Tilting at Windmills

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..

Oklahoma placed eight (8) players on the first team preseason All-Big 12 team, selected by the ubiuqitous “media reps who cover the conference.”

2008 Heisman-winner Sam Bradford was named Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is the preseason pick for Defensive Player of the year and Baylor’s Phil Taylor, a defensive tackle transfer from Penn State who sat out 2008, is the media’s pick for Newcomer of the Year.

The Big 12 South put 22 of 26 players on the squad (including OSU’s Dez Bryant, who is listed at both wide receiver and punt returner). OU’s dominant defensive line was rewarded with two players on the first team, Gerald McCoy and Jeremy Beal.

Other Sooners on the first team are Jermaine Gresham, Trent Williams, Demarco Murray, Travis Lewis and Dominque Franks.

Here’s the full list:

OFFENSE
WR Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State, 6-2, 215, Jr, Lufkin, Texas
TE Jermaine Gresham, Oklahoma, 6-6, 258, Sr, Ardmore, Okla.
OL Russell Okung, Oklahoma State, 6-6, 305, Sr, Fort Bend, Texas
OL Trent Williams, Oklahoma, 6-5, 318, Sr, Longview, Texas
C Chris Hall, Texas, 6-4, 295, Sr, Irving, Texas
OL Adam Ulatoski, Texas, 6-6, 310, Sr, Southlake, Texas
OL Brandon Carter, Texas Tech, 6-7, 354, Sr, Longview, Texas
WR Dezmon Briscoe, Kansas, 6-3, 202, Jr, Dallas, Texas
QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma, 6-4, 223, Jr, Oklahoma City, Okla.
RB Kendall Hunter, Oklahoma State, 5-8, 190, Jr, Tyler, Texas
RB DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma, 6-1, 214, Jr, Las Vegas, Nev.
PK Alex Henery, Nebraska, 6-2, 175, Jr, Omaha, Neb.
KR Perrish Cox, Oklahoma State, 6-0, 195, Sr, Waco, Texas

DEFENSE
DL Ndamukong Suh Nebraska 6-4 300 Sr/3L Portland, Ore.
DL Gerald McCoy, Oklahoma, 6-4, 297, Jr, Oklahoma City, Okla.
DL Jeremy Beal, Oklahoma, 6-3, 261, Jr, Carrollton, Texas
DL Sergio Kindle, Texas, 6-4, 255, Sr, Dallas, Texas
LB Sean Weatherspoon, Missouri, 6-2, 245, Sr, Jasper, Texas
LB Joe Pawelek, Baylor, 6-2, 240, Sr, San Antonio, Texas
LB Travis Lewis, Oklahoma, 6-2, 232, So, San Antonio, Texas
DB Darrell Stuckey, Kansas, 6-1, 205, Sr, Kansas City, Kan.
DB Jordan Lake, Baylor, 6-1, 215, Sr, Houston, Texas
DB Dominique Franks, Oklahoma, 6-0, 192, Jr, Tulsa, Okla.
DB Earl Thomas, Texas, 5-10, 197, So, Orange, Texas
P Derek Epperson, Baylor, 6-3, 235, Jr, Southlake, Texas
PR Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State, 6-2, 215, Jr, Lufkin, Texas