The Overweight Armchair Sooner: TWO & NINE NEVER FELT SO FINE

Sooners beat the Irish for the first time in 56 years

OKLAHOMA 35

NOTRE DAME 21

SOONERS IN SOUTH BEND

A special thanks to Brian "Styx" Sanders & Kevin "KJ" Maguire for the pictures and feedback that they supplied via text and email from South Bend. I went to South Bend when the Sooners played there in '99, but this was still a tough one to miss. I appreciate you guys taking the time to share some of the atmosphere with The OAS on Saturday. I thought I would pass some of that on today:

This from Maguire:

Lots of Sooner fans in Chicago on Friday night.
Great vibe at the tailgate. Several Irish fans remarked how well they were treated last year in Norman and that they wanted to return the favor to Sooner fans this year.
Notre Dame Stadium looks 'old school cool' but it actually sucks. Basically, they pack 80,000 into a 60,000 seat stadium.
Irish fans are down on Kelly. Boos came out pretty early.
Late in game, Irish fans are more and more agitated. Chants of '2 and 9' have started.
"Lots of drunken Irishmen...felt like a family reunion."

This from Styx:

(At halftime with Sooners leading 21-7) Text: Feels like we are up by an extra point.
180% difference from last time (1999). Lots more going on around the stadium.
Stadium sucks, antiquated, no video board. When he asked Irish fans about why there was no big video screen they claim it's an attempt to stay with tradition. Styx then asked if the Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica that was blaring from speakers was also part of the tradition. Nothing like a little Quiet Riot to 'wake up the echoes!'
That aside, he did say that the pageantry and tradition that accompanies the game day there @ Notre Dame is very real.
Also mentioned the campus was more beautiful than he remembered it to be when we went back in '99.

STYX IS GETTING INTO THE 'SPIRIT'

OF THINGS BEFORE THE GAME

WAKE UP THE ECHOES

The Sooners were obviously very impressive on Saturday. There were so many positive things that could be pointed out, but I am going to focus on four.

1. The Sooner Nation

The general consensus is that there were roughly 20,000 Sooner fans inside Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday. That is an impressive showing by the Sooner Nation. I know there were at least 15,000 of us in Tuscaloosa in '03, but from all accounts there were a lot more than that in South Bend. I'm sure it was some sort of optical allusion or maybe it was just the Sooner Homer in me...but when the NBC cameras would pan the stadium, I swear it looked like there were as many Sooner fans in the stands as there were Irish.
Regardless of the exact number, seeing all that red mixed in with the Irish green...made the stands at Notre Dame Stadium look like the set of a Bing Crosby Christmas Special. Makes me proud to be a Sooner-

2. The Running Game

Against the Irish last year in Norman, the Sooners rushed for a grand total of 45 feet. To put that in perspective, if the Sooners started the game at home plate they would've still been a free throw short of the pitcher's mound at the final gun. The Sooners longest run of the night last year was from the sideline to the huddle.

Holy cow, what a difference twelve months and a coaching change can make. Bill Bedenbaugh was hired to be the new offensive line coach back in February. Bedenbaugh quickly went to work on changing the unit's mentality from finesse to physical. All spring he reminded his offensive line about how they got pushed around by the Irish last September. He also reworked the offseason conditioning regiment for the big-uglies...butting heads with strength and conditioning coach Smitty until he relented to less running and more lifting. Bigger - stronger vs. lighter - faster. The results so far have been impressive.

Saturday against the Irish and their vaunted defensive front, the Sooners ran for 212 yards on 42 carries...an average of five yards a snap. Admittedly, the Sooners struggled on a couple of short yardage situations, but keep in mind; this is by far the best defensive front the Sooners will go up against all season.

The numbers from Saturday show what a football team can do when they have the ability to run the football:

Time of possession. Despite starting off the game only having the ball for 4:31 of the first quarter because of a defensive score and a short drive, the Sooners won the time of possession 35:44 to 24:16. The real eye opener was the second half where OU had the ball for 22:40 of the possible 30:00 minutes.
First downs: OU 25 ND 12. Thirteen of which came from running the football
Total Plays: OU 73 ND 54. When you hold the opposition to only 54 plays, then your defense doesn't need Trapper John and an oxygen tent to keep them from keeling over.
Favorite point on running game: When Trevor Knight came in to replace Bell...the entire 80,000+ in the stadium knew the Sooners were going to run the football...and still they move the ball 58 yards on the ground, including a 30 yard run by TK.

Bottom line: 450 yards total offense. 212 rushing / 238 passing. Balance even the flying Wallenda brothers would be proud of.

3. It Takes a Village

Love that the Sooners are getting contributions from so many people. This team is finally showing off the depth that we had been told about. Five different players carried the football. Eight different players caught passes. Even the back-up QB came in at a big moment and contributed. In the recent past, you shut down Broyles...you put serious damper on the passing game. Then it was Stills that was the key. It's hard to key on one guy, when so many are in the mix. Makes sense that you can be more dangerous when you have more than one bullet in your gun.

4. Hit Me With Your Best Shot

One of things that impressed me most about the Sooners on Saturday was the way they answered every time Notre Dame made a push. As my friend Styx said, the lead seemed precarious at best even when we were up 14. There are several great examples of OU responding to an Irish surge, but in the interest of time, I will focus on what I thought was one of the more critical moments of the game:

9:09/2nd Quarter.

Oklahoma 14 Notre Dame 7.

OU had just turned the ball over on downs at the Irish 43. With the momentum, good field position and their fans no longer speed dialing Dr. Kevorkian, the Irish pick up consecutive first downs and find themselves at the OU 24 with 3:44 to go in the half.

A touchdown on this drive would be absolutely huge for Notre Dame.  Going to the locker room tied after having been down 14 points before NBC could even run a Ford F-150 commercial...would be as uplifting for the Irish as it would be devastating for the Sooners.  The damage could be far reaching...

I am watching the game over at Scott McKnight's house.  Scott and his wife Allison have four McChildren...all ten years of age or younger...and all of them are within 15 yards of an over served OAS. An Irish touchdown here and there is a good chance that all four McChildren will arrive at school on Monday armed with several new vocabulary words.

But before you can say 'hooked on phonics'...Julian Wilson picks off Tommy Rees to stop the Irish drive. Ten plays and 88 yards later, Blake Bell finds Lacoltan Bester in the back of the la-end zone.

Instead of going to half with a tie score and several parent teacher conferences in the McKnight's near future...the score is 21-7 Sooners. It's only halftime and I need a nap and a twelve-step program...but at least the children aren't using the f-word as a noun, verb and adjective in the same sentence.