Emails on OU-Texas: Hey fans, don’t jump
OU-Texas dominates the mail bag this week. Some liked what I wrote; others didn’t.
Craig wrote me last week, saying he was worried because OU couldn’t run the ball. Then he wrote back: “Unfortunately, I was right. All the talk was about Texas’ defensive coordinator, but it was Venables’ defense that got OU burned. Reynolds or no Reynolds, there can be no excuse for giving up nearly half a hundred in the last two big games we have played. Texas and West Virginia.”
I guess it wouldn’t be a good time to bring up that in the big game before those two, Venables’ defense held Missouri to 17 points.Jo: “Keep writing articles this week that hit on the fans’ feelings about what we witnessed Saturday. When you are at Stoops’ press conference Tuesday, throw some high hard ones, make him back away from the podium, make the hair stand up on the back of his neck and his face turn red. If fans could ask all the questions instead of the press, we’d be throwin’ some heat.”
I actually think the questions would be a lot softer, but your point is well made. Stoops has some questions to answer.Danny: “Remember you called him Big Lame Bob? I think when you make $3.5 million, you just expect to win. Do you really think when Bob and Mike first got here, they would just have accepted those out of bounds calls for roughing the quarterback? Even the announcers said this isn’t flag football. What about the interception in the end zone? Who was asleep in the booth on that one? We were out coached and outplayed. Get a speaker and drive around campus tomorrow announcing tryouts for kickoff players. Stoops, give back some of the money you are paid, because you don’t deserve it.”
Here’s the problem. Mack makes about $3M himself.Tom: “I read your take on the Heisman hopes of Sam Bradford, and while you admitted that he ‘played superb,’ you are ready to vote for Colt McCoy because his team won. That is not fair. His team did not win because he was better than Sam. So you think the Heisman should be a team award and not to the individual? So you are saying that no matter how Sam Bradford plays, if OU is not atop the rankings, he should not be recognized? It should go to the quarterback of the No. 1 team?”
I live in the world that is. Not in the world I wish existed. In this world, the quarterback of the best teams are the Heisman front-runners. Which explains why Bradford was a Heisman front-runner in the first place.Joe: “I agree UT was better than OU, but it never ceases to infuriate me that most of the atrocious officiating goes against the Sooners. Also you wrote that Robinson’s disallowed end zone interception looked like a good call as the ball came loose when he hit the ground. In all the TV replays, it appeared he had control of the ball when he hit the turf - both announcers said there was no doubt. If the ground can’t cause a fumble, how can it be a good call? I think the upstairs booth (probably pro-Longhorns) either did not watch the same replay or were too biased.”
I have no idea why this is so complicated. The ground can’t cause a fumble but it can cause an incompletion. Man, it must be awful to live in a conspiracy world.Kerry: “People have been calling OU’s offense vanilla. Today it changed flavors. Rocky road. On the fake punt, I didn’t think they should have tried it, but if Gresham (he needs to get nastier) blocks anyone at all, it probably works. Punting on 4th-and-2, ballgame over. We hadn’t been stopped Texas in awhile. I didn’t think we would after punting.”
Great point about Gresham. He was just standing around, and Knall ran right past him.Gary: “Why does OU get all this hype when they haven’t been able to run all year? Murray is a wide receiver playing running back. Calhoun should be the running back. This offensive line can pass block but doesn’t open up holes for the run. They will now be ranked where they belong. I will take USC against Texas, Oklahoma or Missouri. OU is a nice team and fun to watch on offense and I guess we should be thankful for what we have, but then it’s probably time to move forward and bring in an NFL defensive head.
I knew we would get back to Venables. But you know what? I wonder if OU will think about Jermie Calhoun? Stoops has brought a freshman out of redshirt before. Quentin Griffin was his name.Chad: “I know you get a lot of reactionary emails, so I don’t want to come off as a raving kook. But for me, USC, Boise State, Texas, Texas Tech, a couple times now, and WVU outweigh significantly the times Venables’ D has come up big in big games. Thinking back to last year’s Big 12 title game and the game in Norman, maybe it is not such a great thing to stop MU. Pinkel and Daniel seem to shrink when the pressure is on. Does this loss (to OSU) do anything to your opinion of MU, and in turn, your opinion of Venables?”
No. Good try. Missouri’s offense has been fabulous for two years straight. Daniel didn’t have a good game against OSU, but that doesn’t change how tough it is stop Mizzou. If you’re going to hold Venables to this standard, there aren’t too many d-coordinators worthy of their jobs.Lonnie: “Will OU recover and beat Kansas? Playing at home should be worth a touchdown. Where did OU’s running game go? Stoops gave up too soon on the running game. Sam and receivers did their job. Defense did not show up for the second half. If OU sucks it up, they can still play in the GAME. Who should be No. 1? Alabama?”
Yes. I would vote Bama ahead of Texas at this point. I still like OU over KU.Kent: “What is the deal with the fake punt? OU is ahead and fakes a punt. Panic. Pitiful defense performance. Murray obviously is not performing well, and the line with all the seniors is not blocking very well either.”
I actually didn’t mind the fake punt. When your offense is carrying you, I say try to avoid sending out the defense.Bob: “You know, someone really should tell that bunch of Aggies down at Norman that stupid penalties such as roughing the passer and late hits out of bounds can cost them the game. And to think that we taxpayers are paying Stoops over three million bucks per year to coach this dysfunctional team. Quite frankly, I think there is no team, only 11 independently operating units on the field.”
I didn’t know we were paying Stoops’ salary. I am outraged.Terry: “Who stopped the hurry-up calls for that more conservative play calling? Kevin Wilson? Don’t we know by now we can’t run Murray up the middle? The guy is hurt and 10 pounds heavier. Hey, OU coaches, it just doesn’t work anymore. Stop it! Was Howard Schnellenberger called back to coach special teams? All year we can’t punt, can’t defend kickoffs. Today the Longhorns came home to roost. Holey crap!. I see a 3-loss season coming. I’m gettin’ too old for this stress! Thank God, The Oklahoman is smaller these days. The Headlines won’t hurt as bad tomorrow.”
Thanks, Terry. You made me laugh out loud.Irish Tom: “Same old story. Outcoached. Outplayed. Outbid for the refs. They should forfeit the rest of the season, fire the coaches and start over. They lost a lot of recruits today.”
Tom, don’t jump.Bob: “Regardless of how well OK State played against Mizzou, both those teams are second-tier Big 12 football schools. If Nebraska and Texas A&M were up to historical standards, there would be four top quality teams in the Big 12, but they aren’t, and that leaves OU & Texas as clearly superior programs. Mizzou had a scheduling anomaly last year that made them look much better than they were, and the leftover hype from last year was carried over into this year by sports journalists.”
I don’t see it. If everyone was up to historical standards, the top five would be Notre Dame, Army, Minnesota, Yale and Navy. Things change. Oregon goes up, Mississippi goes down. No reason why Missouri and OSU can’t climb the ladder. And please, no more talk about Texas A&M’s historic status.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
let me preface with this: i am a sooner fan. people, get a grip! i know it’s a loss to a rival, but it’s just one loss. it doesn’t end a season. it sure as hell better not end a coaching career. for all the bashing of the team, i bet you all wrote in last week saying this was the best ou team ever. i can’t believe what i reading! why should stoops ever lose his job? he could lose the rest of the season and still pull in a top 10 recruiting class. sometimes you just lose. that’s why they play the games. it’s nuts to see how some of you fans react. if you’re getting this worked up over one game, i bet you reset your playstation in the middle of a madden game because of an interception! get real, or get lost!!!
As for “historical standards”, I would say Missouri is traditionally a better football school than Texas A&M. For some inexplicable reason, Missouri just fell off the map around 1983, and took a long time finding the coach that could get them back. Texas A&M had a great run of about 15 years; but Mizzou’s run the 50 years before that was much better. As for scheduling anomalies, I would say Kansas was the better beneficiary of that last year than Missouri. The Tigers I think are far more legit than the Jayhawks — and indeed are the power of the northern division, and will be for awhile. Welcome back to the ranks of the big time, Ol’ Mizzou! The OSU game only shows that Missouri may not be top 5 material, after all.