Tilting at Windmills

Rich is the history of the Oklahoma Sooners in Miami, Florida – scene of some of our greatest triumphs and greatest failures .  Usually, MNC’s are on the line when the Sooners are in the 305.  Such is not literally the case on Saturday night, primetime on ABC, but one could argue that it is.  As we stand, we are amazingly still firmly entrenched in the NC picture – lose Saturday night and that is probably gone, again.   The wackiness of this college football season so far has afforded us this chance, now it’s time to seize it.  There are no more Idaho St.’s or Tulsa’s on the schedule – it’s go time now.

Back in the glorious year that was 2000 – Bob Stoops emphatically stated that Oklahoma belongs in Miami, that we’ve had a lot of success there and after the dregs of the post Switzer era it sure did feel good to be going back.  Truth is we do have a glorious past in Miami, as long as we’re not playing the team that calls that city home.  OU is  1-2 all time against them in Miami, that win coming in 1975 while the 2 losses  in 86 and in the 87 orange bowl cost us a national championship.  All part of a 3 year run where Jimmy Johnson’s Canes were the 1 team that could hang with the Sooners and they did more than hang, they dominated and changed the landscape of college football in the process.  On the defensive side of the ball, when it became in vogue to put some of your best athletes over there,  the raw speed and power displayed by the ‘Canes overwhelmed opponents and thus Thug U was born.

On to present day, where every time the BCS championship game turns up in Miami the Sooners are present.   Memories fondly turn to the aforementioned 2000 and the dream season it was that concluded in Pro Player Stadium on 1/3/01.  Heupel, Q, the Rock, Torrance “I’m gonna get my boy’s trophy back” Marshall, Ontei “GO HOME MIAMI!” Jones were given no shot against the aged balding Heisman winner of the ‘Noles.  All they did was pitch a shutout and put # 7 in the Switzer center. 

Torrance backed it up, too.

2004 and 2008 at Dolphin Stadium as we all know was a much different story.  Saturday night at Landshark stadium (seriously?) needs to reverse the trend.  While this will be a tough game, we have every reason to be optimistic headed into this one.  Besides requesting a registered sex offender search to be conducted by the Miami Dade county police department, which would coincidentally render half their roster suspended- here’s what we have to do to win.  (That’s harsh - Shannon has cleaned that thing up, but couldn’t resist…)

Just don’t ask for directions to Landshark.

Defense.  We have an elite defense ranked #1 in a bunch of categories.  Guess what wins championships? Defense.  Guess what wins tough road games against quality opponents in charged atmospheres? Defense.  Miami has athletes at the skill positions and OC Whipple will do his best to put them in a position to succeed.  We need consistent pressure with our front 4 without having to sell out on risky blitzes.  When we do blitz, they must be properly disguised, mixed up and must work.  Bud Foster of VT did a nice job of this and Harris was flustered for the 1st time all year.  He also obviously had trouble throwing a wet ball in the downpour in Blacksburg.  A chance of rain is in the forecast for sat. night, but don’t be fooled into that being a significant factor for Miami in a home game.  I’m not worried at all about stuffing their run game – their OL is OK but not great.  They won’t beat us running the ball.  We are vulnerable, as we all know on the short stuff over the middle picking on Reynolds. With their athletes they’ll get some of that stuff but sure tackling is a cure for that.  I sure would love to see an LB (namely Reynolds) come off the field in obvious passing situations for a DB but I just don’t know if that’s ever gonna happen.  Brent likes his 3 lb’s on the field at all times and that’s what it’s gonna be. Expect a big game from Clayton and TLewis in space.  They also have a big TE basketball player that could cause trouble if he doesn’t Ratteree every pass thrown his way.  Not really worried about our 2ndary,  I think we are starting to see a significant upgrade in our safety play, especially athletically in the speed department, over last year.  FSU is bad on defense, Georgia Tech is average and they had no depth on the DL causing their front 4 to be gassed midway through the 1st quarter,  VT dominated these guys.  OUr D is better than all 3.

Offense.  Ahh, the big question on everyone’s mind..will Sam be able to go?  Who knows and we’re not going to know until possibly game time so in my opinion we should stop worrying about it.  Why? I’m of the belief that we can get this thing done with the Stache and I certainly think it’s ludicrous to put Sam out there and risk further injury if he’s not 100%.  As mentioned before, save him for the big 12 – get him a half against a depleted Baylor squad next week and have him 100% for Dallas.  He will be needed in the Cotton Bowl.  Our developing OL needs to show their improvement in this game.  They need to open holes early and often in the running game to help out the Stache and allow for timely play action.  FSU, GT and VT have all run the ball effectively on these guys, we need to do the same. The OL  also must competently protect whomever is standing back there at qb.  A very real scenario exists where we are 1 play away from seeing Drew Allen.  Hopefully, if it is the Stache he has used the off week to continue to familiarize with the receivers and the offense.  Locking onto a primary target and not going through his progressions, while OK against Idaho St. and TU, will not be good enough against the athletic Canes.  They have a competent front 7 and are led from the back by experienced safety Kenny Phillips.  If Landry can go through his progressions look for that 3rd receiver to possibly emerge.  Kenney? Reynolds? Miller? Tennell?  Any of you are welcome to step up..Also, look for a big game from Murray on the flare and check down plays - he didn’t get to go on this field last year and will be ready to make a statement.

Special teams – continue to be solid – Marcus Trice, DeMontre Hurst – keep doing what you do.  Moreland – a couple touchbacks would be great – though not likely in the muggy Miami air so we will have to cover.  Overall, feel pretty confident about this game if we execute and avoid mistakes.  The U is not all the way back as evidenced by the washout in Blacksburg but overall is a much improved outfit.   They will be hungry to prove themselves worthy of the praise they received in the opening couple weeks of the season and that last week was an aberration.  Their 4 game opening gauntlet was one of the more brutal in recent history, going 2-2 is nothing to be ashamed of at all and that is what I expect.  3rd try’s a charm – right?

Boomer!

H/T – atlas, pong, others..you know who you be.

Ah, fall. Just as the mosquitos returning to Waurika (swallows, Capistrano … it’s all I’ve got) signal a shift in the weather, there are those telltale signs that fall is finally here.

USA Today released their Coaches’ Poll today with OU a solid number 3 behind Jesus Tebow’s Gators and Colt McCoy’s Longhorns.

Tebow gets a bracelet for every 100 circumcisions.

Florida got 53 out of 59 first place votes, meaning six coaches just punched their express ticket to Hell. Texas had four coaches vote them number one, presumably Bob Stoops, Mike Leach, Kevin Sumlin and Bo Pelini. That’s right, Texas: Kevin Sumlin has a vote.

Interesting (that’s one way to put it) that after last year’s BCS-gate in the Big 12 South, Mack Brown decided to take his vote-picking and go home while Stoops picked up a pen again. Maybe somebody’s not quite getting the concept here.

Bottom line, for the top three contenders, seeding doesn’t really matter at this point. They all three have to go undefeated in order to get to the title game and obviously, one of them won’t. For now, OU will play the role of Mark Cavendish and wait for the leadout from the peloton before making a break at the sprint finish. What, no Tour de France fans here?

Texas starting at #2 ahead of the Sooners will surely shut them up until October, too.

Aviation.com recently named their top 10 warplanes of all time. Sure, they included the P51 Mustang and the German Fokker Biplane, but amongst these iconic figures of history and cinema was a somewhat surprising selection — the USSR's Mikoyan MiG-21. You remember the MiG-21 — exposed rivets, vacuum tubes, and limited (if any) exotic metals. Certainly it was a favorite of Eastern bloc countries due to its low production costs, but how could you include it in the same list as the Boeing F-18 Hornet? The simple answer is it was very successful in realizing its goals. Given the reality of Soviet manufacturing imperfections and inherent variability from a workforce often working to a vodka buzz, the MiG-21 achieved consistent execution without compromising performance.

The MiG-21 and the F-18 Hornet were designed with different "engineering tolerances". While the MiG-21 would never reach the performance levels of the F-18, it was able to achieve "good enough" performance when conditions, manufacturing properties, and raw materials varied significantly. In a similar manner, a Ford F-150 pickup may never reach the performance levels of a Ferrari F430, but a Ford F-150 can drive through an off-road stream two feet deep and continue on with a couple of sparkplugs completely fouled. The fussy Ferrari either purrs or sleeps, there is little allowance for poor parts and poor tuning.

Moving on to football, its possible to design a high performance defense where each player has a role that is unforgiving. In such a defense, the tuned performance is able to suffocate even the most deadly offense (think Texas Tech's offense of 2008, or Missouri's offense of 2007). The downside for the high performance defense is that, like the Ferrari and the F-18, most of its engineering tolerances are quite stringent: a missed tackle or lining up incorrectly can have grievance consequences. This approach is the polar opposite from the yielding "bend but don't break" philosophy that intentionally gives everyone a certain amount of freedom and asks others to help cover up any gaffes caused by "failed improvising".

#38 could definitely fly.

So which is the best defense for today’s college landscape? You would be hard-pressed to find a more successful defense than the “high performance” Stoops/Venables defenses at Oklahoma. A quick look at the relevant statistics make it clear that this defensive style is hard to surpass. It has produced two Butkus award winners, one Lombardi award winner, two Thorpe award winners, and two Nagurski award winners. More impressive, the defense has surrendered an average of just 18 points per game. With an emphasis on making offenses one-dimensional, Sooner defenses have allowed opponents less than 100 yards rushing in 71 of Stoops’ 133 Games. And when the Sooners allow opponents to rush for fewer than 100 yards, the team’s record is 67-4. Sooner defenses have also recorded 9 shutouts during the Stoops/Venables years.

If there is a downside to the Stoops/Venables defense, it’s probably found in its unforgiving nature. Surely you recall the 2008 Red River Rivalry. With the starting lineup, OU held UT to a one-dimensional offense relying totally on the passing game. (Stoops is 4-0 against UT when holding them to under 100 yards rushing.) However, when the injury bug took out starting MLB Ryan Reynolds and forced in a substitute with very little experience, the unforgiving nature of the high performance defense required too much of Reynold’s substitute. With the substitute MLB, UT’s offensive production changed dramatically:

The necessary work in keeping the planned personnel in tip-top form probably precludes giving sufficient real repetitions to under-personnel, hence the dilemma of the high performance defense — it yields high performance with the planned personnel, but may yield a high drop-off with an unplanned substitute. Like so many things in life, it's a calculated roll of the dice, a game of chance with the injury bug. And as the writer of Ecclesiastes once mused "The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor satisfaction to the wise, nor riches to the smart, nor grace to the learned. Sooner or later bad luck hits us all. No one can predict misfortune."

As 120 FBS teams prepare for the upcoming 2009 season, each defensive coordinator is assessing his defensive strategy, his "engineering tolerances". Will it be better to aim for the high-performance side of the spectrum, or better to aim for the bend-but-don't-break side of the spectrum? Personally, I much prefer the high performance defense to other "safe" choices. Better to strive for greatness than settle for mediocrity.

A new year, a new set of challenges across the Big 12 landscape.

Who will be the preseason glamour boy who falters early, causing us to question why we ever put him on that pedestal in the first place (whither Chase Daniel)? Who is Mike Leach going to have throw the ball eleventy-million times a game, making us go “gosh, where’d he find THIS guy?” Who’s going to feel like they got “screwed” at the end of the season, paying no attention to their own foibles that got them in their mess to begin with?

Picking another winner, I see.

Ladies and gentlemen, and TaW readers, without further adieu, we present to you … the 2009 Big 12.

As we alluded to over the weekend, this begins a six-week series breaking down each team’s chances this fall. Obviously, some (OU, Texas, Nebraska) will have better chances than others (Iowa State, Colorado, Aggy). We’ll start breaking down the Big 12 North later this week, but for now, let’s take a look at who we think has the best shot at surviving the standing 8 at the end of the year.

It'll be hard to go unscathed this year, yo.

Big 12 champion

If you think you’re going to get anybody but Oklahoma in this slot on an OU blog, you’re delusional. You also haven’t paid attention to OU’s six Big 12 titles (seven appearances in the Big 12 CCG) in the past nine years. The Sooners’ main weapon in winning the last three straight titles is the fact that nobody can touch them in Norman, meaning you can pretty much chalk up four conference wins right there (Baylor, Kansas State, A&M, OSU). Stoops is an astonishing 60-2 at Owen Field and the Sooners have the nation’s longest home winning streak at 24 straight. That’s not to say OU doesn’t have any potential minefields, though. They’ll have one of the toughest schedules in the country, which includes a trip to Miami (I don’t care what their record says, Miami at Miami speaks for itself), a game in Lubbock where OU has lost two straight and … oh yeah: October 17 in Dallas.

The Sooners are looking for a four-peat in 2009.

Big 12 runner-up

The North sacrificial lamb representative has usually been a process of elimination with the past couple of years, Missouri showing up by virtue of having actual talent on the field (sorry, Kansas). This year, it’s Nebraska. Although Bo Pelini’s v2.1 Cornhusker squad will be replacing quarterback Joe Ganz (presumably his brother Cherry won’t come looking for him) and running back Marlon Lucky, we think quarterback Zac Lee (what we’ve seen of him) can at least manage to turn around and hand the ball to RB Roy Helu, who ran for 803 yards last year. Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (whose name in the Cameroon Ngema tribe means “House of Spears” – no, we’re not making that up) is being compared to a jumbo-sized Rich Glover.

Bowl teams

This is where the Big 12 should make a good showing with as many as 8 teams playing postseason games.

BCS teams

No surprise here. OU and Texas are both good enough and both team’s schedules line up (although for opposite reasons) well enough to get them both into marquee bowls. Who goes to the Rose Bowl playing for all the marbles and who is in the Fiesta against a Big 10 patsy will be determined in October.

Cotton Bowl

Nebraska gets a break on the Big 12 South rotation (they get Oklahoma and Tech at home, then have to play Baylor in Waco) and should look good enough come December that even a loss in the Big 12 CCG should send them back to Dallas for this one.

Holiday Bowl

Look for the winner of the November 14 game in Stillwater to get an invitation to San Diego. The outlook from here says it will be OSU over Texas Tech, which should dovetail into the …

Alamo Bowl

Although technically the Gator Bowl could take a Big 12 team before the guys in San Antonio get a chance, you know the San Antonio city officials would just love to have the Sand Aggies at the Alamodome and their fans stumbling around the Riverwalk for a weekend.

Gator Bowl

Should the Alamo pick first, that means we’re likely to see somebody like Kansas in Jacksonville. The Jayhawks have a BCS win on their resume and would be a very attractive pick. However, if they’re able to ambush Nebraska in Lawrence on November 14, all bets are off here.

Sun Bowl

Their fans might be disappointed after going to the Big 12 championship the past two years, but at least Missouri wouldn’t have to deal with an Oklahoma woodshedding in El Paso. Mizzou faces big tests on the road at Stillwater (yeah, I said it) and neutral site games with Kansas and Illinois. They get Texas and Nebraska in Columbia, which should at least give them better odds in those games.

Insight, Independence or Texas Bowl

This is where the WAGging starts. You know what? Screw it. Baylor’s going bowling, folks. Put em in the Texas or Independence Bowl and they’ll travel, too. If the Baptists (and Robert Griffin, they probably don’t even care if worships the devil at this point) are playing past November, they won’t mind where.

Here we are, folks. The heat is bearing down, we’re relegated to watching Tour de France and tennis (I’m sure some of you are actually baseball fans) and we’re pat-pat-patting our feet in anticipation of late August and early September.

Well, it’s closer than we think. Students will be returning to campus in about a month, meaning fall practices will be starting around the same time. We at TaW are itching to get going now, though.

So, to cure your football fix through the heat and anticipation in July, we’re going to bring you a six-week series previewing the fortunes of all 12 conference teams and their coaches.

We’ll start this week with Nebraska and culminate in August with your Oklahoma Sooners. Here’s a preview of what to expect:

Week of July 6

Nebraska

In his first full season at the helm of the Cornhuskers, Bo Pelini improved a 5-7 team in 2007 to 9-4 in 2008. ponderos will look at what the defensive-minded Pelini can do to capitalize on the Huskers’ big bowl win over Clemson and what the Big Red will look like with junior Zac Lee taking over from the prolific Joe Ganz under center.

Just sayin ...

Week of July 13

Missouri

How will Mizzou look in the post-Chase Daniel era? We’ll find out a lot about Gary Pinkel’s coaching ability as he cobbles together an offense without the talents of Daniel and all-everything receiver Jeremy Maclin.

Iowa State

The Cyclones are hoping that another ex-Auburn defensive coordinator, Paul Rhoads, can turn around the fortunes from the mess left behind by Gene Chizik. ISU is paying Rhoads a reported $5.75 million over 5 years, so at least the financial commitment is there. ponderos will examine ISU’s upcoming 2009 season, which will ride and fall on the shoulders of second-year starter, dual-threat quarterback Austen Arnaud.

Week of July 20

Colorado

Is Dan Hawkins on the hot seat? He’s 8-17 in his three years in Boulder and has yet to have a winning season. TaW’s Blatant Homer will talk about whether Hawkins can put enough wins together in 2009 to save his job.

Kansas

Mark Mangino might be the most underrated coach in the country. He’s 3-1 in bowl games since taking over in 2002, including a big BCS win in the 2007 FedEx Orange Bowl. Oread Boom Kings’ Hiphopopotamus will give a Kansas fan’s perspective of the 2009 season, which will no doubt include a look at quarterback Todd Reesing, who might just be the best signal-caller in the Big 12 north this year.

Week of July 27

Kansas State

“Sleepless in Manhattan” returns to the Purple Power this year as Bill Snyder tries to turn around a program that unceremoniously dumped Ron Prince under dubious circumstances. TaW’s Coach Bo has a, ahem … special affinity for the Wildcats and will bring a unique perspective to the KSU 2009 preview. Don’t forget your Power Towel!

Baylor

TaW’s Big 12 South coverage will begin in Waco where the preseason excitement hasn’t been this high in over 20 years when Grant Teaff was at the helm. Sophomore quarterback Robert Griffin is for real and is already giving coaches around the Big 12 gameplanning fits (H/T, Mike Sherman). TaW’s Blatant Homer will preview the Bears’ 2009 chances under second-year head coach Art Briles, who already has an A&M pelt on his wall and scared the bejeezus out of Tech and Missouri last season.

Week of August 3

Texas Tech

It bears repeating: Tech beat Texas last year. The single-biggest win in corsair Mike Leach’s career caused the entire Longhorn nation to collectively and permanantly lodge their panties in their cracks. The Tortilla Retort’s dedfischer will look at the monumental task Leach has in front of him this year after losing quarterback Graham Harrell and All-American wideout Michael Crabtree.

Oklahoma State

How many years will OSU be a program on the rise? Mike “I’m a man!” Gundy had his Cowboys in the Top 10 at one time last year and many feel they should be there in the preseason, mainly due to dual-threat quarterback Zac Robinson. TaW’s duncansooner takes one for the team to research and document the Pokes’ 2009 season. No word on if he’ll offend any mothers … of children.

Week of August 10

Texas A&M

Second-year head coach Mike Sherman (4-8 in his first year at College Station) would be on one of the hottest seats in the country were it not for other problems in College Station. TaW will look at whether the Sherminator can solve the myriad of problems facing the Aggies in 2009, which include doing something about a 3-10 record to the Lubbock Sand Aggies since the inception of the Big 12, and what looks to be an ugly trip to Norman.



Don't you wish you had him back, Aggies?

Texas

BCS-gate, Asterisk-gate and another year without a conference title. Sounds like nothing much has changed for Mack Brown and the Horns. They’re pinning their hopes on a 2-1 record in the last 3 games against Oklahoma, though. TaW will look at UT’s fortunes with third-place Heisman finisher Colt McCoy returning for his senior season and Sergio Kindle trying desperately to stay on the team, barring his turning any more west campus housing into a Junior’s Party Barn drive-thru.



Add that to the trophy case, Mack.

Week of August 17

Oklahoma

Is this the year Stoops finally gets over the BCS hump? Some publications are putting OU’s defense as tops in the country. Indeed, the Sooners’ defensive line could rival the Harris-Dvoracek front from the early 2000s. Heisman winner Sam Bradford will have to prove his worth after losing four of five of his guys up front, but he still has dangerous weapons like two 1,000-yard rushers in DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown, plus the freakishly-talented Jermaine Gresham.

Bob Stoops was relaxed, Jeff Capel was funny and Sherri Coale was, well, resplendent in a teasingly low-cut loose gray dress – not that anyone noticed – as the Sooner Caravan made its stop at the Airport Hilton in Wichita Tuesday night.

Stoops was Stoops, praising the 350 in attendance and acknowledging Wichita’s growing significance to the football program as a recruiting hotbed.

“But not being specific,” Stoops said, chuckling. That’s OK, Coach. I will be. Blake Bell is going to take the Short Bus McCoy to the woodshed for the next four years.

He told the crowd that the Sooners will make another run at a natty next year – you know, that thing that Texans believe they’re entitled to, that thing that makes them cry like the entitled titty babies they are when it slips away – as it does every year.
Interestingly, the HBC tempered his criticism of the offensive line.

“They’ve done enough in the winter and spring to win,” Stoops said. “But I’m the sort of guy who wants to see it on the field.”
Stoops also guaranteed competition for the kicking positions.

And he paid homage to the four players who backed off the NFL for another run – Sam Bradford, Jermaine Gresham, Trent Williams and Gerald McCoy.

“I think that speaks volumes for the kind of program we run,” Stoops said.

Capel talked at length about his experience last week at the NBA Draft, including his excitement when Phoenix tabbed Taylor Griffin.
But he indicated that expectations won’t lessen with the Griffin brothers gone.

“It’s Willie’s team now,” he said.

Capel said newcomers Tommy Mason-Griffin, Tiny Gallon and Steven Pledger will play a big role on the club.

Coale was, as usual, the best speaker of the group, telling the crowd that the Sooner women will run and fire treys at will.
And, she expects to continue the program’s domination of post-season player and coaching awards.

“I think some other schools are getting tired of that,” she said, chuckling.

The 2009-10 Sooner women will be “more mobile,” Coale said, led by junior point Danielle Robinson, who’s playing international ball this summer.

But, senior Abi Olajuwon’s conditioning work this summer has led Coale to believe she’ll be a presence on the low block.

“No Dream Shake like her father, but we believe she’ll help us,” Coale said.

Finally, OU AD Joe Castiglione – who’s put on some serious weight – told the crowd that the department’s cumulative student athlete GPA is just short of 3.0.

He also talked about the AD’s contribution of millions to the school’s general fund “during these challenging times,” reminding the crowd that the school stood behind the AD while Donnie Duncan was trying to destroy the football program.

(Editor’s note: That’s my shot at DD, not Joe’s.)

Sadly, however, the OUAD seems to be lagging behind in the apartment collision department, with no reports of players under the influence – of a phone or whatever – crashing into buildings. I’m sure we can count on Joe to work on that weakness.

The University of Oklahoma just stepped up to the plate and again and made it even harder for Bob Stoops to leave, if he ever wanted to in the first place.

Stoops is set to become college football’s first $5 million man in the 2011 season.

Indeed we do.

According to the Tulsa World:

Stoops’ reworked deal, which was extended two years through Dec. 31, 2015, allows for a current guaranteed $2.975 million. It also calls for a $700,000 annual stay bonus, first payable Oct. 1. Meaning, when Stoops takes the sideline for the next OU-Texas game, he’ll be making $3.675 million.

An additional bonus, termed in the contract an “Additional Stay Benefit,” of $800,000 will be paid following Jan. 1, 2011. Factoring in the $700,000 bonus already in place, as well as the automatic $200,000 annual private-funds bump also built into the contract, Stoops stands to make $4.875 million in 2011. And that’s before performance-based bonuses also included in the deal. Should the Sooners compete for the Big 12 championship and a BCS bowl that season, as is typical under the coach, Stoops would clear the $5 million mark.

All told, his seven-year pact is worth $30.125 million.

It’s “interesting” that the story didn’t list Stoops’ performance bonus should he actually win a frickin’ BCS game, but I digress.

Stoops wasn’t the only benafactor of OU Regents’ largesse, though. Jeff Capel was rightfully extended through the 2016 season, receiving annual raises that will culminate in a guaranteed $2.84 mil in the 2013-14 season. The salary includes a retention bonus of $1.1 mil, payable on June 30, 2014. That’s a nice incentive to retain the services of a guy that will have every open job in the country thrown at him in the next five years.

Rarely do we have a chance to go inside the recruiting game to see just what happens when coach and recruit sit down to chew the fat.

Enter Lane Kiffin, who is taking the bold step of trying to turn around the life of a convicted rapist. Daniel Hood was Mr. Football in the state of Tennessee last year, which immediately got Kiffin’s attention. His, er, checkered past apparently played right into Kiffin’s recruiting hands, too.

The following is a secret recording of Kiffin hosting recruits at some place off-campus. H/T to the TaW crack(ed) staff for putting this one together:

This is where you expect us to say something about Justin Chaisson’s ultimate set of Craftsman tools, right? From where we sit, Chaisson merely seems like a great but misguided kid. He just needs an opportunity to turn his life around, and we welcome the 6’5″, 250-pound, 4.7 40 DE to the Sooners program. We also would like to thank him for keeping the Las Vegas Bishop Gorman pipeline alive, no matter what it takes. Stoops is a flippin’ saint for giving him that chance.

Actually, Chaisson has already been nominated for the Jason Klotz Bitch Had It Comin’ Award. Being a believer in reform himself, Barnes magnanimously refused to suspend Klotz for punching the clown a punching bag his girlfriend and waited instead until the Baylor game rolled around Klotz actually threw a punch at a guy, in a game.

Lawrence Phillips was unavailable for comment.

Tim Griffin over at ESPN.com actually gives off some light during the darkness of nuclear football winter with yesterday’s entry.

Musing about who is the best Big 12 coach, Griffin took on the logical task of compiling the records for every Big 12 coach since the league’s inception.

At the top of the list? No surprise: Bob Stoops and Mack Brown, with Stoops edging out Mack .839 – .802 overall, due to five more Big 12 Championship wins.

There are several interesting takeaways from this, other than the ones Griffin pulled out that showed R.C. Slocum and Frank Solich are the two most underrated coaches in league history and Callahan sucked balls (didn’t need fancy stats for that one).

What he didn’t bring up or acknowledge is how utterly dominant Stoops is against the rest of the conference. We at TaW will gladly take on that task, natch. Before we get into it, think hard about the only coach in Big 12 history who has a winning record versus Stoops. The answer will appear at the end of this post. No cheating!

For discussion purposes below, here are the records, courtesy of Griffin:

Note: Active coaches are in yellow. Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads will be in his first season as a head coach in the conference.

With a 73-14 (overall) record, Stoops is tied with Brown in wins, but Coach Whine has four more losses (thanks to one more year in the league than Stoops). There’s a severe dropoff after that, though, as the two have almost 20 more wins than the third-place coach, sleepy Bill Snyder (54-29).

Nowhere is Stoops’ domination of the conference better exemplified than with his six conference championships, three of them coming in the past three years. No other Big 12 coach has more than one Big 12 championship trophy and, in fact, only one three coaches have more than two appearances. Even Gary Barnett was 1-3 in the Big 12 CCG, but his appearances were largely due to the suckness of the Big 12 North.

There’s another way to check the pwnage, though, and it concerns something OU’s rivals love to point out: head-to-head.

Of the other 32 coaches to ever head a Big 12 football program, only one has a winning record versus Stoops. It’s obviously not Brown, it’s not Barnett and it’s certainly not Mike Gundy. To illustrate just how dominant this stat is, there are only nine of the 32 who have ever beaten Stoops:

Brown 4 (4-6 overall)
Leach 2 (2-7)
Miles 2 (2-2)
Barnett 1 (1-4)
Hawkins 1 (1-1)
Snyder 1 (1-5)
Solich 1 (1-1)
Slocum 1 (1-3)
Dykes 1 (1-0)

Mack has the most number of wins against Stoops at four, which when compared to the rest of these records, should be considered a resounding success. The UT athletic department should commission a ring or a trophy to celebrate being number one again.*

Franchione wins the futility award for being 0-6 versus versus Stoops with two different teams (A&M, Bama). Overall, he’s 0-7 versus Oklahoma with three different squads (A&M, Bama, TCU). We really need to somehow get this guy on the schedule again.

Finally, if you guessed that Spike Dykes was the only coach in Big 12 history to have a winning record against Stoops, congratulate yourself.

A crowd of over 25,000 gathered in Norman for the OU Red-White Spring game. Many, like me, paid $10 to watch a glorified practice. But we do it because we know there won’t be OU football for 4 months and because we have no social life. So my lonely friends and I gathered at GFOMS to see what was going to happen and to look for things to worry and fret about. Before the actual scrimmage there was a flag football game played by several OU alums. I didn’t make it in time and didn’t hear much discussion about, but apparently Snorter Luster saw it.

The pregame coin toss group was joined by honorary captains Jamelle Holieway, Tony Casillas, Lydell Carr and Brian Bosworth. The team with the highest number of honorary captains with DUIs got to call the toss. The scoring system for the Red-White game was created by a combination of test lab monkeys on acid and the International Finance Department from the Price School of Business. I’ll admit up front I’m not sure what the final score was, but the white team (defense) won.

Casillas and Boz were there to show off their rings.

Initially the first team offense went against the first team defense. Jermaine Gresham, Matt Clapp, Brody Eldridge, Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray did not play but Sam Bradford did … for 3 series. Madu started in the slot and Justin Johnson started at TB. OU never ran the I-formation today and the schemes were very vanilla. It was a hurry up offense, but mostly hurry up and punt. Stephen Good was also sidelined, and Brian Lepak started in his place. He spent most of the day diving at DE’s and DT’s who ran by him. It was not a good day for the walk-on transfer from Colorado State. After a few plays the red team was forced to punt. Tress Way lost the coin toss so he was elected to punt today. His first few efforts were very poor, although I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and dismiss it as first game jitters from a redshirt frosh.

Landry Jones led the 2nd team offense against the 2nd team defense. Very quickly the young LB’s Franklin, Wort and Bird stood out. Javon Harris also got the call at safety for the #2′s. Jermie Calhoun was the #2 RB and he did show occasional bursts, but spent most of his time stopping short of the line and looking for a hole. Given the quickness of the OU defense, that was not a good idea.

For most of the first quarter (or for most of the game actually), the defensive line controlled the trenches. Bradford found himself under more pressure today than he had all of last year, but still stepped up to hit Brandon Caleb with a nice slant and followed it with a nice TD pass to Adron Tennell. Brian Jackson was the victim on both of those plays. J.R. Bryant and Mike Balogun got the start at LB with the #1′s, and Bryant was all over the field. He seems to be a little small and does get lost in traffic, but going downhill or side to side he is very effective. He appeared to separate the shoulder of TE Trent Rattaree on one vicious tackle. OU’s LB depth is absurd at this point. Brent V must be thinking he has died and gone to LB heaven and I’m sure he is scheming some way to get 11 linebackers on the field at one time.

Looks like Pooh has shaken off the injuries.

Drew Allen got work as the #3 QB and then began alternating with Landry as Bradford took a seat with 3 minutes left in the 1st quarter. Landry threw a pass to a stumbling Madu which was intercepted and returned for a TD by Dom Franks. Franks got 2 oskies on the day and appears to be our best CB right now, although Jackson was solid. The quarter ended with Donald Stephenson getting a couple of holding penalties. The LTs for the offense struggled all day as the DEs were just too quick.

Drew Allen was mostly ineffective today. He does show a good arm, but it seemed at times that he was going for the home run and not progressing through his reads. Jones was much steadier, although it is apparent it will take time for the rust to fall away. The second quarter was a hodge podge of bad blocking and impressive defense, although like most callers on the post game show, I’m not convinced the Oline is only a step above the band’s drumline in keeping people off the OU QBs. The blocking schemes in the scrimmage are very limited, and the offense was handcuffed by not having the big play weapons available. Also, the OU defense is pretty darn good.

Halftime was filled with the passing of the microphone to a long line of alums who had returned for the game. Most of their comments were muffled, but I know of one alum from the 1946 class who attended. Curtis Lofton, Jammal Brown, the Boz, Casillas, and Kent Bradford were a few of the notables who returned. And there was even another appearance on Owen Field by Bubba Moses. You know there is only 1. Dean Blevins got a smattering of boos and some light applause from the crowd. I’m not a fan of Dean’s, but it was rather sad.

The second half was fairly non-eventful. There was another nice oskie by Franks, a fumble forced by Jeremy Beal which was returned for a TD by J.R Bryant and some bad punting by Tress Way. On one occasion following a poor punt, Bob Stoops chewed on Way for a solid minute before shaking his head and turning away.

So, were questions answered today? Probably not. I don’t put a lot of stock in these games, but do think they serve some guide on individual players. When John (Finding) Nimmo throws what was the best pass of the 2nd half I remind myself that this is a game played to give guys like him a chance, but not a game to draw final conclusions on a team or player. Last year Sam Bradford struggled mightily in the Red White game. But he had a decent fall don’t you think?

I’ll close with some final thoughts, but this is just what I saw today. It doesn’t mean that these are trends or ultimate conclusions on the makeup of this team.

1. The Oline needs work. Habern was solid at center and probably had the best day of any of the linemen. The LT’ struggled against the quick DEs, but those DEs ARE quick so that can be forgiven.

2. We didn’t learn much about the receivers except that Broyles is the best one and Tennell is good when healthy. Madu at the slot has potential, but if Brown or Murray go down he needs to be back at the tailback slot. He is superior to Calhoun and Johnson right now. I can’t comment on their WR blocking at all, and I give an “incomplete” to Owens and Miller.

3. Our LB’s are good. Period.

4. Special teams are an issue. Again. Bob said after the game that Tress was nervous and that he has looked better in practice than he showed today. Of course, we heard the same things about the Hobbit Stevens last year so I’m not so sure that is good. Kickoff coverage was a non-issue today because the return game was never practiced. However, Way kicked off and his kicks were not very good. Hopefully the kid coming from Norman North can fill that role.

5. There were a LOT of recruits there today. In fact, an entire lower section was roped off for them and their families. I wasn’t able to get close enough to see who was who or measure vertical leaps so I’ll leave that discussion to others.

6. It was a good day. Nice weather, surrounded by Sooner fans, watching football on Owen Field. Yes, it was a good day.