Football question

[mict085]

I would label our offense as OK.
Passing game is good. Running game is bad.

You want to know the crazy thing? If you take out Illinois State, Hawkins game against Kent State was the highest rated game by an OU QB this year (using the classic QB Rating formula). Kind of crazy

I would say our offense, with mateer, is pretty good and getting better. If we could get our OL healthy and play the starters, the run game should improve. At least I’m keeping that hope alive.

I don’t care what the “stats” say about Hawkins QB rating. He was not good against a terrible team. His sidearm, poor footwork antics will result in turnovers against a good defense like texas. He looks panicked and the pressure of the RRS game will only make that worse and more likely for catastrophe. During BV tenure, backup poor QB play results in getting blown out in this game. I don’t think texas can score enough for a blowout but they can beat us if our offense can’t get its act together.

 

[hoopsaustin]

My friend says his source says hes "fairly confident" that Mateer is playing fwiw

 

[WichitaSooner]

I would say our offense, with mateer, is pretty good and getting better. If we could get our OL healthy and play the starters, the run game should improve. At least I’m keeping that hope alive.

I don’t care what the “stats” say about Hawkins QB rating. He was not good against a terrible team. His sidearm, poor footwork antics will result in turnovers against a good defense like texas. He looks panicked and the pressure of the RRS game will only make that worse and more likely for catastrophe. During BV tenure, backup poor QB play results in getting blown out in this game. I don’t think texas can score enough for a blowout but they can beat us if our offense can’t get its act together.

We played the starters. All five started Saturday. We sat two defensive starters who could have played, because it was Kent State. That tells me that the offensive linemen are all legitimately healthy, so injuries are no excuse for that performance.

The other issue with the run game is the backs. The line isn't doing their part, I fully agree, but even when there are chances for the backs to make plays, they rarely do. I legitimately can't recall the last time any of them truly made a defender miss in space in a one-on-one situation. One thing Teddy has said for two or three years now that I fully agree with -- when you watch other college games, it seems like both teams will have backs break big runs and leave defenders tackling air. I think the last really long run I remember is Sawchuk at OSU two years ago on the first drive.

 

[BoulderSooner]

I know you will cite advanced metrics, but you can't possibly have watched us through five games and think we are a good offense. What do we do well? We can't run. At all. Against any level of opponent. We produce almost no explosive plays in the passing game. Mateer has been good but isn't particularly accurate.

Has there been even one game where you walked away feeling like our offense looked impressive? Given how well our defense has played, and how often our offense has been set up to succeed, should we not be better than 46th in scoring offense and 54th in total offense? I've seen people on here argue that our defense last year was better than their rankings because the rankings failed to account for how many times our defense was put in bad positions, and how often they had to go back out after our offense went three-and-out or turned the ball over. Well, this year, it is the opposite -- our opponents constantly have their defense on the field. We should be able to take advantage of that.

I would love to know which specific categories boost our metrics. Our line hasn't run bock worth a crap all year, and we just struggled badly to pass protect against Kent State. In our two games against real opponents, we scored 24 points.

michigan has one of the best run defenses in the country and OU had 138 yards rushing ..

Auburn also has one the best run defenses in the country ..

 

[BoulderSooner]

I know you will cite advanced metrics, but you can't possibly have watched us through five games and think we are a good offense. What do we do well? We can't run. At all. Against any level of opponent. We produce almost no explosive plays in the passing game. Mateer has been good but isn't particularly accurate.

Has there been even one game where you walked away feeling like our offense looked impressive? Given how well our defense has played, and how often our offense has been set up to succeed, should we not be better than 46th in scoring offense and 54th in total offense? I've seen people on here argue that our defense last year was better than their rankings because the rankings failed to account for how many times our defense was put in bad positions, and how often they had to go back out after our offense went three-and-out or turned the ball over. Well, this year, it is the opposite -- our opponents constantly have their defense on the field. We should be able to take advantage of that.

I would love to know which specific categories boost our metrics. Our line hasn't run bock worth a crap all year, and we just struggled badly to pass protect against Kent State. In our two games against real opponents, we scored 24 points.

the OU offense played well against michigan ..

and once again we have played 2 of the best defenses in the country in our fist 5 games ..

 

[SoonerBounce13]

I would say our offense, with mateer, is pretty good and getting better. If we could get our OL healthy and play the starters, the run game should improve. At least I’m keeping that hope alive.

I don’t care what the “stats” say about Hawkins QB rating. He was not good against a terrible team. His sidearm, poor footwork antics will result in turnovers against a good defense like texas. He looks panicked and the pressure of the RRS game will only make that worse and more likely for catastrophe. During BV tenure, backup poor QB play results in getting blown out in this game. I don’t think texas can score enough for a blowout but they can beat us if our offense can’t get its act together.

All oline starters played.

Besides that, I agree with your critique of Hawkins...I just found it odd. The formula must be highly dependent on TDs and turnovers

 

[WichitaSooner]

the OU offense played well against michigan ..

and once again we have played 2 of the best defenses in the country in our fist 5 games ..

Michigan is 18 and Auburn 38 in total defense. They are 23 and 25 respectively in scoring defense. I think our offense was solid against Michigan, but with a 3.5 YPC average (only 3 YPC from our backs), I don't think it was anything to be overly excited about. We are going to play good defenses almost every week. Need to find a way to score more than 24 points against some of these teams, unless our defense just dominates every week even against some really good offenses in the weeks to come.

I really hope Mateer plays, primarily because I want us to win. But I also can already predict that a lot of the fans and media members who were saying less than a week ago that Hawk would start for most top 25 teams will be the first people to turn around and use it as an excuse if the offense struggles. This game always has surprises in store. Maybe this is the week the offense finally looks like we all hoped it might coming into the season. I sure hope that's the case.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

the OU offense played well against michigan ..

and once again we have played 2 of the best defenses in the country in our fist 5 games ..

It is a bit concerning that we can't dominate bad teams. That will come back and bite us.
It is insinuating that we aren't taking each opponent seriously.

The run game still wasn't great against michigan. If they are truly one of the better run defenses, I can live with 3 ypc from the running backs.

Let's look at their other opponents taking out QBs:

OU 57 yards on 19 carries (3 ypc)
Wisc 75 yards on 27 carries (2.8 ypc)
Neb 85 yards on 27 carries (3.2 ypc)
CMU 27 yards on 18 carries (1.5 ypc)
NMU 58 yards ov 20 carries (2.9 ypc)
OVERALL (not including OU): 2.7


Now let's do auburn:
OU 13 yards on 12 carries (1.1 ypc)
Baylor 83 yards on 20 carries (4.2 ypc)
Ball State 18 yards on 18 carries (1 ypc)
S. Bama 113 yards on 35 carries (3.2 ypc)
TA&M 235 yards on 38 carries (6.2 ypc)
OVERALL (not including OU): 4

 

[BanjoCharley]

Fortunately we don't play anymore bad teams

 

[BoulderSooner]

It is a bit concerning that we can't dominate bad teams. That will come back and bite us.
It is insinuating that we aren't taking each opponent seriously.

The run game still wasn't great against michigan. If they are truly one of the better run defenses, I can live with 3 ypc from the running backs.

Let's look at their other opponents taking out QBs:

OU 57 yards on 19 carries (3 ypc)
Wisc 75 yards on 27 carries (2.8 ypc)
Neb 85 yards on 27 carries (3.2 ypc)
CMU 27 yards on 18 carries (1.5 ypc)
NMU 58 yards ov 20 carries (2.9 ypc)
OVERALL (not including OU): 2.7


Now let's do auburn:
OU 13 yards on 12 carries (1.1 ypc)
Baylor 83 yards on 20 carries (4.2 ypc)
Ball State 18 yards on 18 carries (1 ypc)
S. Bama 113 yards on 35 carries (3.2 ypc)
TA&M 235 yards on 38 carries (6.2 ypc)
OVERALL (not including OU): 4

you don't just get to "take out the qb's" when the QB run game is a major weapon of the OU offense .. (in games that we need it) ..

 

[BoulderSooner]

Michigan is 18 and Auburn 38 in total defense. They are 23 and 25 respectively in scoring defense. I think our offense was solid against Michigan, but with a 3.5 YPC average (only 3 YPC from our backs), I don't think it was anything to be overly excited about. We are going to play good defenses almost every week. Need to find a way to score more than 24 points against some of these teams, unless our defense just dominates every week even against some really good offenses in the weeks to come.

I really hope Mateer plays, primarily because I want us to win. But I also can already predict that a lot of the fans and media members who were saying less than a week ago that Hawk would start for most top 25 teams will be the first people to turn around and use it as an excuse if the offense struggles. This game always has surprises in store. Maybe this is the week the offense finally looks like we all hoped it might coming into the season. I sure hope that's the case.

michigan is 7 against the run auburn is 17

 

[SoonerBounce13]

you don't just get to "take out the qb's" when the QB run game is a major weapon of the OU offense .. (in games that we need it) ..

I knew that would be your response. I think it is fair to look at running back production as a key part of offensive metrics. It is a different play than a called qb run or a qb run from scrambling. A designed running play is scripted. A qb run is unscripted many of the times.

But even if you add in QB run game, it hasn't been great for OU

JM was 3.9 ypc against UM and 2.9 against auburn. it isn't going to move the needle much

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Using the "we played great run defenses" excuse doesn't really work when we haven't run it well against bad run defenses either

 

[WichitaSooner]

It is a bit concerning that we can't dominate bad teams. That will come back and bite us.
It is insinuating that we aren't taking each opponent seriously.

The run game still wasn't great against michigan. If they are truly one of the better run defenses, I can live with 3 ypc from the running backs.

Let's look at their other opponents taking out QBs:

OU 57 yards on 19 carries (3 ypc)
Wisc 75 yards on 27 carries (2.8 ypc)
Neb 85 yards on 27 carries (3.2 ypc)
CMU 27 yards on 18 carries (1.5 ypc)
NMU 58 yards ov 20 carries (2.9 ypc)
OVERALL (not including OU): 2.7


Now let's do auburn:
OU 13 yards on 12 carries (1.1 ypc)
Baylor 83 yards on 20 carries (4.2 ypc)
Ball State 18 yards on 18 carries (1 ypc)
S. Bama 113 yards on 35 carries (3.2 ypc)
TA&M 235 yards on 38 carries (6.2 ypc)
OVERALL (not including OU): 4

I think the bigger concern is that the issue isn't that we aren't taking bad teams seriously -- I think we legitimately aren't good enough to run the ball well against even bad teams. You're probably right that the focus was greater for Michigan and Auburn than for the three cupcakes, but I think the real issue is that the line just isn't very explosive and physical, and the backs haven't been anything special. I am curious to see who plays Saturday. I could easily foresee Murray and Brent defaulting to Barnes because "you know what you will get from him, especially in pass protection." I'd rather they play their best couple backs, but no one has played well enough to really stand out.

 

[stormspencer]

John is gonna play.

Texas being favored is wild

This concerns me a little regarding UT as a favorite. Vegas usually knows something and is begging people to bet OU currently which almost always gives me pause. I'm assuming/hoping they are factoring in Mateer NOT playing when generating that line (now up to 3.5 in some places). Vegas has been fairly spot on in their OU lines this year with the exception of Temple:
OU -36 vs. Illinois State (won by 32)
OU - 6 vs. Michigan (won by 11)
OU - 23/24 vs. Temple (won by 39)
OU - 6.5/7 vs Auburn (won by 7)
OU - 45.5/46 vs Kent State (won by 44)

Obviously, they could have covered vs ISU and Kent, but weren't concerned about the lines.