Comments on: Emptying the notebook: Sooners red zone exploration

By: judge

judge — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 00:00:12 +0000

When the fans at the game know whats being called before it run, thats bad. No imagination in the red-zone. If they don’t score from outside the 20, warm up Honnecut. When you’re inside the 10, handing the ball off 4-5 yds. deep in the backfield with 9 in the box and no offensive line to hold penetration, you’re dead in the water before the running back gets the handoff. How can you be rated #3 if you have to kick FG’s numerous times in side the 20 or fail to string well played games together? Put a defense on the field that gives up TD’s on busted plays and KO’s. Make one of the worst teams in Div 1 look like a top 20 team? Finch is back in sync., needs more snaps. He’s the only back with moves.

By: David

David — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:54:53 +0000

Whatever happened to the three back set that was used last year. As I recall it was effective. Put Whaley, Millard, and Finch I the backfield and you have tons of options. Overall I say that the coaches are doing a great job. They really don’t need our armchair help but a few suggestions never hurt.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:48:25 +0000

Something needs to be done. I have watched a lot of other teams in the red zone this year. Teams like Clemson use a lot of motion. They send a slot receiver across the backfield. This causes the defense to shift. If they don’t pick up the motion then they throw the ball. If the defensive backs move then they run up the middle. It seems to work for a lot of teams. If you notice OU never sends a receiver in motion across the formation. I think it is just a mindset by the coaches. It is something they just don’t do. OU likes to line up and see how the defense lines and makes the call based on that. They don’t like motion to create plays.

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:30:31 +0000

Travis, I asked Barry for this article. Didn’t know he was going to farm it out, but you did a great job digging all the stats out. Very interesting and informative- great write.

Based on this info, how does Landry’s reads in the GG situation compare with Sam’s? Hummmm!

Keep up the good work.

By: Jack Cowardin

Jack Cowardin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:34:50 +0000

The scenario is really getting old – red zone TDs. It goes back to Bradford vs Florida NC game. Can you say ‘PREDICTABLE’
C’mon. Come up with some new plays, even gimmicks. Any good team (in our future) can easily prepare for OU’s red zone attack, or lack thereof.

This team is so close to being great. Fix the kickoff coverage (like you did the punts, going out of bounds), new red zone plays, and keep the end arounds contained on D and this team beats all.

By: calvin simson

calvin simson — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 01:37:41 +0000

Man i can’t believe Barry Switzer putting in his 2 cents worth. KOOL

Damn redzone – couple of months ago media was whining about couldn’t kick a fg.

If they hadda scored 6 everytime they would be scrutinized for running it up on people.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:14:44 +0000

How about an article about OU being #1 in the nation in red zone defense, Noob?!?!

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:11:50 +0000

I suggest someone forward this article/information to the OU football coaches, as obviously we know more then they do.

By: Roger

Roger — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:54:44 +0000

As Coach Heupel said about the red zone offense, “…. a major point of emphasis. It needs to be better for us moving forward.” He’s right, they will need to improve if they want to contend for a NC. At the present time OU scores a TD 56% of the time from the red zone. An opposing defense has to like their odds, which are nearly 50%, for holding the #3 team in the nation to a FG! Overall, I do like Coach Heupel’s play calls but I just can’t understand why they don’t throw more to the tight ends in the red zone.

By: Jim in NC

Jim in NC — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:17:05 +0000

Wow, great job putting this info together, but it tells me what I already knew, almost zero utilization of the Tight End. TE scoring was huge in the Redzone in 08 (not sure of the actual numbers but I seem to remember it happening at least once a game), dare I say it was almost automatic.