night.
"We've got to fight our way through it," defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. "But I don't think there's anything we can't fix."
But there's much to fix, and not much time to do it.
The Sooners essentially had three weeks to prepare for Kansas State, and yet at times looked like a team that had crammed in its game plan the night before.
The defense alone squandered three timeouts because it lined up wrong. And twice when the Sooners needed a key third-down stop in the fourth quarter, they blew the coverage. On a third-and-12, Gabe Lynn and Aaron Colvin turned Tramaine Thompson loose on a wheel route down the sidelines. The Wildcats went on to score to take the 24-13 lead.
[+] Enlarge
J.P. Wilson/Icon SMIKansas State scored 17 points off the Sooners' three turnovers, including Blake Bell's red zone fumble.
The next possession on third-and-11, linebacker Tom Wort allowed Thompson to cut across the field unscathed for a first down. The Wildcats went on to run out the clock.
"We just got out-executed in the fourth quarter," Mike Stoops said, "and that was really the game."
But while the defense had lapses in the fourth quarter, the offensive turnovers were really the game. Two fumbles and an interception led to 17 K-State points, while also costing OU a touchdown.
The most alarming quote for the rest of the season came from the K-State locker room. Underscoring Snyder's perceived game plan, defensive end Adam Davis noted that the Wildcats "knew" Jones was not good with pressure and practiced all week on flushing him out of the pocket.
"Get to his blindside and he's going to get jittery," Davis said. "When we'd get upfield and start jabbing his feet real quick -- that let us know that he don't like nobody on his blindside, and we tried to attack it all night."
Better believe Texas and Notre Dame and West Virginia are going to watch Saturday's game film and try to do the same. And if Jones and the Sooners don't get right and quick, Kansas State could mark the beginning of a nightmarish season.
Gene Woj... Article (http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/page/BMOC-092512/the-bmoc-surveys-landry-jones-fall-heisman-race-alabama-crimson-tide-more)
20. Whatever happened to ...
Landry Jones.
This isn't going to be a bash session of the Oklahoma senior quarterback. He's getting enough of that from OU followers -- the same followers who probably cheered when Jones announced he was returning to Norman for his senior season.
[+] Enlarge
Matthew Emmons/US PresswireOklahoma QB Landry Jones did not look comfortable versus Kansas State.
But Jones is clearly not the same quarterback he was in 2010 and for chunks of the 2011 season. His numbers prove it. His -- how did the Kansas State defensive players put it? -- "jabbing" feet -- prove it too.
Jones himself said his uneven, error-filled play against K-State at home Saturday night cost OU the game. He underthrew and overthrew receivers. He made poor decisions. Simply put, he seemed to freak out at times.
Wildcats defensive end Adam Davis said afterward that Jones doesn't "deal with pressure … that he'd start jabbing his feet anytime we got close."
K-State linebacker Justin Tuggle, a former quarterback himself, said Jones was "a great quarterback … but we knew if we put some pressure on him he may turn the ball over."
And Jones did exactly that. There was a costly fumble. An interception. And there were missed throws to open OU receivers.
Jones isn't THE reason why the Sooners lost to K-State for the first time at home since 1997. Or why a BCS bowl becomes a much more difficult proposition. OU's defense played an uneven game dotted with key errors, too. And there are issues with the OU offensive line.
But I wonder what those six NFL scouts in the Oklahoma Memorial Stadium press box (one of the few places where there wasn't an invasion of crickets) thought as they watched Jones that night. A season ago, Jones threw for 505 yards against K-State. He entered the 2012 season as a legitimate Heisman candidate.
And now?
19. Jones: Part II
OU coach Bob Stoops has a long history of defending Jones. That's fine. The ninth most-prolific passer in FBS history (13,151 career passing yards) has earned that loyalty from Stoops.
But within the walls of the Sooners' football offices there have to be concerns about Jones' ability to produce in big moments. And if not concerns, then at least the acknowledgment that something isn't right.
Stoops described Jones' performance against K-State as "not very well overall." He could have said the same thing about his entire team -- and he sort of did.
The popular theory among Jones observers is that he hasn't been the same since star wide receiver Ryan Broyles injured his knee last November against Texas A&M. But this is 2012 and Broyles is a rookie with the Detroit Lions now.
Oklahoma will have opportunities to work its way back into the BCS bowl conversation. The Sooners have key games at Texas Tech, in Dallas against Texas, home against Notre Dame, home against Baylor, in Morgantown against West Virginia, home against Oklahoma State and in Fort Worth against TCU.
But it will take a much better Jones -- and a better everything from the Sooners -- to turn opportunity into a bowl game that matters.
"We are not where we need to be by any stretch of the imagination and anywhere where we're capable of being," said OU co-offensive coordinator Josh Heupel.
They might want to start soon.
Jake Trotter Article (http://espn.go.com/colleges/oklahoma/football/story/_/id/8418282/oklahoma-sooners-disastrous-season-improvement-made)
After a loss at home to Kansas State, Landry Jones and the Sooners could be in for a long season.
NORMAN, Okla. -- On his team's opening drive, Kansas State coach Bill Snyder made a peculiar decision.
After an impressive drive, the Wildcats faced fourth-and-1 at the Oklahoma 36-yard line. But despite possessing a quarterback tailor-made for the quarterback sneak, Snyder elected to punt.
And in three minutes, Snyder's game plan became apparent. Don't give OU any breaks -- and wait for the Sooners to shoot themselves in the foot.
The Sooners obliged Saturday night, committing three turnovers that led to 17 points, as K-State exited Norman with a 24-19 victory.
"We just put the defense in bad spots," center Gabe Ikard said. "Kind of uncharacteristic stuff for us there."
But the reality is, such discombobulation is becoming too characteristic of this program. And given the remaining schedule, OU could be teetering on the verge of a disastrous season if rapid improvement is not made.
"I guess we came out there and people were shaky, I don't know," safety Tony Jefferson said. "We just lost focus. You can't go against a top-25 team like that regardless where you're at, home or away."
Guess what? The Sooners have six Top 25 teams left on the schedule.
Seventh-ranked West Virginia continues to look like one of the best teams in the country not named Alabama. No. 14 TCU's defense has been stifling so far. Tenth-ranked Texas might be the most improved team in the Big 12, and No. 11 Notre Dame might be the most improved squad in the country.
The Sooners would have lost to any of those four opponents playing the way they did last night.
"We've got to fight our way through it," defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. "But I don't think there's anything we can't fix."
But there's much to fix, and not much time to do it.
The Sooners essentially had three weeks to prepare for Kansas State, and yet at times looked like a team that had crammed in its game plan the night before.
The defense alone squandered three timeouts because it lined up wrong. And twice when the Sooners needed a key third-down stop in the fourth quarter, they blew the coverage. On a third-and-12, Gabe Lynn and Aaron Colvin turned Tramaine Thompson loose on a wheel route down the sidelines. The Wildcats went on to score to take the 24-13 lead.
[+] Enlarge
J.P. Wilson/Icon SMIKansas State scored 17 points off the Sooners' three turnovers, including Blake Bell's red zone fumble.
The next possession on third-and-11, linebacker Tom Wort allowed Thompson to cut across the field unscathed for a first down. The Wildcats went on to run out the clock.
"We just got out-executed in the fourth quarter," Mike Stoops said, "and that was really the game."
But while the defense had lapses in the fourth quarter, the offensive turnovers were really the game. Two fumbles and an interception led to 17 K-State points, while also costing OU a touchdown.
The most alarming quote for the rest of the season came from the K-State locker room. Underscoring Snyder's perceived game plan, defensive end Adam Davis noted that the Wildcats "knew" Jones was not good with pressure and practiced all week on flushing him out of the pocket.
"Get to his blindside and he's going to get jittery," Davis said. "When we'd get upfield and start jabbing his feet real quick -- that let us know that he don't like nobody on his blindside, and we tried to attack it all night."
Better believe Texas and Notre Dame and West Virginia are going to watch Saturday's game film and try to do the same. And if Jones and the Sooners don't get right and quick, Kansas State could mark the beginning of a nightmarish season.
Gene Woj... Article (http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/page/BMOC-092512/the-bmoc-surveys-landry-jones-fall-heisman-race-alabama-crimson-tide-more)
20. Whatever happened to ...
Landry Jones.
This isn't going to be a bash session of the Oklahoma senior quarterback. He's getting enough of that from OU followers -- the same followers who probably cheered when Jones announced he was returning to Norman for his senior season.
[+] Enlarge
Matthew Emmons/US PresswireOklahoma QB Landry Jones did not look comfortable versus Kansas State.
But Jones is clearly not the same quarterback he was in 2010 and for chunks of the 2011 season. His numbers prove it. His -- how did the Kansas State defensive players put it? -- "jabbing" feet -- prove it too.
Jones himself said his uneven, error-filled play against K-State at home Saturday night cost OU the game. He underthrew and overthrew receivers. He made poor decisions. Simply put, he seemed to freak out at times.
Wildcats defensive end Adam Davis said afterward that Jones doesn't "deal with pressure … that he'd start jabbing his feet anytime we got close."
K-State linebacker Justin Tuggle, a former quarterback himself, said Jones was "a great quarterback … but we knew if we put some pressure on him he may turn the ball over."
And Jones did exactly that. There was a costly fumble. An interception. And there were missed throws to open OU receivers.
Jones isn't THE reason why the Sooners lost to K-State for the first time at home since 1997. Or why a BCS bowl becomes a much more difficult proposition. OU's defense played an uneven game dotted with key errors, too. And there are issues with the OU offensive line.
But I wonder what those six NFL scouts in the Oklahoma Memorial Stadium press box (one of the few places where there wasn't an invasion of crickets) thought as they watched Jones that night. A season ago, Jones threw for 505 yards against K-State. He entered the 2012 season as a legitimate Heisman candidate.
And now?
19. Jones: Part II
OU coach Bob Stoops has a long history of defending Jones. That's fine. The ninth most-prolific passer in FBS history (13,151 career passing yards) has earned that loyalty from Stoops.
But within the walls of the Sooners' football offices there have to be concerns about Jones' ability to produce in big moments. And if not concerns, then at least the acknowledgment that something isn't right.
Stoops described Jones' performance against K-State as "not very well overall." He could have said the same thing about his entire team -- and he sort of did.
The popular theory among Jones observers is that he hasn't been the same since star wide receiver Ryan Broyles injured his knee last November against Texas A&M. But this is 2012 and Broyles is a rookie with the Detroit Lions now.
Oklahoma will have opportunities to work its way back into the BCS bowl conversation. The Sooners have key games at Texas Tech, in Dallas against Texas, home against Notre Dame, home against Baylor, in Morgantown against West Virginia, home against Oklahoma State and in Fort Worth against TCU.
But it will take a much better Jones -- and a better everything from the Sooners -- to turn opportunity into a bowl game that matters.
"We are not where we need to be by any stretch of the imagination and anywhere where we're capable of being," said OU co-offensive coordinator Josh Heupel.
They might want to start soon.