SOONERS SURVIVE POTENTIAL KNIGHT-MARE

#7 OKLAHOMA 30 #18 TCU 29

November 21^st, 2015

Memorial Stadium – 85,821

“There’s not anybody on our sideline that wanted to go for one. We didn’t come here to hang around. We came here to win.” – Gary Patterson

One play.

The whole thing happened faster than you can mispronounce Bram Kohlhausen. There was no pause while the “previous play was under review.”  No timeout was called to discuss strategy.  There were no commercials for erectile dysfunction remedies that had to be endured, nor was there an opposing kicker that needed to be iced.  In fact, before I could even figure out which Sooner defensive back I should dog-cuss for giving up the touchdown…the TCU Horned Frogs were lined up in a 5 wide formation with every intention in the world of wreaking havoc on both the Sooners season and my sunny disposition. 

One play. 

As I watched Gary Patterson waddle from the sidelines with two fingers held up, my first reaction was to throw up.  That’s because Patterson never blinked, never hesitated, never even gave the decision a second thought…which could only mean one thing…He had a play ready for this exact situation, one that they’d practiced over and over, and one that they felt extremely confident would work. Yes, my initial reaction was…oh shit, its Boise State all over again.

One play. 

In my opinion, Patterson saw an opportunity to take advantage of three things: (1) That the decision would surprise OU (which it did) (2) which would cause OU chaos as to personnel and scheme (which it momentarily did) (3) but with no timeouts left, any adjustments would have to be made in the time TCU could line up and snap the ball.

One play 

Reasons that support Patterson’s decision to go for two: His offense is now being led by a third team QB, which can’t be overly comforting for the TCU coaching staff.  His defense is so decimated by injuries that he’s been playing a safety at one of the linebacker positions.  His team has all the momentum and as he said, he simply wanted to win the game right then and there.

One play.

Reasons that don’t support Patterson’s decision to go for two: Having the momentum can also be an argument as to why kicking the extra point and going to overtime made more sense for TCU.  But let’s be honest, the biggest reason you play for overtime is Trevor Knight.  With Knight at the helm, the Sooners offense had pretty much ground to a halt. It’d be a stretch to think that OU was going to suddenly start moving the ball when their last 6 offensive possessions had resulted in 5 punts and a devastating interception.  Furthermore, with all the 3 and outs by the OU offense, the OU defense, which had played well for most of the game, was now completely gassed.

One play.

The Sooners aspirations of winning the Big 12 Conference title, their hopes of being one of the 4 teams to make the college football playoffs, and whether or not I spent the night in jail, came down to one play. Fortunately for the Sooners and myself, sophomore safety Steven Parker was up for the challenge…

SCATTERSHOOTING:

Trying to get into the stadium Saturday night was an ass-whipping.  Every gate was stacked up 200 to 300 people deep due to heightened security measures.  For all the time it took, I figured they had to be strip-searching people, but when I get up there, they didn’t even bother asking me to open my coat, which I tried not to take personal.

OU’s defensive issues in the second half illustrated the effect that one side of the ball can have on the other. In this case, the offense really hamstrung the D.  Of OU’s 10 drives in the second half, only one produced points, and that was because Samaje busted one. Six Sooner drives lasted four plays or fewer. Additionally, six went for under 10 yards. Lord, I hope Baker can play Saturday or Bedlam might become embarrassing.

The largest concession on the stadiums west-side, ran out of hot dogs before half-time.  How the hell does that happen? Is there some sort of pig pieces parts shortage or a 2015 Oklahoma hot-dog famine I’m unaware of?

Sooner Offensive Tackle Orlando Brown

I’m all for Orlando Brown having a nasty streak, but judging by the plethora of personal foul penalties he’s racked up the last three weeks…he might want to tone it down to something like…I don’t know, maybe an unpleasant yet rule abiding type temperament.

Lane Wheeler not serving bar at the tailgate, is like watching the Bob Newhart Show, without, well, without, you know…without Bob Newhart.  His absence forced Kent Coleman to play bartender and two red-shirted ladies I’d never met handling the grille and John Cox handling the covered dish table. Great job by all, but Lane you were missed.  To Coleman, Cox, Wheeler and Co…thank you for another great year of tailgates.  Your time and effort is as always, very much appreciated.

Against the Frogs last Saturday night, the Sooners were able to force 4 turnovers, rush for 333 yards, run 31 more plays than TCU, and dominate time of possession by over 13 minutes (36:37 to 23:23) …so why the hell did the game come down to the final play? Well, here’s why:

1.     Sooners offensive

-        Converting on only 4 of 20 third down opportunities

-        Three offensive trips to red-zone results in 0 touchdowns & 3 field goals

-        Last 6 offensive possessions of game result in 5 punts and an interception

-        37% pass completion ratio (14 of 37 passing)

-        Gave up 4 sacks

-        Sterling Shepard is the only receiver able to get open against press coverage

-        Trevor Knight

2.    The Sooners defense

-        Gave up a 97-yard scoring drive

-        Gave up too many big plays, including 86-yard touchdown

-        Let TCU RB Green rush for 127 yards

-        Safety Ahmad Thomas’ inability to get in position to offer help on deep passes

-        Ran out of gas as a result of being on field most of the last 8 min of the game

3.     Mistakes on Special Teams:

-        bad snap/punter puts knee down flipping field position

-        missed 39-yard field goal

-        averaging only 14.5 yards per kickoff return

4.     Penalties: 8 for 90-yards.

5.     Oklahoma Hot-Dog famine of 2015

Okay, I made the last one up, but seriously, who runs out of hot dogs in the first half?

Bottom line, the Sooners won the game, their sixth in a row, and second straight over a ranked opponent.

Next up:  

One game…For the Big 12 Title. For a playoff berth.  

It’s time to go all in.  It’s time for Bedlam.

Orange makes me puke

 

Brian Bosworth presents Sterling Shepard with a magazine autographed by Bosworth's former teammate and Sterling Shepard's late father - Derrick Shepard

Just the opinion of one mildly interested guy

Buddy Putty – The Overweight Armchair Sooner

BIG 3 & SOME D LEAD OU OVER BAYLOR 44-34

#12 OKLAHOMA 44 #6 BAYLOR 34

“I do believe that the rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated”

– Doc Holiday

On Saturday night, the Oklahoma Sooners walked into a ‘blacked-out’ McLean Stadium and knocked off Art Briles and his upstart, unbeaten and unabashed Baylor Bears 44-34.  With the victory, the Sooners vaulted themselves back into the playoff mix, and in doing so, sent a message to the two time defending Big 12 champs that Bob and the boys from Norman are back.

SCATTERSHOOTING….

“You can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning…”  &

“You can’t win ‘em all if you don’t win the first one.”

That one was huge.  I don’t mind telling you, it’s been a long time since I wanted the Sooners to win a game as much as I wanted them to win last Saturday night.  Judging from the attitude and swagger the Sooners exhibited, the feeling was clearly mutual.  The Sooners didn’t back down from the fight, in fact, they seemed to be the ones initiating it.  How physical was OU? At one point during the second half, Baylor had so many players seeking medical attention on the sideline, that Jeff Lebby had to put on some scrubs and pose as a trainer on his own sideline.

Love me some pylon cam…that was cool. 

What a difference a year makes. Instead of having his corners line up 15 yards off the ball, Mike Stoops gave cornerback Jordan Thomas the chance to shut down Baylor wide receiver Corey Coleman…and he did.  Jordan held Coleman to 3 catches for 51 yards, essentially making Coleman a non-factor and putting an end to the Corey Coleman for Heisman talk.

Saturday was the 4^th time that Baylor has been involved in a game when ESPN’s College GameDay was on hand.  It was the 29^th such experience for the Sooners, which is more times than the rest of the Big 12 schools combined.

Speaking of Mike Stoops…hats off to the much maligned defensive coordinator. It’s been said here that he was incapable of coming up with a scheme to stop an offense the likes of which Baylor has…and I stand by that.  That’s because Mike Stoops didn’t come up with some whacky, mad-scientist, gimmicky scheme to stop Baylor.  He didn’t send out a defense with seven defensive backs and no linebackers.  He didn’t move a defensive end or a safety to linebacker.  He wasn’t trying to make last second adjustments that had our defense staring at the sideline as the ball was being snapped.  No, Saturday night, Mike Stoops didn’t try to build a blender with old toaster parts…he simply just let the OU defense go out and play…defense. Bottom line, it all added up to the Sooners holding the nations #1 scoring offense to 34 points, which is 23.4 below their average.  Now, let’s just all hope that helps get Mike a job somewhere else this off-season.

I can’t even believe I’m about to say this…but our offensive line played pretty damn well against the big, physical Baylor front.  In fact, Oakman and Billings combined for only one tackle and spent much of the second half getting attended to by Trapper John, MD on the BU sideline.

It wasn’t all sunshine and good times for the Sooners. I thought Bob Stoops was going to have a coronary with all the personal foul penalties that extended drives, ejected players and turned Baylor field goals into touchdowns.

I’m sorry…I know he made the game clinching interception late in the fourth quarter, but is Ahmad Thomas really the best safety we have to put out there?  #13 is seemingly always late with deep help and whiffing while trying to tackle running backs. Just sayin’

There is no doubt that the Sooners caught a break facing freshman Jarrett Stidham as opposed to Seth Russell, who’s a much better running QB.  The beat-up Stidham was reduced to sliding once he was forced from the pocket...something that TCU’s Boykin (if healthy) and the OSU QB tandem of Rudolf and Walsh won’t be doing.

There were three…what I like to call “Crown Royal Moments”, in the game Saturday night.  Crown Royal moments are basically key situations in a game, that should the Sooners not step up, then my intake of Canadian blended whiskey likely will…which can lead to things getting out of hand pretty quickly for both of us.

The Sooner offense was able to sustain drives and score points on three separate crucial occasions in the game Saturday night.  The first was when Baylor went 85 yard, in 8 plays on their first drive of the game to take a 6-0 lead.  If the Sooners go three and out on ensuing possession, they’d likely find themselves down 2 scores the next time Alex Ross returned a kick to his own 19.  Instead, OU answered with an 11 play, 65-yard drive of their own to take a 7-6 lead…OU would never trail again.

#2: But they would be tied. The second half started much like the first with the Bears going 75 yards in 9 plays to tie the game at 20.  But instead of wilting in front of 45,000 re-energized Baptists and giving Baylor the ball back with a chance to take the lead, the Sooners punched Baylor in the mouth…going 74 yards in 8 plays to regain the lead 27-20.

The gutsiest drive came in the 4^th quarter.  The Sooners were up by only 3.  There wasn’t a single person in the Sooner Nation who thought things would end well if Baylor got the ball back down only 3. But 10 plays, 78 yards, and a Heisman moment later…it was all over but for the Sooners celebration.

Call me Captain Obvious…but the Sooners big 3 of Mayfield, Perine & Shepard were absolutely amazing.  Words don’t do justice for how clutch Shepard has been this year.  Perine had his size, balance and speed on full display…and Mayfield…all I can say is wow.  The kid is the heartbeat of this team…if this new Baker Mayfield for Heisman video doesn’t give you chills…well, then you must be a Longhorn fan.

http://www.soonersports.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=4713699

Next Up: TCU

Stoops has got to make sure he gets the team refocused. No more celebrating Baylor or getting caught up in all the talk about playoffs. TCU is beat up, but I promise you Boykin plays and they still very dangerous with him on the field and Patterson on the sidelines.  The Sooners win over Baylor means nothing if they don’t take care of TCU at home Saturday night.

Sorry about the length of the update…but it was the best win for the Sooners in years!

Boomer…

Just the opinion of one mildly interested guy

The Overweight Armchair Sooner

Buddy Putty

THREE

THREE

There are a lot of things that come in three’s. There are 3 wheels on a tricycle, 3 sides to a triangle, 3 primary colors and 3 little kittens who lost their mittens.  There are 3 Blind Mice, 3 Billy Goats Gruff, 3 French Hens and 3 Little Pigs who had to deal with a wolf more than once.

You can knock three times, you’re granted three wishes and the third times the charm…but supposedly death and bad luck come in threes, three strikes you’re out and three, as the saying goes, is a crowd.  Stooges, Wise Men, Tenors and Amigo’s come in three…so do Musketeers, Witches of Eastwick and Men in a Tub, but I’d stay away from those 3-ring circuses, if it were me.

Sometimes things that come in three can be a wonderful thing…like #3 Derrick Shepard, All-American Selmon brothers, and the number of National Championship rings owned by Bud & Barry.  But sometimes three isn’t so great…like Jaws III, living close to 3 Mile Island or a having a close encounter of the third kind.

Three is also what will define the Oklahoma Sooners 2015 football season…Three games - in three weeks - against three top ten ranked opponents.

Yes, the next three weeks is what will determine and define a season that still holds the hope and optimism of winning out and making the college football playoffs…as well as the possibility of it ending like last year...with the Sooners receiving an ass kicking from a 4^th place ACC team in the Russell Athletic Bowl in mid-December.

Yes, it’s all right there in front of the Sooners.  To win the Big 12 Conference and give themselves a shot at being in the playoffs, all they need to do is win the next three games.  No big deal, right? It’s as easy as A, B, C or one, two, three.  I mean come on, after all, it’s not like they haven’t done it before.  Hell, since 1950, the Sooners have won three straight games 59 times.  If you think about it, that number would probably be a lot higher, but when you don’t lose a game for 6 years in the 50’s and have registered more 10 win seasons than any other school in the history of college football, the opportunity to start many winning streaks in minimal.  Throw in the fact that the Sooners are 114-36 all-time against the next three opponents listed on the schedule and you’d think that winning out would be as easy as using a camera to attract a Kardashian...but times, they are a changin’.

Yes, I’ll admit…it still sounds strange that Baylor, TCU and OSU is a treacherous three game gauntlet, but it is. It’s also arguably the toughest three game stretch the Sooners have seen since they beat #11 Texas, #2 K-State (road) and #1 Nebraska (home) in their historic ‘Red October’ run to the National Championship back in 2000.  But unlike 2000, the Sooners won’t get the benefit of a bye week like they did before playing Nebraska, and two of these three will be on the road.

Can the Sooners do it? Yes.  Will they do it?  I’d like to say yes, but I just can’t.  Nothing that Mike Stoops has done since he’s been back gives me any confidence or indication that he’s capable of coming up with an effective defensive game plan to stop any of the three high-powered offenses the Sooners are about to face.  To think otherwise, well, I’d have to be three-sheets to the wind.

Three games. Win all three and this season, much like the 3 mice, 3 kittens, 3 goats and 3 men in a tub, becomes a fairy-tale…which, as we all know, end with everyone living happily ever-after.

Lose all three? Well, guys…I guess we can always go back to dreaming about the other fairy-tale we have that involves the number three…

Just the opinion of one mildly interested person

Buddy Putty - The Overweight Armchair Sooner

OU TAKES CARE OF IOWA STATE - PREPARE FOR GAUNTLET

#15 OKLAHOMA 52 IOWA STATE 16

IOWA STATE – DON’T LOOK AHEAD

And they didn’t.  The Sooners took care of business on Saturday with a 52-16 blow-out of Iowa State.  The win ran Bob Stoops record to 11-0 against the Cyclones, with all 11 victories being of the double digit variety.

Sinad O'Connor

The last time OU lost to Iowa State you didn’t ask? George H. W. Bush (that’s the first Bush, FYI) was President.  Nothing Compares to You - by Sinead O’Connor (when she still had her hair, FYI) topped the music charts and Pretty Woman (pre-Lyle Lovette dalliance, FYI) was #1 at the box office.  

The last time OU lost to Iowa State? Gary Gibbs was the head coach, Cale Gundy was the QB and the Sooners were ineligible to participate in a post season bowl game.  When OU last lost to the Cyclones, I was 25 years old, my new cell phone looked like a big white brick and Al Gore’s internet was still another calendar year away from public use…which was for me, was 25 years, two marriages and 60 lbs. ago…okay maybe 65.  Yes, the last time Iowa State beat the Oklahoma Sooners in a football game was 1990.

The win moved the Sooners to 8-1 on the season and 5-1 in conference play…and sets up what will be a very interesting three-week stretch.

Up next: THREE

Just the opinion of one mildly interested guy

Buddy Putty - The Overweight Armchair Sooner