Can this OU team win a low scoring game?

[SoonerNomad]

I strongly believe the Sooners will win 38-17 or something similar on Saturday. I can vision our passing game exploiting the relatively slow secondary of Notre Dame.

However, if that doesn't happen; if this is a slobberknocker game of yore like the Irish have played a few times already this season, can this OU squad win a game with the winning score in the teens? Can this OU team overcome any frustration and mistakes that might happen early and make plays late to win that type of game? We know this team can play well from the lead, but will it be able to slug it out if that becomes necessary on Saturday night? Did the Kansas State game toughen OU up for that type of game or did it leave scars that will break open if the same thing should arise? I don't know the answers.

What do you think?

[KantoSooner]

Lots of different styles of game. If it turns into a field position dealio, I think we're fine. No great psychic blows and our kickers are better than theirs.

If we are rambling up and down the field and then turning the ball over with fumbles, interceptions, dumbass penalties, etc., you could very easily see frustration set in.

[BoulderSooner79]

Interesting question that I hope we don't address this week. I'd rather see if ND can handle a big12 style scoreboard. I would fear that Josh wouldn't have the patience to play ball control/field position. ND is very used to being in a 3 point deep into the 4th and would be comfortable with that.

[BigTip]

It won't be.
We have been rapidly refining our numerous weapons.
Just crossing fingers that competent Dr Landry shows up, not the hideous Mr Jones.

http://smkmeru-amanah.webs.com/1932_dr_jekyll_and_mr_hyde.jpg

[BillyBall]

Im interested in what ND does if they find themselves in a quick 14 point hole... That offense is not made to play catch up at all.

[cleller]

Yes.

[VA Sooner]

Yes.

[SouthFortySooner]

If we score more points. Really. Low score, high score, score more!

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

It won't be.
We have been rapidly refining our numerous weapons.
Just crossing fingers that competent Dr Landry shows up, not the hideous Mr Jones.

http://smkmeru-amanah.webs.com/1932_dr_jekyll_and_mr_hyde.jpgnicely done! We can pray to OUr Jesus that Dr. Landry or Good landry show up on center stage sat night.

[SoonerFanInAustin]

Totally agree with how ND reacts if they get down 10-14 early....w/out a doubt I think it would get ugly if that happens. I just watched the BYU/ND and wasn't really impressed. As already mentioned, they will have to put a lot a pressure on Jones early to get him pressing. The obvious, if they don't get pressure, Landry wlll pick them apart. No way they cover all of our receivers.
Defensively, they don't have a QB that scares me against our D....

Right now, I feel pretty confident.... :)

[MyT Oklahoma]

Im interested in what ND does if they find themselves in a quick 14 point hole... That offense is not made to play catch up at all.

Amen.

[MyT Oklahoma]

Totally agree with how ND reacts if they get down 10-14 early....w/out a doubt I think it would get ugly if that happens. I just watched the BYU/ND and wasn't really impressed. As already mentioned, they will have to put a lot a pressure on Jones early to get him pressing. The obvious, if they don't get pressure, Landry wlll pick them apart. No way they cover all of our receivers.
Defensively, they don't have a QB that scares me against our D....

Right now, I feel pretty confident.... :)

Also Amen.

[PLaw]

As much as I would like to see OU take the domers to the woodshed, I would equally like to see OU take a hard punch from ND and respond in a great way. As this year's team continues to grow, they need the opportunity to show mental toughness and intestinal fortitude that they will not allow themselves to be denied. 2000 game against nebbish cemented the toughness qualities of the early Stoops' teams. I'm looking forward to the renassiance of Sooner swagger (I hate that word, but it applies here).

BOOMER

[StoopTroup]

Yes.

^this.

[KantoSooner]

If they intend on pressing Dr. Jones, I will be very interested to see how their short passing route coverage works out. I can envision some scenarios where Sterling Shepard has a career day doing his impression of Broyles 7-13 yards deep with a quick fall forward at the end. Over, and over, and over again.

[Tulsa_Fireman]

Either way, what I want to see more than anything is Big Trey Millard hat to hat with this linebacker all these domer clowns are spunking in their pants about. I want to see that battle over and over and over again.

[StoopTroup]

Our O-Line seems to be able to keep the defense away from LJ. Unlike the K-State Game....I don't see their D getting LJ to make a mistake. He's just better this year and Blake has really allowed LJ to play without taking very many shots.

Landry seems to really be dialing in his WRs and they seem to be really latching on to the ball better the last three games. The WRs seem excited that LJ is going to call their number and that they will make plays and huge plays at that.

Our Defense needs to shut them down like they have the last three games. We need to be up 21 in the 4th quarter so that we have huge pressure on kelly. He's an absolute hoot when he's about to lose a ball game. I'm looking forward to seeing his head explode.

[BoulderSooner79]

If they intend on pressing Dr. Jones, I will be very interested to see how their short passing route coverage works out. I can envision some scenarios where Sterling Shepard has a career day doing his impression of Broyles 7-13 yards deep with a quick fall forward at the end. Over, and over, and over again.

^This. It's hard to get pressure with any package if the QB releases the ball in under 1.5sec. I don't see ND having enough pure cover guys on the field to keep all of Stills, Brown and Shepard from being open on a short route. LJ just has to read it correctly.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

This team has struggled in close games over the last 4 years..I don't want to test that out this game.

[StoopTroup]

Landry has gotten called for grounding lately. I think he has learned how to try and get rid of the ball if the play isn't there. During the KSU Game he tried to stay out of the EZ and have patience with 3-5 yards of room in the pocket. Field position is key for us. If they pin us at the 5 or closer....maybe Bob should put the Dozer pkg in and get LJ some room?

[stoops the eternal pimp]

If he steps up into the pocket like he has the last 2 games instead of running from the pocket, sometimes with little to no pressure coming, like he did against K State, it won't matter..He just can't panic like he has before.

[StoopTroup]

If he steps up into the pocket like he has the last 2 games instead of running from the pocket, sometimes with little to no pressure coming, like he did against K State, it won't matter..He just can't panic like he has before.

I know folks think he stepped out the time he fumbled but they put on a blitz and it worked. He had a choice of staying in the pocket and ending his career or stepping out. When he stepped out he tried to pass and got hit and he fumbled. It was right in front of me and he had no chance Bro. He was really mad at himself as he called the line to block the guy and they just let him come right after him. It was like he just knew it was going to happen but he put his trust in the line and they nearly got him killed.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c333/stooptroup/C603F141-C756-4C37-9620-5455D897E520-958-00000187219EB008.jpg

[stoops the eternal pimp]

It worked because he didn't step where there was no one...The outside rusher wash blocked but when he ran from the pocket, he ran from where he was protected..defender just had to chase him..if He had stepped up, the tackle would have cut his guy off from that angle..It's been a common thing with him, but he had done an excellent job the last 2 weeks of not panicking.

[StoopTroup]

They chased him Step. I swear. I know what I saw. He had no choice. Also nobody was there when he took off. He's just not a fast runner. I will say this....if he had had someone to shuffle pass to....he might have gotten away with an incomplete pass instead of getting hit and fumbling. He just had no time and made the move he thought was best. Sometimes things don't work out...even for 5th year Seniors. I don't think he panicked but I can see how folks could put that together as I think he did panic against oSu in stoolwater last year.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

So do the 80 something thousand people there and on TV...The announcers that game..You can't get a cleaner pocket than that..If he stays, he makes a play, at least gets rid of it..You can see his feet are already turned and he is ready to run..The guy who was driven past him and blocked correctly can now make a play because he leaves what was created for him..I don't see where a career ending hit is coming from.
http://imageshack.us/a/img802/3461/ljfumble.jpg

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Which again isn't the issue..He has played well the last 2 games..It's OK to say he brainfarted on that one.

[StoopTroup]

During halftime they have an overhead view of the pocket you wanted him to stay in. It was closing in around him. He didn't have a play and he took off to the right. As soon as he took off KSU's D shifted the same direction and two of them close in on him. It would have happened on either side if he had run left most likely. Yes...the announcers went with their talking points that he even stated he needed to work on stepping up into the pocket. I'm not sure how far you want him to step up as there was about one yard for him to step up. He was getting ready to get the same pressure on both sides and the pocket was closing in around him. The play of course was to toss it away but he took one of the two options and ran to the right looking for an open WR. The same kind of play where he later under threw the ball to Brendan Clay (Not a WR...an outlet pass to a back) and it was picked off. He again didn't have an open WR.

The line (on the fumble play) was only going to hold him for so long....I guess the other play is to risk dropping back into the EZ so he could have stepped up but they don't do that anymore as any penalty is an instant Safety. I'm guessing some fans might take a safety over a fumble/touchdown but Bob has him there to find WRs to throw to....not risk safety points.

Again my real point here was that we need to make sure we have good field position so LJ has a place to drop back and room to step up. In this case.....he had neither even though the Announcers and the 80,000 people you talked to have you convinced differently. He's a Great QB but he's not a God. The ones with Statues on the Eastside aren't Gods either. Two are Heisman Winners with a heck of a lot less Career Stats than LJ. Folks really need to get off his ***. We were leading in the 2nd half and we didn't lose because of LJ's fumble in the 1st half. We lost because the Defense let K-State win the Time of Possession Game. People were real quick to blame the loss of that game on the fumble and the INT by LJ in the 2nd half but there was an entire 4th quarter to play after the 3rd turnover. The time of Possession was clearly in KSU's favor and we just didn't put LJ and our offense in a position to score in the 4th qtr. Our defense sucked that night. We stopped the throw but not the run and Klein did exactly what he's good at and ran the ball and the time off the clock that night. The Defense let him have his way with them and we lost by 5 points. One more possession for a TD could have put a "W" in the column where we now have a loss.

It's OK to say he had a bad first half but he wasn't the only guy with a Turnover and Great Players usually respond after making a mistake when given the chance. LJ had a 10 play 65 yard drive that resulted in a Touchdown. Had we gotten the two point conversion and stopped Klein in that last drive...it's possible we could have even taken the game into OT with a FG.

It's OK to say our Team lost and not OK to put that loss on his shoulders.

Haters are gonna hate though.

Go re-watch all the games. He's not the only guy making mistakes. We had a lousy run game against KU last week. We didn't even have 100 yards rushing. KU had 185 yards rushing. Landry (The guy who sucks) had 319 yards in the air. Maybe it's the way LJ hands off the ball that is hurting our run game? lol

[PLaw]

Either way, what I want to see more than anything is Big Trey Millard hat to hat with this linebacker all these domer clowns are spunking in their pants about. I want to see that battle over and over and over again.

Hmmm, kinda like Bo and the Boz.

The outcome will be the same.

BOOMER

[GameWarden]

If OU doesn't play from a two TD lead - they'll have problems. Its the way the offense is designed and the defense as well.
OU gets a completion, goes hurry up. The opposing defense is on their heels and Landry drives the team down the field and its imperative to get a TD once in the red zone. You do this a couple of times and hopefully you've got the other team out of their gameplan and the D has the luxury of playing with a lead. Ordinarily OU can score very quickly and if the defense has any kind of good day, the other team has to start throwing the ball around to keep up. Advantage OU!!

By the way, that is what killed us against KSU. After Landry FAILED TO STEP UP in the pocket and lost the football. Landry mounted a good drive and Blake Bell fumbled 7 points away. In the third qtr Landry has a good drive and scores but at this point Heupel basically puts the game on Landry's shoulders. Radio announcers mention that because the game is close and the defense is sucking, Heupel evidently feels that he has to throw the ball to keep up with KSU. Landry, a fifth year senior, is not up to the task and is not able to mount another scoring drive until the game is out of reach. To make matters worse he throws the oskie and gives KSU another 7 points. Did the D play poorly as well - yes they did!!

On the fumble, Landry prolly had less than a half second either way, the difference is that if he steps up, like he is trained to do, he has a clean space to get rid of the football, if he runs laterally as he did on that play, then the defender hits his arm and he loses the ball. Its just an instant either way but in this instance, stepping up in the pocket would have saved the fumble IF HE THROWS THE FOOTBALL. If he doesn't launch the rock he's gonna take a sack at the very least, but if he steps up he has a chance. Its really splitting hairs but in this case, if he does what every QB is taught to do, then he probably saves the fumble. He's gonna get hit either way if he doesn't throw the ball. If he steps up he has room, if not he's hit from behind.