David Earl
11/13/2006, 04:42 PM
Sorry, no time to edit.
Overview
I have just a moment this afternoon and I wanted to throw together a few thoughts on the Tech game.
First, Tech is a pretty good team with a solid offense. They have a young QB in Harrell and Tech fans would probably tell us his youth hurts them at time. He is the real deal, however, and will only get better.
Second, the Tech defense has steadily improved. They hit hard, create turnovers and are NOT soft against the run like they’ve been in the past.
Therefore, this 10 point win is a feather in the Sooner hat as far as this football fan is concerned. Especially to come from a two TD deficit and win by 10 is impressive, IMHO.
Offense
The run game was there sporadically, but the passing game was super solid. Regarding the run game, it looked to me like we were trying to run Gute like and I-back. Is there some reason we don’t run him out of the shotgun? As much as he resembles Q, it looks like he could run those sprint draws, delays, shovels, etc.
QB
Paul was a little off against TAMU. He was due an average game. And man how the pendulum swung against Tech! Paul had a career game in terms of stats. He played heads up, completed over 70% of his passes and threw for more yards than Harrell.
I know Paul lets a few passes float on him and the receivers have to go up, exposing themselves to hits. But Paul got them momentum back for OU right before the half with that huge completion to Kelly for a TD on the flag route. People, the ball dropped in like it was wearing a parachute! The pass was simply beautiful.
RB
Other than the fumble, Gute ran well. He pass protects pretty well too. Brown is the better runner out of the I-formation, but he doesn’t pass block as well. That’s to be expected for a true freshman RB.
Zaslaw, I believe it was, got more reps at FB than previous games. He grabbed a couple of passes and seems to be blocking a little better.
WR/TE
Kelly is out of his mind good! He is so reliable on clutch plays. Johnson had a great night receiving. He had the fumble on the kick return where he should have been protecting the ball better. The other fumble wasn’t really his fault as he was knocked out when he dropped the ball. Speaking of, word is he’s better but probably won’t play against the bears.
OL
This young group continues to pass protect well and run block respectably. We all want gaping holes opened on every run play. That’s not going to happen. They are doing well, especially considering youth and injuries.
Defense
Our defense has run the gambit this season. The defense has gone from not very good to flat out smokin’! To hold the Tech offense to 17 points (7 came on an INT) when 7 of those came on a 25-yard field is pretty good. The tackling is better, the pressure is better, pass coverage is better. I guess if you wanted to nit-pick and hunt for something to complain about, we could talk about hitting. The defense is hitting harder than earlier in the season, but it would be nice to see a little more controlled brutality.
DL
The Tech o-line played an awesome game. They are a solid, well-coached group. In spite of that our guys up front at least gave chase with Harrell. The Sooner defensive strategy acknowledged we might not sack him often, but they wanted to make him hurry and make him roll. Harrell does not like to throw on the run.
The ends looked really good in run support and pass coverage. Didn’t Thibs get an INT late in the game? Burdine batted down a pass or two. That three DE set in the dime defense seems to be working pretty well.
LB
Again, tackling is better and pass coverage is better. Latimer has settled in to being a solid middle guy. We’re going to miss Rufus next year. Duh!
DB
Man, we’ve gone from famine to feast hear. Earlier in the season we were wondering who was going to step up. Lendy and Marcus are answering that question at CB. Williams is playing really well at safety. I guess with the two corners playing well Smith will remain at safety. A few times he was close to laying the wood to somebody but his hit glanced a little to one side or the other.
Special Teams
We’re not setting the woods on fire in the return game, but coverage is good. FG kicking is good and the new guy subbed well on kickoffs. Coverage continues to be serviceable as well.
Zebras
Possession rewarded to Oregon. :mad:
Summary
This was a really nice win. Except for turnovers, the Sooners played a solid game. If the guys can hang onto the ball a little better and keep playing solid, we have a real shot at finishing the regular season 10-2. With a little help in other games, we could conceivably finish in the top 10, maybe even play in a BCS bowl. That makes me one happy Sooner fan. Boomer Sooner!
Overview
I have just a moment this afternoon and I wanted to throw together a few thoughts on the Tech game.
First, Tech is a pretty good team with a solid offense. They have a young QB in Harrell and Tech fans would probably tell us his youth hurts them at time. He is the real deal, however, and will only get better.
Second, the Tech defense has steadily improved. They hit hard, create turnovers and are NOT soft against the run like they’ve been in the past.
Therefore, this 10 point win is a feather in the Sooner hat as far as this football fan is concerned. Especially to come from a two TD deficit and win by 10 is impressive, IMHO.
Offense
The run game was there sporadically, but the passing game was super solid. Regarding the run game, it looked to me like we were trying to run Gute like and I-back. Is there some reason we don’t run him out of the shotgun? As much as he resembles Q, it looks like he could run those sprint draws, delays, shovels, etc.
QB
Paul was a little off against TAMU. He was due an average game. And man how the pendulum swung against Tech! Paul had a career game in terms of stats. He played heads up, completed over 70% of his passes and threw for more yards than Harrell.
I know Paul lets a few passes float on him and the receivers have to go up, exposing themselves to hits. But Paul got them momentum back for OU right before the half with that huge completion to Kelly for a TD on the flag route. People, the ball dropped in like it was wearing a parachute! The pass was simply beautiful.
RB
Other than the fumble, Gute ran well. He pass protects pretty well too. Brown is the better runner out of the I-formation, but he doesn’t pass block as well. That’s to be expected for a true freshman RB.
Zaslaw, I believe it was, got more reps at FB than previous games. He grabbed a couple of passes and seems to be blocking a little better.
WR/TE
Kelly is out of his mind good! He is so reliable on clutch plays. Johnson had a great night receiving. He had the fumble on the kick return where he should have been protecting the ball better. The other fumble wasn’t really his fault as he was knocked out when he dropped the ball. Speaking of, word is he’s better but probably won’t play against the bears.
OL
This young group continues to pass protect well and run block respectably. We all want gaping holes opened on every run play. That’s not going to happen. They are doing well, especially considering youth and injuries.
Defense
Our defense has run the gambit this season. The defense has gone from not very good to flat out smokin’! To hold the Tech offense to 17 points (7 came on an INT) when 7 of those came on a 25-yard field is pretty good. The tackling is better, the pressure is better, pass coverage is better. I guess if you wanted to nit-pick and hunt for something to complain about, we could talk about hitting. The defense is hitting harder than earlier in the season, but it would be nice to see a little more controlled brutality.
DL
The Tech o-line played an awesome game. They are a solid, well-coached group. In spite of that our guys up front at least gave chase with Harrell. The Sooner defensive strategy acknowledged we might not sack him often, but they wanted to make him hurry and make him roll. Harrell does not like to throw on the run.
The ends looked really good in run support and pass coverage. Didn’t Thibs get an INT late in the game? Burdine batted down a pass or two. That three DE set in the dime defense seems to be working pretty well.
LB
Again, tackling is better and pass coverage is better. Latimer has settled in to being a solid middle guy. We’re going to miss Rufus next year. Duh!
DB
Man, we’ve gone from famine to feast hear. Earlier in the season we were wondering who was going to step up. Lendy and Marcus are answering that question at CB. Williams is playing really well at safety. I guess with the two corners playing well Smith will remain at safety. A few times he was close to laying the wood to somebody but his hit glanced a little to one side or the other.
Special Teams
We’re not setting the woods on fire in the return game, but coverage is good. FG kicking is good and the new guy subbed well on kickoffs. Coverage continues to be serviceable as well.
Zebras
Possession rewarded to Oregon. :mad:
Summary
This was a really nice win. Except for turnovers, the Sooners played a solid game. If the guys can hang onto the ball a little better and keep playing solid, we have a real shot at finishing the regular season 10-2. With a little help in other games, we could conceivably finish in the top 10, maybe even play in a BCS bowl. That makes me one happy Sooner fan. Boomer Sooner!