Jerry Montgomery Leaving for the NFL

[BoulderSooner79]

...
We didn't go 11-2 because we fielded a terrible team with terrible coaching. We were every bit as bad as the 5 loss team we finished with and probably will be just as bad next year, if not worse, barring some kind of miracle with our offensive personnel.

The '13 squad was better, but not by that much. Fans tend to blur out the struggles from that season because of the 2 game high note on which it finished. Just like the 2 game downer finish last season causes fans to blank out the strong start. The difference between the 2 seasons almost boils down to the loss of Saunders and Colvin and the huge drop-off of the players that replaced them. That's over simplistic, but just agreeing with you that the last 2 teams were not that much different and that both seasons show that changes are needed to get OU back to an elite level. Quite a few changes have been made; I hope it's in the right direction.

[Tear Down This Wall]

The '13 squad was better, but not by that much. Fans tend to blur out the struggles from that season because of the 2 game high note on which it finished. Just like the 2 game downer finish last season causes fans to blank out the strong start. The difference between the 2 seasons almost boils down to the loss of Saunders and Colvin and the huge drop-off of the players that replaced them. That's over simplistic, but just agreeing with you that the last 2 teams were not that much different and that both seasons show that changes are needed to get OU back to an elite level. Quite a few changes have been made; I hope it's in the right direction.

This.

We were staring at going 9-3 into the 2013 bowl season until Blake Bell pulled our chestnuts out of the fire in the final moments at Stillwater. Alabama later had a colossal loss to Auburn on the final play of the Iron Bowl.

We went into the Sugar Bowl on a high, Bama on a low. And, it showed.

Our problem is that it caused our coaching staff to have a massive brain fart about the QB position. We weren't playing Alabama for the national title. And, there was a reason Bell had to finish the OU-OSU game.

Our staff ignored that and handed the starting QB job to a Practice Squad Manziel, who, really, had very few bright moments in 2013. It was stupid...but, yet, on par with what Bob Stoops and his coaching staff had become.

Blake Bell was always a better QB than Practice Squad Manziel. And, far better than The Outfielder who couldn't move us last season when Practice Squad Manziel was injured (yet again). If Stoops had any sense at all, he'd have moved Bell back to QB where he belonged last year after Practice Squad Manziel got his *** lit up by Baylor.

Stoops is now scrambling around. But, he really hasn't gotten anything with a different philosophy. We are still going to pass first and play a small defense. It's as stupid as the day is long. But, yet, we are going to tread the path until Stoops (and, hopefully, Castiglione and Boren) are shown the door.

[ddub0224]

Any rumors floating around up there about a replacement?

[graphster]

Wonder how TDTW's assessment of Bell would be if the OSU DB holds on to the INT that Bell virtually gift wrapped on the final drive. Bell scored on that final drive, but defense, the running game, and special teams won that game, not a great QB performance. We needed a return for TD, a fake field goal for TD, a goal line stand, a second half INT to even put us in position to win that game. Also, it should be noted that most of the yards on that drive came from Shepard and Saunders getting wide open, rather than Bell making miraculous throws. Saunders had his man beat by 3 steps on the TD pass. I would hope that any of our QBs could make that throw.

Bell was pretty average as both a passer and a runner, and did not have nearly as much upside or big play potential as Knight did. Which, given the lack of explosive playmakers on the outside, we badly needed to get teams to loosen up against the underneath passes and running game. Truthfully, neither were very good. There is no reason to think Bell would have done a lot better last year when we had ZERO consistent receiving threats outside of Shepard. I agree that in retrospect we would have been better to have left him as backup QB given Knight's injury issues, but he's turned himself into an NFL prospect at TE (and he would have had no chance in the NFL as a QB). So it would have ultimately been unfair to him to have him as a backup/replacement for Knight.

[ObiKaTony]

This.

We were staring at going 9-3 into the 2013 bowl season until Blake Bell pulled our chestnuts out of the fire in the final moments at Stillwater. Alabama later had a colossal loss to Auburn on the final play of the Iron Bowl.

We went into the Sugar Bowl on a high, Bama on a low. And, it showed.

Our problem is that it caused our coaching staff to have a massive brain fart about the QB position. We weren't playing Alabama for the national title. And, there was a reason Bell had to finish the OU-OSU game.

Our staff ignored that and handed the starting QB job to a Practice Squad Manziel, who, really, had very few bright moments in 2013. It was stupid...but, yet, on par with what Bob Stoops and his coaching staff had become.

Blake Bell was always a better QB than Practice Squad Manziel. And, far better than The Outfielder who couldn't move us last season when Practice Squad Manziel was injured (yet again). If Stoops had any sense at all, he'd have moved Bell back to QB where he belonged last year after Practice Squad Manziel got his *** lit up by Baylor.

Stoops is now scrambling around. But, he really hasn't gotten anything with a different philosophy. We are still going to pass first and play a small defense. It's as stupid as the day is long. But, yet, we are going to tread the path until Stoops (and, hopefully, Castiglione and Boren) are shown the door.

Bell was a below average to 'bad' qb for OU's standards. We didn't have a prayer with him as the full time starter (see Baylor 2 years ago) this is a terrible assessment. It's off base if you consider how good stoops has been with the qb position his entire tenure at OU.

[Eielson]

Any rumors floating around up there about a replacement?

Nope. TDTW is with us for the long haul.