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.

We’re all doing a little scouting today. TaW even has a mole in the stands at Va Tech, hopefully she’ll blog a little something after the moonshine hangover wears off.

Here’s what I’m going to be keenly watching in this game:

1. Jacory Harris’ tendency to throw (especially play-action) on first down. He had over 200 yards and 2 TDs on first down against Dadgummit.
2. Harris throwing to his running backs, especially screens. That seems to be Miami’s go-to play on 2nd and long.
3. Miami’s tendency to keep seven blockers in to protect the QB, releasing just three receivers. Thanks to this, Georgia Tech never even got close to Harris.
4. The Canes like to run the same play on successive downs, but just flip the formation and run it to the other side.
5. Miami’s not adverse to running trick plays deep in its own territory. Against Georgia Tech, the Canes ran a reverse from their own 20 on first down. They followed up that play with a fake reverse.
6. The number of monitoring ankle bracelets on both the players and the fans. We need to know not only what, but who we’re dealing with next weekend.

Thoughts?