#11 OKLAHOMA
30 #15 KANSAS STATE 31
OU-KSU:
19 Thought Shot From the
Lip
“To: Denzel, Merry F****** Christmas” –Trevor Knight
1: On first down, with the ball
inside their own one yard line,
Trevor Knight attempts to throw a four yard out-route to the wide-side of the
field. Playing in a cover-2 defense, KSU
defensive back Denzel McDaniel simply steps in front of intended receiver Durron
Neal, picks the ball off and waltzes into the end-zone for a touchdown. It was McDaniel’s first career interception, first
career touchdown and probably the last time either will ever be that easy.
I was in such a state of disbelief by what I’d just witnessed,
that I just sat there in stunned silence…which could be a first for me. Believe me, my
sudden newfound composure wasn’t due to a lack of being pissed off, because I
was definitely that and more…I just didn’t know who to dog cuss first, QB Trevor Knight or offensive
coordinator Josh Heupel. So I did the only logical thing…I cussed ‘em both.
"Just when I think you couldn't
be any dumber"
-Harry from Dumb
& Dumber
2. Before the first snap of the second quarter, the Sooners get flagged
for delay of game. Seriously? How the hell does a team get a delay of game
penalty after an end of the quarter television time out break? So you’re telling me that in the time it
takes for ABC to air two sit-com
promos, a Ford F-150 commercial and tout a suggestion for erectile dysfunction,
that we can’t get an f-ing play called and in position to run it?
Hell,
I could’ve borrowed a piece of paper, whittled a pencil, made up a play, named
it, walked it down to the third string punter, introduced myself, taught him
how to signal it in to the QB and then called an audible in the amount of time
allocated to sponsors during those breaks. That has to be some sort of pathetic
new low in game/clock management.
3. Remember when the
Sooners were seemingly invincible at home?
Yah, me neither. With the loss to
KSU on Saturday, OU has now lost three
of their last thirteen home games dating back to 2012.
“Four score and seven points ago”
4: The Sooner
defense continues to give up too many big plays as evidenced by the fact that half of the Wildcats 385 total yards came from
only four plays.
"It's like Deja
vu all over again" - Yogi Berra
5: The game on Saturday was a match-up of two very similar
football teams. #11 OU and #15 K-State both came into the game with identical 5-1 records and nearly identical numbers
in 5 major statistical categories: scoring average, offensive rushing yards,
offensive passing yards, time of possession and points allowed. When you have a match-up of this nature, the
team that usually wins the game, is the one that makes the fewest mistakes. Mistakes: OU 3 KSU 0.
The game
was very reminiscent of the one these two team played the last time the
Wildcats came to Norman. In that 2012
contest, Oklahoma QB Landry Jones gift wrapped a touchdown to the Wildcats when
he fumbled near his own goal line while attempting to scramble...a big swing that KSU would eventually win 24-19.
6: By putting seven and sometimes eight defenders ‘in the box’, the Wildcat defensive
strategy was obvious: take away the Sooners running game and force QB Trevor
Knight to try and beat us through the air.
If not for the one horrific throw that resulted in a pick six,
Knight would’ve done just that. Against the ‘Cats on Saturday, Trevor was 26 of
32 for 318 yards and three touchdowns…an awesome game by anyone’s standards.
If OU had
pulled this game out, the Sooner Nation would be talking about how Knight shook
off the early injury; how he was able to bounce back from the early INT to lead
the Sooners to a hard fought, come from behind win.
And If I was six foot eight….then I’d be the perfect
size for my weight…but I’m not…and the Sooners didn’t…which means I’m fat…and
everyone in Crimson & Cream will be focusing on the pick six and how it’s
the main reason for the loss.
“Eight will have to
wait another year”
7: The loss to K-State on Saturday was a crushing blow to this
teams pre-season goals. Not only does the loss eliminate the Sooners from
playoff contention and shot at an 8th national championship…it may’ve
also made winning the Big 12 extremely difficult if not impossible.
“Sterling
Shepard and the 7 Dwarfs”
8: Eight
different Sooners caught passes on Saturday, including Miciah Quick &
Austin Bennett…each of whom made their first career catch.
9: While Alex Ross has
been a game changer on special teams, he has struggled to find his grove when
in the game at running back. Saturday,
Ross was better, carrying the ball 8 times for 75 yards, an average of 9.1
yards a tote.
10: Samaje Perine scored
his 10th touchdown of the year on Saturday. He’s the ninth freshman in OU history to
score 10 or more touchdowns as a freshman.
11: The Sooners had to play the final 11:00
minutes of the game with only one time out.
OU burns way too many time-outs trying to avoid delay of game penalties
on offense…and trying to catch a frickin’ clue on defense. I seriously think they would burn all 6 of
their time-outs in the first-half if that was an option.
12: I thought OU
back-up QB Cody Thomas did well in the limited time he played. Thomas entered the game when Knight got dinged
up in the first quarter. Thomas manned the offensive reigns for the final 8
plays of a 12 play, 79 yard touchdown drive that gave the Sooners a temporary
7-0 lead. Thomas, who was 2 for 2
passing and made a nice play on an errant snap, didn’t seem overwhelmed by the
moment.
13: Sooner Safety Ahmad Thomas (#13) looks more
like Marlo Thomas right now on defense. I’m sorry, I hate to be critical of a kid…and I’m sure he’s
trying, but he just isn’t good. I’m sure
that Ahmad is a great kid who loves his momma, says please and thank you when
he’s supposed to and would no doubt stop to help a little old lady cross the
street if need be…but we don’t need an f-ing boy scout in our secondary, we
need a safety. Thomas, who looks
completely lost out there, has proven time and time again that he couldn’t
cover a fence post. Why aren’t Byrd or
Parker getting a shot at playing time? They
were supposed to be the greatest things to come along since soap-on-a-rope and
the snuggie…but they can’t beat out Thomas?
14: The number of feet KSU defensive back Denzel
McDaniel had to carry the football he’d just been thrown for a touchdown.
“Simply
the best”
15: Sterling Shepard
caught a career high 15 passes (197 yards and a touchdown) on Saturday, tying a
school record. (Brown 2012, Broyles 2010, Saunders 2012)
16: This is Bob Stoops 16th
season as head coach, and in those 16 years I can’t think of an offensive play
call worse than the one that Heupel made on when the Sooners were at their own
1 yard line to start the second quarter.
For
the most part, I’m a fan of Josh Heupel, but I haven’t seem a decision that bad
in Norman since John Blake was hired.
“Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid
thing, it is usually from the noblest motives” – Oscar Wilde
17: On 2nd and
8 from the KSU seventeen
yard line, offensive coordinator Josh Heupel called for a wide-receiver-reverse
pass. Hmmm. Interesting.
I’ll be the first to admit, if the play had worked, I’d probably be trumpeting
it as genius. But when you make this
kind of call and your wide receiver throws a wounded
duck into triple coverage that is subsequently intercepted in the end-zone, well,
you look like a huge moron.
18: Despite have 1st
and goal from the 4 yard line, and 2nd a goal from the 2, the
Sooners were unable to get into the end-zone.
Trailing 31-30 with only 4:00 to play, the Sooners decided to play it
safe and kick the field goal.
It
would be an 18 yard attempt, with the ball being spotted between the hash marks. It’s was the equivalent of an extra
point. A gimme. It’s a kick that a Lou Groza Award finalist like
Michael Hunnicutt makes 99.9 times out of 100 times. Hell, it’s a kick that some guy dressed in a
Members Only Jacket, camo shorts and tassel loafers was able to make about 90
minutes ago during halftime to win free hamburgers from Carl Jr’s for a year.
There
was no way that the kicker who holds the record for most made field goals in
Big 12 history was going to miss this.
For the all-time leading scorer in OU history and one of only 20 player
to score 400-points in their career, things like 18 yard field goals are
automatic, right?
Well, not so much. For the second
time in the game, Michael Hunnicutt was wide left on an easy field goal attempt. With OU having only one timeout left, all KSU
had to do to run out the clock, was pick up one first down…which they did.
Obviously, Hunnicutt is devastated. I can’t imagine what he has been going
through the last couple day…but while his misses no doubt played a big part,
Hunnicutt is not the only one to blame for the loss…because there were plenty
of other Sooner players and coaches who were off the mark this past Saturday.
With both of the two lofty pre-season goals off the table, it will
be interesting to see how this team responds. With Baylor, OSU, a trip to
Lubbock and a pesky Iowa State still left on the schedule, if they don't pull
it together it could get ugly....like Texas Bowl ugly
19. ….looks like I came up 1 short as well
Just the opinion of one mildly
interested guy
The Overweight Armchair Sooner
Buddy Putty
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