OU 64, Idaho State 0: Postgame thoughts
64-0. And wasn’t that close. For a second straight year, Oklahoma dominated a FCS school in a torrential downpour. Last year it was Tennessee-Chattanooga. This year, Idaho State. Who wants to see those two square of? I’d take TC by a touchdown.
Anyway, to the Sooners.
Thoughts and observations:
* QB Landry Jones had another solid outing as Sam Bradford’s temporary replacement. Three touchdowns, all to Ryan Broyles. Those two have developed quite a rapport in one game. Time will tell if it continues against stiffer competition. But as good as Broyles was (7 catches, 155 yards, 3 TDs), the Sooners still need to develop another receiving option.
No one has stepped into this role yet. Brandon Caleb was solid against BYU, but had 2 drops vs. ISU. Dejuan Miller is yet to make an impact. Mossis Madu has yet to even really play. Adron Tennell can’t get back on the field. Cam Kenney played some, but only had 1 catch and dropped another. Jameel Owens didn’t even suit up tonight. Idaho State couldn’t stop Broyles. But teams like Miami and Texas and maybe even Tulsa will be able to shut down 1 receiver.
* The fact that Drew Allen didn’t play tonight suggests the coaches think Sam will be back soon. If the coaches felt like Sam was months away, then they would definitely be getting Allen some work as the No. 2 in case something happened to Landry this season. Not playing Allen hints that Allen won’t be the No. 2 for much longer.
* The defense totally dominated the Bengals tonight. One play sticks in my mind: Gerald McCoy trashed the Bengal interior line, trashed the QB, then Frank Alexander picked up the ball and raced into the end zone. Wasn’t even fair.
* Someone is trying to send a message to Brian Simmons. He was benched tonight in favor of Tyler Evans, a true freshmen. All the line’s problems don’t lie with Simmons. But he’s a leader, and he clearly is being held accountable for the performance of the entire unit.
Speaking of which, numerous combinations were used tonight up front. Only Trent Williams at LT and Ben Habern at C were the constants. The idea is to spark competition.
Said coach Bob Stoops, “It is going to remain competitive really every week because certain guys need to continue to play well. If you are not, we need to put someone else in there. It is going to remain competitive, as well as through practice through the week.”
* Ronnell Lewis, Marcus Trice, Jonathan Miller, Tyler Evans, Demontre Hurst and others got valuable snaps tonight. Those players will be needed as this season rolls along. Miller looked especially strong, almost rushing for 100 yards. So did Evans in his first career action.
Said Stoops, “I looked out there on defense and we had about six freshmen in there and they did a nice job. Jonathan Miller showed some excellent signs, making some explosive strong plays. Tyler Evans seemed to do a good job at guard in there. I thought they handled their situations pretty well.”
* Next up is Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane moved to 2-0 with a 44-10 win over New Mexico. In a lot of ways, Tulsa is similar to BYU. Should be a test for the Sooners and a good indicator about where the team is 2 weeks removed from the BYU loss.
Said Stoops, “Going down there two years ago we understood that you have to be prepared. They have been really explosive offensively and they are winning 11 or 12 games every year so we are aware that they are a really good football team and we have to make significant improvement this week to give ourselves a good opportunity next week.”
-JT
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
This game proved nothing. A stinker performance would have proven that the Sooners are really bad, but this game did not prove that they are good.
The O-line couldn’t get enough push against an FCS bottom-feeder to run the ball in from the two in four attempts. Other than Ryan Broyles, the receivers–different ones this week–still can’t catch the ball. Those problems are not going to fix themselves against better opponents.
I think this was more tryin to fix problems that were havin on the line. Like an actually practice vs anothr team. But the wr gotta start catchin the ball b4 next week vs tulsa. Dont underestimate them like okie st did houston. Boomer Sooner!
The Sooners dropped a spot. Guess beating a D-1AA team is not to
impressive.