unprepared

[usmc-sooner]

my thoughts on the game

for the second straight year IMO we came out unprepared for our opponent.
Last year it was offense and this year it was defense.

I thought the offense looked good. Paul played a really good game. He looked about as good as Bomar ever did last year. Neither int was his fault. One Iglesias tipped the ball up and the other was taken away from the WR.
AD was AD and he is the best college football player in the nation. Joe John was great. The other WR's need to hang on to the ball. The O line could be a lot better but they weren't to bad.

With the exception of Reggie Smith the defense looked unprepared and uninspired. Our defense looked bad. They had 300 total yards of offense I think. They freakin lined up and just ran the ball down the field, down our throats. Which I never in a million years thought anyone would do to this defense. They didn't throw much but when they did they burned Wolfe long 2 or 3 times. I don't think he's got the speed to be a man corner.

You can talk about correctable mistakes, but half the time UAB was running plays that peewee football teams run. Hike the ball to the QB and let him run.

Hopefully we held a lot back and fix these mistakes before UW.

[1991SOONER]

Notice how the D seems to deteriorate year after year since M Stoops left?

I hate to be pessimistic, but we may not see defense like M Stoops had for awhile.

[usmc-sooner]

hopefully it was a one game glitch on defense.

[1991SOONER]

Damn I hope you are right!!!

You gotta give it to UAB, they played a heck of a game, connected on some long passes, and just generally had alot of luck. Not taking anything away from them, they were alot better than I was expecting.

[1stTimeCaller]

We have always played bad against bad teams, IMO.

[tbl]

Not a bad point 1tc... We've also played bad against really good teams too, so it goes both ways. I heard we played bad in a bowl game, but I still don't know what they're talking about.

[Newbomb Turk]

We have always played bad against bad teams, IMO.

yes - like a few osu games.

[1stTimeCaller]

I came away with more postives than negatives. I think we'll be fine.

[tulsaoilerfan]

I agree that Paul played a fairly solid game, but to say that the pass near the goal line wasn't his fault isn't entirely true; the ball was behind the receiver, and if he had led him, it's a catch and possibly a TD; i thought Paul threw the ball well on all routes last night except the deeper crossing routes, and that just could be a timing issue; i think as the season progresses, he will start hitting on that pass and we will be okay

[tulsaoilerfan]

hopefully it was a one game glitch on defense.
I sure hope so, and i also hope that the fact UAB totally changed their offense from pass oriented to option oriented was a factor in our poor performance at times

[1stTimeCaller]

I really like the way the game was called. We knew we could beat them and IMO the coaches called a game to work on things and prepare for the big boys on the schedule.

We could have ran the toss every play and scored eleventy brazillion points. That's nice for the scoreboard and that europa guy but doesn't help us much for the rest of the season.

[Widescreen]

I don't see how it could be argued that either interception wasn't PT's fault. The pass to Iglesias was WAY too high and Iglesias was just trying to make a play on a poorly thrown ball. However, I liked PT's play overall. I know he will get better so I'm not too concerned about the QB position. The guy's only been back behind center for 3 weeks or so.

[usmc-sooner]

I don't see how it could be argued that either interception wasn't PT's fault. The pass to Iglesias was WAY too high and Iglesias was just trying to make a play on a poorly thrown ball. However, I liked PT's play overall. I know he will get better so I'm not too concerned about the QB position. The guy's only been back behind center for 3 weeks or so.


One throw was high but Iglesias still got his hands on it. The other the WR caught it and had the ball taken away. The passes could have been better but you got to catch it if you can get your hands on it, or keep it once you catch it.

Paul was far from perfect but he was really good and I was impressed with him. Our offense looked light years ahead of where it was last year at this time.

[AZSOONER]

I don't see how it could be argued that either interception wasn't PT's fault. The pass to Iglesias was WAY too high and Iglesias was just trying to make a play on a poorly thrown ball. However, I liked PT's play overall. I know he will get better so I'm not too concerned about the QB position. The guy's only been back behind center for 3 weeks or so.
I agree, I'm impressed with PT, but to say the int's weren't his fault is just wrong. The one where the ball was stripped out they called a fumble I believe.

[lawler]

Notice how the D seems to deteriorate year after year since M Stoops left?

I hate to be pessimistic, but we may not see defense like M Stoops had for awhile.



Your exactly right! i agree totally

[boomersooner28]

Color me silent....I still don't know what to think, so I am just not going to say anything.

[1991SOONER]

Take away an interception or 2 and PT did great.

[Indy Sooner]

I have a feeling the defense will (at least they should) work long hours on the fundamentals of tackling this week. Better tackling and fewer turnovers would have resulted in a sound victory. Instead... OU looked like a team hoping to get a few votes for the Top 25 this week.

[GottaHavePride]

The ting about Paul was that he was making good reads. A couple of times he wasn't quite on-target, or maybe he just didn't quite nail the timing, but he never threw any "Holy carp, there's not even an open receiver there what the hellcrap is he THINKING!" kind of pass like Bomar threw.

[PalmBeachSooner]

I really like the way the game was called. We knew we could beat them and IMO the coaches called a game to work on things and prepare for the big boys on the schedule.

We could have ran the toss every play and scored eleventy brazillion points. That's nice for the scoreboard and that europa guy but doesn't help us much for the rest of the season.

I would really like to believe that. In the BCS era you can't afford to play soft. Stoops himself has said this. Nobody likes to run up the score but if you don't, when you can, then the perception is that you are weak and the BCS will penalize you for it.

UAB is a good team. As the season progresses I think it will be clear that we probably had one of the tougher opening games. The flip side of that is the UT-UNT game. It will hurt UT in the long run. UAB is going to a bowl game. UNT is not. It's going to be good for our SOS.

[UABinBHM]

I think you dont realize how hard it is to prepare for this type of offense. The QB can run with it, hand it off to one of 3 backs in the backfield, or back-peddle to behind those backs for another layer of protection for a downfield pass or screen across the middle. If we had used a 1-man backfield, OU's defense would have torn that up. But when you have that many options, it's very hard for ANY defense to prepare for. Remember also that UAB's principal QB was a transfer from MTSU who didnt really play much there either... so this was, in essence, his first collegiate game. There is no game film of him to study, no practice film to study (since our practices are closed as well), etc.

[Jello Biafra]

bottom line.....

thompson played well enough to win and we survived.

we only go up from here. even the best of qbs couldn't have done anything about those ints more times than not. youth showed its ugly head in almost everyone of our turnovers. gresham was being held up so the refs didn't blow the play dead and he gets stripped. i am still puzzled by how a 260lb receiver lets a dback take the ball from him. anyway, the two picks were straight up youth. its been said since peewee football, if the ball hits your hands, you should catch it i think strong let it tip out of his hands. his fault. period. the other just flat out let the dbacks take the ball from him. i personally think thompson could have done a few things better to keep the ball in our hands (like not overthrowing 10 balls) but for the most part, the offense did its part.

i especially liked how the oline went out in the second half and basically showed regardless of how many the opponent puts int he box, we will run the ball. AD had a few long ones mixed in but i think he rushed for an average of 6.8 per carry? i think stoops would take that all season.


now, the defense????? i don't know. i know the dline kept the linebackers clean for the most part but the youth of our dbackfield showed up last night missed tackles, missed assignments, allowing a 330lb lineman block you out of the play and out of bounds......

anyway, one touchdown was BS and should have been called back but i think the defensive backfeild was tested because they never knew if it was going to be a run or pass or just play action and we survived. what doesn't kill you will make you stronger.

[jbstrick]

Notice how the D seems to deteriorate year after year since M Stoops left?

I hate to be STUPID, but we may not see defense like M Stoops had for awhile.


Fixed that post for ya.

[StoopTroup]

my thoughts on the game

for the second straight year IMO we came out unprepared for our opponent.
Last year it was offense and this year it was defense.

I thought the offense looked good. Paul played a really good game. He looked about as good as Bomar ever did last year. Neither int was his fault. One Iglesias tipped the ball up and the other was taken away from the WR.
AD was AD and he is the best college football player in the nation. Joe John was great. The other WR's need to hang on to the ball. The O line could be a lot better but they weren't to bad.

With the exception of Reggie Smith the defense looked unprepared and uninspired. Our defense looked bad. They had 300 total yards of offense I think. They freakin lined up and just ran the ball down the field, down our throats. Which I never in a million years thought anyone would do to this defense. They didn't throw much but when they did they burned Wolfe long 2 or 3 times. I don't think he's got the speed to be a man corner.

You can talk about correctable mistakes, but half the time UAB was running plays that peewee football teams run. Hike the ball to the QB and let him run.

Hopefully we held a lot back and fix these mistakes before UW.
I totally agree with you USMC.

Good Post IMO.

[tulsaoilerfan]

the thing that concerned me most about the defense was that the defensive tackles were getting their asses handed to them most of the night, and when we hit the big boys on the schedule, they had better play a lot better than they did last night

[Vegas Vic]

Neither int was his fault. One Iglesias tipped the ball up and the other was taken away from the WR.

Iglesias is partially to blame for the tipped ball, but he was wide open and the ball was thrown a good 3 to 4 feet over his head, so I think Thompsons bears some of the responsibility there. On the other one, the WR had the defensive back beaten, and Thompson threw the ball behind the receiver, allowing the interception.

[LosAngelesSooner]

my thoughts on the game

for the second straight year IMO we came out unprepared for our opponent.
Last year it was offense and this year it was defense.

I thought the offense looked good. Paul played a really good game. He looked about as good as Bomar ever did last year. Neither int was his fault. One Iglesias tipped the ball up and the other was taken away from the WR.
AD was AD and he is the best college football player in the nation. Joe John was great. The other WR's need to hang on to the ball. The O line could be a lot better but they weren't to bad.

With the exception of Reggie Smith the defense looked unprepared and uninspired. Our defense looked bad. They had 300 total yards of offense I think. They freakin lined up and just ran the ball down the field, down our throats. Which I never in a million years thought anyone would do to this defense. They didn't throw much but when they did they burned Wolfe long 2 or 3 times. I don't think he's got the speed to be a man corner.

You can talk about correctable mistakes, but half the time UAB was running plays that peewee football teams run. Hike the ball to the QB and let him run.

Hopefully we held a lot back and fix these mistakes before UW.

I would add Nick Harris to that short list. I thought he looked great.

And Rufus had a few mistakes, but he came alive in the second half.

[Vegas Vic]

With the exception of Reggie Smith the defense looked unprepared and uninspired. Our defense looked bad. They had 300 total yards of offense I think. They freakin lined up and just ran the ball down the field, down our throats. Which I never in a million years thought anyone would do to this defense. They didn't throw much but when they did they burned Wolfe long 2 or 3 times. I don't think he's got the speed to be a man corner.

One thing that I’ve noticed about Venables is that he’s fairly exploitable by teams with good offensive coordinators. They take advantage of his overaggressive philosophy with screen passes and play action passes. If you’re watching the game on TV, often there isn’t even a defender in the field of play when the receiver catches the ball (or fortunately drops it, as happened last night).

Also, for whatever reason, the OU defense doesn’t seem to be able to handle the quarterback keeper on the zone read out of the spread formation. I don’t know why, but teams just seem to gain huge chunks of yardage with this play, and it seems like the defense never adjusts.

[Egeo]

They freakin lined up and just ran the ball down the field, down our throats. Which I never in a million years thought anyone would do to this defense.

no they didnt, they used all kinds of misdirection



They didn't throw much but when they did they burned Wolfe long 2 or 3 times. I don't think he's got the speed to be a man corner.

well its a good thing we run mostly zone then



You can talk about correctable mistakes, but half the time UAB was running plays that peewee football teams run. Hike the ball to the QB and let him run.

i knew watson brown wasnt einstein.... crap i think ill just go be a coach if they're running plays that simple

[Egeo]

One thing that I’ve noticed about Venables is that he’s fairly exploitable by teams with good offensive coordinators. They take advantage of his overaggressive philosophy with screen passes and play action passes. If you’re watching the game on TV, often there isn’t even a defender in the field of play when the receiver catches the ball (or fortunately drops it, as happened last night).

Also, for whatever reason, the OU defense doesn’t seem to be able to handle the quarterback keeper on the zone read out of the spread formation. I don’t know why, but teams just seem to gain huge chunks of yardage with this play, and it seems like the defense never adjusts.
ya, i think we blitz too much
especially with as good as our de's are - we should be able to get pressure base up

[hybridworks]

I think Paul Thompson did an excellent job for some that hasnt thrown a pass against a live defense in one year. The only reciever he got a whole lot of help from was Joe John... ENA gave the recievers more catchable balls than not. Yes, we could all cleary see that timing is an issue, but that is another reason Heupel is the QB coach... He never had a timing problem and its something that can be taught.

[AzianSooner]

corner back is still bad. burned at least 2 times. damm.

[usmc-sooner]

no they didnt, they used all kinds of misdirection


I don't care if they used 12 men and all of them went in motion. UAB should not be able to sustain a 15 play drive (mostly runs) on Oklahoma's defense.

[usmc-sooner]

Iglesias is partially to blame for the tipped ball, but he was wide open and the ball was thrown a good 3 to 4 feet over his head, so I think Thompsons bears some of the responsibility there. On the other one, the WR had the defensive back beaten, and Thompson threw the ball behind the receiver, allowing the interception.

when I said not PT's fault I meant more along the lines that he didn't get confused and throw into bad coverage or raise up and hit a LBer waiting on a pass.

[AzianSooner]

I saw Bob Stoops involved with the Defesive Play Calling on the second half.

I think Mike Stooops did better in Defensive play call than Vent.

[StoopTroup]

Iglesias is partially to blame for the tipped ball, but he was wide open and the ball was thrown a good 3 to 4 feet over his head, so I think Thompsons bears some of the responsibility there. On the other one, the WR had the defensive back beaten, and Thompson threw the ball behind the receiver, allowing the interception.
4 to 5 feet (http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1520890&postcount=226)

I'm gonna go with 1 1/2 feet to 2 1/2 feet.

At 3 to 4 can we put some of the blame on him?

[MikeInNorman]

bottom line.....

thompson played well enough to win and we survived.

we only go up from here. even the best of qbs couldn't have done anything about those ints more times than not. youth showed its ugly head in almost everyone of our turnovers. gresham was being held up so the refs didn't blow the play dead and he gets stripped. i am still puzzled by how a 260lb receiver lets a dback take the ball from him. anyway, the two picks were straight up youth. its been said since peewee football, if the ball hits your hands, you should catch it i think strong let it tip out of his hands. his fault. period. the other just flat out let the dbacks take the ball from him. i personally think thompson could have done a few things better to keep the ball in our hands (like not overthrowing 10 balls) but for the most part, the offense did its part.

i especially liked how the oline went out in the second half and basically showed regardless of how many the opponent puts int he box, we will run the ball. AD had a few long ones mixed in but i think he rushed for an average of 6.8 per carry? i think stoops would take that all season.


now, the defense????? i don't know. i know the dline kept the linebackers clean for the most part but the youth of our dbackfield showed up last night missed tackles, missed assignments, allowing a 330lb lineman block you out of the play and out of bounds......

anyway, one touchdown was BS and should have been called back but i think the defensive backfeild was tested because they never knew if it was going to be a run or pass or just play action and we survived. what doesn't kill you will make you stronger.

I agree with everything said here. However, you should watch out when you make statements such as the one I highlighted. The offensive coordinators on the board will be quick to tell you that you NEVER impose your will on the other team, and that you ALWAYS take only what the defense is giving you, even if that means that your best player doesn't get the ball. Because to do otherwise isn't creative or innovative. :rolleyes:

[usmc-sooner]

I agree with everything said here. However, you should watch out when you make statements such as the one I highlighted. The offensive coordinators on the board will be quick to tell you that you NEVER impose your will on the other team, and that you ALWAYS take only what the defense is giving you, even if that means that your best player doesn't get the ball. Because to do otherwise isn't creative or innovative. :rolleyes:

I didn't know they're were any OC's on the board, I pretty much take this as each fan's opinion. If you read into it more than that then you should relax breath out and not take it so seriously.

[AzianSooner]

I am sure some body in team/coaching staff read this board.

[MikeInNorman]

I didn't know they're were any OC's on the board, I pretty much take this as each fan's opinion. If you read into it more than that then you should relax breath out and not take it so seriously.

Why, hello, Mr. Kettle!

:D

[usmc-sooner]

Why, hello, Mr. Kettle!

:D

Don't you ever sas me on this board again :D