Football question

[stormspencer]

This OU team....my lord, it's not one or two glaring things (outside of our crap OL). This team doesn't do the little things. The continued undisciplined play in competitive games makes you feel like we will never get over the hump. I have several questions:

• Why is Arbuckle allergic to the middle of the field? Outside of the early bomb to Sategna, it seems like our only WR routes are out-routes, curls, or stop routes. Throw the ball over the middle damnit.
• And Arbuckle's infatuation with the QB run game was not needed today. I am so sick of that stupidass play.
• X is the best RB on the team because he is built to run against SEC teams. I like Blaylock as a chance of pace guy, but X needs more carries.
• Defense was very disappointing today. Kiffen pretty much schooled what I thought was an "elite" defense. Chambliss is a helluva QB as well.
• This was a coaching staff mismatch. Kiffen had a great gameplan and we were slow to make adjustments. I think you could have switched Kiffen and BV today and OU would have won.
• Mateer was never very accurate even when he was healthy. He is the best QB of the group, but he is not the answer. Nothing we can do about it this year.

As far as the big picture, it seems like a BV-led team will never be "buttoned up" to a point where we will ever feel comfortable. Seriously, I was just waiting for something to go wrong late in the game today....and like clockwork, the Sategna fumble. We are making progress as a team, though it is painful and incremental. Our margin for error is so small against the type of competition we are playing...........all it takes is one bust, one TO, or one dumb penalty and immediately we are behind the 8 ball. I don't know if we will ever get to a point where this isn't the case, but the quickest remedy to this is a continual upgrade in talent/better players.....more specifically "difference makers".

 

[Boom Soon]

This OU team....my lord, it's not one or two glaring things (outside of our crap OL). This team doesn't do the little things. The continued undisciplined play in competitive games makes you feel like we will never get over the hump. I have several questions:

• Why is Arbuckle allergic to the middle of the field? Outside of the early bomb to Sategna, it seems like our only WR routes are out-routes, curls, or stop routes. Throw the ball over the middle damnit.
• And Arbuckle's infatuation with the QB run game was not needed today. I am so sick of that stupidass play.
• X is the best RB on the team because he is built to run against SEC teams. I like Blaylock as a chance of pace guy, but X needs more carries.
• Defense was very disappointing today. Kiffen pretty much schooled what I thought was an "elite" defense. Chambliss is a helluva QB as well.
• This was a coaching staff mismatch. Kiffen had a great gameplan and we were slow to make adjustments. I think you could have switched Kiffen and BV today and OU would have won.
• Mateer was never very accurate even when he was healthy. He is the best QB of the group, but he is not the answer. Nothing we can do about it this year.

As far as the big picture, it seems like a BV-led team will never be "buttoned up" to a point where we will ever feel comfortable. Seriously, I was just waiting for something to go wrong late in the game today....and like clockwork, the Sategna fumble. We are making progress as a team, though it is painful and incremental. Our margin for error is so small against the type of competition we are playing...........all it takes is one bust, one TO, or one dumb penalty and immediately we are behind the 8 ball. I don't know if we will ever get to a point where this isn't the case, but the quickest remedy to this is a continual upgrade in talent/better players.....more specifically "difference makers".

I agree 100%. I got laughed at by certain posters on here for bringing up concerns about Mateer after the first game. He’s not the answer. Gotta bring in someone out of the transfer portal in the off season. But I doubt Brent will do that. Loyalty, blah blah blah.

I think Arbuckle does not trust Mateer’s decision making. Hence the lack of throws down the middle. I don’t think he just forgot those plays exist.

Can we stop crowning dudes the starting quarterback position in January? Let’s get some competition going.

 

[Eielson]

There really isn't a position on offense we can't improve on. This was never going to be fixes in one offseason.

Having said that, if we've truly found a RB run game like we've seen the past two weeks, I think the offense was good enough yesterday to win most remaining games. The key will be not falling behind. Our passing attack is not good enough for us to become one dimensional against SEC defenses. Part of that is Mateer. Part of that is our pass catchers. I'm not sure yet if Arbuckle is an issue.

Like I said before, most on here wrote off our RB game as hopeless, and some embarrasingly suggested we do 5 wide and throw it 50 times a game. Hope it's not a flash in the pan.

After the first half, it felt like we were headed to 7-5 and needed to burn it down. The second half gave me hope that 9-3 was in play, which isn't where we want to be, but such a massive step forward from last year that it would give me faith in our trajectory. We will have to see what these next few weeks show. Need to get one of our next two, which will not be easy.

 

[NickZepp]

The OL can't improve? lol that's ridiculous. EPL finally got playing time and looked pretty good. We can get better there. Fasusi is just a freshman and missed key games earlier this year because of an ankle injury. He'll be okay even though he's struggling now. Fodje played his first game at guard and did a pretty good job the 2nd half. Go with these 3 guys on the OL you will get really good in the next couple years.

WRs we need to actually spend money and get good receivers. Sategna is the only legit WR we play. Lewis showed promise early in the year but didn't show much even before he hit his head on the wall the previous few games. None of our WRs are good enough to trust. I'm not sure we have a legit WR coach either he ran off the good talent and replaced it with JAGs.

TE can certainly be better. We don't really even throw it to Kanek enough even though he seems to always be catching passes over the middle and be fairly open it just isn't used enough. TE hasn't produced as bad as WR per capita since Emmitt Jones took over but both WR and TE coach should be gone.

We need to find a new RB coach that doesn't coach our RBs to run right into traffic. We've seen the RBs actually run more into space the last couple weeks sometimes but even this week against Ole Miss most of our runs were right into defenders when space was to be had elsewhere.

Every team we play even the mediocre ones like South Carolina have multiple NFL guys on their rosters.

This isn't the Big 12 days where we play 9 win teams that have maybe 2-4 NFL guys on the entire roster. Mizzou's OL alone probably has 3-4 NFL draft picks.

7-5 or better with where our talent is at is a solid year. The hype a lot of our fans got this year was ridiculous coming off a 6-7 season where we let some of our most talented offensive players go.

 

[Eielson]

7-5 or better with where our talent is at is a solid year. The hype a lot of our fans got this year was ridiculous coming off a 6-7 season where we let some of our most talented offensive players go.

We have too much talent to accept 7-5. The offense is 7 win talent, but the defense is 10+ win talent.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

The OL can't improve? lol that's ridiculous. EPL finally got playing time and looked pretty good. We can get better there. Fasusi is just a freshman and missed key games earlier this year because of an ankle injury. He'll be okay even though he's struggling now. Fodje played his first game at guard and did a pretty good job the 2nd half. Go with these 3 guys on the OL you will get really good in the next couple years.

WRs we need to actually spend money and get good receivers. Sategna is the only legit WR we play. Lewis showed promise early in the year but didn't show much even before he hit his head on the wall the previous few games. None of our WRs are good enough to trust. I'm not sure we have a legit WR coach either he ran off the good talent and replaced it with JAGs.

TE can certainly be better. We don't really even throw it to Kanek enough even though he seems to always be catching passes over the middle and be fairly open it just isn't used enough. TE hasn't produced as bad as WR per capita since Emmitt Jones took over but both WR and TE coach should be gone.

We need to find a new RB coach that doesn't coach our RBs to run right into traffic. We've seen the RBs actually run more into space the last couple weeks sometimes but even this week against Ole Miss most of our runs were right into defenders when space was to be had elsewhere.

Every team we play even the mediocre ones like South Carolina have multiple NFL guys on their rosters.

This isn't the Big 12 days where we play 9 win teams that have maybe 2-4 NFL guys on the entire roster. Mizzou's OL alone probably has 3-4 NFL draft picks.

7-5 or better with where our talent is at is a solid year. The hype a lot of our fans got this year was ridiculous coming off a 6-7 season where we let some of our most talented offensive players go.

7-5 is not a solid year lol

 

[bob the nailer]

Since all hope of playoff is gone, why not let Hawkins have a chance? let him start the next two games at least, see what happens and if he can't get it done then we hit the portal. Mateer is not the answer, I think what we saw early was against lesser teams don't think his injury is a factor now

 

[soonertrash77]

I feel bad for sellers. He should transfer here

Or get that kid from North Texas. He can sling it!

 

[mict085]

Since all hope of playoff is gone, why not let Hawkins have a chance? let him start the next two games at least, see what happens and if he can't get it done then we hit the portal. Mateer is not the answer, I think what we saw early was against lesser teams don't think his injury is a factor now

All playoff hope is gone? We’re 6-2. I don’t think we’re going to make the playoffs but I’m certainly not willing to give up already. Good grief man.

And Hawkins isn’t the future at QB anyway. Play the guys that give us the best chance of winning. Always.

 

[Boom Soon]

And Hawkins isn’t the future at QB anyway. Play the guys that give us the best chance of winning. Always.

If your QB is one read and scramble then Hawkins gives the offense the best shot. Because Mateer cannot run OR pass. Atleast Hawkins is a legitimate threat to run. Mateer is just like a squirrel who can’t figure out if he wants to cross the road or not.

 

[daqman]

There really isn't a position on offense we can't improve on. This was never going to be fixes in one offseason.

Having said that, if we've truly found a RB run game like we've seen the past two weeks, I think the offense was good enough yesterday to win most remaining games. The key will be not falling behind. Our passing attack is not good enough for us to become one dimensional against SEC defenses. Part of that is Mateer. Part of that is our pass catchers. I'm not sure yet if Arbuckle is an issue.

Like I said before, most on here wrote off our RB game as hopeless, and some embarrasingly suggested we do 5 wide and throw it 50 times a game. Hope it's not a flash in the pan.

After the first half, it felt like we were headed to 7-5 and needed to burn it down. The second half gave me hope that 9-3 was in play, which isn't where we want to be, but such a massive step forward from last year that it would give me faith in our trajectory. We will have to see what these next few weeks show. Need to get one of our next two, which will not be easy.

for me....this was the game that it became obvious that arbuckle is an issue/problem

 

[daqman]

Since all hope of playoff is gone, why not let Hawkins have a chance? let him start the next two games at least, see what happens and if he can't get it done then we hit the portal. Mateer is not the answer, I think what we saw early was against lesser teams don't think his injury is a factor now

imo...the coaches know hawkins is not the answer either.
and from what i saw in the kent st game....i'm pretty sure he's not the answer. and at the moment...i'm thinking he never will be.
nagy needs to find a better qb before next season.

 

[Eielson]

for me....this was the game that it became obvious that arbuckle is an issue/problem

Maybe. Until this week, we simply needed 24 points and no bad turnovers to win every game. This was the first time this wasn't true.

Most on here had also pointed to Arbuckle's inability to develop a run game as the reason he was bad. Assuming these past two games aren't fools gold (it might be), he fixed a massive issue mid-season, which is no small feat.

Again, Arbuckle may not be a star, and I've never felt he was. But I don't support jumping to overly aggressive conclusions based on small sample sizes. These next few weeks will be telling about how far our team has progressed.

 

[Eielson]

But I don't support jumping to overly aggressive conclusions based on small sample sizes.

In that regard, some y'all crowned Mateer as the Heisman and Arbuckle as a P5 HC next year.

In similarly quick fashion, y'all have reversed course.

I have disagreed with both conclusions.

 

[BCSooners]

In that regard, some y'all crowned Mateer as the Heisman and Arbuckle as a P5 HC next year.

In similarly quick fashion, y'all have reversed course.

I have disagreed with both conclusions.

The 180 people do with every win or loss cracks me up. It happens every year with almost every fan base. It’s annoying & entertaining at the same time

 

[daqman]

watching the breakdown....gabe absolutely ripping mateer.....said he played a horrible game
not happy with some of arbuckle's calls
baffled by personnel groupings on certain plays
disappointed with offensive execution/discipline
baffled by o-line blocking poorly on the safety

 

[Boom Soon]

watching the breakdown....gabe absolutely ripping mateer.....said he played a horrible game
not happy with some of arbuckle's calls
baffled by personnel groupings on certain plays
disappointed with offensive execution/discipline
baffled by o-line blocking poorly on the safety

Heard that. I’m glad he’s brutally honest.

 

[sanguinetti]

I sort of expected Brent to get exploited for being "aggressive".....and we saw that. giving up too many 3rd and longs was a "thing" when he was here before as DC.

Ole Miss is a good, legit top 10 team imo and we are trying to be again.

we made a lot of mistakes that are typical of how we are. we also came back from a deficit. Santegna has been fast and loose a lot, the fumbled punt was crushing but I wasn't shocked.

We played a terrible 2nd Q. and don't score in the 4th.

I'm not happy with this L but not super-devastated either. Next two weeks are tough, for sure.

After we beat Michigan I said to a buddy: looks like 2 teams that would take 8 wins right now, no questions asked.

edit: Mateer was not brought in to win it all, he was brought in to be a bridge after the Arnold/Littrell whiff.

 

[WichitaSooner]

Heard that. I’m glad he’s brutally honest.

Anyone can point this stuff out after the fact, though. Good analysts would have been able to see this coming after the first three or four games. He, on the other hand, referred to Mateer as a possible first round pick, even after he had turned the ball over repeatedly and thrown tons of dangerous passes against bad opponents. He and Teddy also expected Mateer to be among the best quarterbacks in the conference. And even though he does criticize the line, he continues to stand by BB. I get it, he played for him. But you can’t let personal feelings affect your ability to see what everyone else with two eyes can see.

 

[Boom Soon]

Anyone can point this stuff out after the fact, though. Good analysts would have been able to see this coming after the first three or four games. He, on the other hand, referred to Mateer as a possible first round pick, even after he had turned the ball over repeatedly and thrown tons of dangerous passes against bad opponents. He and Teddy also expected Mateer to be among the best quarterbacks in the conference. And even though he does criticize the line, he continues to stand by BB. I get it, he played for him. But you can’t let personal feelings affect your ability to see what everyone else with two eyes can see.

I think a lot of fans were just so excited to not have JA and Littrell that they had way too big of expectations. I kinda get that.

But, to quote Ikard: Mateer is “hurting” the football team. So what does BV do if Mateer continues to struggle?