• The Road Warrior Report - October 19, 2014 - KSU Review

      NORMAN – Normally, we would have knocked this report out post-haste after an 11:00 a.m. game, but we needed some time to pause and reflect after the gut punch that was yesterday’s 31-30 loss to Kansas State. Normally, losing games doesn’t really affect us too much . . . except when they’re games like that one. We sat in the stands for a good 15 minutes after the game was over just to be able to comprehend what had just happened.


      For all the wailing and gnashing of teeth after the game, and last week’s game, and the game before that, they all illustrate a simple axiom that has never changed, and will never change. You cannot leave points on the field, nor can you give the other guys points, or you will lose, especially against good teams. It’s not really any more complicated than that. It’s not play calling, it’s not schemes, it’s not any of the things that a number of the people who call themselves fans are obsessed with after this, or any other, loss. We gave points to TCU, we lost. Texas gave us points, they lost. We gave KSU points, lather, rinse, repeat. The result is usually not going to be any different.

      The Sooner offense looked as good as it has all year, and maybe in two years, but mistakes were the difference. We left at least 10 points on the field, and maybe 14, between a pair of missed field goals, a blocked extra point, and a pick in the KSU end zone. Top that off with giving the Wildcats the easiest pick six you’re ever likely to see, and we’re looking at between a 17 and 21-point difference in the final outcome. Look at the final score and, well, we are not accountants, or anything close, but even we can do that math. Look at KSU’s game against Auburn – almost the same thing.


      The Sooner defense played well enough to win. We cannot fathom how hard it is to defend that pop pass that KSU hit for a first-quarter TD. We were afraid of that one going in, and those fears proved well-founded. As has been its wont this season, the defense played much better in the second half, giving up only a single touchdown and giving the offense the chance to win the game.

      We have not ever felt as badly for a Sooner player as we feel for Michael Hunnicutt. As our friends at Sooner Spectator observed on Twitter, if we had one wish for the rest of this season, it would be for Moneycutt to knock one through at the buzzer to win a game for the Sooners. Bob Stoops will put him out there to do it if given the chance, and so would we.

      But we didn’t lose because of Hunnicutt, nor did we lose because of Trevor Knight. This one goes to everyone, just like every other loss. From both Stoops brothers down to the last guy who set foot on the field. We make some other plays, or don’t make some other mistakes, and it doesn’t come down to Hunnicutt’s field goal try at the end. We don’t make a poor play call on the reverse pass that got picked in the end zone in the third quarter, or Durron Neal just eats the ball on that play, and it doesn’t come down to a field goal at the end. For that matter, for want of a pair of plays that needed a single yard each, this team is likely undefeated today.

      But that isn’t how it has played out, and that’s part of the game. For all the expectations coming into this season, we would be lying if we said we weren’t tremendously disappointed. But we’re not as disappointed as a single coach, a single player. We’ve not invested anything, particularly compared to what they have put into this. We all feel like we got punched in the gut when that field goal went wide. But that’s part of the game, too. If you don’t feel like that when you lose a game like that, then you don’t need to be watching.

      Stoops has proven himself a master at rebounding from things like this, just as the team did after the Baylor debacle last season. Just like everyone else, we would prefer that we weren’t in a position to have to rebound from anything but, again, that’s part of the game.

      Is this team going to make the Playoff? Not bloody likely, although stranger things have happened. Is this team going to win the Big 12? Who knows? The way this season is going, we may end up with a three or four team tie for the One True Champion TM . But neither of those things are anything to worry about now. The only thing this team has the opportunity to do for sure is to go 10-2, so let’s shoot for that and see what happens.

      We only get 12 games a year guaranteed. We’ve lost two games we should have won by five points to two very good football teams. There are five games left, plus a bowl game. We think we’ll stick around and see how it plays out. We think you should, too.
      Comments 4 Comments
      1. panhandlesooner's Avatar
        panhandlesooner -
        Well said! Boomer Sooner!
      1. oupride's Avatar
        oupride -
        Thanks for the post Phil.
      1. 8timechamps's Avatar
        8timechamps -
        Always a good voice of reason. Well done Phil.
      1. yermom's Avatar
        yermom -
        i kinda felt like we should have faked the one he missed early instead of going down by 4

        the late miss seemed too close after the blocked PAT. i was kinda thinking we should have taken a delay and moved back

        i just hope Moneycutt isn't broken. DiCarlo never seemed to recover from the 2003 CCG misses
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