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.

After seeing Miami play Thursday I posted about our upcoming tilt with them and wrongly overlooked Tulsa.  I do think Tulsa is a quality outfit, with a good scheme and a few athletes here and there but playing Oklahoma in Norman nowadays is a dicey proposition for just about anyone – whether you’re # 2 or # 118 you’re very likely to get blown out and  the Golden Eagles Hurricane were no exception.  Here are a few observations..

Offense

- – OL is still I think our biggest area of concern so will address it first.  This was a solid day for them and they seem to be improving every week.  The group of (L-R) Williams-Simmons-Habern-Evans-Jones seems to be the group that has stepped up in practice and earned the starting spots.  Really surprising that the highly recruited Steve Good is not a starter but he will be needed for depth along with Brandon.  The emergence of true frosh Tyler Evans is a real story here – he is a beast with a better technique and understanding than most freshman at this level – really promising stuff for the future.  They run and pass blocked for the most part effectively and really were not noticeable(at least negatively) which is a good thing and a nice change.

- Landry Jones was stachetastic.  The pick on the 1st play of the game was a bad throw but he shook it off and came back out and started throwing darts.  At times you might have thought Sam had made a miraculous comeback and was back out there, but nope it was the facial hair challenged one…a quick shout out to the offensive coaches here.  They, especially Wilson, take a ton of shit and some of it deserved, but kudos to them for having the confidence in Landry and not changing the offense dramatically because of his presence.  Many on this board were calling for massive offensive scheme changes without Sam, count me among the ones that thought at least a little tweaking was needed but that doesn’t seem to be true so far.  They knew much more about Landry than we did obviously, and also how about Josh Heupel – if we ever let this guy go it will suck – because it seems under his tutelage we just churn out qb’s that flat out get the job done and put up impressive numbers in the process.   No one thought the skinny kid from PC North would win a Heisman and although Landry was highly recruited who would have thunk he would be ready to break records this quick.  The competition will be dramatically improving from here on out and if LJ’s going to continue to be needed he may take a step back, but color me impressed so far.  I said if we didn’t have Bradford against Miami that we’re toast – not so sure anymore.

-WR’s, RB’s were good – TE’s not so much.  Broyles is a stud and saying that is beginning to sound like a broken record.  Solid day for Brown and Murray was explosive but needs more touches.  Apparently the coaches are limiting his touches in an effort to keep him from getting banged up – which I’m ok with – we will need him in FL and in the big 12, just wish he wasn’t so fragile.  The swing pass, make a guy miss and flip into the end zone was sportscenter top 10 playsish..Props to Brandon Caleb for stepping up and clearly emerging as the # 2 receiver that is sorely needed.  Cam Kenney looks the part as the #3 guy.  I actually am starting to feel for Tennell, I think the guy is trying but he just doesn’t have it.  His confidence is so shot that he’s a liability.  His TD drop on the beautiful ball by Jones was a travesty. 

Without Gresham, the TE position is just an extension of the OL because there is nothing offensive about what’s going on there right now with regards to a passing threat.  Actually it is offensive, it’s non existent.  Brody and Ratteree can block and that’s about it, James Hanna’s not ready.  Ratteree’s TD drop was travesty # 2.  Really a shame because a competent/elite TE is such a matchup nightmare for defenses..could still end up costing us at some point again this year, or maybe it already has (see BYU..)

Defense

-I’ve said it once, I’ll keep saying it – this is an ELITE – championship caliber defense.  Words such as stifling, relentless, angry and several others were thrown out in description of this performance and all apply.  Stand out players were Beal, Adrian Taylor, Reynolds, TLewis, Clayton and Brian Jackson.  All were fantastic.   OU is now # 1 in run defense (40.7 ypg), #1 in scoring defense ( 4.7 points per game) and 9th in ypg allowed at 223.3 and recorded back to back shutouts for the 1st time since 1987.

Jeremy Beal is the best DE in the big 12 and possibly the country.  3 tfl, 3 sacks and a forced fumble on 1 of TU’s 2 scoring opportunities got the rumors of the shutout started.  I’ll take Beal over Sergio Kindle’s drunk driving, apartment crashing, take 2/3 of the game off, cheap shot helmet to helmet hitting ass any day.  We’ll see who has a better RRS.

Miami will test these guys more than anyone else this year with their speed and athleticism but with this D, there’s not a game left on our schedule we can’t win. 

-Special teams again solid with some true freshman really contributing here.  Again – we would have given up a punt return or kickoff return TD in this game last year so the solid play is a welcome sight.

Overall, a quality outing that should have instilled confidence for all involved into the off week and then down to So. Florida.  Don’t think Tulsa will be getting shut out again this year.

In other news/notes it looks as if Balogun is done which is not great news as Box was sidelined with a flared up back for Saturday’s game.  LB depth could be an issue if any injuries occur.

Also, check out my AccuScore buddy’s diatribe on how we are back in the championship hunt and what we need to have happen to stay there.  Word..