Clemson: Venables vs. Stoops Bros

[Tear Down This Wall]

How long do we hang on to Mike if Clemson shuts us down? I don't think Bob fires his own brother. But, if we are shut down and Clemson runs us ragged, do either of the Stoops brothers have the balls to take a long look at Montgomery and Kish, then decide to fire either one or both of them?

Also, this Bobby Jack Wright coaching the secondary...can we please, please, please move him back to coaching DEs? He's never been a great secondary coach with us, okay? We've had DEs, however, have great careers while he was the DE coach. Please, move BJW back to coaching DEs. Maybe allowing Montgomery to focus only on DTs would help our line. Maybe. At minimum, we'd get better, more consistent production from the DEs.

The offensive side of the ball, what a mess. No one on the roster can complete a pass. The receivers not named Shepherd can't get open. And, the running backs not named Perine can't run for more than a yard or two when we need one stinking first down to close out a game.

Senior-laden offense line. Disgusting. This is what Bedenbaugh does with an offensive line having four seniors and junior? We get the ball three times inside of 6:50 left in the game with a 14 point lead and can't make one single first down?

What is this garbage? If we cannot move the ball in the bowl game with this set of offensive linemen, what possible justification is there for keeping Bedenbaugh?

Why, why, why do you hire offensive line coaches with ties to Mike Leach and his idiot, gimmicky offense that has yet to produce a conference title anywhere? Go get the OL coach from Stanford or the guy from Michigan State. Surely, we can outspend Stanford and Michigan State.

[rock on sooner]

There are some good questions in that post.

[Tear Down This Wall]

There are some good questions in that post.

And, look, after 16 year, these are questions that shouldn't have to be asked. But, Stoops...I can't wrap my head around what he is doing.

It's like when Texas and Mack Brow hired that goofy Manny Diaz. The guy had coached one season with a BCS school and the rest with road bumps like Middle Tennessee.

It's what we did when we brought on Kish, Montgomery, and Bedenbaugh. These guys were not coming from championship programs with great head coaches.

Does our athletic director not have anymore sense than to just rubber stamp anyone Bob Stoops says to hire? I understand not getting in the head coaches' way. But...doesn't anyone up there have a clue about who is being hired?

[olevetonahill]

There are some good questions in that post.

He lost me with the 1st one!

How long do we hang on to Mike if Clemson shuts us down?

WTF does Mike have to do with out Offense gettin shut down?

[Tear Down This Wall]

He lost me with the 1st one!

WTF does Mike have to do with out Offense gettin shut down?

Should have had this in the first sentence instead of the third: "...if we are shut down and Clemson runs us ragged..." Was thinking it.

The way out offense played, I have not doubt that Dabo and Brent are salivating. But, I also have nightmares about yet another back up quarterback - which is what I think Clemson is down to as well - torching our D.

[Eielson]

The answer is no to all of these questions.

Except maybe Kish. He might be the fall guy.

[BoulderSooner79]

Stanford is a private school with a bank account that rivals Harvard for the largest in the country. They may not choose to spend it on football, but could break the OK taxpayer if they did.

[KantoSooner]

So, TDTW, since you seem to have a raging boner for Montgomery, do us all the privilege of sharing your insight. Gift us with details of what is wrong with our defensive line play. Details, not generalities. Considering that he and Bedenbaugh appear to be outrecruiting the rest of the coaches combined, I'd be thrilled to know why you want to run him out of town.

[Tear Down This Wall]

Oklahoma:

3rd Down Conversion, defense: ranked 51st nationally
First Downs Allowed: 50th nationally
Red Zone Defense: 68th nationally
Sacks: 44th nationally
Tackle For Loss: 55th nationally
Turnovers Gained: 67th nationally...but for Zack Sanchez's 6 picks, this would be one of the worst defense for gaining turnover in the country. Take out Sanchez, and we'd be ranked 115th.

[Tear Down This Wall]

It doesn't matter how you slice it. Our linemen are not getting to the quarterback. They aren't disrupting. They aren't "holding their gaps" and letting LBs and safeties come storming through to make big plays as they did in seasons before.

Montgomery came from a very mediocre Michigan, and he isn't setting it on fire here. If Montgomery stays, Stoops needs to move Bobby Jack Wright back to coaching DEs so that there is an adult responsible for at least half of the defensive line.

We are wasting what little line talent we have with Montgomery being in charge of the whole thing.

[swardboy]

Does Bobby Jack have experience coaching DE's in the 3-4 scheme. I honestly don't know. It would seem to be a whole different creature than a 4-3.

[Tear Down This Wall]

Does Bobby Jack have experience coaching DE's in the 3-4 scheme. I honestly don't know. It would seem to be a whole different creature than a 4-3.

Well, whatever experience he does or doesn't have in the 3-4, why would we assume after all of his decades of coaching and getting DEs to perform that he'd somehow just not be able to grasp the 3-4?

I mean, he grew up, went to college, and coached in Texas until 1999. Yes, this OU gig he took in 1999 is his first and only foray outside of the Lone Star State...and, he's made it a doggone good one!

From the mid-60s to 1998, I'm sure Bubby Jack saw tons of film with 5-2 and 3-4 defenses, as they were all the rage in the 70s and part of the 80s, when Oklahoma in college and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the pros were dominating with them. Whatever is successful at the highest levels does tend to trickle down.

My guess is, whatever defensive it is you want to run, Bobby Jack has likely seem some form of it over his six decades of playing and coaching college football.

[Tear Down This Wall]

And, on top of that, who says we should stick with the 3-4 anyway? We aren't smashing anyone outside of the Louisiana Techs of the world with it anyway.

[Eielson]

It doesn't matter how you slice it. Our linemen are not getting to the quarterback. They aren't disrupting. They aren't "holding their gaps" and letting LBs and safeties come storming through to make big plays as they did in seasons before.

Montgomery came from a very mediocre Michigan, and he isn't setting it on fire here. If Montgomery stays, Stoops needs to move Bobby Jack Wright back to coaching DEs so that there is an adult responsible for at least half of the defensive line.

We are wasting what little line talent we have with Montgomery being in charge of the whole thing.

3-4 DE's are supposed to be bigger, and primarily run stoppers.

We're top 10 against the run.

[BoulderSooner79]

I find the takeaway stats to be the most shocking and disappointing. A defense can give up yardage if it is making the big negative plays that change the game. We were supposed to be a good pressure defense this year.

[Eielson]

I find the takeaway stats to be the most shocking and disappointing. A defense can give up yardage if it is making the big negative plays that change the game. We were supposed to be a good pressure defense this year.

The one talented player in our secondary is catching passes like he's our #2 WR.

[BoulderSooner79]

The one talented player in our secondary is catching passes like he's our #2 WR.

1) That's not saying much
2) Did he do it against TCU, KSU or Baylor?

[Tear Down This Wall]

3-4 DE's are supposed to be bigger, and primarily run stoppers.

We're top 10 against the run.

And, in a conference full of spread/pass-based offenses, this means what?

We are 115th in passing yards allowed. Opposing QBs are having plenty of time to make their reads against us. I don't think we were ever ranked 115th in pass defense with the tandem of Jackie Shipp coaching DTs and Bobby Jack coaching DEs. Our 4-3 against spreads was pretty good in that era of Mizzou's Chase Daniels, Mike Leach's Tech, and Gundy's Oklahoma State.

I'd drop the 3-4 altogether and get back to pressuring QBs the way we used to.

It's one of the mindsets about young/early-Stoops Bros. that I miss, the "our defense will dictate what an offense does, not the other way around." We are far, far away from that. Like I said before, they've lost that edge where, as George W. used to say, they were "the deciders." Letting opposing OCs be the deciders is not the way we used to win.

[Eielson]

1) That's not saying much
2) Did he do it against TCU, KSU or Baylor?

He had interceptions in 6 different games. It's not like he got 4 against LTech. The blame for lack of turnovers lies elsewhere, and like I said, they aren't very talented (with the exception of the true freshmen who played half the season). Much like our WR's, I'd be shocked if our secondary wasn't dramatically better next year.

[Eielson]

And, in a conference full of spread/pass-based offenses, this means what?

...that the other 8 guys need to do their job.