PDA

View Full Version : Very funny, scotty. now beam down my clothes.



jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
8/15/2005, 01:22 PM
odds and evens (offense)

QB race

its very similar to the hybl/white race of 2001. the more experienced QB is playing it safe, not making mistakes while the youngster is going hog wild. talent level favors the youngster but decision making favors the vet. of course, there is one wild card here and that is that the vet is a gamer, not a practice player while the youngster seems to be the opposite. the youngster can sit back and just torch the defense in skelly drills but then presses way to much in the scrimmages. what is the verdict? personally, i think it will be the UCLA game before we have a legit starter. why is that? because i think 2001 still haunts stoops, especially after watching hybl progress the next year. personally, i don't think he cares who wins but he wants each QB to rub off on the other - he wants thompson to be more aggressive and he wants bomar to be more careful with the ball. keeping the competition open into the first couple of games will help that.

the biggest question marks that i have about thompson are does he have the vision to see the wide open guy and can he be accurate enough to hit the short slant in stride. strange, these were hybl's biggest weaknesses too. in this offense, with AD there is always going to be someone open. the ability to find that guy and allow him to do his thing is the major difference between a 24 ppg offense ans a 36 ppg offense.

the biggest question marks about bomar are decision making and memory. does he have the ability to be patient for the wide open guy or does he take the first available decent option? the latter is what gives young QBs trouble because they think they have the talent to squeeze the ball in there and instead it gets picked. why is memory in here? because you can't lose confidence in yourself no matter how bad of a day you are having. from reading between the lines, bomar presses during scrimmages and then gets frustrated when something bad happens. just like a shooter in basketball, the last pass, no matter how ugly it was, has to be a completion in your mind. just like white before him, he is struggling with both of these early in his career.

i think the one advantage that thompson has, and it will be his biggest asset in games, is his ability to fake the ball, whether in the zone read, play-action or in the open field. why? because guys who are deceptive are incredibly hard to stop in the college game. a player can be deceptive in many ways - he can be deceptive athletically like brad smith or barry sanders or he can be deceptive optically like paul seems to be. from what i've seen he is just good at with the zone read, but if he adds a pump fake and perfects his play-action fake he very well could be one of "those guys". for anyone who has played football you know the guy i'm talking about. the guy who is 10 yards past the LOS and pumps his arm like he is going to throw and you join the parachute club. you know he can't throw, you know its a fake, but your body jumps anyway. he does a play action fake and the cameraman gets you dizzy trying to find the ball.

as far as talent level compared to the 2001 team, i think that thompson and hybl are about the same right now (thompson less passing, but more running) and bomar is a little behind white(white had an extra year for the decision making). however, i think that both QBs should progress faster than white and hybl (who were injury plagued all year) if they can stay healthy.

OL
in 2001, we trotted out romero, duncan, carter, skinner, and jerod fields. this year we are trotting out joseph, chaisson, bush, chester, and millington.

romero > joseph (both are injury prone so watch out)
duncan = chaisson
bush >>>>> carter
chester = skinner
millington ~ fields (conventional wisdom says he'll be better)
moses >>>>> tsmith (blocking only)

are we as good as last year? no. are we better than we were in 2001, yes. i'd compare this OL to 2002 or 2003 which bodes well for a running game.

WRs

2001 we had fagan, norman, woolfolk, tsmith with mackey and savage rotating in. this year we are going to have wilson, rankins, kelly, moses, and some other freshman rotating in. wilson is the best receiver out of the bunch and it isn't close. he can run any route, can catch the ball in traffic, and while he doesn't have breakaway speed he can still hurt you after the catch. rankins is a huge question mark for me because while he has some skill he has yet to play a 1/2 of a season without getting hurt. the freshmen are also a big unknown. i just don't think any of us would be able to handle both of them dropping the winning TD pass like texas's highly touted freshmen did.

running backs

AD makes everyone better than what they are. every key for the defense starts and ends with AD. the question is whether chuck utilizes this fact to give an advantage to the other offensive players against the defense or whether we try our current brute force attack. if we just line up and try smash-mouth, i'd be shocked if AD lasts throughout the season.

punt returner

this position needs to be open until they find someone who has a knack for it. by knack i mean consistent 10+ yards per return.

overall

as you can see, our offense is a conundrum. yes, we lost a lot of talent, but on the other hand we have a lot more talent returning than we did in our worst offensive campaign under stoops (2001). of course, the 2001 offense also enjoyed a bunch of defensive points and short fields. although i won't know for sure until after i see some of our newbies in action, i'm thinking ~30 ppg

jk the sooner fan
8/15/2005, 01:25 PM
very nice....

TopDawg
8/15/2005, 01:37 PM
i think the one advantage that thompson has, and it will be his biggest asset in games, is his ability to fake the ball, whether in the zone read, play-action or in the open field. why? because guys who are deceptive are incredibly hard to stop in the college game. a player can be deceptive in many ways - he can be deceptive athletically like brad smith or barry sanders or he can be deceptive optically like paul seems to be. from what i've seen he is just good at with the zone read, but if he adds a pump fake and perfects his play-action fake he very well could be one of "those guys". for anyone who has played football you know the guy i'm talking about. the guy who is 10 yards past the LOS and pumps his arm like he is going to throw and you join the parachute club. you know he can't throw, you know its a fake, but your body jumps anyway. he does a play action fake and the cameraman gets you dizzy trying to find the ball.

This is definitely something I love about PT. He fakes that zone read play like a champ.

TexasLidig8r
8/15/2005, 01:48 PM
A serious, non-flaming questions to you Sooners.

I don't know squat about the temperament of Bomar.. but.. if Thompson wins the quarterback derby (and he has 2 years of eligibility left?)... does Bomar possibly become a locker room cancer? Nothing along the lines of Terrell Owens of course, but, will there be some issues that Stoops will need to nip in the bud?

SoonerWood
8/15/2005, 01:50 PM
A serious, non-flaming questions to you Sooners.

I don't know squat about the temperament of Bomar.. but.. if Thompson wins the quarterback derby (and he has 2 years of eligibility left?)... does Bomar possibly become a locker room cancer? Nothing along the lines of Terrell Owens of course, but, will there be some issues that Stoops will need to nip in the bud?
No.

wishbonesooner
8/15/2005, 02:05 PM
Interesting, almost surreal reinactment of the Hybl-White contest. When you look at it with 20/20 hindsight, it's hard to believe Hybl could have been picked in that deal. I don't think their careers could have turned out any more differently.

Jimminy Crimson
8/15/2005, 02:07 PM
I'm sure Rhett knows he'll get his chance, whether it be this year, next, or the next two. He's an asset on the sideline, too.

TopDawg
8/15/2005, 02:20 PM
Interesting, almost surreal reinactment of the Hybl-White contest. When you look at it with 20/20 hindsight, it's hard to believe Hybl could have been picked in that deal. I don't think their careers could have turned out any more differently.

No kiddin. If you'd've seen their regular season performances and then heard that one of them was a BCS Bowl MVP, you probably wouldn't guess Hybl. Unless you thought it was a trick question.

TopDawg
8/15/2005, 02:21 PM
I'm sure Rhett knows he'll get his chance, whether it be this year, next, or the next two. He's an asset on the sideline, too.

One play away.

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
8/15/2005, 02:37 PM
A serious, non-flaming questions to you Sooners.

I don't know squat about the temperament of Bomar.. but.. if Thompson wins the quarterback derby (and he has 2 years of eligibility left?)... does Bomar possibly become a locker room cancer? Nothing along the lines of Terrell Owens of course, but, will there be some issues that Stoops will need to nip in the bud?

its always the 64 million dollar question. i think the one thing that stoops needs to do if rhett doesn't win the starting job is circle the kstate game. we've played them 5 times under stoops and thrice we've had a QB barely able to stand after the game.

soonerboy_odanorth
8/15/2005, 03:07 PM
odds and evens (offense)


OL
in 2001, we trotted out romero, duncan, carter, skinner, and jerod fields. this year we are trotting out joseph, chaisson, bush, chester, and millington.

romero > joseph (both are injury prone so watch out)



Does this need an edit, or do you really feel romero is/was better than Davin.

Frank was good, but I would have scored it romero << joseph.

And has Davin ever missed a game (or an assignment for that matter) due to injury?

Enquiring minds want to know...

Jimminy Crimson
8/15/2005, 03:09 PM
Wasn't it Romero who never allowed a QB sack in 2000?

FaninAma
8/15/2005, 03:14 PM
How do we know the coaches won't choose PT and let Bomar get butt callouses on the bench ala PT in 2003?

I don't know if it's Long or Stoops but one of the two is very reluctant to get the backup QB into the game unless the Sooners are up by 4 scores.

Rhino
8/15/2005, 03:17 PM
Romero graded out higher in 2001 than Joseph did in 2004.

Wasn't it Romero who never allowed a QB sack in 2000? 2001: 0 sacks, 92 knockdowns
2000: 2 sacks, 82 knockdowns
1999: 2 sacks

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
8/15/2005, 03:17 PM
romero was a very solid tackle while davin hasn't ever played the position. i just don't see how you can rank a guy who was an AA candidate until he hurt his back below a guy who has never played the position, no matter how good he was at OL. personally, i'm not holding injuries against a guy if he only has 1 bad season, if they are chronic then its a different story. if he turns out better than romero, so much better for us.

davin has had an ankle injury every year he has been at OU. you can get away with that injury at guard, it happens at tackle and they are going to feast on you.

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
8/15/2005, 03:19 PM
How do we know the coaches won't choose PT and let Bomar get butt callases on the bench ala PT in 2003?

I don't know if it's Long or Stoops but one of the two is very reluctant to get the backup QB into the game unless the Sooners are up by 4 scores.

in 2001, they let hybl and white split time unevenly(3 qtrs:1 qtr) the first couple of games.

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
8/15/2005, 03:21 PM
Wasn't it Romero who never allowed a QB sack in 2000?

i absolutely hate when they say this because both romero and jamal had a BUNCH of holding penalties during their streaks. i understand that the penalty is better than getting your QB destroyed, but it should at least be counted so that you can gauge the guys effectiveness

Texas Golfer
8/15/2005, 03:36 PM
Thanks for the comparison analysis, jkm. I only hope it's accurate.

sooneron
8/15/2005, 04:09 PM
If this year's line is anything like 2001's, we're going to need someone of Leinart's ability to average 36 pts a game.
I'm not saying that he never made a bad decision, cuz he did, but when N8 had time or off the play action, he did pretty well.

mrowl
8/15/2005, 04:34 PM
football makes me happy in my pants. :D

Landthief 1972
8/15/2005, 04:48 PM
If this year's line is anything like 2001's, we're going to need someone of Leinart's ability to average 36 pts a game.
I'm not saying that he never made a bad decision, cuz he did, but when N8 had time or off the play action, he did pretty well.

The difference is, unlike Hybl under pressure from the D, both ENA and Bomar can move faster than George Castanza on a Rascal mobile chair.

sooneron
8/15/2005, 04:49 PM
The difference is, unlike Hybl under pressure from the D, both ENA and Bomar can move faster than George Castanza on a Rascal mobile chair.
That is true.

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
8/15/2005, 05:29 PM
evens and odds (defense)

on offense i compared it with the worst and, in my mind, most comparable offense. for defense, we are going to compare against the best defense we had to see where we are lacking. without too much argument, the 2001 defense was our best defense of the stoops era, though it was prone to some massive breakdowns on the back end mainly against "the" roberson.

DE - BJW is a magician at finding, teaching, and retaining defensive ends especially that under-appreciated 3* guy. his success with the 5* guy has been pretty bad as neither have made a contribution at DE (latimer is the starting MLB but chretien never saw the field). what? he's coaching the secondary? ack. let's look at what kind of horses he left mr. wilson in the stable. our DEs for that year were heinecke, wilkerson, and jackson (with cody out for clinical depression). this year we are going to have burdine, ah you, and thibs. once again, we have a position that is deeper, older, more talented, but not as experienced as our comparison year. the 2001 DEs were prototypical for a cover 2 defense. you had the rock steady run-stopping heinecke on the strong side and the speedy, athletic pass rushing wilkerson on the weak side. this allows you to help neutralize the blocker advantage on the TE side freeing up the MLB and the SLB to make the plays.

this year's bunch compares very favorably across the board to the 2001 squad. they have more size, athleticism, and both have the ability to get to the QB. however, i would like to throw out one word of caution about birdine. he is far and away our most likely to continue the early entrant streak. the last time a young DE had thoughts about this in the spring, he went out and had a bad bad year (wilkerson in 2002).

wilkerson < birdine (basically, the same player but 2 years difference in experience)
heinecke ~ ah you - i haven't seen him play, but he can get to the QB
jackson < thibs - as long as his knee is okay. thibs is a great run stopping DE

DT - it was always amazing to me that our 2001 was as stout as it was with how weak it was in the interior. our best DL that year was a true freshman who tended to disappear after the first couple of series (except for clipping someone unnecessarily and taking a TD away from TGRW :mad: ). our line that year looked like this - kory klein, tommie harris, juan prishker, dusty dvoracek. our line this year is dvoracek, ayodele, pendleton, and either coleman or one of the freshman.

harris <<< dvoracek (tr freshman vs rs senior)
klein << ayodele (this is assuming that ayodele improves like most jucos. rs soph vs senior)
dvoracek < pendleton (pendleton is a very smart DT but he just doesn't have the lead yet to be a force RS SO vs TR FR)
prishker ~ freshman (juan was hurt most of his career at OU so it would probably be a wash)

the only thing that really bothers me about our OL is that the DTs are getting penetration without DD in there. the last several years, i've complained about our DL being massively overrated. well, i guess the shoe is on the other foot now because this DL has a chance to be very very good if burdine has prepared himself to play into being drafted instead of thinking he can be drafted on reputation like wilkerson did. the key thing about this DL is that it fits the mold of a cover 2 DL better than our Ds of the last couple of years. because of the size on the front, we should be able to better occupy blockers to allow our linebackers to lay waste to some running backs. we should have more push in the interior pass rush which will make the ends more effective than they are normally.

linebackers - i don't have to say much about these guys because this is the best linebacking unit of the stoops era. depth concerns me a little, well no a lot. venables as a linebacker recruiter is very similar to rob deere - he either hits it out of the park or they fail miserably. in the last several years, we've had multiple transfers (from OU and to fullback and safety ;) ) and the unfortunate loss of chambers. my thinking has become as long as he can have 3 superstars on the field through the entire season, i'm okay with his recruiting style ;).

calmus = rufus (these two are as close as they come)
lehman = latimer (personally, i think this should be > to latimer because lehman overran more tackles than he made that year)
moore << ingram (not really fair since moore didn't see the field as much)

can't wait to see ingram coming off the edge on one side and birdine on the other.

DB

oh, boy, where do i start. 2 brand new safeties, 1 corner with an injured wing, and 1 corner who runs around with 2 wings but no head who is probably going to be supplanted by a corner who was a running back last year. my prediction of 8-4 is based almost entirely upon these guys. yes, part of it is how well they protect back end but most of it is how well they generate INTs. if we want to make a run at the rose bowl, these guys have to get our O into short field situations, they have to tackle well, and they have to keep the over the top crap to a minimum.

i'm probably in the minority here, but i always felt that mike's teaching of defensive backs hurt you later in the season. they were taught to do things a certain way regardless of whether they were good at it or not. sometimes i felt that you could run the same play 10x in a row and it would work every time (see OSU 2002). pelini exasperated the situation because he wanted them to learn new things to go along with the mike stoops fundamentals. they started thinking too much and were torch city.

enter BJW - he has always been someone who catered things to what the player does best. the DEs also tended to get better throughout the season. if he can work that kind of magic on our secondary it may be the strong point of our defense at the end of the season.

derrick strait > walker
perkins > chijioke
everage > debo
TGRW >>>>>> baker

rut roh raggy.

as a whole...

in general, having a great back 7 is worth more advantage to your DL than having a great front 7 is for your secondary. the question is whether venables can come up with the jedi mind trick defense that stoops had in 2001. that defense forced teams to beat their heads against calmus and TGRW without exploiting anyone else. i'll readjust this after the first game.

Statalyzer
8/15/2005, 05:30 PM
The difference is, unlike Hybl under pressure from the D, both ENA and Bomar can move faster than George Castanza on a Rascal mobile chair.

Good analogy.

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
8/15/2005, 05:31 PM
The difference is, unlike Hybl under pressure from the D, both ENA and Bomar can move faster than George Castanza on a Rascal mobile chair.

hybl was pretty good under pressure until he took 6 straight shots in the ribs from that unblocked kstate DE. after that, he was just gun shy as crap under pressure.

Scott D
8/16/2005, 11:05 AM
About time for the analysis, but you still can't have your clothes until you break down special teams :)

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
8/16/2005, 11:28 AM
i'll be naked for a couple more weeks then ;)

Scott D
8/16/2005, 11:33 AM
good thing it's late summer ;)

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
8/16/2005, 11:36 AM
pfft, its been 65 more days than not this august ;)

Scott D
8/16/2005, 11:38 AM
it's like 65 year round there ;)

Beano's Fourth Chin
8/16/2005, 11:54 AM
hybl was pretty good under pressure until he took 6 straight shots in the ribs from that unblocked kstate DE. after that, he was just gun shy as crap under pressure.

Those hits still hurt me and I was sitting on a chair in Houston.

NormanPride
8/16/2005, 12:46 PM
jkm, I've seen AhYou, and he's just about as big a DE as I've ever seen. He'll be a playmaker, hopefully. Also, you said Lehman overran a lot of plays at MLB? Well, Latimer's done the same, or at least he did in the spring. I haven't heard much about him since, so he's either still doing it, or has improved enough to hide it.

Lewis Baker is apparently getting his assignments right all the time now, which makes me think we won't QUITE have mental cripples back there... With any luck, Smith and Harris will be awesome and we can switch them out if one has a bad game.

The corners actually look better this year. DJ plays the wide side, which is Walker's area, and he's actually pressing for a starting role from what it looks like. Unfortunately, the only one behind CO is Bassey, and... well, ****. But without Pellini to mumble about 8,000,000 different things and confuse him, CO looks a lot better. Interesting point about getting better as the season goes on...

PalmBeachSooner
8/16/2005, 12:57 PM
Red-shirting Rhett won't be out of the question. It definitely won't happen this year, but maybe next year.

NormanPride
8/16/2005, 01:00 PM
That would be true, if it weren't for the fact that he's already redshirted. ;)

FaninAma
8/16/2005, 06:15 PM
Comparing the 2005 defensive backfield to the 2001 backfield through the prism of hindsight is a bit unfair. I think the better comparison would be comparing this years defense to the 2000 defense.....before the start of the season and before we knew how good the freshmen and sophomore players were going to be.

WA. Sooner
8/16/2005, 08:49 PM
pfft, its been 65 more days than not this august ;)

You must live up here in the pacific northwest

GottaHavePride
8/16/2005, 09:32 PM
I don't know squat about the temperament of Bomar.. but.. if Thompson wins the quarterback derby (and he has 2 years of eligibility left?)... does Bomar possibly become a locker room cancer? Nothing along the lines of Terrell Owens of course, but, will there be some issues that Stoops will need to nip in the bud?
Thompson's a junior due to redshirting last year. He's got this year and next year. And I'm willing to bet that if Thompson becomes the starter this year, he'll get the nod next year, too. The upside of that: Rhett gets two more years to learn the system before starting.

Cam
8/16/2005, 09:38 PM
hybl was pretty good under pressure until he took 6 straight shots in the ribs from that unblocked kstate DE. after that, he was just gun shy as crap under pressure. Can't really blame the guy. I'll never forget him lofting the ball down the middle for a 40+ TD and staggering to the wrong end zone cause he got totally wasted after he let go of the ball. I'm not sure he knew what country he was in for a while.

Dude took more than his fair share for the team on that day IMO.

TXBOOMER
8/16/2005, 10:01 PM
I'll never forget freezing my arse off at the Cotton Bowl against Arkansas watching Hybl stink it up bad. I hope whichever one of OUr QB's that end up starting far surpass Nate's underachieving career at OU. I keep hoping Bomar can live up to the hype (JW with good knee's). He might one day....I think perhaps we are expecting a little much a little soon from him. If PT gives us the best chance to win let's go with it. One thing for sure, Stoops will play who gives us the best chance to win.

JKM...Nice breakdown except Bush>>>>>Carter. I'll have to wait and see that one.

TopDawg
8/16/2005, 10:36 PM
I'll never forget sitting in a comfortable chair during the Sugar Bowl watching Jason White stink it up bad...with better talent surrounding him.

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
8/16/2005, 11:04 PM
I'll never forget freezing my arse off at the Cotton Bowl against Arkansas watching Hybl stink it up bad. I hope whichever one of OUr QB's that end up starting far surpass Nate's underachieving career at OU. I keep hoping Bomar can live up to the hype (JW with good knee's). He might one day....I think perhaps we are expecting a little much a little soon from him. If PT gives us the best chance to win let's go with it. One thing for sure, Stoops will play who gives us the best chance to win.

JKM...Nice breakdown except Bush>>>>>Carter. I'll have to wait and see that one.

a lot of humor here. nate stunk it up in what amounted to the same play calling we would call the following year against okie state, yet you think carter was better than bush? you can count on one hand the number of guys carter blocked without help in his career. most of the time he went one on one there was a DT running free in the backfield...

TopDawg
8/16/2005, 11:21 PM
The masochist in me decided to read the Orange Bowl article in SI after this year's debacle. In one part, there is an SC player or coach talking about how they told one of their DTs that if he was blocked one-on-one by Carter, he'd sit out the rest of the game. Something like that.

Rhino
8/16/2005, 11:58 PM
A lot of our fans are drunk on the Kool-Aid about how good Carter was.

OklahomaTrombone
8/17/2005, 12:02 AM
Yeah...that Rose Bowl MVP sure did underachieve

TopDawg
8/17/2005, 12:07 AM
A lot of our fans are drunk on the Kool-Aid about how good Carter was.

For a true freshman, thrown unexpectedly into the mix on an unexperienced O-line in 2001, he was good.

For a four-year starter, playing O-line with a fairly talented group of other O-linemen in 2004, he wasn't as good as I expected.

Rhino
8/17/2005, 12:09 AM
Yep. He didn't improve much in those four years.

FaninAma
8/17/2005, 09:33 AM
a lot of humor here. nate stunk it up in what amounted to the same play calling we would call the following year against okie state, yet you think carter was better than bush? you can count on one hand the number of guys carter blocked without help in his career. most of the time he went one on one there was a DT running free in the backfield...I think the way USC's DL dominated our OL in the OB started with Vince's position. Is it urban legend or did the USC DL coach actually tell his DTs before the OB that he'd bench their @$$es if he saw even one play where OU's center blocked either one of them?

TopDawg
8/17/2005, 09:37 AM
I think the way USC's DL dominated our OL in the OB started with Vince's position. Is it urban legend or did the USC DL coach actually tell his DTs before the OB that he'd bench their @$$es if he saw even one play where OU's center blocked either one of them?

Dang, Fanin...I know we used to have our arguments, but I didn't think I'd still be on your ignore list.



The masochist in me decided to read the Orange Bowl article in SI after this year's debacle. In one part, there is an SC player or coach talking about how they told one of their DTs that if he was blocked one-on-one by Carter, he'd sit out the rest of the game. Something like that.

FaninAma
8/17/2005, 09:55 AM
Dang, Fanin...I know we used to have our arguments, but I didn't think I'd still be on your ignore list.
Sorry man. I got lazy and didn't read the entire thread. Plus, you've never been on my ignore list. I ususally hang on your every word when I read your posts. :D

TopDawg
8/17/2005, 10:17 AM
Sorry man. I got lazy and didn't read the entire thread. Plus, you've never been on my ignore list. I ususally hang on your every word when I read your posts. :D

Yeah, we had too much fun driving each other crazy in those days to put each other on ignore. It's kinda funny to think that there was a time when I was about as far left as this board went and you were about as far right. *sigh* Memories. :D

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
8/17/2005, 10:32 AM
i also forgot to mention that nate was playing with a broken collarbone in the arkie game. you combine that with long's first game playcalling and well, it tweren't pretty. chuck has come a long way since then getting better every year. if he continues his improvement this year then we'll win some more games than i think we will, but if he regresses...

Sooner04
8/17/2005, 11:13 AM
I'll never forget sitting in a comfortable chair during the Sugar Bowl watching Jason White stink it up bad...with better talent surrounding him.

I'll never forget sitting in a comfortable chair during the Orange Bowl watching Jason White fold like a cheap tent during the last game of his career.

TopDawg
8/17/2005, 11:23 AM
I'll never forget sitting in a comfortable chair during the Orange Bowl watching Jason White fold like a cheap tent during the last game of his career.

...no matter how hard I try.

Rhino
8/17/2005, 11:31 AM
i also forgot to mention that nate was playing with a broken collarbone in the arkie game. you combine that with long's first game playcalling and well, it tweren't pretty. chuck has come a long way since then getting better every year. if he continues his improvement this year then we'll win some more games than i think we will, but if he regresses... Also, let's not forget that when he was throwing and not on his back in the Cotton Bowl, Hybl wasn't horrible. He didn't rack up the yards, but he set a Cotton Bowl record for completions with 24 and only had eight incompletes.

What really stunk up that game was our total rushing yards (56), our yards per carry(1.6), our penalties (9-76), our sacks allowed (4-27) and Arkansas' offense.

Harry Beanbag
8/17/2005, 11:41 AM
The masochist in me decided to read the Orange Bowl article in SI after this year's debacle. In one part, there is an SC player or coach talking about how they told one of their DTs that if he was blocked one-on-one by Carter, he'd sit out the rest of the game. Something like that.

Man, USC treated us like bitches. And we let them. That still really pisses me off.

TopDawg
8/17/2005, 11:58 AM
Man, USC treated us like bitches. And we let them. That still really pisses me off.

From what I've read of the two games, USC went into the Orange Bowl with the same confidence that we went into the 2000 OU/tx game with.

OUstudent4life
8/18/2005, 09:46 AM
so jkm, in light of the BJW statement, how do you compare Wolfe and Walker?

Luthor
8/18/2005, 10:15 AM
I'de almost bet money that Stoops would like to see Bomar take the reins over Thompson. Thompson has been around for several years and even with the advantages that should pose aparently has yet to pull away from the pack. It's not to say that PT isn't the next star. It just doesn't look that way. Bomar obviously offers more upside. I wouldn't wish a QB controversy on anyone. Not even you guys. I just can't see Stoops actually making the final decision until someone has the chance to be proven under fire.

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
12/14/2005, 12:46 PM
odds and evens (offense)

QB race

its very similar to the hybl/white race of 2001. the more experienced QB is playing it safe, not making mistakes while the youngster is going hog wild. talent level favors the youngster but decision making favors the vet. of course, there is one wild card here and that is that the vet is a gamer, not a practice player while the youngster seems to be the opposite. the youngster can sit back and just torch the defense in skelly drills but then presses way to much in the scrimmages. what is the verdict? personally, i think it will be the UCLA game before we have a legit starter. why is that? because i think 2001 still haunts stoops, especially after watching hybl progress the next year. personally, i don't think he cares who wins but he wants each QB to rub off on the other - he wants thompson to be more aggressive and he wants bomar to be more careful with the ball. keeping the competition open into the first couple of games will help that.

the biggest question marks that i have about thompson are does he have the vision to see the wide open guy and can he be accurate enough to hit the short slant in stride. strange, these were hybl's biggest weaknesses too. in this offense, with AD there is always going to be someone open. the ability to find that guy and allow him to do his thing is the major difference between a 24 ppg offense ans a 36 ppg offense.

the biggest question marks about bomar are decision making and memory. does he have the ability to be patient for the wide open guy or does he take the first available decent option? the latter is what gives young QBs trouble because they think they have the talent to squeeze the ball in there and instead it gets picked. why is memory in here? because you can't lose confidence in yourself no matter how bad of a day you are having. from reading between the lines, bomar presses during scrimmages and then gets frustrated when something bad happens. just like a shooter in basketball, the last pass, no matter how ugly it was, has to be a completion in your mind. just like white before him, he is struggling with both of these early in his career.

i think the one advantage that thompson has, and it will be his biggest asset in games, is his ability to fake the ball, whether in the zone read, play-action or in the open field. why? because guys who are deceptive are incredibly hard to stop in the college game. a player can be deceptive in many ways - he can be deceptive athletically like brad smith or barry sanders or he can be deceptive optically like paul seems to be. from what i've seen he is just good at with the zone read, but if he adds a pump fake and perfects his play-action fake he very well could be one of "those guys". for anyone who has played football you know the guy i'm talking about. the guy who is 10 yards past the LOS and pumps his arm like he is going to throw and you join the parachute club. you know he can't throw, you know its a fake, but your body jumps anyway. he does a play action fake and the cameraman gets you dizzy trying to find the ball.

as far as talent level compared to the 2001 team, i think that thompson and hybl are about the same right now (thompson less passing, but more running) and bomar is a little behind white(white had an extra year for the decision making). however, i think that both QBs should progress faster than white and hybl (who were injury plagued all year) if they can stay healthy.

OL
in 2001, we trotted out romero, duncan, carter, skinner, and jerod fields. this year we are trotting out joseph, chaisson, bush, chester, and millington.

romero > joseph (both are injury prone so watch out)
duncan = chaisson
bush >>>>> carter
chester = skinner
millington ~ fields (conventional wisdom says he'll be better)
moses >>>>> tsmith (blocking only)

are we as good as last year? no. are we better than we were in 2001, yes. i'd compare this OL to 2002 or 2003 which bodes well for a running game.

WRs

2001 we had fagan, norman, woolfolk, tsmith with mackey and savage rotating in. this year we are going to have wilson, rankins, kelly, moses, and some other freshman rotating in. wilson is the best receiver out of the bunch and it isn't close. he can run any route, can catch the ball in traffic, and while he doesn't have breakaway speed he can still hurt you after the catch. rankins is a huge question mark for me because while he has some skill he has yet to play a 1/2 of a season without getting hurt. the freshmen are also a big unknown. i just don't think any of us would be able to handle both of them dropping the winning TD pass like texas's highly touted freshmen did.

running backs

AD makes everyone better than what they are. every key for the defense starts and ends with AD. the question is whether chuck utilizes this fact to give an advantage to the other offensive players against the defense or whether we try our current brute force attack. if we just line up and try smash-mouth, i'd be shocked if AD lasts throughout the season.

punt returner

this position needs to be open until they find someone who has a knack for it. by knack i mean consistent 10+ yards per return.

overall

as you can see, our offense is a conundrum. yes, we lost a lot of talent, but on the other hand we have a lot more talent returning than we did in our worst offensive campaign under stoops (2001). of course, the 2001 offense also enjoyed a bunch of defensive points and short fields. although i won't know for sure until after i see some of our newbies in action, i'm thinking ~30 ppg

wow, talk about missing the boat on thompson, especially with regard to the running game. even worse, there were a bunch of coaches that missed it just as bad as i did. his refusal to run cost us the TCU game, the one game this season i believe we underacheived. otherwise, i think the QB race unfolded about like the 2001 season.

the OL ended up somewhere between the 2001 and 2002 season. the following evaluations were close, but...

romero > joseph (both are injury prone so watch out)
correct
duncan = chaisson
i think chaisson didn't have a particularly good year
bush >>>>> carter
chester was better, but bush was not
chester = skinner
more like bush = skinner. chester ended up a huge surprise.
millington ~ fields (conventional wisdom says he'll be better)
look at me, i quit before the season started. :mad:
moses >>>>> tsmith (blocking only)
correctomundo

WRs

rankins ended up exactly like i thought he would. wilson got hurt early but still gutted it out for some key catches. the unknown RS FR ended up being, um, bad. the TR FR ended up looking really good.

RB

:shudder:

ppg

off by 2.7. frickin TCU :mad:

DarrellZero
12/14/2005, 01:08 PM
Still not bad prognostication though.

I was shocked at how bad Chaisson played early in the year. An offensive line is so symbiotic, you just never know how it's going to come together.

I wonder if Paul looks back on the TCU game and wishes he had played more aggressively. I think we're better off with Rhett now, but man, it was ugly there for a while.

We need a punt return game in the worst way.

NormanPride
12/14/2005, 01:42 PM
Paul was so concerned with proving he was a great passer, he forgot to simply make the offense work. I wonder how much of that is coaching...?

westcoast_sooner
12/14/2005, 02:21 PM
WOW - JKM did a good job of preseason analysis, and glad he came back and revived this thread. Can't wait for next season.

MiccoMacey
12/14/2005, 02:32 PM
Man, jkm...bringing back old pre-season threads be dangerous.

People who made some serious assumptions and declarations look silly.