For all the Ribbing Mack gets [Archive] - SoonerFans.com Message Boards

Tear Down This Wall

10/7/2006, 08:29 PM

He figrued it out. Hit a stoops team in the mouth. I don't think we get more than 1 out of the next three.

I disagree here. If Stoops will wake up a little personnel-wise, he could go streaking on UT again. The 'Horns lose alot next year talent-wise. We only graduate eight.

Even with the disparity in experience, we led a halftime and, realistically, were a real cornerback away from keeping the lead. Think 2001. Texas had more experience and, supposedly, talent. But, we shut them down with our defense similar to the way we were doing in the first half.

Bob simply needs to pull his head out of his butt re: the secondary. He also needs to pull his head out of his butt re: Jerry Schmidt. The OL guys who are "tough enough" for his workouts ain't exactly great linemen. They don't even appear to be tough. I don't care how many Schmidt workouts they've survived. They're average. (Psst...maybe he's working them too hard, Bob)

Something's got to give. If Stoops understand that you sometimes have to shake things up to get out of a rut, we'll be fine. If not, Stoops will go down in flames clinging to the notion that they just needs to make a little improvement here and there.

sooneron

10/7/2006, 08:55 PM

I disagree here. If Stoops will wake up a little personnel-wise, he could go streaking on UT again. The 'Horns lose alot next year talent-wise. We only graduate eight.

Even with the disparity in experience, we led a halftime and, realistically, were a real cornerback away from keeping the lead. Think 2001. Texas had more experience and, supposedly, talent. But, we shut them down with our defense similar to the way we were doing in the first half.

Bob simply needs to pull his head out of his butt re: the secondary. He also needs to pull his head out of his butt re: Jerry Schmidt. The OL guys who are "tough enough" for his workouts ain't exactly great linemen. They don't even appear to be tough. I don't care how many Schmidt workouts they've survived. They're average. (Psst...maybe he's working them too hard, Bob)

Something's got to give. If Stoops understand that you sometimes have to shake things up to get out of a rut, we'll be fine. If not, Stoops will go down in flames clinging to the notion that they just needs to make a little improvement here and there.
I'm sorry, but that last part is my fear.

SanMarcosCASooner

10/7/2006, 10:04 PM

www.voidgame.com

cbear

10/8/2006, 08:10 PM

Gotta respectfully disagree with Tear Down This Wall; We have no qb after Thompson leaves and AD is sure to be gone too. And our d-line isn't exactly lighting the world on fire right now. As for the whorns, they have huge depth on both lines, rotate guys a lot so they have experience, and it looks like they just found another major applewhite. I don't see us getting another one in this series for a while. Unless, of course, someone can convince AD to stay and we steal some recruits.

TXBOOMER

10/8/2006, 08:31 PM

[QUOTE=Tear Down This Wall]I disagree here. If Stoops will wake up a little personnel-wise, he could go streaking on UT again. The 'Horns lose alot next year talent-wise. We only graduate eight.

We lose AD, Rufus, Ahyou, Birdine, Thibs, Latimer, PT, Messner and Carter. That is 8 starters and one nickel player. We are losing a ton of talent and won't have a QB with any experience. I hope you are right but I don't see it.

Soonerus

10/8/2006, 08:35 PM

Mack had very little to do with the UT win...

Dances with Possums

10/8/2006, 08:42 PM

Mack had very little to do with the UT win...

Yeah, other than recruiting all of the players, recruiting the coaches and keeping them happy, training the players, organizing the practices, making great friends with nearly every prominent high school coach in this state, getting the big money alums to spring for all of those facilities that are wowing the recruits, making sure that the players showed up at the cotton bowl at the right time etc... he had VERY little to do with the UT win.

Soonerus

10/8/2006, 08:46 PM

He got an early Christmas present...I saw little else he did during the game...

Dances with Possums

10/8/2006, 08:51 PM

He got an early Christmas present...I saw little else he did during the game...

Unless you're just trying to bait me, I don't understand what you're saying.

Like Coach Stoops, he stood on the sideline during the game. That's what coaches do during the game. In your opinion, what else should he have been doing? Massaging the players? Drawing plays in the dirt with a stick?

Egeo

10/8/2006, 09:48 PM

hate to say it, but mack makes a good cfb team ceo
he runs programs well

Statalyzer

10/8/2006, 09:49 PM

One other thing Mack didn't do is scream at the ref for 2 straight plays after his team got called for a false start. That really tends to get a team fired up, and Mack failed to do it.

he's also the same guy who made numerous stupid calls through the streak...like benching applewhite.

Let me guess, you were one of the guys a few weeks ago saying "Charles is so much better than Young, Mack is stupid for starting Selvin."

soonerlaw

10/8/2006, 09:56 PM

Let's face it. Mack is a good coach and good guy. He runs a good program and has had consistent winning programs year in and year out. The only reason we don't like him is that he is the coach for Texas (which is reason enough). Beating a Mack team is a HUGE accomplishment, which is why Bob is an incredible coach as well for doing it 5 in a row.

Statalyzer

10/8/2006, 10:01 PM

Let's face it. Mack is a good coach and good guy. He runs a good program and has had consistent winning programs year in and year out. The only reason we don't like him is that he is the coach for Texas (which is reason enough).

I'd say the same thing about Stoops coaching at OU.

picasso

10/8/2006, 10:15 PM

One other thing Mack didn't do is scream at the ref for 2 straight plays after his team got called for a false start. That really tends to get a team fired up, and Mack failed to do it.

Let me guess, you were one of the guys a few weeks ago saying "Charles is so much better than Young, Mack is stupid for starting Selvin."
yep. I want the old Stoops and brother who eat their 19 year old players up and spit them out before they reach the sidelines - all to be seen in horror by a national television audience.
we've lost some mojo and it's quite distrubing. I'm sure you Tejanos feel like you've been born again.

Pepper

10/8/2006, 10:40 PM

Mack did the exact same thing he did in the 5 losses- play conservative.

TrophyCollector

10/8/2006, 10:47 PM

[QUOTE=Tear Down This Wall]

We lose ...Messner

That will actually help the offense. That guy is becoming a poor man's Wes Sims.

tbl

10/8/2006, 11:01 PM

Dudes... the whorns are actually making more sense after this game. What gives???

Knocking on Mack? All of us kept saying that Vince was the key factor last year, but a red shirt freshman that looks younger than my 15 year old nephew came out and beat us, all the while being coached by Mack Brown.

Say what you will, but the guy has really turned it around. He's figured out what Stoops hasn't yet: Don't hire your buddies, hire the best guys in the biz.

tbl

10/8/2006, 11:04 PM

One other thing Mack didn't do is scream at the ref for 2 straight plays after his team got called for a false start. That really tends to get a team fired up, and Mack failed to do it.

I'm getting sick of agreeing with the whorns.... SICK OF IT!!!

I was getting ex-TREMELY tired of watching Stoops yell like a maniac at the refs. I mean the AD fumble deserved a little lip, but it was the booth guy that screwed us. Other than that, I hate to say it but he looked kinda pathetic out there. It was not a good image...

FaninAma

10/8/2006, 11:10 PM

Mack's secret is to recruit Texas well then raid the coaching staffs of other successful programs to find good assistant coaches to coach the talent. He runs the horn program like a Fortune 500 team and, to his credit, his plan is working.

picasso

10/8/2006, 11:12 PM

I'm getting sick of agreeing with the whorns.... SICK OF IT!!!

I was getting ex-TREMELY tired of watching Stoops yell like a maniac at the refs. I mean the AD fumble deserved a little lip, but it was the booth guy that screwed us. Other than that, I hate to say it but he looked kinda pathetic out there. It was not a good image...
we DID get f'ed on the Finley call.

I think Stoops is feeling the heat since he's awakened the monster. as Switzer said you gotta keep feeding it.

Also, Colt McColt made some nice tosses but it's not too diffictult to hit a WR running with a 5 yard cushion.

FaninAma

10/8/2006, 11:14 PM

I'm getting sick of agreeing with the whorns.... SICK OF IT!!!

I was getting ex-TREMELY tired of watching Stoops yell like a maniac at the refs. I mean the AD fumble deserved a little lip, but it was the booth guy that screwed us. Other than that, I hate to say it but he looked kinda pathetic out there. It was not a good image...

You'd be bit more credible if you , and the whorn, had your information straight. Stoops was yelling at the refs after the bogus PI call on Finley after which they picked up a flag after initially calling an obvious interference on Reggie's attempt to field a punt.

Please, don't act like a whorn.....in other words, don't be stupid.

I've seen Mack whine with the best of them but why whine when you get the benefit of most of the big calls?

GottaHavePride

10/8/2006, 11:17 PM

YEah, I loved the offensive pass interference call when there was no defender within 5 yards of him. Morans.

FaninAma

10/8/2006, 11:18 PM

tbl, I never sais Mack wouldn't win. I just said he wouldn't win without going out and getting some good coaches to coach the talent he recruits at Texas.

And Mack has been able to raid other programs for good coaching talent that hides his own coaching deficiencies quite well.

Pepper

10/8/2006, 11:22 PM

Stoops will always look better than Mack Brown while losing. Remember how pathetic Mack looked during the Ohio State game. He looked like a baby who just **** his pants.

picasso

10/8/2006, 11:23 PM

Stoops will always look better than Mack Brown while losing. Remember how pathetic Mack looked during the Ohio State game. He looked like a baby who just **** his pants.
yeah Stoops has shown no signs of space herpes either.

GottaHavePride

10/8/2006, 11:25 PM

yeah Stoops has shown no signs of space herpes either.

Space Herpes would be an AWESOME name fo a rock band!

tbl

10/8/2006, 11:40 PM

It's already taken... We're broken up right now, but I smell a reunion gig coming up.

Dances with Possums

10/8/2006, 11:41 PM

And Mack has been able to raid other programs for good coaching talent that hides his own coaching deficiencies quite well.

Ahahahahahahahahahaha!

Seriously, do you ever listen to yourself?

Please, Faninama, tell us what those coaching deficiencies are, given that you apparently know so much about the Texas program.

tbl

10/8/2006, 11:42 PM

You'd be bit more credible if you , and the whorn, had your information straight. Stoops was yelling at the refs after the bogus PI call on Finley after which they picked up a flag after initially calling an obvious interference on Reggie's attempt to field a punt.

Please, don't act like a whorn.....in other words, don't be stupid.

I've seen Mack whine with the best of them but why whine when you get the benefit of most of the big calls?

Sorry holmes, but I respectfully disagree. Stoops was shown on TV yelling at the refs numerous times (Griese made a couple of comments about feeling sorry for the field ref), and he was most definitely yelling after the false start. Maybe it was still about one of the earlier calls... who knows? Regardless, it didn't do any good at all.

I love you.

tbl

10/8/2006, 11:45 PM

Ahahahahahahahahahaha!

Seriously, do you ever listen to yourself?

Please, Faninama, tell us what those coaching deficiencies are, given that you apparently know so much about the Texas program.
Actually, that's not a false statement. Mack does hire good asst. coaches and that helps him tremendously. However, that really doesn't neg him any to me. That's what he's supposed to do, and again, it's something that Stoops and Castiglione haven't done yet.

FaninAma

10/8/2006, 11:51 PM

Ahahahahahahahahahaha!

Seriously, do you ever listen to yourself?

Please, Faninama, tell us what those coaching deficiencies are, given that you apparently know so much about the Texas program.

Well lets see, besides an entirely new defensive staff, new receivers coach and new OL coach I guess Mack has his original staff he started with at Texas. And I don't think too many of the ones who were shown the door were hired away like Bob's coaches were.

DWP, why the **** are you on this board? The only time we see you is when OU loses a really big game or Texas wins a big game. You epitomize the worst in the horn fanbase......and that's saying a lot.

FaninAma

10/8/2006, 11:54 PM

Sorry holmes, but I respectfully disagree. Stoops was shown on TV yelling at the refs numerous times (Griese made a couple of comments about feeling sorry for the field ref), and he was most definitely yelling after the false start. Maybe it was still about one of the earlier calls... who knows? Regardless, it didn't do any good at all.

I love you.

tbl, if you had gotten the screw jobs Stoops has gotten from the refs in the last half-dozen games or so wouldn't you have a rather short fuse with the refs, too?

horninokc

10/9/2006, 12:40 AM

Yeah, other than recruiting all of the players, recruiting the coaches and keeping them happy, training the players, organizing the practices, making great friends with nearly every prominent high school coach in this state, getting the big money alums to spring for all of those facilities that are wowing the recruits, making sure that the players showed up at the cotton bowl at the right time etc... he had VERY little to do with the UT win.

Not to mention the BIG one. Making the decision at halftime to have Gregg Davis take the leash off of Colt and let him loose with the decision making. He learned from doing it with Vince and he finally had the confidence to let Colt be Colt. I am amazed at Colt's growth this year. That, and at half time he told the guys to go back out there and have fun and let loose. That they surely did. (of course, Chizik had a few choice words, I'm sure)

FaninAma

10/9/2006, 01:38 AM

Not to mention the BIG one. Making the decision at halftime to have Gregg Davis take the leash off of Colt and let him loose with the decision making. He learned from doing it with Vince and he finally had the confidence to let Colt be Colt. I am amazed at Colt's growth this year. That, and at half time he told the guys to go back out there and have fun and let loose. That they surely did. (of course, Chizik had a few choice words, I'm sure)

Yes, 108 yards passing and 233 yards of total offense will go down in the Cotton Bowl annals as one of the greatest offensive performances ever by a player and a team in the RRS.:rolleyes:

Mack was a couple of 3-and-out series away from pulling McCoy in the 3rd quarter.

BTW, DWP is also a massive hypocrite. He knows how badly Sooner fans get treated on hornfans.com yet he has the chutzpah to come over here and bleat like an aggie sheep in heat when a Sooner fan reacts in a hostile manner to his drivel.

roostercogburn

10/9/2006, 02:30 AM

BTW, DWP is also a massive hypocrite. He knows how badly Sooner fans get treated on hornfans.com yet he has the chutzpah to come over here and bleat like an aggie sheep in heat when a Sooner fan reacts in a hostile manner to his drivel.

Now that's funny!:D

Statalyzer

10/9/2006, 09:12 AM

tbl

10/9/2006, 09:16 AM

While we obviously handed them the game with all the turnovers & penalties (even Mack acknowledges that), you still have to give Brown credit for overriding Davis and pulling a good head coaching job. Don't forget, Stoops had 2 WEEKS to prepare for this game, yet we were obviously very unprepared.

From Yahoo Sports:

Brown thought offensive coordinator Greg Davis was being too conservative with McCoy, so he told him at halftime to let the kid loose. McCoy responded with his longest play yet on his first snap of the third quarter and built from there.

ashley

10/10/2006, 10:53 AM

Doesn't anyone get it. It's about players. The teams with the best usually win the most.

TJKDone

10/10/2006, 05:23 PM

I get a deep sense of joy from reading this thread.

Hook'em

sanantoniosooner

10/10/2006, 05:26 PM

I get a deep sense of joy from reading this thread.

Hook'em
You like ribbing do you?

typical horn.

TopDawg

10/10/2006, 05:38 PM

Doesn't anyone get it. It's about players. The teams with the best usually win the most.

This is the key and it's why Mack had such a rough time getting the respect Stoops got until recently. Everybody (or at least most of the rest of the nation) thought, rightly or not, that Stoops got 3 of those 5 straight wins over Texas with lesser talent. Some might even say 4 or all 5 of them were won with lesser talent.

Stoops leads against Mack 5-3. Both of them are very good coaches, but Stoops has never lost a game against Texas that he was favored in. Mack has lost several. That's why I'm glad to have Stoops on our side and Mack on theirs.

stunandun

10/10/2006, 08:01 PM

There's only one thing Mack changed that has made a difference**Chizik. There defense is far better than ours regardless of the players. We are getting outcoached in this area, period.

Herr Scholz

10/11/2006, 10:02 AM

Here's a story that might make some of you change your mind about the football coach Mack has become. This story comes from Kyle Bryant. His father is Cleve Bryant (Mack's right hand man). Kyle stands on the sidelines for every game, goes in the locker room, etc. Look at the email he sent to a friend of mine today...

Mack was so mad at halftime. He told Davis and Colt that if we going to lose, we were going to do it throwing the ball deep. He even dropped a few uncharacteristic f-bombs and female anatomy references in. Here is the best part though, when we came out of the locker room OU was already waiting in the hallway, and they were talkin’ smack. Nobody on our team really said anything, but then Limas stepped up. He made THE ENTIRE team go back into to locker room, he punched 2 lockers and started yelling that ne wasn’t going out there with a bunch of players that were afraid. He said that if you are scared to hit them in the mouth “take off that Texas jersey because you are a disgrace to this team”. The rest is history. I’ve never seen our team so fired up on the sidelines. They were breathing fire.

picasso

10/11/2006, 10:17 AM

You like the sensation of ribbed ones do you?

typical horn.

:eek:

Luthor

10/11/2006, 10:33 AM

picasso

10/11/2006, 11:13 AM

The truth is that this rivalry has become so huge over the past several years that it is catastrophic for the coach who looses, period. Regarless of W/L records in the season to that point, regardless of national ranking prior to the game and regardless of what is done through the rest of the season. It has become its own season. We won 30 games in 3 years but it did not matter because we lost the RRS. We have not had a down year since Mack arrived but unless we beat you guys it's viewed as failure.

It has become win in Dallas or eat a bullet. Something about all of this doesn't sound right but it is what it is. I can't imagine any other rivalry having this kind of impact.
that and the significance of it being for the south title. oh yeah and that stupid BCS thing. although each losing team in this series always has that outside chance of backdooring into the league championship game.

I think the loss would be easier for us Sooner fans to handle had we played well but it seems like we've become......I can't even speak it.

TopDawg

10/11/2006, 12:19 PM

I think the loss would be easier for us Sooner fans to handle had we played well but it seems like we've become......I can't even speak it.

young?

Tear Down This Wall

10/11/2006, 12:25 PM

Quote:
Mack was so mad at halftime. He told Davis and Colt that if we going to lose, we were going to do it throwing the ball deep. He even dropped a few uncharacteristic f-bombs and female anatomy references in. Here is the best part though, when we came out of the locker room OU was already waiting in the hallway, and they were talkin’ smack. Nobody on our team really said anything, but then Limas stepped up. He made THE ENTIRE team go back into to locker room, he punched 2 lockers and started yelling that ne wasn’t going out there with a bunch of players that were afraid. He said that if you are scared to hit them in the mouth “take off that Texas jersey because you are a disgrace to this team”. The rest is history. I’ve never seen our team so fired up on the sidelines. They were breathing fire.

If only Stoops and Venables still erupted like this at someone besides officials.

Also, it's shocking to me that Greg Davis hadn't figured out the way to beat OU this was same as last year - throw at the tailback playing corner. I mean, really, you Texas fans should enjoy the victory. But, you should also be worried that Davis hadn't picked that up watching film of last year's game and this year's stuff. Not every team is as willing to roll tailbacks out at corner the way we are.

Congrats to Mack for bringing the intra-team smack at halftime. We'd welcome that back in a heartbeat. Instead of busting a lung at the referees, Stoops should be busting a lung at the guys who can actually do something about winning the game - his players. I dearly miss the days when he, Mike, and Venables would basically crawl into one of their players helmets and give them a profanity-laced VAVOOM during the game.

http://www.felixthecat.com/IMG/ff-vavoom.gif

sanantoniosooner

10/11/2006, 05:15 PM

young?
young players usually sacrifice intelligence, not passion.

We weren't showing any passion out there.

It wasn't youth that bugged me. It was ambivalence.

Stoop Dawg

10/11/2006, 05:30 PM

I thought Mack's comments after the game were excellent. He complimented OU, UT, and the game itself. I'm not sure how a coach could have done better. He gets an A+ in my book.

OklahomaRed

10/12/2006, 03:40 PM

I'm with FaninAma. Stoops is fine, but he needs to sacrifice his unflinching loyalty to some of his coordinators and find the right coaching chemistry. Second, who can blame Stoops for being ***ssed at the refs after the screw jobs he keeps getting from them? There's more to that issue than just "missed calls". :cool:

Crimson and Orange

10/12/2006, 04:14 PM

Quote:
Stoops should be busting a lung at the guys who can actually do something about winning the game - his players. I dearly miss the days when he, Mike, and Venables would basically crawl into one of their players helmets and give them a profanity-laced [i]VAVOOM during the game.

In 2003 I was on the sideline in the 2nd half, watching the Sooners completely mutilate a pretty good Texas team. Half the Texas fans were gone and the remainder were sitting in stunned silence. It was sometime early in the 4th quarter, OU leading by more points than I care to remember, and Texas had the ball. The ball carrier broke a tackle and made a gain of something like 8 or 9 yards. Nobody in the stadium seemed to care. Texas wasn't going to score. The game was long since decided.

As the OU defender walked over to the sideline, he was met by Mike Stoops, about 30 feet from me. Stoops was walking out onto to the field, his face beet red, and he grabbed the player by the collar and began yelling a nasty string of profanities as he dragged this 300-lb hulk back to the bench. The kid was absolutely petrified.

It didn't matter that the score was the most lopsided in series history. It didn't matter that the missed tackle would never matter, had no impact on the game or the drive, or that nobody in the stadium even cared. It mattered to Mike Stoops that the intensity had gone down, and he was as fired up as if the game was tied in triple overtime. He was seething.

I told the guy I was with, "As long as they have that guy, we will never beat OU again." We sat along the media line and watched him for the rest of the game, and his intensity never dropped.

Bob is a terrific coach, but Mike was a f***ing incredible DC and an asset to the team that cannot be measured. He was the fire that made those guys want to kill on every play.

TopDawg

10/12/2006, 05:33 PM

young players usually sacrifice intelligence, not passion.

We weren't showing any passion out there.

It wasn't youth that bugged me. It was ambivalence.

Well, I don't know how to measure passion. Some people display it differently than others. Did Jerry Rice have passion? You would've never known it by his actions on the field.

So did we have any passion out there? Maybe. Were we showing it? Depends on what you were looking for. I know we didn't give up even down 28-10. We drove the ball down the field only to have a pass intercepted. We played hard all game, we just didn't make the big plays and they did.

And if it looked like we lacked passion, I'd argue that it's because we weren't making big plays. Typically you don't show a lot of passion when you're not making big plays. Especially when you're a young team.

So I think it's mostly a problem of youth with these guys. Yeah, I wish our seniors would step it up a little more, but it's not like this team has quit on us. They just didn't make big plays and Texas did.

sanantoniosooner

10/12/2006, 05:37 PM

Passion means that you want the ball more than the other guy.

UT wanted it more. I can't measure their hearts, but I can sure see the effort.

The Maestro

10/12/2006, 05:43 PM

I'm not buying that halftime story about texas. The interlink wins again!

TopDawg

10/12/2006, 06:16 PM

Passion means that you want the ball more than the other guy.

UT wanted it more. I can't measure their hearts, but I can sure see the effort.

"Wanting it more" is one of most over-and-misused phrases sports fans and commentators use.

If I'm going up against Shaquille O'Neal for a rebound, it doesn't matter how badly I want it, if he wants it just a little bit, he's going to get it. He's bigger and stronger than me and he's likely to be in a better position than me. Now I'm not saying Texas = Shaq and OU = me, but when it mattered, Texas had bigger, stronger players in the right position to win that game and they capitalized on those mismatches.

Look, in 1996 when Texas was favored by 27 and we were winless but still came out with the victory, okay, maybe then we just wanted it more than they did. But this year we were the underdog, we held the lead at halftime, we were driving to make it a 3 or 4 point game in the 4th when we fumbled and Texas recovered. They held us off from that point on. It's not like our guys weren't trying, it's just that the team that was expected to win made plays against the team that was expected to lose.

sanantoniosooner

10/12/2006, 06:21 PM

TopDawg

10/12/2006, 11:56 PM

When a pass is up for grabs and the receiver LETS the defender get better position and out fight him for the ball, he doesn't want it as bad.

Is that clear enough for you?

When the whistle hasn't blown but you choose to pick your butt while the opposing team takes the ball for a TD, you didn't want it as bad.

I'm not trying to be cryptic here, but I was at that game and I didn't see the passion. If I gotta explain passion to you, then you wont get it anyway.

Apparently I'm not being clear enough. It's not all about want. Maybe the defender is just better. Maybe he put himself in a better position to make the play. Maybe the receiver made a mistake, physically or mentally. It's not all about wanting it, it's about doing it. If we gain 5 yards on first down and 3 yards on second down, does that mean we wanted it more on first than on second? We're down by 5, final play of the game from the 3 yard line. Toss sweep to Peterson. He's got a full head of steam going at the corner of the endzone and there's a 5'9", 180 pound corner standing in his way. Are you telling me the game is going to come down to who wants it more between those two guys?

Maybe you didn't think our guys played hard enough, but I was at the game too and I saw them playing hard (but still getting outplayed by...and this is the important part...an older, more experienced, more complete team). Watch Malcom Kelly's catch and tell me he wasn't playing with passion. Watch AD pound it play after play against one of the best defenses in the nation and tell me he wasn't playing with passion. Look at the numbers. We had 438 total yards (rushing, passing, returns) and Texas had 265. Are you telling me that this year's OU team gained almost 200 yards more than this year's Texas team without wanting it?

When it was all said and done, we just didn't make the big plays when we needed to. Texas did. Although we're a very talented team, we're also very young and we have weaknesses at key spots and Texas was able to take advantage of those in the 2nd half. It doesn't mean that our guys weren't playing hard, it just means that they weren't able to make the plays. When you're a young team as an underdog against one of the top teams in the country and the momentum is against you, you've got to play almost perfect. No matter how badly you want to play almost perfect, it's nearly impossible to do.

sanantoniosooner

10/13/2006, 07:18 AM

BIG_IKE

10/13/2006, 07:28 AM

I can tell when a crappy player is trying hard.

And when a good player is not giving his all.

When two players give their all, the one that is better OR has some sort of advantage(position/angle/physical) will usually prevail.

I saw plays where the outcome had nothing to do with an OU player being inferior, and had a LOT to do with being outperformed because of effort.

There aren't a lot of major plays that you see it, but if the attitude is contagious, then it could affect an entire game just a little at a time.

You throwing returns into the stats is deceptive. It's hard to Texas to get many return yards of OU is turning the ball over 5 times and not scoring for an entire half. This has ZERO bearing on the discussion.

We must have a had a million kick return yards...because Texas held us to -3 punt return yards. And they punted 7 times. THAT has alot to do with the outcome of the game too. Their punter and coverage team played flawlessly and gave us bad field position every time.
Texas had a short field the whole game...5 turnovers plus good field position from our punts...I wouldnt look too much into the "We outgained them in yardage" theory..

sanantoniosooner

10/13/2006, 07:31 AM

We must have a had a million kick return yards...because Texas held us to -3 punt return yards. And they punted 7 times. THAT has alot to do with the outcome of the game too. Their punter and coverage team played flawlessly and gave us bad field position every time.
Texas had a short field the whole game...5 turnovers plus good field position from our punts...I wouldnt look too much into the "We outgained them in yardage" theory..
agree. And I'm not looking to bash out guys. I think they did want the game. But theres a difference between puppy love and the real thing.

BIG_IKE

10/13/2006, 07:41 AM

agree. And I'm not looking to bash out guys. I think they did want the game. But theres a difference between puppy love and the real thing.
:D

TopDawg

10/13/2006, 02:56 PM

agree. And I'm not looking to bash out guys. I think they did want the game. But theres a difference between puppy love and the real thing.

But you said they were ambivalent and I take issue with that. I saw them playing hard from start to finish. You can take return yards out of it if you want, and we still outgained Texas. Yeah, part of it had to do with their good field position, but it's not like they dominated the game. They put together 3 scoring drives, we put together 2 and had 2 more potential scoring drives fall short because Texas made a crucial play (sacking Thompson and the fumble in the red zone). So I find it hard to believe that a young underdog team playing ambivalently (is that a word?) can hang with an experienced favored team.

It's obvious they didn't play hard enough to win, but I don't think that means they weren't playing hard, or were ambivalent.

BIG_IKE

10/13/2006, 03:33 PM

But you said they were ambivalent and I take issue with that. I saw them playing hard from start to finish. You can take return yards out of it if you want, and we still outgained Texas. Yeah, part of it had to do with their good field position, but it's not like they dominated the game. They put together 3 scoring drives, we put together 2 and had 2 more potential scoring drives fall short because Texas made a crucial play (sacking Thompson and the fumble in the red zone). So I find it hard to believe that a young underdog team playing ambivalently (is that a word?) can hang with an experienced favored team.

It's obvious they didn't play hard enough to win, but I don't think that means they weren't playing hard, or were ambivalent.

Texas aint as experienced as you make it seem....
They will return all Offensive backs, receivers, and linebackers next years...
They have 3 seniors on offense...now the defense is experienced at Defensive End and Cornerback...but other than that they are pretty young too.

Soonerviewer

10/13/2006, 03:43 PM

Holy crap. The NCAA is investigating OU football. The World just put up the letter.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/BreakingNewsStory.asp?ID=061013_Br_ouncaaweb

Tear Down This Wall

10/13/2006, 04:13 PM

Holy crap. The NCAA is investigating OU football. The World just put up the letter.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/BreakingNewsStory.asp?ID=061013_Br_ouncaaweb

Other than the NCAA investigating yet a third sport over the couple of years and his inability to hire a real baseball or basketball coach, Joe Castiglione is doing a great job.

sanantoniosooner

10/13/2006, 06:50 PM

But you said they were ambivalent and I take issue with that.
It's obvious they didn't play hard enough to win, but I don't think that means they weren't playing hard, or were ambivalent.
am‧biv‧a‧lence /æmˈbɪvələns/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[am-biv-uh-luhns] –noun
1. uncertainty or fluctuation, esp. when caused by inability to make a choice or by a simultaneous desire to say or do two opposite or conflicting things.

It doesn't mean that the didn't care. It means that they didn't seem completely committed to giving their all.

You know, this is a perception/opinion type of thing. It's OK for us to disagree.

TopDawg

10/13/2006, 07:02 PM

Texas aint as experienced as you make it seem....
They will return all Offensive backs, receivers, and linebackers next years...
They have 3 seniors on offense...now the defense is experienced at Defensive End and Cornerback...but other than that they are pretty young too.

On their depth chart, they list eight of their offensive starters as juniors or seniors. Ten of their defensive starters are juniors or seniors.

18 total

We have 4 juniors or seniors starting on our offense and one of them played a different position last year. We list 12 on defense (to account for our nickel package). Up front we're experienced with 6 of our front 7 being juniors or seniors, but if you look at our 2-deep in the secondary (which has been in a state of flux all year), only 4 of those 10 spots are occupied by juniors (3) or seniors (1).

12-13 total

So when we had the ball, we had 4 upperclassmen going against 10. When they had the ball they had 8 going against 8 or 9.

TopDawg

10/13/2006, 07:07 PM

It doesn't mean that the didn't care. It means that they didn't seem completely committed to giving their all.

You know, this is a perception/opinion type of thing. It's OK for us to disagree.

Yeah, I know. I guess what I'm saying is that whatever actions were displayed on the field that made you think they were ambivalent, came across to me more as just a reflection of our youth than as a lack of passion. I think these guys play their hearts out, they just have weaknesses and inexperience at key positions, mostly because of our youth.