I am all knowing! Or not.

[8timechamps]

Haven’t been here in a while, but I wanted to share my thoughts on the UAB game.

1. Paul Thompson - I was impressed. I thought he looked pretty decent, and with the exception of the picks he threw, I thought the only real issue was the continuation of overthrown passes. I think that can be corrected through practice and game film. As for the picks, the only thing that sucked was that we were going in to score on both occasions. Otherwise, I for one, breathed a little easier after watching him play. And, the more I think about it, it wasn’t like we were losing Jason White. Sure, Bomar was good, and getting better. But he wasn’t the best we’ve ever had.

2. AD looked very good. He looked healthy, and more importantly, he looked like a leader. I think as long as we have a healthy AD, we can beat anyone.

3. I’m glad we had an ugly win before we step up the quality of opponent. It gives the coaching staff more to focus on, and hopefully realize where we are weak.

4. When did our tackling get so poor? With the exception of Rufus, and possibly Zach, I thought most of the success UAB had was due to poor tackling. Again, something that can be corrected.

5. Put the names back on the jerseys. Sure, I know all about the “we are a team” philosophy, but we’re not Penn State. Of course, that had nothing to do with tonight’s game.

All in all, it went just about like I thought it would. There was a time in the second quarter that I had flashbacks to the TCU game, but I never really felt like we were in danger of losing the game. Maybe I am just looking through crimson colored glasses, but I felt we stopped ourselves, not UAB stopping us.

Now, with all of that said, I have come to these conclusions:

1. UAB is not nearly as bad a team as first thought. They go on to win their conference, and we go on to great success this year.

2. UAB is a bad team, but we needed a game to adjust to the new OC, PT under center, and knocking the rust off. We get better, and go on to have great success.

3. UAB is a bad team, and the fact of the matter is that AD is the only thing that separates us from a 5 or 6 loss season.

4. Stoops had 10-12 plays he wanted to stick to tonight, knowing that Watson was going to rush home and call Mack and spill his guts. We come out and destroy Washington next week, and play in a BCS bowl.

Surely one of those four is correct…or not.

Honestly, my biggest concern right now is WHO OUR QB IS GOING TO BE NEXT YEAR. Do we recruit a stud QB that starts as a true freshman, get the best JUCO QB in the country, or throw one of the back ups to the wolves next year?

Anyway, a win is a win, and we are already better than last year. I’m happy, and looking forward to Washington next week. I am also looking forward to watching tOSU beat the hell out of colt 45.

[Flagstaffsooner]

4. Stoops had 10-12 plays he wanted to stick to tonight, knowing that Watson was going to rush home and call Mack and spill his guts. We come out and destroy Washington next week, and play in a BCS bowl.

Bingo!

[AlbqSooner]

Anyway, a win is a win, and we are already better than last year.

Indeedy! 1-0>0-1.

[TMcGee86]

Good points all around.

I agree tackling was bad, seemed like we were always pulling them forward instead of delivering blows and wrapping up. This allowed for 3-5 extra yards on every play for them. I kept shaking my head at how slippery their QB seemed and how their defenders seemed to stick to AD every time they got so much as a hand on him.

The names did bug me, much more than I thought. It just didn't look right.

And now that I am calm and look back on it, I never really had the TCU feeling either. The difference being that our line was bad last night, but not horrible like last year, and our turnovers and misses seemed more the result of rust and lack of practice than boneheaded plays or poor decisions.

Hopefully UAB is a much better team than they are ranked, and we build on this and use this as a wake up call that motivates the team to do better and look much sharper next week.

[Plano UT]

The two biggest concerns I see for you guys is the tackling and the fact UAB runs the same style offense we do with a subtantial drop off in talent.

AP is a monster. If he stays healthy, he is going to have a Ricky Williams '98 style season (unfortunatley this team reminds me of the horns of '98 that finished 9-5)

[jackietreehorn]

There's only 1....north texas

[FlatheadSooner]

The two biggest concerns I see for you guys is the tackling and the fact UAB runs the same style offense we do with a subtantial drop off in talent.

AP is a monster. If he stays healthy, he is going to have a Ricky Williams '98 style season (unfortunatley this team reminds me of the horns of '98 that finished 9-5)

The difference is that Bob Stoops is OUr coach. Like last season, we can expect a steep learning curve and BCS bowl type performance by end of season. Stoops = higher standards than Whorns.

[douxpaysan]

There's only 1....north texas

didn't tulsa beat them 54-2 last year?

[SoonerAtKU]

UAB runs the same style offense we do with a subtantial drop off in talent.

I had no idea Texas switched to a T and a triple-option attack. You learn something new every day...

[tbl]

I had glimpses of TCU in the 3rd quarter... Fortunately it looks like the guys on the field did too, and took the necessary steps to fix it.

[GottaHavePride]

I had no idea Texas switched to a T and a triple-option attack. You learn something new every day...

Heh. That comment was just ignunt.

[BermudaSooner]

I had no idea Texas switched to a T and a triple-option attack. You learn something new every day...

you beat me to that. 'spek.

[soonercody]

There's only 1....north texas

[sooneron]

Good to hear from you again, 8X!!

I think most of our issues can be overcome. I think it will be more gradual than some would like, but we should be getting pretty solid by that certain weekend in Oct.

The DT position is a little problematic. I hope the young'uns can start to step it up and pressure the Pendleton/Coleman to get it together. DJ had a pretty bad game, but maybe that was adjustments to being sucked into the play action and running game that uab implemented.
I think tackling will improve- it was a wet day was it not? That may have impacted the drops and missed tackles.

PT exceeded my expectations . He wasn't all world, but he seemed to progress through the reads more than a year ago. I'm a little concerned with his throwing style on the longer routes, the ball sails on him- the spiral doesn't turn over and drop in the way it should. Of course, the deep crossing routes are supposedly the most difficult, it's not like a long streak route where you can put it up and let the receiver run under it. I was pleased with Paul nonetheless.
I'll probably have more insightful stuff after I watch the game again. Tough to come away with any conclusions clearly when you're having buckets of beers with over 100 other NY Sooners.

[westcoast_sooner]

My impressions of the game.

1. PT played well. KW kept it simple for PT. He'll get better hitting his receivers in the next couple of weeks. I think the overthrows was just first game jitters and excitement. He missed an open Malcolm Kelly for an easy TD just before overthrowing one to Jaquin and getting it picked.
2. D didn't play as advertised. This should be the best D in the country. When UAB was running all that option stuff, I thought about the A&M game last year when that McGee kid came in and sliced us up a bit. I think in both cases, the D simply hadn't prepared for an option attack.
3. Joe Jon can be a big factor this year. He was open.
4. 4 turnovers are just killers for an offense. I'm sure that all that will be discussed this week during practice and film sessions.
5. The WRs need to get better.
6. O-Line didn't play particularly well, but showed a little attitude and started opening a few holes. They gave PT time to throw most of the evening. They'll get better.
7. Reggie Smith looked great. Jermaine Gresham caught one, and he'll be more careful with the ball from now on.

Overall, I think that we'll see a lot of improvement - nothing that can't be corrected. The game may not have been pretty, but still goes in the W column. Glad we got this one.