LONGHORNS ANSWER THE BELL - OU-TEXAS - PART 2

TEXAS 36

OKLAHOMA 20

 

 

Obviously, things did not go well for the Sooners in last Saturday's 108th edition of the Red River Rivalry.  OU was out played, out coached and out and out embarrassed by a below average Texas Longhorns football team.  There were so many dysfunctional things about the Sooners performance against Texas that I decided it would be best to take an extra day to think about what I witnessed.  Maybe that would keep me from being so negative and sounding like your typical over-reacting knee jerk fan.  Unfortunately, it didn't work.  Turns out, the only thing the extra time did was provide me additional opportunity to add to my list of points to second guess.  

But today I am going to mainly focus on what I thought was the key to the game...and then beat the shit out it.  Hey, its what I do.

 

The Offensive Game Plan

"Everybody has a plan 'till they get

punched in the mouth" - Mike Tyson

 

The Texas Longhorn defense came into this game ranked as the second worst team in the state of Texas against the run.  That doesn't sound so bad, right?  Wrong.  The Longhorns are also the second worst team in all of America against the run, ranking an abysmal 117th out of the 118 Division I schools.  Let me say that last part again: one hundred and seventeenth.  If not for UTEP, who evidently is only using 8 guys on defense, the 230+ yards a game the Horns were giving up coming into Saturday, would have been the worst in the entire world.

Just to hammer this home, take a look at the following stats from three of the Horns early season opponents:

 

BYU:  Rushing Rank: 13th (33rd w/out Texas stats)

Rushing yards: 550/7.6 ypc / QB rushing yards: 259/17.2

BYU QB had runs of 68, 20 & 26 yards

 

Ole Miss: Rushing Rank: 62nd

Rushing Yards: 272 / 6.0 ypc / QB rush yards: 57 / 4.8 ypc

RB Scott has 164 yards

Iowa State: Rushing Rank 84th

Rushing yards vs UT: 201 / QB rushing yards: 83 / 4.9 ypc

RB Wimberley 117 yards

 

The schools that piled up these stats against Texas aren't exactly known as rushing juggernauts, but yet they ran right down the Longhorns throat.  BYU rushed for an amazing 550 yards against the Texas defense...Hell, I'm not even sure I go that far for vacation. 

 

Unless you are Ronnie Milsap, you might have also noticed that the QB's had more than average success running the football against the Horns.  Hmmm...

 

So you would think that the OU game plan would have been to come out and pound the football down the Longhorns throat right?  I mean, after all, we can do that now, right?   Didn't we hired a new o-line coach who spent an entire off-season reconditioning the body and mind of our offensive line?  We have a roster full of QB's who have proven to have more efficient legs than arms.  We possess a stable of above average running backs that gives us the ability to attack opponents in waves with talented fresh legs...not to mention the fact that we have a receiving corps that has shown they are capable of providing excellent downfield blocking. 

 

Granted, I am just an oversized, over-served guy sitting in section 103 of the upper deck, but the proper offensive approach to winning this ball game seemed pretty cut and dry to me:

 

Show up at the Cotton Bowl and put on those new jersey's that we evidently borrowed from Florida State for this game, watch the refs flip a coin, take the field...and then run the football over and over again like it was the 1970s. 

 

Then when the games over...we can all take turns dancing on the field wearing a gold cowboy hat trophy, plant a big OU flag at the 50 yard line, have Olin Mills take a team picture, eat a Fletchers Corny Dog...and then load our undefeated and top ten ranked asses onto a bus headed back to Norman. 

 

But what do I know. 

 

Instead...Not one single OU running back carried the ball more than seven times, this despite the fact that when they did carry it, they averaged over 5 yards a pop.  While other team's quarterbacks ran through the Texas defense like Grant went through Richmond, we called for our QB to run the ball a grand total of one time in the first half.

 

Maybe I could understand not utilizing the read option more or not getting Trevor Knight into the game, if Blake Bell was playing well....but he wasn't.  I will cover his inability to throw the ball downfield in a bit, but what was more concerning to me was his lack of poise.  I felt certain that playing well and winning on the road in South Bend would go a long way in calming him for his first Red River Rivalry start.  I was wrong. 

 

My cousin Chip and his wife Sara went to school at UT for some reason.

It looks like I have some work to do if I am going to somehow convince

their children Wyatt, Luke & Marshall not to do the same. 

 

Bell never looked settled, confident or relaxed.  The few times he ran the ball he did so tentatively.  He struggled with his progressions, often unable to locate the open receiver or missing them with the pass when he did.  Brennan Clay dropped what would have been a touchdown on the Sooners first possession, but that might have been Bell's last decent throw of the day.  His two INT's were absolutely horrific throws that were not only well off target, but delivered horribly late.  His first interception, which was returned by UT defensive lineman Chris Whaley, is a head scratcher.  How do you not notice a 6' 3" 295 pound guy dressed in orange standing only 15 yards away from you?  He was a flashing light short of being a human construction zone.  Sadly, Bell picked this opportunity to make his most accurate throw of the entire afternoon.  If there's such a thing as hitting a defensive lineman in 'full stride', Bell did it....then became the first player to greet Whaley after his touchdown when he gave him a bear hug at the OU goal line.

 

I could go on and on here...but I don't need to add carpel tunnel to my list of physical deficiencies.

 

In Other News...

Key Stat of the game: 3rd down conversions

Texas was 13 of 20, including a ridiculous 9 of 13 in the first half.  Conversely, the Sooners were 2 of 13 when face with 3rd down.  Tough to win a game when your defense can't get off the field and your offense can't stay on it.

 

Turn That Frown Upside Down

In an attempt to not be totally negative: Dominque Alexander had 19 tackles and Eric Striker had 16. The future looks bright at LB for the Sooners.

 

Damn Kickers

I have watched OU kickers and punters do some amazingly uncoordinated and un-athletic things over the years, but Jed Barnett's attempt to tackle Texas kick returner Daje Johnson on his 85 yard touchdown return may take the cake.  First of all, he is running like he is trying not to hurt the grass. Secondly, his effort tells me he would have just as soon quit the team right there at the forty yard line rather than have to actually try to tackle Johnson.  But that wasn't ever going to be an option anyway...I have seen better angles on a circle than the one he took in his attempt to 'run down' Johnson. I posted the video for those who might need an inspirational message about effort to share with their children.

 

 

 watch the effort @ the 00:33 mark of this video

 

 

In closing, it is my opinion that the Sooners came into the Texas game an exposed football team.  Gary Patterson and his Frogs may not have beaten the Sooners nine days ago in Norman, but they very well may have been the reason that Texas did this last Saturday.  Patterson's game plan against OU was the template the Horns used to render Blake Bell and the OU offense ineffective... and you can bet that every other team on the Sooners schedule will be using the same strategy going forward.

The loss was a big disappointment.  I wasn't under any allusion that this was a great OU football team, but getting beat by a below average Texas squad and out coached by a guy who will be unemployed soon...made this one of the most disappointing losses in the Stoops era.

It will be interesting to see where this OU team goes from here and who will be leading it when it arrives.  A Big 12 Conference championship is still out there to be had...but then again...so is an invitation to the New Era Pinstripe Bowl.

Just the opinion of one mildly interested guy

The Overweight Armchair Sooner

Buddy Putty