Well, this was our 4th out of the last 5 games where we looked very sluggish (Mizzou, Ball State, KU, and Tech) so if anyone didn't see this coming they haven't been paying attention. I don't think anybody thought it would result in a home loss, but it did and so now we have to hope to win out, win the conference and play a lesser team in the Fiesta Bowl. I counted 8 starters that did not play last night (Wort, Fleming, Walker, D Williams, Whaley, Jarvis Jones (part-time starter), Haywood, and Habern). 3 of our main OL did not play and our best RB did not play which is a huge factor in our absent running game. The 3 defensive starters are big reasons for the miscues on defense, especially from Fleming's position. Our MLB was really poor last night which resulted in the use of 3 or 4 different LB's (Kellen Jones, Bird, and maybe Franklin) before settling on Nelson playing MLB. I was one who was glad Bob switched kickers, but Jimmy Stevens probably makes both of those missed field goals last night as he was automatic from 40 or less. Our special teams are bad. No way to say it. Used to, we could get blocked punts or return TD's, but not anymore. We need a special teams coach in the worst way. Brennan Clay is a nice kid and a great spot player, but he is not a starter at the TB position on a team contending for an NC. He is sure handed and can protect the QB, but is very bland running the ball. No speed or quicks to make people miss and get downfield. Not strong enough to drag defenders and get the tough 2 yards. I wish the coaches had given Williams a chance as they had nothing to lose and needed a spark from the RB. Finch is great, but too small to sustain it for 60 minutes. Trey Franks, another nice kid, but where is his speed and playmaking ability? I thought the same about Jaz Reynolds last year and he has made his mark and made plays, so maybe Franks will come around and show some of the tools we hear about. Gabe Lynn...bless his heart, that was as bad a half from a defender as I have seen since Brandon Crow vs Texas in 2008. He was exposed big time. Sad to see a kid lose confidence like that and hope they can find a spot for him somewhere down the road but hope it's not at CB unless he makes a lot of improvement. Where has our TE been? Do the coaches think we have Bubba Moses or have they forgotten about Hanna? Not having Whaley was big though as he was starting to get more involved. Where has Millard been? Earlier in the season we got him the ball 5-7 times per game and now he seems to be absent.
Millard had a couple of catches, one for a td....Hanna is good but our te beyond that are meh at best. Special teams is just ok, not as bad as it has been. Too many dropped passes and bad offensive series in the first half, too many blown plays on defense all game. Most of what you said is spot on.
Agree, momentum changer. If we could have pulled out a win I would have said the stopping them on 4th down in the red zone, but no.....
Good points, makes one wonder where all the talent we supposedly have is hiding. Hard to point a finger at any other players than what you already have, but I think we have a collection of players that need to get their heads in the game instead of on tweets, tattoos, and stupid looking haircuts. And when our 'stars' are not playing up to potential, then put in a backup that might just provide a spark. Add me to the list of those who would like to know why Williams was not used.
Good points Jud. And we find ourselves in another year where we are saying just win out and see what happens. Seems things kind of just came together to produce a crappy game. Weather delay. Loads of starters out. A tough team to beat anytime. Landry was definitely off his game. There were passes the receivers could have caught but he was generally throwing low, behind, etc. I also think sometimes the qb actually can throw the ball differently than the receivers are used to and that contributes to them dropping passes. It also seemed TT was defending the pass and thought maybe that first half we should have tried hammering them with the run game. The passing game wasn't going anywhere anyway. Maybe we've gotten too far away from a running game. Defense was somewhat perplexing. Well, maybe not. Take out those starters and things change. I thought we should have brought a whole lot more pressure. Seemed the first half we were stuck in a prevent defense. That is a sure way to lose if you're playing against any half decent qb. We've got some good down linemen but they aren't earth shakers. They need help to put pressure on. Of course that exposes the secondary and obviously we were thin there. Not sure we had enough capable bodies to play tight to the line. Would have been sweet to have been able to do more blitzes, bring up the secondary to play the quick outs but it was what it was. I'm not even going to talk about the kicking game or special teams. I'll just say Uwe von S. was one of my favorites players. We are definitely a very good team. Are we as good as anybody out there? Maybe, maybe not. It's easy to point out deficiencies after a loss. Almost every team every year has some and this year is no different. I look at LSU and Bama and they look better than us. Different but better still. I'd love to have some running backs like Bama seems to reload with. And while we have some D linemen that probably will play on Sunday, they just don't seem to consistently overpower their opposing linemen. It would be sweet to get pressure with 3 or 4 down linemen. Seems we can only get pressure with help from the lb's and secondary. Overall, that really sucked. I mean it really sucked to lose, to lose at home, and I really have never liked Tech so that was even worse for me. Bright side? Well, we didn't roll over. Obviously we were having a bad night all around but they still fought. We'll should get everybody back in the lineup. Hey, the Sooners will ALWAYS be my team. Yea, I'd sure love another NC and I'm confident it will come. Maybe not this year. But I'll still be here. Living and dieing each week with the crimson and cream. Gawd I love Sooner football.
I agree that Landry wasn't sharp and the receivers didn't help with all the drops but those kind of things are going to happen. For me our weakness still is kicking and in the secondary. These are two things we all have talked about since the season started and they killed us again last night. No excuse for the defense giving up 10 straight points to start the fourth quarter when the offense gets it within seven.
Amen brother!! Win or lose they will always be my Team. "Sooner born, and Sooner bred....and all that!
People need to remember the 90's and put this game into perspective. Ive been through the good and the bad and this isnt bad by a long shot. The coaches need to find a way not to lay an egg every season. Hopefully they learn from this and win out. Have always and will be a Sooner.
Great points. I would really like OU to run more of a pro style offense. Beat people up in the trenches. We have gotten so soft since going strictly spread. I remember in the early 2000s when it was 3rd and 3 OU would line it up in the I and pound it for six yards. Our spread works against the crappy teams but in alot of big games it fails because it easily gets out of sync and is very predictable at times.
Normally, I wouldn't even log on for a week--too painful. But then I started thinking about the past disappointments and how I survived. I remember one of my professors at OU making fun of the fact that students would acually CRY if we lost a game. I thought--yeah--so what! I was a student during some of the "Glory Days" arriving in the Fall of 1974 and graduating in 1978. Those were great teams, but I remember Dad's Day 1975, sitting with my Dad with my feet on acual ice while we got spanked by KANSAS. I remember 1976, losing at home to the aggroids for the first time in ten years. Man, that was humiliating. I remember watching us get creamed by Arkansas in the Orange Bowl and blowing a National Title when we were favored by about three touchdowns. My husband is a University of North Carolina grad and he thinks I'm spoiled that I can remember every loss I sat through because they were so rare---and they all really hurt. I don't know why sometimes our team just has a crappy day (or night, these days), but it happens and we are still OKLAHOMA. Even after several down years in a row we always come back. I listen to the ags talk and I can't help but think--We have nearly a century of tradition as one of the elite in college football and they are the Frankenstein creation of a billionaire corporate raider. They may have their day, but history always wins out. BOOMER SOONER!
That would be me. First game I've gotten to attend this season, and I wore a new shirt for the occasion; it's all my fault, sorry. Seriously though, there aren't enough fingers to use for pointing in this loss. And as NC Sooner pointed out, OU has a history of inexplicable losses.
