Note To Mike Stoops

[FaninAma]

Put the 7 defensive back scheme in a folder, burn it, put the ashes in the toilet and flush it far, far away.

Good lord, it had to have been the worst defensive scheme in the history of college football.

Get the team out and do some damn hitting in full pads this week. Gawd almighty.

[toast]

Obviously, we need to recruit better front 7 players.

[picasso]

I would also like it if Mike combed his hair differently.

Could someone pass that along with Fan's note?

[Judge Smails]

I think we are running that same half-azzed tackle drill that Texas does. The Thud, isn't that what it's called?

Put Landry in one of those padded suits the police dog handlers wear and beat the sheet out of him with a baseball bat to get him used to taking a hit.

[Judge Smails]

Obviously, we need to recruit better front 7 players.

And do it before next Saturday's game.

[FaninAma]

What happened to the defense that played agianst Texas Tech and Texas?

[FaninAma]

One more thing Mike, go back and look at the game film of the games against TT and Texas. The defense was attacking and forcing the issue. I am so tired of the flag football defensive schemes.

Please, just stop it.

[VA Sooner]

Runners and receivers getting to the next level almost every play in the second half... the D-line had holes but the 7 DBs couldn't plug the holes until it was too late.

[soonercastor]

Holy **** Javon got embarrassed a lot.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Runners and receivers getting to the next level almost every play in the second half... the D-line had holes but the 7 DBs couldn't plug the holes until it was too late.Between the ineptness of the DL, and the holding by WV that the officials let slide unpenalized, Austin and others had free passage to the OU secondary, IMHO.

[yermom]

Did Tavon Austin look as fast and shifty on TV as he did in person?

Even when there was someone in front of him to make a tackle, he'd fake them out

With no one in the middle of the field to meet him, he was just gone half the time and they have to catch him from behind.

I didn't notice holding except again RJ on that last possession when they made that initial first down. Is that how Austin was always getting to the second level immediately, seemingly on every touch.

Holgerson said on the radio that he thought OU defended the QB draw too well, and they took out that package. I'm not sure what team he had film on, but it likely wasn't this one... I'm pretty sure that guy is a moron. I can only image how bad that game would have been if Smith tucked and ran more than once

[C&CDean]

Does anyone feel "vindicated?"

[jk the sooner fan]

yes!



oh wait, i thought you said "fibrillated"

nevermind

[Breadburner]

Does anyone feel "vindicated?"

Did you mean...."Vendicated"....???

[kevpks]

At least we had the best defense on the field yesterday. That WV group was the worst secondary I've seen since...well since last week against Baylor, but still...

[thecrimsoncrusader]

Does anyone feel "vindicated?"

By what?

[hawaii 5-0]

When I saw this game on the schedule last Summer I thought it was a trap game.

I thought if we were to lose any game this year it would be this one.

I'm just glad to leave there with a win.

5-0

[FaninAma]

I just hate flag football defensive schemes. Get your best athletes on the field and attack the offense. The defense in the Texas and TT games were things of beauty. Why this defense looks so different now is puzzling. Why Mike has backed off now is equally puzzling.

I can only assume that Stoops thought WV would trot out the same mediocre running game they have all year. He did not have a backup plan ready. I think the coaches need to stop underestimating the desire of other teams to beat OU....especially when they are having disappointing seasons. It is the same as the OSU syndrome.

[OUTrumpet]

Austin was a beast on TV. Very fast and very agile.

So my worry is this -- we are primarily playing man up defense with either cover 0, 1, or 2 behind it. Man on man, with either 0, 1, or 2 safeties for backup. We see that Austin is both faster and more importantly more agile than anyone we have in the secondary to match up with him. You do NOT play man against someone that either has even talent or even just 1 better player, because stuff like last night happens.

Why were no adjustments made? Why did we continue to bang our head against a brick wall? How stubborn is Mike Stoops with gameplans? We ran the same defense in the first half as we did the second. WVU's staff made adjustments. We didn't. Will it cost us a game later?

[Seamus]

Austin was a beast on TV. Very fast and very agile.



Pretty much this. I've seen two guys do what I saw last night -- Barry Sanders and Joe Washington.

Smoke-keyhole. Lightning-bottle. Pick your favorite metaphor. But whatever that is, Austin was it.

[FaninAma]

Pretty much this. I've seen two guys do what I saw last night -- Barry Sanders and Joe Washington.

Smoke-keyhole. Lightning-bottle. Pick your favorite metaphor. But whatever that is, Austin was it.

I'd be more impressed if not for the fact that on most of his runs he had gaping holes at the LOS. OU had no second level. It was the LOS then the 3rd level. That was the worst defensive scheme I have ever seen a college football team put on the field. Bob should kick Mike's *** for putting that crap on the field.

[goingoneight]

Holy **** Javon got embarrassed a lot.

Hate to break it to you, but Aaron Colvin, Tony Jefferson and Frank Shannon did perhaps worse. Worst defensive effort in OU history. They literally just gave up after getting up 34-17. Identical to last week after jumping up on Baylor.

[BoulderSooner79]

I'd be more impressed if not for the fact that on most of his runs he had gaping holes at the LOS. OU had no second level. It was the LOS then the 3rd level. That was the worst defensive scheme I have ever seen a college football team put on the field. Bob should kick Mike's *** for putting that crap on the field.

It was still impressive. When WVU gave Austin a blow, we would stuff the other backs for little gain on most plays using the same scheme. The other back was the same one that ran for 200yds against the horns, so he was no slouch. Austin was on fire and seeing the whole field. I agree it was the scheme that let him run wild once he got by the LOS, but getting there was a lot of his doing.

[BoulderSooner79]

Hate to break it to you, but Aaron Colvin, Tony Jefferson and Frank Shannon did perhaps worse. Worst defensive effort in OU history. They literally just gave up after getting up 34-17. Identical to last week after jumping up on Baylor.

I didn't see any giving up - they continued to challenge every pass. They just couldn't tackle Austin in the open field because he was too good. Then once he started running free on almost every play, they started to cheat toward the line and that allowed Bailey to finally get open and Smith started hitting him. They were between a rock and a hard place and they needed help from the coaching staff to make some adjustments.

[cherokeebrewer]

They literally just gave up after getting up 34-17. Identical to last week after jumping up on Baylor.

Actually we were never up 34-17...missed the field goal, which could have been huge in that last 24 seconds. Ugliest OU win I've ever witnessed, but a win. Woot!

[okiewaker]

They've been pretty solid all year on D,,last night they threw out a stinker. I think next week they will have their best defensive game of the year. They won,,,I'm happy.

[MyT Oklahoma]

"It is what it is."

P.S. Butt ugly.

[nighttrain12]

They've been pretty solid all year on D,,last night they threw out a stinker. I think next week they will have their best defensive game of the year. They won,,,I'm happy.

I think it is going to be 49-42. Last team to get the ball wins.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

I think the coaches need to stop underestimating the desire of other teams to beat OU....especially when they are having disappointing seasons. It is the same as the OSU syndrome.It's possible the coaches know the other teams' desire to beat us, and maybe even the team knows, but also possible the team underestimates the talent(ability) the other teams have, even though they have lost several games. In any case, we were violated by the refs, prolly worse than I've ever seen.

[Jmorales22]

If you can play man coverage behind and control the LOS with your front 4, you can play championship defense. We can cover man to man in the secondary as well as anyone, but we can't control the line of scrimmage. We need to get some Tommie Harris and Dan Cody type players back. Hopefully Mike is going to bring in his kinds of players...

[yermom]

yeah, a GK,Tommie, or Dusty would be nice right now

[cyclonesooner]

I agree with all of your posts, FaninAm. Worst scheme I've ever witnessed. Looked like a bad high school defense. Our secondary didn't attack in any way, shape, or form.

[EatLeadCommie]

Our run defense has been miserable all year and it's all due to the front 7. We have nobody up there to disrupt things. Nobody. I can't really fault the couple of big pass plays last night because that was just Geno Smith being the Geno Smith from the first 5 games and putting the ball right where it needed to be. The run D was the bigger problem, but I'm not sure having Boz or Casillas on the field would have made much of a difference. That Austin kid was in the zone last night.

[BoulderSooner79]

I agree with all of your posts, FaninAm. Worst scheme I've ever witnessed. Looked like a bad high school defense. Our secondary didn't attack in any way, shape, or form.

I disagree - the scheme helped us get a 'W' against Baylor and it worked against WVU for every RB they had not named Austin. But those bastages kept putting Austin in the game at RB, grrrr. So my issue with the coaches was not the scheme - it was not mixing things up when it wasn't working. Their staff came up with something by watching our Baylor game and it worked - good for them. But it shouldn't have worked over and over and over (and over ...) again. Our guys should be smart enough to run any scheme they have practiced during the season and any change might have messed up one of their series until they figured out what we changed. We don't have an elite defense, but we've proven all year it is better than what we saw in this game. The D performance lands squarely on the coaches for this game - the players were not put in a position to succeed.

[cleller]

If I saw Mike on the street I'd march right up to him, then ask him if he's been working out more lately, and compliment his overall level of fitness and intimidation.

[BoulderSooner79]

If I saw Mike on the street I'd march right up to him, then ask him if he's been working out more lately, and compliment his overall level of fitness and intimidation.

And I'd back you up on that.

:loyal:

[JiminyChristmas]

This will be the third straight game against a VERY good offense. Probably 3 of the top 10 in the country. If we go 3-0 through that stretch, I don't care what scheme we ran to get there.

By the way, the only way to be really effective stopping these good spread offenses is to be able to man up in the secondary and get pressure with the front 4. We've seen that done to us in Championship games against SEC teams with the athletes to do it. We aren't as far away from that as it might seem.

[SoonerInFortSmith]

Its amazing how quickly people go from "Mike has the defense back on track. Its so much better this year" to "worst defensive scheme ever! Kick Mike's arse!"

[I Am Right]

Why was Mike Stoops fired from Arizona, oh yeah never mind!

[OkieThunderLion]

Its amazing how quickly people go from "Mike has the defense back on track. Its so much better this year" to "worst defensive scheme ever! Kick Mike's arse!"

They couldn't see the forest for the trees.

I thought this '12 defense was the 3rd worst of the Stoops era going into the WVU game. Basically due to a horrible turnover rate, and poor rush defense, both easily the worst of the Stoops era. This was before WVU, mind you.

[OkieThunderLion]

Our run defense has been miserable all year and it's all due to the front 7. We have nobody up there to disrupt things. Nobody. I can't really fault the couple of big pass plays last night because that was just Geno Smith being the Geno Smith from the first 5 games and putting the ball right where it needed to be. The run D was the bigger problem, but I'm not sure having Boz or Casillas on the field would have made much of a difference. That Austin kid was in the zone last night.
I don't entirely buy that.

They are putting a ton of responsibility on the front 4, with their read and react scheme. Often not giving them any support from LBs.

They are committing all resources to the passing game.

[BoulderSooner79]

They couldn't see the forest for the trees.

I thought this '12 defense was the 3rd worst of the Stoops era going into the WVU game. Basically due to a horrible turnover rate, and poor rush defense, both easily the worst of the Stoops era. This was before WVU, mind you.

The numbers don't back you up on that. Only one conference loss and they only gave up 17 in that game, and some of those came on a short field post-turnover. Last nights game will skew the stats big time, of course and it was a poor outing for Mike and staff. They didn't have a plan B. As far as talent on D is concerned, I'm not sure where to rank this bunch relative to other Stoops teams, but it has to be low. The fact they are still one of the better defenses in the conference given the talent has to be a credit to the staff. Hopefully, that will to lead to better incoming talent.

[5noubus]

Put Landry in one of those padded suits the police dog handlers wear and beat the sheet out of him with a baseball bat to get him used to taking a hit.[/QUOTE]

I seriously LOL! For real

[8timechamps]

Does anyone feel "vindicated?"

I have felt Vindicated all day! I've made my loved ones bow to me.

[thecrimsoncrusader]

I don't entirely buy that.

They are putting a ton of responsibility on the front 4, with their read and react scheme. Often not giving them any support from LBs.

They are committing all resources to the passing game.

It's not like McFarland, Walker, McGee and Washington lit it up in previous years and King has only shown flashes of brilliance with his biggest strength being versatility. This is as weak of a front four that Oklahoma has had in decades. And really, that goes for the whole front seven when utilized as the linebackers aren't great to begin with, but they are made even worse because of the front four.

[OkieThunderLion]

It's not like McFarland, Walker, McGee and Washington lit it up in previous years and King has only shown flashes of brilliance with his biggest strength being versatility. This is as weak of a front four that Oklahoma has had in decades. And really, that goes for the whole front seven when utilized as the linebackers aren't great to begin with, but they are made even worse because of the front four.
I disagree.

I think the 4 man DT rotation is very solid.

The DEs (other than King) are simply not suited for a 2-gapping scheme. To ask a 250 lb DE handle 'B' and 'C' against an offensive tackle that outweighs him by 50+ lbs, is an impossible task.

[thecrimsoncrusader]

I disagree.

I think the 4 man DT rotation is very solid.

Who among them will even be all-conference selections?

[Tear Down This Wall]

Amen.

I think I may have posted a thread about, you know, putting some pressure on the QB.

Yes, West Virginia's QB didn't run for 100 yards...but, he went for 50+ on only four carries. His problem was that after that Austin kid ran the ball all the way down the field, there wasn't enough football field left for him to run for 100.

This scheme is the extreme suck. Send guys in all day long like we did against Tech and Texas. Why is this all of the sudden rocket science?

The coaches trusted the players to blitz against Tech and Texas, but not ever again for the rest of the season? Aggy and TCU both have QBs that can scramble. They also can run the ball, so...

...do we just sit back and let them run, hoping we can just outscore them again?

If I wanted to watch crappy defense, I'd have bought a season ticket package to a C-USA school instead.

The coaches are either: (1) stupid, (2) don't trust the players, or (3) both.

Amazing to think of the gambling nature OU had during Stoops' first few seasons here, and to look at what it's come to now. Keep waiting for that balls out Stoops to arrive again.

As much as I hate the highly overused "swagger" term, I wish this coaching staff and defense would show a little of it in the three remaining games.