Tilting at Windmills

Another mid October saturday at the Cotton Bowl, another colossal kick to the Sooner nuts.  Really proud of the team and effort we rolled out though so let’s take a look at it.  You could argue that this is the 1st big game in a while, against comparable opposition, where we outcoached the other team.  Venables and Stoops had Greg Davis in a familiar position (the fetal one) for all of the 1st half and parts of the 2nd with a fantastic defensive scheme that was more than good enough to win this game.  Any time the defense holds the other team to under 17 points and you fail to win – the offense has failed.  Anyone who saw the game would agree with this conclusion.

Offense

OL – It all starts up front and this is our main problem as this unit is in shambles.  Can’t run block, can’t effectively pass block so we will continue to struggle here.  Moving Eldridge to the LG spot was an epic fail.  Look we all know Brody’s a good kid – he’s tough, has great technique, etc etc..but he weighs 265 and he’s going against 300 pound DT’s.  That just doesn’t work – the kid has never played OL before this season, why do we think it’s going to work now.  Not having Brian Simmons hurt.  Everything else broke down consistently in this game, thus the negative totals in rushing and the constant pressure on the QB.  This problem isn’t going anywhere folks – we obviously have some depth and talent issues on the OL that could cause us some big problems not just this year but in the future.  We need juco help.  We have a huge and talented OL class committed to us.  This group must pan out or our deficiencies here will continue.  Between Wilson and Patton, I’m not sure who is running the OL but what we’re doing isn’t working.  We foolishly thought coming into this year that UT’s rebuilt interior DL would be a weakness we could exploit – we were wrong.

RB – Good in the passing game, nice games there from Murray and Brown.  No room for either to run.  The “pistol” formation was interesting in theory, but it didn’t work and may have caused the mishandled handoff from Jones to Murray resulting in our 3rd fumble of the 1st half (this one in scoring position). 

WR – OK day for the WR’s – we threw the ball nearly 50 times because of an inability to run and there were no glaring errors here and drops like against Baylor.  My main issue with this group is personnel.  Cam Kenney is by all accounts a good dude, hustles, good speed, etc..I’m not sure the guy is a D1 talent WR though.  He continues to have drops and is not physical enough to play outside.  Dejuan Miller/Jaz Reynolds who played extensively against Baylor got very little if any playing time.  Adron Tennell made 1 nice catch and was never heard from again.  Miller/Tennell are our 2 most physically gifted WR’s and both over 6’4.  Why are we throwing jump balls to Kenney at 5’11 that he drops  bounce off his head when we could be throwing it to those guys? Norvell said that Miller didn’t play because Broyles was back in the lineup.  Broyles had 1 nice play, but was a decoy most of the time.  I’m not a coach but to me our best WR lineup is Caleb-Broyles-Miller/Tennel and then Kenney in a 4 wide set.  Let’s maximize the talent we do have.

QB – Face it folks, Sam’s shoulder wasn’t fully healed and he was never going to make it through this game.  One would have hoped he’d make it more than 2:48 into the 1st quarter but not so.  The way he fell was almost identical to the BYU hit.  The dude is snakebit – feel bad for him.  Would he have made a difference in the game? Absolutely, I don’t think he throws the 2 late picks and he makes enough plays for us to win.  LJ came in and played like a freshman.  Put some nice throws together, but the back to back picks late in the game can’t happen – both terrible throws that will get you beat every time.   Just a really rough game overall offensively, give Texas D credit – they are a solid unit.  Their coach is an overhyped douchebag but he has them playing well.  Credit to Mack for nutting it up a couple years ago and paying this guy $1 million per year after the string of 50 point beatdowns courtesy of Stoops.   I don’t put a lot of this on Wilson, I thought the play calling was adequate and he is obviously a little hamstrung when LJ is out there as opposed to Sam.  Sam+Gresham = a 2 TD victory for us in this game with the way the D played, I truly believe that – and we might still be undefeated as well.

Defense

Greg Davis is awesome.  I hope he never leaves.  He once again got bitchslapped but we just didn’t have the horses on O to exploit it (which makes what happened last year all the more unexplainable).  BV and Stoops devised a great plan of never before seen blitzes, different personnel groupings and solid tactics to completely stifle the Horn offense virtually all day.  1st half defense was an absolute thing of beauty.

DL – very solid day.  McCoy was an animal and backed up his promise.  His unit was ready to win this game and did all they could.  He and Taylor got a little winded due to lack of rotation in the 2nd half as usual but held up and finished strong.  Great day also from Beal and English who each registered a sack.

LB – best day our LB’s have had this year.  TLewis was a beast, Reynolds played well and his 3rd down stop in the 3rd quarter was huge.  When TX went 4 wide he came out for another safety Joseph Ibiloye.  A great move by the coaches due to RR’s documented problems covering the over the middle stuff and RR rewarded them with a hell of a day against the run.  He is a great leader and great Sooner – bottom line.  Only sore spot here was 2 dropped pick 6′s from Clayton.  Just 1 of those may have been the difference.  KC was in good position all day.

DB – also a very solid day here.  Franks/Jackson were solid.  Jackson came up huge again even after getting hurt.  He now has INT’s in 4 straight games dating back to Tulsa.  His INT in this game should have been a game changer but for a great tackle by McCoy.  Jon Nelson came in and played safety in obvious passing situations, replacing Carter and/or Proctor.  Nelson is obviously proficient in coverage and coaches are trying to get him on the field – another good move.  TX had 127 yards passing, Shipley had 4 catches for 22 yards – you tell me that before the game and I think we probably win. 

5 turnovers is inexcusable especially the nature of the 2 special teams fumbles by Franks and Madu.  Amazingly those only cost us 3 points – another credit to the D. 

Overall, great day for the defense but it must be said that TX offense is broken.  It misses Quan Cosby and is not championship caliber.  Their OL sucks – while not as bad as ours due to inexperience, this experience group should be better and it’s not.  This may not hurt them in the watered down big 12 this year but they won’t win an NC with that offense.  They have already faced the best defense they will all year unless they make it to Pasadena and they didn’t pass the test.  Florida or Bama would bitchslap the unit they threw out there on Saturday and both have more competent offenses at this point than OU.  McCoy’s not what he was last year but the OL problems and lack of playmakers outside Shipley will do that.  His pick 6 streak should have been kept alive numerous times.  He was responsible for both of UT’s turnovers.  UT had better not lose because guess what – the computers hate their guts – as they should.  Wyoming, ULALA and Rice will do that to you , as will the lack of highly ranked teams in the big12.  An OSU win over them in Stoolwater (their only remaining roadblock) might derail their Pasadena hopes – we can only hope. 

We’re the best 3-3 team in the country, without a doubt.  Sweet.

As always comments are appreciated and like last week will be integrated into the final ballot

Others receiving consideration:

Nebraska: you cannot lose at home to Texas Tech by double digits and not be punished.

South Carolina: Needed to have put up a better fight versus Bama to be ranked.

Oklahoma: Beat KU and I might think about ranking OU. The fact that OU is ranked in the AP poll shows how mediocre the Top 25 is after the top 13 or so.

With an OU win on Saturday, the folksy (some would say hayseed) excuse-generator and master-clapper Mack Brown would be a sterling 5-8 against Oklahoma (4-7 against Stoops).

Nobody loses if you just try real hard, Mack.

As we know, the OU-TX game defines not only players and seasons, but coaches. Gary Gibbs wasn’t an awful coach, but OU standards in the 90s, but he couldn’t fucking beat Texas to save his life, going a putrid 1-5 against them.

The King was 9-5-2 against Texas, including being undefeated against DKKKR, but a three-game losing streak in the early 80s set off some short-sighted rumblings.

Mack’s already a legend at UT since he produced the first national championship many whorn fans have seen in their lifetimes (tell your kids to wait long enough, they may see one, too!). His losing record against OU, which will remain a losing record no matter what happens on Saturday, is also legendary since you have to go back 50 years before you find another UT coach who is so hapless at winning in the Cotton Bowl in October.

To wit:

John Mackovic, 3-2-1
David MacWilliams, 3-2
Fred Akers, 5-5-1
DKR, 12-7-1*

* Royal was 0-5-1 once he had to start letting black players use the same facilities as whites

So congratulations, Texas. Looks from here that you fired some quality coaches in MacWilliams and Mackovic (I almost got that out with a straight face) and instead hired somebody who more times than not will find a way to fuck up the biggest game of the year.

Look, by now no one probably needs an in depth preview and analysis of the annual war tomorrow in the Cotton Bowl.  If you’re like me, you’re tired of reading about it already and ready to get it on.  Me? I had some employment obligations today (friggin work) and it’s killing me.  I’ve already yelled at my assistant twice, ate too much at lunch causing my already queasy stomach to feel even worse, and am looking at the clock every 2.4 seconds wondering if it’s time for the best weekend of the year to start. 

Piss off, it's OU-TX weekend.

Truly, it is my favorite weekend of the year but the stress levels that accompany it make me wonder why I look forward to it.  Usually, Friday afternoon lunch is about the last time my butterfly ridden stomach will accept food (if you don’t count cold beer as food) and with the customary 1100 start in recent years my body is usually an energy drained, dehydrated, cotton mouthed wreck on saturday morning and the 4 hours of the game only cause these symptoms to exacerbate themselves.  Combine that with beer and fried shit after the game and I calculate that every OU/TX weekend takes an average of 4.5 years off my life.  But it is what it is - if your blood bleeds crimson and I thank God mine does, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Being a sooner born, sooner bred Oklahoman living in the lone star state makes it even worse, any Texas Sooner can tell you that.  The annual bitch slap they received from 2000-2004 and the glorious BCS computers’ brilliance of last year (.9351-.9223 BITCHES!) has generally woke the legions of freshly purchased at the neighborhood Valero store UT T shirt fans up and scores of people that have never stepped foot on the 40 acres have staked state pride to the annual showdown in the Cotton Bowl.  It’s their right and I understand it but these people really should be buying UTEP and UTSA t shirts instead – the elitist arrogant constituency in Austin really doesn’t want you,  hard working day laborer, believe me they turn their nose down at you…unless their yard needs mowing.  Alas, UTEP and UTSA don’t get on TV much so there that goes out the window. 

What's going to be the excuse this time, Mack?

As for the game – I don’t think it’s a huge secret what our issues are and what we need to do to win this game.  UT is a good team but they have their flaws and have played virtually no one yet.  Each team this week will be seeing the best defense the other has seen all year.  For us, Miami’s D was comparable at least speed wise.  Miami is as good or better than UT in their front 4 but not as good in their back 7.  UT has seen nothing even remotely close to what we will bring on defense.  Our front 4 should cause their overrated OL some problems, I would like to see BV rotate the tackles a little bit in the game to keep McCoy and Taylor fresh for the 4th quarter but we’ll see.  That hasn’t been happening all year – loss of Granger hurting here and an obvious lack of confidence in guys like Cordero Moore and Stacey McGee.  It makes you miss the solid contributors in the rotation like Corey Bennett and Steve Coleman.. it’s a dead horse but a solid game for the LB’ers – Reynolds and TLewis need to be solid and Clayton will most likely play a big role in passing plays over the middle and tackling in space.  We all know Shipley is a stud and Dan Buckner – their hybrid WR/TE could give us some problems.  I think Keenan Clayton shows up in a big way – in my opinion he’s one of our unsung heroes on D this year, along with Sam Proctor and Brian Jackson.  I feel good about our 2ndary limiting them from big plays down the field, we must get pressure and tackle well in space.  Their running game is an absolute joke and they have no one on the level of a Javarris James so without significant breakdowns that shouldn’t be an issue. 

G.K. McCoy has said that he wants this game to be put in the D’s hands – that they’re ready.  Considering that critical stops late in close ball games have been an issue lately – I hope he’s right, that might be what it comes down to.  Everyone has probably seen the stat that the team who ran the ball better has won each of the last 10 games (or since Stoops took over) so….

Offense.  As mentioned, UT is much improved on defense bolstered by some solid linebacking by R. Muckelroy and some freakishly good talent in the secondary led by safety Earl Thomas.  Their front 4, thought to be a liability coming in has been solid but again has played no one who tried to efficiently run the ball on them, save CU but CU is not a good football team this year.  So there you go – we need to run the football effectively – problem? Yea – there’s a few.  An inexperienced OL missing it’s second most experienced player (Simmons) is not exactly what you want going up against Baylor, much less the horns.  Williams-Good-Habern-Jeffries/Evans – Jones will need to elevate their play to a level we have not seen yet this year.  Can they do it? We’ll see. 

Dignified scribes have said that if we rush for or more than 150 yards we should win this game.  DeMarco Murray/Chris Brown are capable – but they must be given the space.  Murray is poised for a huge game, in the backfield or slot – 25-30 touches is imperative for him as he is as healthy and in form as he’s ever been.

Put another 6 on the board.

All that and not 1 mention of the Sammy Heisman – he will be fine – this shit is old hat for him –  but he must be kept upright and be kept clear of # 2 in orange – the dirty, helmet to helmet hittin, DWI gettin, apartment complex destroyin Sergio Kindle.  The receivers must catch the ball when it inevitably hits them in the hands in space.  Caleb, Miller, TENNELL, someone could step up and be a hero. 

Special teams just need to continue what they have been doing all year – much better this year in that regard but danger is lurking against TX here.  KR DJ Monroe is dangerous and Shipley has returned a punt in damn near every game this year.  His KO return hurt us bad last year – with our deficiencies in other places that can not happen again.

McCoy and Shipley whistled for a fashion foul!

That’s it for me – I’m losing my train of thought really easily right now and I think I’m gonna throw up for the 1st time this weekend.  And no – Mom, wife, insert family member here…it’s not just a game – it’s friggin OU/Texas!

I like us by around a field goal and think McCoy gets his wish – and the D finally comes good with that big stop at the end of the game.

Boomer.

Practice note from today’s Austin American-Statesman.

Gamesmanship or a target?

Colt McCoy was gimpy Tuesday about an hour after practice ended. He favored his left leg as he walked about 50 yards from the locker room, going up a ramp and across the street to the parking garage.

He then climbed a flight of stairs to get to his car. He wasn’t wearing a brace, and his leg wasn’t wrapped.

He said nothing was wrong.

About 15 minutes later, Jordan Shipley, McCoy’s roommate, laughed when asked if McCoy was injured.

Texas spokesman John Bianco said McCoy was not hurt, and added that it was common for McCoy to receive treatment for various aches after practices and games.

You have a problem with that??

OU basketball recruiting has had a fantastic fall with OU receiving a verbal from one five star in Cameron Clark, visits from the following five star plays

• Harrison Barnes 6-7 F (generally regarded as the top player in 2010)
• Doron Lamb 6-5 SG (top 20 by most services)
• Terrence Jones 6-8 F (top 20 by most services)

So I was a little confused when I was reading the great basketball message board for Sooner fans, OUHoops.com that I was directed to this article by DICK Vitale.

In this article, Vitale is writing about how the recruitment of Harrison Barnes may come down to UNC v Duke.

Now here’s my real issue, in the article published 10/14, Vitale states

“We all know that Duke and North Carolina have a phenomenal rivalry…I think it is the best in college sports! I know, fans in Columbus and Ann Arbor, or at Auburn and Alabama may disagree.

The Duke-North Carolina rivalry won’t be contested on the hardwood for several months. Right now, they are going head-to-head, battling big time. This showdown is at a neutral site, not in Chapel Hill or Durham.

Come on, are you wondering what I am talking about?

This battle is taking place in Ames, Iowa, home of Iowa State. It is also the home of the top recruit in the minds of many, 6-8 Harrison Barnes. He is very athletic, and he has tantalized many.

Barnes has narrowed down his choice between a number of powerful programs: North Carolina, Duke, UCLA and Kansas. He also has the local school, the Cyclones of Iowa State, in contention too.”

So ignoring his usual slobbering over ACC powers Duke and UNC, he has clearly ignored the fact that Harrison Barnes is considering OU and had already completed his official visit to Norman back on October 3^rd.

Perhaps this piece of information that Barnes is considering OU is not well known. However, ESPN.com’s basketball recruiting profile for Harrison Barnes has this update posted on 10/8:

“ESPNU’s top-ranked player Harrison Barnes has changed one of his official visits, his mother, Shirley, confirmed to www.TheShiver.com. 

Barnes will now visit UCLA on Oct. 30.

The 6-7 small forward has already visited North Carolina and Oklahoma, and will take trips to Kansas (Oct. 16), Duke (Oct. 23) the Bruins and an unofficial visit to Iowa State on Nov. 6. “

So clearly it’s well known to his own website that Barnes “officially” visited OU. Barnes used one of his five official visits to go to OU that’s not a low level of interest that’s a legitimate shot to sign him level of interest.

So why not mention of OU in his article?

1.     Vitale is deliberately leaving OU out of the article for some reason? His personal bias towards ACC powers Duke and UNC alters how he reports a story.

2.     Vitale didn’t do any research whatsoever into this article. His level of incompetence is so high that he cannot do some simple fact checking from his own website’s resources.

Now, should I really be surprised at this shoddy journalism from DICK? Not really, let’s recall this is the same guru/expert in college hoops that had 3 preseason All American teams and somehow managed to leave off, unanimous Player of the Year Blake Griffin. Yes, the voice of college basketball for the worldwide leader in sports thought that there were 6 frontcourt players better than Blake Griffin. He came to this conclusion despite the fact that Blake was number one or two on almost every NBA mock draft before the season started, including his own website’s mock draft.

The really offensive thing about this article is that Vitale doesn’t even interview Harrison Barnes at all, he makes some odd reference to a conversation that they had several years ago. What’s really happening is that Vitale is being a recruiting mouthpiece for his two beloved ACC programs. Nothing more.

It’s not well researched, it provides no insight into where Barnes is going other than he should choose between his hall of famer coaching friends Williams and Krzyzewski.

So DICK stick to your clownish antics at basketball games and leave writing on basketball recruiting to someone that actually talks to recruits and isn’t biased about the programs involved.

So the annual OU v UT game is this week and while OU has suffered a frustrating start to the year for the most part UT has had an easy route through a very easy early schedule.

Five weeks later what do we know about these teams.

OU Defense v UT Offense

OU’s Defense while good is not a dominant/great defensive unit. At LB, Travis Lewis is not playing anywhere near the same form as last year, and Ryan Reynolds is still only really effective at or near the LOS (and in the Miami game not even then). Dominique Franks is having a rough start to the year, not showing anything like the form he had at the end of last year. OU’s front four while very good is not great, and for reasons unknown OU is not really using their depth here very well at all.

Finally, OU continues to get hurt on 3^rd down by using their 3 backer scheme no matter the distance or opponents personnel. The middle of the field continues to be a problem area, where TEs/WRs are habitually able to settle and find 10 to 13 yards at will it seems.

That being said the OU defense is still forcing turnovers and generating a large number of negative plays in the running game, putting teams into 3^rd and long situations which are eventually leading to punts.

UT is clearly not playing at the same level of efficiency on offense as they did last year. Colt clearly misses both Quan Cosby and Chris Obgonnaya as other passing game options.  Colt in addition is getting off to slow starts and is throwing more INTs than last year.

Miami is probably close to UT in overall offensive talent with their clear edge at RB negated by UT’s edge at QB, so it would seem that OU would be able to hold UT to something in the 21-28 point range.

OU by a very wide margin will be the best defense that UT has seen, especially in terms of DL and DB play.

However, UT clearly will try to exploit the middle of the field with a flex WR pretending to a TE. It’s this area where UT presents the biggest threat to OU’s defense the ability to convert 3^rd and medium to long (5 yards to 8 yards) with brutal efficiency by hitting receivers in this soft middle area, past where Reynolds is effective in coverage.

Will OU have an answer to this attack now in its’ 3^rd year (year 1 Jermicheal Finley, year 2 Shipley, year3 Buckner)? The things that won’t change part of this article would indicate, no.  But there’s always hope of some kind of surprise.

Special Teams

OU appears to have fixed most of the problems related to their kickoff coverage, and Tress Way so far is doing a much better job of punting. UT’s big kickoff for a TD and field position given up by poor punting were both big issues for OU last year in Dallas.

Both teams seem to have a game breaking player at punt returner, Shipley is excelling in that role and Dominique Franks while scaring OU fans at times seems about due to taking a punt back the distance.

UT’s kickoff coverage did look suspect versus CU, but I think OU has to really hope that UT is not really using that coverage team much.

The only real clear edge for UT is probably if this game comes down to a long FG. OU has no game here, UT might.

OU Offense v UT Defense

OU’s offense is clearly struggling to find anything approaching the consistency of last year.Injuries and new starters have really taken the OU 60 point machine and made it something like a 24 point machine.

Sam coming back really gives OU a puncher’s chance on offense without him OU was probably looking at a point total in the 17-20 range.

The OU OL is doing a decent job at pass protection with some improvement week over week, running block is still a struggle but again there were glimmers of improvement last week.

Miami is probably not as talented as UT’s D overall, especially at secondary, but OU will have faced a D with equal overall team speed and they clearly struggled in that game protecting the passer and running the football. On the opposite side, the best passing game UT has faced in Texas Tech put up big yardage again and kept Tech in that game into the 4^th QTR, so UT’s pass defense still has some issues.

Now, if Sam’s return is going to have any real impact, OU’s going to have to have some WRs step up their game to provide Sam with a Shipley like playmaker. If Ryan Broyles can really come back from his shoulder injury suffered against Miami that would be a huge boost.

There were also signs versus Baylor that Dejuan Miller (perhaps OU’s most physically talented WR) and Brandon Caleb can create big plays for Sam.

The real wildcard in this game on offense has to be Demarco Murray. He was the difference in the duel between Sam and McCoy in 2007, and his non presence in 2008 played a role in OU losing in 2008. Between the two teams, he’s probably the only identifiable difference maker at RB and in his role as check down slot WR he could also be a key move the chains piece for the OU offense.

I’ve tried avoiding all the usual football clichés but obviously big special teams plays (blocked punts, returns, kickoff returns), turnovers, and penalties (especially for OU’s offense) are going to play a huge role.

Every year one of the most frequent recruiting message boards questions is how many ships does OU have?

So let’s try and break down the relevant facts.

1.     In any 1 year, from Feb signing day 2008 until Feb Signing day 2009, OU can only sign 25 kids.

• OU signed 22 kids last year (Terry Franklin never enrolled so it’s like he never signed. For the purposes of this discussion he doesn’t exist.)
• Of those 22 kids, 4 were mid terms enrollees and technically count towards Signing day 2008 (Javon Harris, Jayden Bird, Tom Wort, and Ronnell Lewis)
• So in terms of the 25 for Signing Day 2009, OU has 7 mid term slots available to use
• And OU has 25 slots available for Signing day 2010, of course using all 25 means no mid terms for early enrollees/jucos in 2010

2.     August X (X being the date when players report), OU has to be 85 scholarship athletes.

• OU is currently at 77 Scholarship players
• OU has 15 Seniors
• OU will clearly lose 3 Juniors; Gerald McCoy, Sam Bradford, and Demarco Murray (Gundy’s been telling RB recruits that Demarco is leaving)
• So with no attrition or anyone leaving early, OU is at 26 ships
• Other players rumored to be going pro; Travis Lewis, Dominique Franks
• Players currently mired in the doghouse and have been rumored to be transferring or leaving; Desmond Jackson, Jameel Owens
• So OU’s final number is somewhere between 26 to 30 scholarships

3.     OU currently has 24 verbals right now

• At least 4 of those kids are mid term enrollees
  • Rashad Favors OLB 6-2, 220 (ankle injury has ended senior year)
  • Sheldon McClain WR 6-3, 190 (knee injury has ended senior year)
  • Bronson Irwin OL 6-5, 310
  • Austin Woods OC 6-5, 290
• OU would probably like to offer at least one JUCO mid term OT to increase competition, be a possible starter.
• Are other any JUCO mid terms a possibility?
  • WR? OU is still involved with so many HS WRs that this seems unlikely
  • TE? OU’s ongoing struggles to find a TE game, make this seem possible. Although a JUCO scholarship was already used on Lane Johnson.
• Are there any other mid term HS kids that could use those 2 slots?
  • Kyle Prater: 6-5, 200, 4.5 All everything all world WR is mid term graduate. Supposed to visit OU although still committed to USC. If he visits USC before OU, does an OU visit ever happen? However, if he’s still taking visits after visiting USC is he more in play than is generally thought?
  • Kenny Stills: 6-1, 175, 4.35. Super speed Slot type WR from California. Visiting for the ATM game.

4.     So how many ships left for February, and who are still the targets?

• So I think OU takes 5 mid terms, so that puts OU at a maximum of 5 February ships left
  • One thing to consider OU will probably lose a verbal between now and signing day. I won’t even try and speculate on a name (I wouldn’t have predicted losing Eric Ward or Darius Jones. Or OU getting Demontre Hurst from OSU). It’s just the way recruiting works, a long time verbal feels they are missing out on the process and takes a visit. Or player feels like OU has more signees at their position.
• So who are some of the potential targets for the last five in February? Listed in some combination of ranking and likelihood.

1. Darius White: the super elite WR from Dallas
2. Jackson Jeffcoast: the super elite DE from Plano
3. Austin Haywood: He’s having an elite year at Southmoore showing unreal athleticism at both TE and DE. If he has grades, considering OU’s need at TE Austin would be hard to pass up.
4. Marcus Lucas: Blue chip WR from Missouri.
5. Seantrel Henderson: the super elite OL kid from Minnesota. OU is supposed to get a visit.
6. Cassius Marsh: Blue chip DT from California. Has a visit scheduled to Norman
7. Ricky Heimuli: Blue chip DT from Utah. No word on a visit
8. George Uko: Probably the top DT on the board. OU might get a visit.
9. JR Ferguson: super elite DE/DT. Still indicating that he will visit OU. No date set though.
10. Joshua Shaw: maybe the last elite CB on the board. Might visit with Kenny Stills.

Some quick thoughts on the Sooners’ 33-7 field goal fest victory over Baylor as we got some other things to get to this week.  Not real pretty, but overall good game and good warm up game for Sam.  It’s good to have Sam back – he makes it look effortless sometimes and even though he was not at his best, a mediocre Sam is better than no Sam.

Offense

OL – big story is injury to Brian Simmons in the 3rd quarter that will cause him to miss the TX game.  By all accounts Simmons has been our 2nd best lineman this year solidifying the left side as the strength with Trent Williams.  Steve Good rotated throughout the game and will move into that spot.  He had a nice game for the most part, one of the few who was effectively drive blocking on running plays.  He got worked over on our only sack given up of the day, but shook it off and with some encouragement from Williams (good sign..) came back and had a pancake block the next play.  The constantly shuffling RG position is clearly the biggest issue.  Tyler Evans has a bum ankle but is battling and Tavaris Jeffries is not quite there but is needed due to depth concerns.  Jarvis Jones is inconsistent at RT, solid on some plays and lost on others.  Overall, a decent job in pass protection all game for the line, and decent job run blocking until in the scoring area.  The lack of push on running plays inside the 10 yard line is extremely concerning.  We cannot settle for field goals in coming weeks against better b12 opposition – it will get us beat a couple more times.  Very few, if any penalties was a nice change and will need to continue on Saturday in the Cotton Bowl – drive killing OL penalties must not happen.

RB – DeMarco Murray is in the best form of his career in my opinion.  He is quick and powerful and is finishing off runs impressively.  Murray was used in the slot several times in this game as well, clearly a ploy to try to get him the ball more.  He is healthy and dangerous and is key to our efforts for a W against TX.  Chris Brown was solid but is not the threat Murray is right now – he needs bigger holes that the OL is just not able to provide.  The RB rotation will continue and it should but I think we’re definitely more explosive with Murray.

WR -Really an up and down day.  There were some flashes of good stuff but the 11 drops were an obvious issue.  Good games from Caleb and DeJuan Miller finally stepping up was nice to see but both had some drops.  Apparently Dejuan stepped it up in practice with the injury to Broyles, got the playing time on saturday and made it count.  Cam Kenney had a couple catches but after a few drops and other mistakes sat the bench in the 2nd half – being sent a clear message by the coaches, needs to be better.  Jaz Reynolds played extensively in this game and looked like a freshman.  Rarely on the same page with Bradford he was in the wrong place more often than not, made a few nice catches but needs work.  Miller is extremely physically gifted if he can get it figured out upstairs, good to see Tennell make a couple plays late on a nice 3rd down catch and a TD.  Must be better against TX for us to have a shot.

QB – Sam was solid, completion percentage was lower than normal but factor in the 11 drops, most hitting the WR in the hands and it’s there.  He was clearly frustrated with the stagnation in the red zone and that’s to be expected.  Arm strength looked good, evidenced by a roll out across the field out fired to Jaz Reynolds in the 3rd quarter – sweet throw.  Really the perfect tune up for TX – plenty to work on, expect him to be much sharper this week.  Sam drew 2 roughing the QB penalties for plays in which he wasn’t even knocked down – clearly the refs trying to protect him a little bit which I’m sure will get our future opponent’s bitching.  The call on Pawelek was right, he made contact with Sam’s helmet but clearly pulled up and did not finish the hit.  Joe Pawelek is a solid, clean football player – he’s no Sergio Kindle.  Considering the referee screw job we usually receive in the RRS, I won’t assume these calls will continue but we shall see.

Defense

Solid overall performance here.  Player of the game in my opinion = Brian Jackson.  Baylor must have thought he was the weak link because they picked on him all day.  I don’t remember Franks covering a pass all day.  BJ was extremely solid, mostly in great position and physical in going after the ball.  I wish sometimes he would just bat the ball away instead of always trying for the pick but his positioning was solid all day.  Other standouts were Sam Proctor, good positioning and tackling and of course Beal.  Beal never has a bad game.  LB’s were better with the standout being Keenan Clayton – he is our only LB that is not a liability over the middle covering the pass, he lined up over slot receivers all day and held his own with good coverage and solid tackling and was rewarded with an INT.  The answer to Reynolds’ coverage deficiencies seem to be to send him on a delayed blitz, since he rarely gets there in time, not sure what this does but whatever…

Let me be the first to send a wake up call to Travis Lewis – dude, what’s up?  You look lost!  You were all big 12 last year! You’re constantly in the wrong position and you’re open field tackling abilities have vanished, rarely even making contact with the ball carrier.  We may be seeing a sophomore slump here from #28 – he needs to be better for us to win this week.

Dom Franks did a nice job returning punts, he has a knack for finding the crease in the blocking and it’s impressive.  He should have taken the last one to the house.   Otherwise, special teams were again solid – no major busts there this year.  Special teams will be HUGE in the cotton bowl on saturday.  14 of TX 38 pts against CU were direct special teams touchdowns.  Shipley is killing it returning punts – if we can keep him out of the end zone our chances of winning increase dramatically.  They are also extremely aggressive trying to block punts and got one vs CU.  They are having some issues on O but their ST’s are fantastic.  An even special teams game from us is imperative.

That’s it – it’s Texas week and we’re on to bigger and better things.  Season defining game for the Sooners on saturday, even with the 2 losses behind us , a 4th straight b12 title is still within reach with a win on Saturday.  Texas is very good but not without their issues which we will examine later in the week.

TEXAS SUCKS

Boomer.