Picking up the pieces post BYU
In lieu of a practice report, which basically would consist of a rewrite of Jermaine Gresham’s season-ending knee surgery, I’ve decided to break down OU’s current state of affairs following the Norman debacle that has been the last seven days.
Someone today was discussing Kevin Wilson’s startling comments last week about Brody Eldridge being as good as Jon Cooper. My first thought was, that was last week? It feels like a month ago. That’s how much has happened since. Injuries to two major stars. An opening loss to BYU. A line in disarray. A team looking for answers.
Those answers won’t come immediately. But much is still achievable this season. Much is also losable.
Traditionally, Bob Stoops teams with their backs to the wall respond. 2005. 2006. 2008 after Texas. Will the 2009 Sooners respond, too? Or will they falter?
Best case
Believe it or not, the opportunity remains for this team to still reach all of its goals. Big 12 title. BCS game. National title . That talk seems a little unreasonable, considering the product OU trotted out there last weekend. Still, we’re talking best case here.
OU’s remaining schedule is tough. Miami on the road looks like a bear of a game. Both Texas and Oklahoma State are in the Top 5 now. Kansas and Nebraska are both ranked. Baylor is a sleeper. So is Texas Tech.
All of those games appear to be losable games. A lot more losable today than they appeared seven days ago. But all of those games, especially with Sam Bradford at the helm, are all winnable, too. Thing is, as unrealistic as it may seem today, if OU runs the table, the Sooners are probably in the national title game. How many teams will be able to say they beat a pair of Top 5 teams? And in that scenario, OU’s lone loss, to BYU, would be a good one. And if you’re going to lose, lose early. And if you’re going to lose early, lose to someone good.
It’s probably hard to internalize right now. But all of the above is possible.
Now, worst case
OU has six losable games remaining, not counting Baylor or Tulsa. If this team plays the way offensively they did against BYU, it’s not out of the world this team goes 6-6. What has been overlooked is that OU’s future opponents finished the opening weekend 10-1. The lone loser? Idaho State.
This much is certain: OU better get its act together before going to Miami, because that team can play.
A brutal schedule may be too much for this team to overcome.
Other thoughts/predictions/notes:
* Here is your starting offensive line Sat.: Williams, Simmons, Habern, Good, Jones, with Eldridge at tight end. Brandon and FR Tyler Evans coming off the bench in relief.
* Eldridge graded out better than any other o-lineman coaches said today. Isn’t it a little scary that a tight end playing center for only a month graded out better on blocking assignments than the linemen who had been playing there their whole careers? What’s scarier, Eldridge won’t be playing on the line anymore.
* Here are your starting WRs: Broyles, Caleb, Dejuan Miller. To keep his job, Adron Tennell has a lot to show, both in on-field production and off-field leadership. Someone (Cam Kenney? Jaz Reynolds? Miller? Tennell?) from this unit has got to step for this team to have a chance, especially with Gresham being out for the year. The performance of the WRs Sat. was overshadowed by the OL. But make no mistake, this unit was as disappointing.
* The play OU was going to run to open the game was some sort of Wildcat play; the play OU was going to run in the 4th Q at the 1 was Chris Brown off tackle to the right. Neither play made it to the light of day, of course, because of penalties (false start, delay of game).
* By Big 12 play, Demontre Hurst will be a regular contributor to the defense at CB. This kid is going to be a star.
* Trivia question: Which three subs played on defense? The answer: FS Marcus Trice, DT Cordero Moore, DE Frank Alexander (as far as I saw). The defense needs some depth to emerge.
-JT
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Comments
1976- coming off back-to-back NC years, OU lost back-to-back Big 8 games to Colorado and OSU (to OSU IN NORMAN, no less!). Those of us who were students at the time thought the world was surely coming to an end. Injury plagued, the Sooners rallied, beat Nebraska, tied for the conf. crown and won the Fiesta Bowl.
Let’s not forget this…..Nate Hybl won the starting job and then Jason White came off the bench to lead us to a win over Texass. We thought the world ended when Bomar was booted. Paul Thompson did pretty damn good. Sam was not highly recruited and has been FANTASTIC. Landry was highly recruited and has had a year of redshirt to learn the offense. Will he be Sam? Nobody knows. But we have a history of the back up doing a good job. I am going to hope for the best and not be a gloom and doom type of guy. Let’s go whoop up on Idaho State, then the crowd will need to be lOUd and prOUd against Tulsa to help get the “W”. Then we will send the guys off with our best wishes and hope they beat the Canes to start the Legend of Landry Jones. BOOMER SOONER!!!
As a BYU grad and die-hard BYU fan, I cannot help but be impressed with the class of OU fans, players and coaching staff. OU has won me over. (Unless BYU is playing). OU has a great program. Hope Bradford is back soon.
Oklahoma has 6 big 12 Championship. How many big 12 schools can say that. I support the Players and Bob Stoops and all the coaching staff. We will bounce back from this lost and show the sports world why we deserve another shot a National Championship. BOOMER SOONER FOR LIFE !!!!!!!!!!!
im
just tired of all the B S these rankings dont mean sh t
right now so cowboys u better live it up . you wont last long
Quote from Jake’s story: “I’ve decided to breakdown OU’s current state of affairs.”
Hey Jake, when you decide to become a journalist let us know. Breakdown is one word when used as a noun or adjective. When used as a verb, as you did here, it is two words. Basic Jour 101, at least where I went to school.
I think the weekend can be surmised by saying it was the worst case scenario. BYU was too well coached to be a pushover & OU was to shell shocked to do much back. Sloppy play led to poor offense, led to confident BYU defense & I would like to hope this is the worst we will see. It was a perfect storm & BYU deserved to win.
No excuses, but I am telling you I have been to every Big 12 stadium, bowl games & some SEC games. I have never had such a hard time finding the play clock, watching the refs & understanding what was going on in a game. It was very ragged & disruptive, except of course on that BYu drive when there were no penalties, time outs or tv timeouts or injuries. The play clock was nearly impossible to see from where I was sitting.
The true heart of this team will come to light over the next set of games. We will see if these players see this as an opportunity to excel or opportunity to fail. Hopefully they can focus and block out all the negative junk that is being spewed out in the press and in these blogs. It is bad that Bradford and Gresham have been injured and that Gresham is out for the season. The team must put Saturday night’s game behind them and move forward to correct their mistakes. The capabilities are there, it is up to the players and coaches to turn the possibility into reality.
That 1985 comparison is a good one. Just one thing. Some “kids” don’t realize that Jamelle Holieway might have been the best to ever run the option, and I mean including the great Steve Davis and Jack Mildren, Thomas Lott, and JC Watts. Holieway was great like in Bosworth great, which he was, at OU, that year, and Aikman hadn’t come into his own yet, although a strike from about the 30 yard line to Keith Jackson in the corner, TD … I looked at my cousin and said, “whoa, that kid is something special, got an arm like I’ve never seen around here.” Then he suffered his injury. Landrey Jones has a thousand miles to go to be Jamelle Holieway, and truth be know, the 85 Sooners were more suited for Jamelle than Aikman in the first place. Also, Holieway could pass accurately when he had too, especially on the run and rolling out, he was a truly unbelievable player. Moreoever, that team had a monster defense, stuffing a very good OSU team in the “ice bowl.” So the analogy might be a stretch. The Canes look impossible unless OU has all cylinders firing.
congrat to BYU, they played hard and were very well coached,they were very classy fans before and after the game.
Jake, I want to be optimistic but everyone saying we can (or still deserve) still play for a National Championship is silly. We are at that place when coaches say “Our next game is our biggest game”. I would look to see how good/silly we look against Idaho St. and then I would see if we lose to Tulsa at home, and then I would see if we get slapped by Miami…
You get the point.
Drink the Kool-Aid Jake,
I would like to see the scenario where an undefeated Boise and/or BYU, or an undefeated USC, or a one loss Notre Dame get passed over by a one loss OU to play Florida for a BCS championship. Especially if BYU beats Florida State.
Sooner Magic has been exposed as smoke and mirrors in national championship games. The writers and the coaches are tired of OU and Ohio State stinking up the big game. No more passes.
Well, it should be fun playing the underdog role for a change…hopefully the mentality will change, because everything else is there…just need to flip the switch between the ears.
Sam and Jermain chose to come back, so Bob says, those are the breaks.
Life goes on. There was no offense before Sam went out and none after.
No defense to step up and take charge for the offense.
Let’s think positively and remember the day Troy Aikman broke his leg, we lost the game, and won the National Championship! It can be done! That’s being really really positive. It’s hard to believe that Troy Aikman was replaced on an OU Team!