Football question

There were a couple posters this week who said they were confident or optimistic that the run game is going to be good. I’m terrible about searching through threads to find old posts but I promise I’m not imagining it. I wasn’t implying you were one of them, by the way.

i thought the run game was decent today and could have been a lot better if arbuckle would just start with blaylock and give him plenty of opportunities.
 
There were a couple posters this week who said they were confident or optimistic that the run game is going to be good. I’m terrible about searching through threads to find old posts but I promise I’m not imagining it. I wasn’t implying you were one of them, by the way.
Way too early still. You like to panic about everything. Run game averaged 5.5 yards per carry today. OL is getting better but not where we want to be yet. Ott is a no show. Robinson is coming back from hamstring and he’ll get there. Blaylock is special and he’s just scratching the surface.

we’re not going to smash people to death with the run game but I do expect it to be more efficient and continue to get better.
 
i thought the run game was decent today and could have been a lot better if arbuckle would just start with blaylock and give him plenty of opportunities.
True but that’s not necessary against temple. Hopefully, we’ll see more and more of blaylock with Robinson spelling him and less of Barnes.
 
Way too early still. You like to panic about everything. Run game averaged 5.5 yards per carry today. OL is getting better but not where we want to be yet. Ott is a no show. Robinson is coming back from hamstring and he’ll get there. Blaylock is special and he’s just scratching the surface.

we’re not going to smash people to death with the run game but I do expect it to be more efficient and continue to get better.
How many games do we have to see for it not to be too early to know that Barnes isn’t very good? We are at 40+ right now. I have no clue about X. Every time an OU skill player is coming back from an injury, it seems very dicey to assume they’ll round back into form.

I’m very impressed by Blaylock, just worried what will happen if he gets hurt or if DeMarco does his thing and rotates him with three or four other guys.
 
Starting matters, too. Again, every otter position coach puts the best guys on the field to start. DeMarco can’t seem to get over Barnes. If it happens going forward against real teams, it’s a problem. Can’t give away possessions with your best guy standing on the sideline.

A real team? Michigan is the only real team we've played.

Blaylock looked exponentially better than Barnes against Illinois State and Temple, but we aren't playing teams of that caliber. Some dudes feast against inferior athletes but struggle against SEC defenders. I want to see it, and I straight up said Barnes should pack his bags after the opener, but watching UM game made me walk it back.

I'm optimistic about Blaylock, but he did not shine in his limited action against a real team. It's very common for rookies/freshman to ride the bench if they cant pass protect, which takes longer, and we see it across the board including the greatest minds alive like Sean McVay. This offense will live and die with Mateer, so I'd rather have Barnes at 2 YPC but picking up blitzers than Blaylock at 3.5 YPC if he can't.
 
To be clear, I'm very disappointed in Barnes. I just can see why he gets reps. I don't ser Blaylock going 14 for 100 yards against very many SEC defenses unless this OL makes dramatic strides.
 
How many games do we have to see for it not to be too early to know that Barnes isn’t very good? We are at 40+ right now. I have no clue about X. Every time an OU skill player is coming back from an injury, it seems very dicey to assume they’ll round back into form.

I’m very impressed by Blaylock, just worried what will happen if he gets hurt or if DeMarco does his thing and rotates him with three or four other guys.
I won’t defend Barnes. I’ve be been pretty clear about my feelings on him. Good blocker but not a good RB, especially in the SEC.

I think our offense is just getting started and my opinion is the coaches are being more cautious with some guys just as they were in camp. We will get some more guys back next week and the week after. I think the plan all along was to manage certain guys to protect them during the early part of the schedule. The Michigan game, rotation was tighter and QB run game was heavier. These lesser teams, we’re being more cautious and allowing guys more time to heal and ease into things.

I expect it to ramp up this week and through conference play. If we’re still giving Barnes too many carries and the run Game is still struggling post Texas, then I’ll be the first one to complain about it.
 
To be clear, I'm very disappointed in Barnes. I just can see why he gets reps. I don't ser Blaylock going 14 for 100 yards against very many SEC defenses unless this OL makes dramatic strides.
I disagree. Blaylock is special. He’s so much better than any other RB we have. I’d like to see more of him and Xrob.
 
Again...if he plays 5 games at OU this year, it's not a waste. He got experience and that will excite many teams that he may choose to transfer to. If he gets 5 games in the regular season again due to Mateer injury, it's definitely not wasted, especially with this defense to support him.
5 partial games, two years in a row, is the definition of a waste.
 
Starting matters, too. Again, every otter position coach puts the best guys on the field to start. DeMarco can’t seem to get over Barnes. If it happens going forward against real teams, it’s a problem. Can’t give away possessions with your best guy standing on the sideline.
1. We came out passing. That was the plan. Barnes is the better blocker.
2. RB's are going to rotate, so again, it doesn't really matter who is on the field the first play. Very few college backs play anywhere close to all of the offensive snaps.
 
Who feels optimistic about the run game? Saying Barnes was our best against Michigan is not the same thing as being optimistic.
I think it'll be fine. I don't know what some of you expect. It's a new system that didn't really have success running the ball in recent years. It can be hard to run out of this system. It's not impossible though. It took Riley a bit to figure it out, I think Arbuckle will too. We still have a banged up OL. Fasusi is our LT. He's missed two games. Sexton would probably be starting somewhere, maybe LG, if healthy.

I'm guessing we're also saving some stuff for the meat of our schedule. Yes, we're probably going to have to scheme our way to a running game this year, rather than just lining up and bulling people. That isn't this offense. Isn't this team.
 
There were a couple posters this week who said they were confident or optimistic that the run game is going to be good. I’m terrible about searching through threads to find old posts but I promise I’m not imagining it. I wasn’t implying you were one of them, by the way.

What exactly do you want out of the running game? It's clear they were more focused on working on the passing game. That said, we still ran for 228 yards and over 5 yards per carry. Blaylock ran for 100 yards at 7.1 ypc. Our QB ran for 9 ypc. Robinson was at 5.2 ypc.

tOSU is averaging 4.4 ypc against Ohio at halftime tonight.
texas averaged 4.0 ypc today against UTEP.
PSU's top two RB's averaged 5.7 ypc today against Nova.

I ask again, statistically, what do you want knowing we run an Air Raid offense that we are still breaking in?
 
Starting matters, too. Again, every otter position coach puts the best guys on the field to start. DeMarco can’t seem to get over Barnes. If it happens going forward against real teams, it’s a problem. Can’t give away possessions with your best guy standing on the sideline.
Starting doesn’t matter to team guys. You think Blaylock cares? He knows he’s the dude.

It’s wild people think Individual rb/wr/OL TE coaches. Make the end all be all decisions.

The HC and OC/dc makes those final calls.
 
How many games do we have to see for it not to be too early to know that Barnes isn’t very good? We are at 40+ right now. I have no clue about X. Every time an OU skill player is coming back from an injury, it seems very dicey to assume they’ll round back into form.

I’m very impressed by Blaylock, just worried what will happen if he gets hurt or if DeMarco does his thing and rotates him with three or four other guys.
I have zero issues with the way Barnes has played the last two weeks. No, he isn't better than Blaylock, but he is plenty good to get 2nd or 3rd team reps at RB in terms of carries.
 
Starting doesn’t matter to team guys. You think Blaylock cares? He knows he’s the dude.

It’s wild people think Individual rb/wr/OL TE coaches. Make the end all be all decisions.

The HC and OC/dc makes those final calls.
For three years everyone has said the position coaches make those calls. In fact, when I’ve criticized Brent for the running back depth chart/rotation/starter, his defenders have always replied that DeMarco makes that decision. Whoever it is, they are doing a bad job.

As for starting not mattering, since when do possessions in a football game not matter? If we go three and out on our first couple possessions with our best guy on the bench, is that not important? I’ll wait and see who starts next week. If it isn’t Blaylock, it’s flat silly.

As for what I want: Barnes is averaging 2.5 YPC. Ott 2.9. X is 3.3. And two of the three teams we have played are awful. I’m not sure why what I’m saying is even controversial … no one can think our run game is in a good spot when three of our four backs are putting up those numbers.

And again, my concern isn’t based on three games. We haven’t been a good run blocking team for about three years. Regardless of what scheme you run, you need your linemen to generate movement, especially against bad teams.

Our defense is playing well, and I like a couple of our WRs. Not sure if Gibson will actually be back any time soon, but would be great if he makes an impact if he plays. I like Mateer, but I do worry a bit about his touch and also think some of his sidearm throws will be an issue in the SEC. But overall, I’m probably more optimistic about the team’s ceiling than I was coming into the season, so don’t think my concern about the run game means I don’t see the positives.
 
5 partial games, two years in a row, is the definition of a waste.

He played in 7 games last year, with 3 starts. That's never a waste for a true freshman at Oklahoma. The Auburn highlights alone would have assured him a solid landing spot in the portal had he chosen that route.

Assuming he plays against Kent State, if he were to burn his redshirt, that means he started at least 2 games. Again, if he's called upon to take over for the final 3+ games on what is likely still a team in playoff contention, that's absolutely not a waste.

And to clarify, there are many questions unanswered despite a great showing against Michigan, so I'm not saying we will be a playoff team. But I would be shocked if we were eliminated prior to the Alabama game.
 
As for what I want: Barnes is averaging 2.5 YPC. Ott 2.9. X is 3.3. And two of the three teams we have played are awful. I’m not sure why what I’m saying is even controversial … no one can think our run game is in a good spot when three of our four backs are putting up those numbers.

Blaylock averaged 2.7 YPC against the only non-awful team we played, so it's right in line with what you mentioned. I thought the blocking was better today, but nobody looks to run for many yards this year in the SEC unless major changes happen.

I want Blaylock to be the guy, and he's the most explosive athlete we have back there right now, but it's common practice to reward those that can pass block. We will be playing a top 15 DL nearly every week this year, so that extra half second for Mateer on 5 plays a game could easily be 100+ yards when factoring drive saving conversions and avoidance of turnovers.

If Blaylock does the things he needs to do, he'll get more than his fair share of reps this year.

...and there is something seriously wrong with Ott. I hope it's one of those Sawchuk hammy situations where he looks completely different when healthy. Otherwise we completely dropped the ball on that.
 
Blaylock averaged 2.7 YPC against the only non-awful team we played, so it's right in line with what you mentioned. I thought the blocking was better today, but nobody looks to run for many yards this year in the SEC unless major changes happen.

I want Blaylock to be the guy, and he's the most explosive athlete we have back there right now, but it's common practice to reward those that can pass block. We will be playing a top 15 DL nearly every week this year, so that extra half second for Mateer on 5 plays a game could easily be 100+ yards when factoring drive saving conversions and avoidance of turnovers.

If Blaylock does the things he needs to do, he'll get more than his fair share of reps this year.

...and there is something seriously wrong with Ott. I hope it's one of those Sawchuk hammy situations where he looks completely different when healthy. Otherwise we completely dropped the ball on that.

He doesn’t like to play banged up. His head isn’t in it appears. Doesn’t practice well. He’s not the same player right now as he was 2 years ago at Cal

Can’t protect our QB!
 
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