What I think happened with our Defense

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

The following is just my after the fact opinion of what happened.

Caveats: We spent a lot of last year breaking down individual defensive series. Most of us were fairly comfortable with the fact that Venables' scheme made our linebackers appear better than they were and our secondary worse than they were. When the 'I hatez BV' crew argued for man over zone, I tried to point out that we didn't have the personnel to run man because as a unit our front 7 was just not very good.

Scenario -> We have just had a middling NC caliber team fall short because it couldn't stop the pass. We bring back our old DC who suggests we employ a base man-under cover 2 defense based on our secondary personnel. This is my opinion, but I think what Bob wanted to see is an SEC type D that is good enough to get us through the regular season and then can maul offensive players in bowl games when we get refs from the ACC or Pac 12.

Starting with this point, we then reconstruct events using 20/20 hindsight

1. The old DC leaves without much fan irritation. Assumptions are made ranging from he didn't want to be in Mike's shadow to Bob sent him packing.
-> My 20/20 view - He knew that we didn't have the horses at linebacker to employ any scheme other than the one he'd constructed for our dearth of talent. Therefore instead of getting fired in shame, he took a hold of some feelers and bailed.

2. The new DC goes through tape trying to figure out how we were getting beaten by the pass and then determines if the corners and safeties can handle the new scheme. He brings in a new linebacker coach - Kish - who is renowned for having attacking linebackers that fits well with his scheme. The fact that the linebackers we have on campus aren't good enough for the scheme doesn't get mentioned or is ignored.

3. We go through spring practice and the new scheme looks like it is doing quite well. This is because this is a defense that is perfectly designed to stop our offense. The big problem here is our offensive line blocking schemes. We rarely ever send blockers to the second level after linebackers thus our linebackers were allowed to run free unblocked. This scheme is now the minority in college football since almost everyone has started doing the Oregon blocking method (IE block everyone that can't be schemed out of the play with speed).

4. Fall camp and the DBs are showing some serious confidence and really stopping the pass. The run defense looks decent as well because of the aforementioned scheme issue

5. Game 1 - we give up 177 yards to Nathan Jeffery (highest total for the season and 20% of his total yards) - its just one game, we'll get this fixed [Oregon Scheme]

6. Game 2 - woohoo only 35 yards to the highest back - we got this fixed [Not sure]

7. Game 3 - 200 yards rushing between 2 players - um, did we? [Oregon Scheme]

8. Game 4 and 5 <50 yards to the top runner [Our Scheme]

So this is an important point in the season. At this point, all of your weaknesses are known and teams can gameplay for you accordingly. At this point, we have 2 examples of "if you block the linebackers, you can run on them" and 3 examples of "if you don't, they'll make the tackle". The problem is that it is really hard to see your own weaknesses at this point because no one is exploiting them constantly like they will from this point out. Well I say constantly because some coaches are just stubborn (Iowa State and TCU dudes).

We give up over 200 yards rushing (well 199 to ND) to every team who uses the Oregon scheme against us. He tried a ton of personnel groupings to stop it (4-0-7, 4-1-6, 4-2-5, 4-3-4, 4-4-3) but none of them worked. He tried pushing our best DE (King) inside to create a 3-4 look with a more athletic DE - didn't work. The key here is that IMO Mike and Bob made adjustments, but they believe enough in the scheme that they decided that the growth of the younger players in it was more important than losing a game or 2 in a season where the NC game was out of contention.

I personally think that the defensive philosophy is sound (assuming our DTs read and react instead of trying to rush the passer and get out their lanes). What I'm totally unsure of is whether we can get the Johnnys and the Joes to make it work. OU has traditionally had huge issues getting good college corners which is why zone works much better here.

Future - IMO, they are building this scheme for 2014 for another run at the title.

tldr -> people are going to hate next year

[cvsooner]

I have no quarrel with your analysis. Add in some seriously deceptive runners and you wind up with Tavon Austin and Tavon Austin with an arm that was Johnny Manziel.

Hey, it could be worse. We could be Texas, which is where Manziel wanted to play. They didn't want him. Fortunately for us.

[OkieThunderLion]

Good take!

Though I don't agree with...
"The big problem here is our offensive line blocking schemes. We rarely ever send blockers to the second level after linebackers thus our linebackers were allowed to run free unblocked."

[aero]

It could be argued we could have ( even should have ) won the KSU game. But mistakes cost us and that is part of how good of a team you are. But..... that quite possibly could have been a win. The ND game we just got beat. It seemed like we were competing for a while and it could have gone either way but ND imposed their will on us and we just lost. Again, that's part of how good you are or not. We seemed to have a lot of games the defense just stunk up the joint but they and the offense fought enough to pull out wins. Up to the aTm game, I read this team as a decent team, not great. It had some fight but not enough to overcome it's talent level nor an opponent with more fight. Add in some questionable coaching decisions and this team was never going to compete for an NC. Bottom line is if you've got the horses, you can run just about any scheme and you win and look good doing it. When you don't, the smoke and mirrors will only take you so far.

[cvsooner]

I would say we should have beaten KSU and could have beaten Notre Dame. Two months ago we might have beaten aTm but not in January after a month long layoff.

[TXBOOMER]

Most of that analysis sounds good. I believe Josh is in over his head on offense though Would love to see Mangino come back? i dont see OU making a run anytime soon with the talent on this team. It looks like the least talented group since Stoops has been here and I am not overly excited with recruiting list thus far. they have got to figure out a way to get some talented mean players in here. Rocky Calmus, Roy Williams etc.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

heh, neither one of those guys was in the top 100 of their region (midlands/west) so there really isn't any way of knowing. At this point, an undersized scrappy walkon tackling machine would go a long ways to solving some of our linebacker problems.

[goingoneight]

The fact that our LBs are like DBs with damp jerseys hurts, too. Hard to shed blocks and dominate the run game when the opponent can just bowl over you.

[Since71ASooner4Life]

The fact that our LBs are like DBs with damp jerseys hurts, too. Hard to shed blocks and dominate the run game when the opponent can just bowl over you.

Also hard for linebackers to get the job done when the DL is getting manhandled and the RB is coming thru untouched as they did far too often. Just ask Bo & Boz

[thecrimsoncrusader]

There was also some dissent with certain personnel on the defensive side of the ball (I won't name names, but you can probably figure them out) that negatively impacted the morale of the team with Brent Venables departure and Mike Stoops arrival. It was very similar to the 1999 season with Woods and Bartee and the new coaching staff's decision not to retain Rex Ryan. There's going to be some good about this year being over and put into the books besides all of the other issues that occurred this year.

While part of it was a product of OU giving up the rushing yards, it was extremely impressive that OU only gave up 197 passing yards per game in the regular season. And that was done by the Sooner secondary alone. Now imagine OU with a defensive line and linebacking corps that isn't non-existent. That's a recipe for once again fielding an NC winning capable defense. We're going to have to show some patience though, because some parts of the defense will be better next season and some parts will be worse. I agree on 2014.

[zeke]

Some good points and could be correct. The defense has been the major topic here, in newspapers and on the radio, as it should be because the bottom line is that it sucks. But had OU held aTm to only two TD's which would have been a solid defensive effort, we still get beat 14-13. Lots more than just defensive problems on the team.

[thecrimsoncrusader]

The offense was a huge issue in the KSU and ND games as well. Passing yards don't win ball games, points do. And the defense held KSU to less than half their scoring average and ND only had 13 points with 8 minutes left in the game. The defense just cratered late in the game because they never got any help from the offense at all. It stinks to know that Jalen (he was ready from Day 1 to contribute in a really great way) could have very well been the difference in the KSU game, but the NCAA screwed OU. There was no excuse for them delaying that decision outside of just wanting to be the pricks that they are.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

I know this goes against the grain on this board but a ball control offense is a risky affair in this day and age of college football. The only way it can work is if you have just an absolutely dominant red zone offense AND you are lucky enough that the few times you do stall it isn't in a game where you need the points. We bled the clock dry in the first half and severely limited possessions (just like kstate vs Oregon) but in the second half, they stopped us 3 straight times and it was over (eerily similar to what happened to kstate eh?).

[cvsooner]

That was my point earlier...we were in a footrace and we had to match them stride for stride. Pretty much did it in the first half, but the three and outs in the second half were killers. Once we were behind two scores it was going to be really difficult if not impossible to win. Three scores meant no way, unless Manziel got hurt or something. That is the big flaw in their system....dude gets hurt and they're probably done. And with his style of running, he'll get hurt sooner rather than later.

[Okie35]

We need a d line. Without one it's hard to run man coverage we should've ran more zone honestly.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Are you saying in hindsight? Or are you saying we should have changed our defense mid-year ala John Blake?

[fadada1]

We need a d line. Without one it's hard to run man coverage we should've ran more zone honestly.

Agree. This is critical in all possible ways. Would love to see a Tommy harris, Dan Cody, dvorachek line again. Linebackers are important, but we simply need guys that can move o-lines around.

[Okie35]

No it's true we used to run more zone with BV. Something needed to be changed. I know I wasn't the only one cringing the West Virginia game when mike kept running the same plays getting gashed every time. Also without a pass rush and you know this your corners will be on an island and get beat. You can be the best DB in football but give a qb time he'll find his receivers.

[OkieThunderLion]

Agree. This is critical in all possible ways. Would love to see a Tommy harris, Dan Cody, dvorachek line again. Linebackers are important, but we simply need guys that can move o-lines around.

Those guys would have gone unnoticed playing in the current scheme.

I think Mike let the anticipation of the Big 12 passing attacks get so far in his head, he turned his back on what he knew best, tried to reinvent himself, and it was doomed from the get go.

[SoonerorLater]

Listening to former players like Spencer Tillman and Jammal Brown they seem shellshocked by the lack of ability on our defense. Manziel seems deserving of all the accolades but how much time did his OL give him? How bad was our DL? It would have been hard to stop them if we had to play flag football against their offense.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

As a coordinator he has had 4 years of man-press (3 at kstate and 1 at OU) and 4 years of tampa 2 (4 at OU). This year's defense was a mix of the 2.

[prrriiide]

I like the analysis, and I think you are spot-on.

Now it begs the question: with the defection of Mastrogiovanni to Aggie, who do we have to groom for the dominant LB that we need in the middle to make our scheme work? Shannon? Bird? Is there a JUCO out there that we could still get? Cuz from my seat, the LB cupboard is as bare as I've ever seen it.


At this point, an undersized scrappy walkon tackling machine would go a long ways to solving some of our linebacker problems.

One name: Kelly Gregg. Find one like him and the defense is an order of magnitude better against the run.

[VA Sooner]

Damn good analysis, jkm. I know of the weakness at linebacker and D-line but pointing out the complacency on the secondary by going to man coverage was definitely our undoing against good running backs (and/or mobile QBs) that could set up the pass.

By the way... are you interested in recruiting for the team? We could use the help....

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Damn good analysis, jkm. I know of the weakness at linebacker and D-line but pointing out the complacency on the secondary by going to man coverage was definitely our undoing against good running backs (and/or mobile QBs) that could set up the pass.

By the way... are you interested in recruiting for the team? We could use the help....

I don't think they'd buy into my approach since it would be similar in a way to Oakland's Moneyball. The major difference is that I would ask for the prototype player for a position and then compare film of the prototype of the player in high school to each player's film. Use film overlays to measure things like quickness/speed/frame type etc.

[OkieThunderLion]

As a coordinator he has had 4 years of man-press (3 at kstate and 1 at OU) and 4 years of tampa 2 (4 at OU). This year's defense was a mix of the 2.

Was '99 really man-press?

I guess I don't remember it well.

[TXBOOMER]

I don't think they'd buy into my approach since it would be similar in a way to Oakland's Moneyball. The major difference is that I would ask for the prototype player for a position and then compare film of the prototype of the player in high school to each player's film. Use film overlays to measure things like quickness/speed/frame type etc.

With all of the technology out there. You would think they would already be doing that type of analysis. I think sometimes these coaches are letting the recruiting services do all of their talant evaluations.

[8timechamps]

Good break down jkm.

I'll add a few thoughts:


Contrary to perception, the Big XII is very attractive to DBs. Although the SEC is known as the defensive league, DBs know they will play a lot, and be exposed to high power offenses. Mike is already taking full advantage of that with his recruiting at the CB and Safety positions.
After the Baylor game, Mike Stoops mentioned in the post game press conference that teams now had film on how to run against this year's defense. Up to that point, there was a growing hype about how good the defense had become. You could almost tell that Mike knew there was a series of storms coming.
Kish/Stoops have to find linebackers that can play in this system. Corey Nelson, while a freak athlete, isn't going to become an all-star player in this scheme. Tom Wort, who looked pretty good in 2011, is undersized for this scheme. While Franklin and Shannon look promising, I still have concerns about them both (size and speed).
The lack of a play-maker on the defensive line cannot be understated. If you're going to play 2 man under, you have to have a line that can be disruptive. The 2012 line wasn't.


I've thought for a while that next year was going to be a rough year (although, after looking a little closer at the schedule, OU should still have a 9 or 10 win year). I don't think it's a bad thing that only one starter (Ndule) returns to the defensive line.

I also agree that Bob is making decisions now that are aimed at 2014. I'm not implying that he's thrown in the towel for 2013, but I do think he has made personnel decisions that have hurt in the short run, but will pay dividends in 2014.

jkm, with the playing time Shannon and Franklin had this year, and the known quantities of Nelson and Wort, what do you think next year looks like at the LB position? There's only one incoming player that had potential to see the field, and that's Dominique Alexander. So, taking that possibility out of the mix, what kind of grade would you give next year's LBs?

[sooneron]

Who was the poster that said that we would be so much better once our Dline players are gone after this year? Can't remember his name, but, yeah... things are not going to be better for another two years.

[sooneron]

I like the analysis, and I think you are spot-on.

Now it begs the question: with the defection of Mastrogiovanni to Aggie, who do we have to groom for the dominant LB that we need in the middle to make our scheme work? Shannon? Bird? Is there a JUCO out there that we could still get? Cuz from my seat, the LB cupboard is as bare as I've ever seen it.



Was Bird granted another year? According to Soonersports and my memory, he's a SR. You're the 2nd person to mention him.

[8timechamps]

Was Bird granted another year? According to Soonersports and my memory, he's a SR. You're the 2nd person to mention him.

Bird's gone next year. I'm assuming prrriiide didn't realize he was a senior.

[toast]

my main concern about the d is recruiting (the past few years and upcoming), I believe whether it was/is BV or MS running the d they are going to be competent in scheming - do we have the players?

[sooneron]

not now, nope

[King Barry's Back]

Some good points and could be correct. The defense has been the major topic here, in newspapers and on the radio, as it should be because the bottom line is that it sucks. But had OU held aTm to only two TD's which would have been a solid defensive effort, we still get beat 14-13. Lots more than just defensive problems on the team.

Let me step in here. I know there is plenty of ground for criticizing our defense over the past few years, but here's what I've seen on the field in the big games against the top opponents.

Our offense just gets shut down.

True of aTm, true of ND, true of the Florida/Tebow game. I could probably think up other examples, but we don't play top 3 teams that often.

To me, that's where I see the discrepancy between the Sooners and true NC-caliber (SEC type) teams.

Maybe it just looks like the discrepancy because our D isn't shutting them down?

[sooneron]

Let me step in here. I know there is plenty of ground for criticizing our defense over the past few years, but here's what I've seen on the field in the big games against the top opponents.

Our offense just gets shut down.

True of aTm, true of ND, true of the Florida/Tebow game. I could probably think up other examples, but we don't play top 3 teams that often.

To me, that's where I see the discrepancy between the Sooners and true NC-caliber (SEC type) teams.

Maybe it just looks like the discrepancy because our D isn't shutting them down?
I dunno, I have seen play calling (THIS YEAR) where we went away from what seemed to be working to something that did not. We were slinging the ball all over the place against ND, then, true to form, it was time to show our balance. If we had just gone hurry up and kept throwing with occasional runs, we probably would have scored more points.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Was '99 really man-press?

I guess I don't remember it well.

You don't remember Pee Wee Woods on an island? I envy you.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

jkm, with the playing time Shannon and Franklin had this year, and the known quantities of Nelson and Wort, what do you think next year looks like at the LB position? There's only one incoming player that had potential to see the field, and that's Dominique Alexander. So, taking that possibility out of the mix, what kind of grade would you give next year's LBs?

Shannon started off fairly promising and showed some flashes of being pretty good (which is what you are looking for in freshmen btw). The problem is that his best attribute is that he can cover receivers which ironically we needed when BV was here but it isn't what we need now. If we keep the man under scheme, I wouldn't be shocked at all if they spin up a DE to middle linebacker to get someone 260-270 in there and move Shannon to the outside with running back responsibility. The spinner concept was the only thing we didn't try this year that I thought might have worked to shut down the between the tackle runs. It also gives you some flexibility on passing downs by letting you go to a 3-2-6 or 3-3-5.

[prrriiide]

Let me step in here. I know there is plenty of ground for criticizing our defense over the past few years, but here's what I've seen on the field in the big games against the top opponents.

Our offense just gets shut down.

True of aTm, true of ND, true of the Florida/Tebow game. I could probably think up other examples, but we don't play top 3 teams that often.

To me, that's where I see the discrepancy between the Sooners and true NC-caliber (SEC type) teams.

Maybe it just looks like the discrepancy because our D isn't shutting them down?

Against great to elite teams, the issues of the lack of talent and depth on the OL rear their ugly head. I have no doubt in my mind that with the 2008 OL this season, we beat the purple puddy tats and the South Bend Society for Self-importance. With that 2008 line, we never play aTm in the CB, instead we get clocked by Bama in the BCS CG.

However, the pains of this team are not on one side of the ball or the other. I believe that the defensive issues are for more critical, because if you can't keep them from scoring you lose. BUT the issues on the team are deeper than just talent and scheme, IMO. There is something wrong in the coaching staff. Listen to the Jammal Brown interview in another thread. He nails it with the attitude of the team. And the attitude is set at the top.

[thecrimsoncrusader]

Who was the poster that said that we would be so much better once our Dline players are gone after this year? Can't remember his name, but, yeah... things are not going to be better for another two years.

Me and I stand by that 100%. And I never do "told you so"s, but I am going to have to do it next season in regards to the Sooner defensive front. That will be a good thing though. :)

[sooneron]

lol

[thecrimsoncrusader]

lol

LOL!!!

[SoonerMachine]

I dunno, I have seen play calling (THIS YEAR) where we went away from what seemed to be working to something that did not. We were slinging the ball all over the place against ND, then, true to form, it was time to show our balance. If we had just gone hurry up and kept throwing with occasional runs, we probably would have scored more points.

This still haunts me!

[cvsooner]

Yeah, that is maybe the only thing that drives me crazy about Heupel's playcalling. Man, if it's working, keep doing it. I still have nightmares about the 2004 Sugar Bowl for the same reason.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

I dunno, I have seen play calling (THIS YEAR) where we went away from what seemed to be working to something that did not. We were slinging the ball all over the place against ND, then, true to form, it was time to show our balance. If we had just gone hurry up and kept throwing with occasional runs, we probably would have scored more points.

This is the exact reason I told my wife we would lose to aTm. My gameplan would have been is your freshman as good as our senior and just no huddled the ball up and down the field. No meercat, no coach micromanaging from the booth, just helter skelter billy tubbs football. At some point, experience was going to play a telling factor. The problem was that we wouldn't do that. Heupel would slow it down and micro-manage and do his best to establish the run.

Well, he did, but not in the way I thought he would. 2nd down and goal from the 9 he ran the ball on 3 straight possessions. The end result was 1 TD and 2 FGs and we were toast. The problem with Heupel and Norvell is that they over-analyze instead of just sticking with the matchups that they know they own. If I was OC, every 2nd pass would have been designed to get the ball to Millard until aTm figured out how to cover him. At that point, someone else comes open and we move to them until we see them start cheating off Millard again.

The reason for this is that Millard is a DBs worst nightmare because he can bring the pain. About the 10th time you have to tackle that big old boy your assignments stop being quite so crisp as you want to make sure he gets onto the ground before he gets a head of steam. You see, having a finesse offense doesn't mean that it can't be a physical offense.

[MikeInNorman]

I think the core of Heupel's problem is that he doesn't understand the running game well, and as a result has no "feel" for it in his playcalling. There is no evidence from any game this season that a planned run (outside the Belldozer) was called for any reason other than Heupel knows Bob wants balance, and decides to throw a couple of runs in there to make the stat sheet look better.

[ousooners182]

Agree exactly about the playcalling in the ND game but especially what JKM said about the A&M, it was hilarious how much we would slow the game day on offense. We kept trying to establish the run on 2nd and LONG only to screw our offense and not even really make 3rd manageable. Millard needs the ball ALOT more nex tyear. Hope Heupel and Norvell make that one of their main goals of the offseason, get him at least 15 touches a game next year.(rushing,receiving)

[sooneron]

Millard should have had 15-20 touches agains atm. 5-8 passes and the rest, runs.

[cvsooner]

Considering statistically aTm defended the run far better than the pass, it would seem likely you'd be a-slingin' it...and when we did, we did well. When it wasn't connecting anymore (three drives of third quarter plus the obstinate determination to run it 'cuz we're close to the goal line so...), it back fired on us.

Looking at defensive stats, to bring this back to that topic, overall yards and so on this defense this year was an improvement from last year, and a better record to show for it. And not that far off from the defense of 2008.

2009 defense was a beast with only one absolute breakdown (Tech). 2010 was pretty good too as you might expect, and so was 2007.

http://www.cfbstats.com/2012/team/522/total/defense/gamelog.html

Big problem for 2009 and late season meltdown in 2011 was the offense didn't come through when needed. Something of a holdover this year.

I expect us to be better next year especially if Bell or whomever can play worth a dang, we use Millard better, rediscover the tight ends and OC playcalling goes more with the flow. Rookie D will have to grow up in a hurry. They'll be tested early and often, I fear.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

I think the core of Heupel's problem is that he doesn't understand the running game well, and as a result has no "feel" for it in his playcalling. There is no evidence from any game this season that a planned run (outside the Belldozer) was called for any reason other than Heupel knows Bob wants balance, and decides to throw a couple of runs in there to make the stat sheet look better.

Personally, I think his biggest issue conceptually with the run game is that it requires us to be better man on man at the point of attack. This is in contrast to Oregon's attack where they attack initially unguarded parts of the field and then only have to wall off defenders for the running back to get through. I think that Kelly is onto something with that pistol wishbone because it gives you a ton of flexibility while greatly simplifying how good your OL has to be to get it to work.

[Edmond Sooner]

Good analysis, and I agree entirely.

[ashley]

No run game, witch means we couldn't make short yardage and keep opponents offense off the field.

[Jacie]

Manziel seems deserving of all the accolades but how much time did his OL give him? How bad was our DL? It would have been hard to stop them if we had to play flag football against their offense.

Well, he did have the Outland Trophy winner at left guard blocking for him (who, fortunately for the teams that play A&M next season, has decided to forego his senior year and participate in the NFL draft).

[hvhurricane]

I think the core of Heupel's problem is that he doesn't understand the running game well, and as a result has no "feel" for it in his playcalling. There is no evidence from any game this season that a planned run (outside the Belldozer) was called for any reason other than Heupel knows Bob wants balance, and decides to throw a couple of runs in there to make the stat sheet look better.


Exactly. He has absolutely no feel for the playcalling. Other than Joe D., he is the worst OC we have had since Winder was calling the plays. We should have thrown the ball against ND about 4 times and played fast break football. ND could not keep up with our tempo, but JH decided we needed to slow it down and get in different personnel so we could add a run to the stat sheet to make Bob happy.

[8timechamps]

Shannon started off fairly promising and showed some flashes of being pretty good (which is what you are looking for in freshmen btw). The problem is that his best attribute is that he can cover receivers which ironically we needed when BV was here but it isn't what we need now. If we keep the man under scheme, I wouldn't be shocked at all if they spin up a DE to middle linebacker to get someone 260-270 in there and move Shannon to the outside with running back responsibility. The spinner concept was the only thing we didn't try this year that I thought might have worked to shut down the between the tackle runs. It also gives you some flexibility on passing downs by letting you go to a 3-2-6 or 3-3-5.

It's funny you mention Shannon's connection to BV, because I was just talking to someone about the plays that Shannon made this year. I didn't watch him closely, but I know the bigger plays he made were either in coverage or on a delayed blitz (which hearkens back to the schemes BV ran). Interesting take jkm.

As for the DE/LB thing, also interesting. I know that when Jordan Evans committed to OU, he didn't know if he was going to play DE or OLB. You may be ahead of the curve with your theory.

I can't help but think OU needs size in the middle. I think there are plenty of athletic DEs on the roster, and containment wasn't a huge issue this year*...it was the lack of any penetration and/or the ability to clog the lanes in the middle that hurt so much. If you look at the DTs on the roster, and compare them with the better defenses in the country, there's a noticeable size difference. I know BV wanted to build a versatile D, that focused on athletic linemen, but in the end, I just don't think that will ever work. You still have to have size in there.

I know that Mike committed to the man under defense, and I think a lot of that (probably all of it) had to do with playing to the team's strength, but given that all four of the d-line starters from the opening game are gone next year, I wonder if Mike will adjust the scheme, or stay with the 2 man under until a play-maker appears on the line (and/or at LB).

*I know it was an issue, but the overall inability to stop the run was the biggest issue.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

I don't think that the DT situation had anything to do with BV. I think that is 100% laziness on Shipp's part. His recruiting style is eerily similar to John Blake's (without the accidental look what I found) - He puts all of his eggs in the big name bucket instead of going out and finding the guy that the recruiting services are undervaluing that we can land.

Something entertaining about the big 12 right now:

KState -> 0 DTs from Texas
Texas Tech -> 0 DTs from Texas
TCU -> 2 out of 4 DTs from Texas
OSU -> 2 out of 10 DTs from Texas

OU -> 4 out of 6 DTs from Texas, Texas (I didn't look it up, but I imagine they have all of them)

Guess which 2 teams have problems against the run? If you guessed that OU was 9 and Texas was 8th in the conference against the run then you would be correct. In another thread they were talking about Texas HSs running the spread. I think what you are beginning to see is that Texas is becoming a gold mine for defensive talent that can a) cover and b) rush the passer and an asbestos covered building for every other position on defense. So if you are a DT or a LB recruiter you have to skip right on over the "top prospects" and recruit guys that may not even play on those teams (since almost all of them are going to be looking for pass rushing DTs). You are also going to need to open up your idea of an ideal DT recruit and start recruiting those 5'10 320 fire plugs to clog the middle.

[cvsooner]

Texas does have tackles that can play well. They just go to places like Notre Dame where they're more highly valued.

As for Heupel's playcalling...I think he hasn't quite decided if we're a spread team that runs the ball to support the passing game (a la classic Leach Texas Tech) or a team that runs out of the spread and throws enough to set up the run (which is more Kevin Wilson Northwestern). It's been schizophrenic at times. Maybe that's dictated by the personnel. I think he actually would prefer to be Wilson, but that's strictly a guess.