Football question

[hoopsaustin]

The sloppiness of this team will send me to an early grave. So many false starts. So many procedure penalties. We somehow managed to be penalized 15 yards for a facemask on a kick that was fair caught!

But, man, do they play hard. D-Line is fantastic. Linebackers are improving each week. The defensive backfield leaves a lot to be desired but, when they had a chance to pick off a pass, they snagged it. Guys are running open back there a lot. We gave up an easy TD on a skinny post when we didn't even have to defend over the top. But I will get over it, because I've been smiling since Saturday night. I don't expect to win in T-Town, but everything is spread out right before us. Three wins and we're hosting a playoff game. Sure wish we'd beaten Ole Miss.

Tate Sandell joined the pantheon of all-time kicking games. Here's my list:
Mike Vachon - 1966 Texas
Uwe von Schamann - 1977 Ohio State
Tim Lashar - 1983 Ok State
Tim Lashar - 1986 Penn State
Tress Way - 2009 Ok State

Was that the best overall kicking performance by an OU player? Prolly has to be right?

 

[hoopsaustin]

What really gets me (and Brent has always been this way) is how much of a cushion we give WRs on 3rd down.
With our dline, we should be jamming WRs at the line

That has boggled philosophers for decades.. 3rd and 15... were prolly 20 yards off. There's no football reason for it only than hoping they just drop the pass, bad throw, run it, or sack.

And then if the WR is going deep for some reason, the DB is either back pedaling so he has inertia so hes really like 25 yards deep at first contact (in this example) or they're not backpedaling and trying to catch up to a WR that is at top speed bc of the free release.. (horrible bookie-radley used to do the latter which is why he likely has the OU record for PI flags)

 

[hoopsaustin]

Agree but let me make some excuses. But valid points

3 freshmen OL
2 penalties for WR not being squared up to the line of scrimmage? Haven’t seen that in my life!

The sports are just making up rules these days lol. Who cares as long as they are set?

And it used to be that if the WR motioned at all, he had to be a complete statue for like a whole second before the snap or it was a penalty and now half the time the WRs are jumping around still and not even on the ground yet and its not a flag. Pet peeve of mine

 

[cbertus6]

That has boggled philosophers for decades.. 3rd and 15... were prolly 20 yards off. There's no football reason for it only than hoping they just drop the pass, bad throw, run it, or sack.

And then if the WR is going deep for some reason, the DB is either back pedaling so he has inertia so hes really like 25 yards deep at first contact (in this example) or they're not backpedaling and trying to catch up to a WR that is at top speed bc of the free release.. (horrible bookie-radley used to do the latter which is why he likely has the OU record for PI flags)

I could be in the minority on this, but I don't think this is an issue at all. Was it under Mike Stoops? Absolutely. That Baylor game still gives me nightmares. But this team as presently constructed is allowing just a 32.26% 3rd down conversion rate (good for 14th in the country) and are allowing an opponent completion percentage of 58.66% (good for 29th in the country). There are certainly plenty of things that could be discussed, but this to me just does not feel like one of them. Our corners aren't really press corners anyways. Eli Bowen and Courtland Guillory are both smaller and not as capable of jamming guys off their routes.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

I could be in the minority on this, but I don't think this is an issue at all. Was it under Mike Stoops? Absolutely. That Baylor game still gives me nightmares. But this team as presently constructed is allowing just a 32.26% 3rd down conversion rate (good for 14th in the country) and are allowing an opponent completion percentage of 58.66% (good for 29th in the country). There are certainly plenty of things that could be discussed, but this to me just does not feel like one of them. Our corners aren't really press corners anyways. Eli Bowen and Courtland Guillory are both smaller and not as capable of jamming guys off their routes.

I don't really view Guillory as a smaller corner.

I know on the season we are doing well on 3rd downs. but that was against teams that can't pass.
In conference play it seems like we are giving up a lot of 3rd and longs and it has been with big cushions

 

[SoonerBounce13]

On 3rd/4th downs (not counting penalties):
@ UT: 10 of 17. Conversions of 10, 8, 8,7,7
@USC: 7/22. Conversions of 11, 17, 10
@ Ole Miss: 5/17. Conversions of 8, 10, 10, 8, 8, 6
@ Tenn: 7/14. Conversions of 8

Not as bad as I remember in the moment. But tehre were quite a few 3rd and longs that were converted due to penalties

 

[Eielson]

9-3 with a Bama loss is likely out. But 9-3 with a Bama win stands a good chance. 10-2 is a lock.

But regardless of how we get to 9-3 it would be the best season since Bob's players turned pro.

Long way to go, but at least we are competing again. Watching USC struggle to beat a mediocre Rhule team with an injured QB reminded me the miracles it took to get into the playoffs only to be down 28 in the 2nd quarter to an SEC program.

 

[WichitaSooner]

9-3 with a Bama loss is likely out. But 9-3 with a Bama win stands a good chance. 10-2 is a lock.

But regardless of how we get to 9-3 it would be the best season since Bob's players turned pro.

Long way to go, but at least we are competing again. Watching USC struggle to beat a mediocre Rhule team with an injured QB reminded me the miracles it took to get into the playoffs only to be down 28 in the 2nd quarter to an SEC program.

Is that different than watching us struggle at home to beat an Auburn team with a since-fired coach and Jackson Arnold at quarterback?

 

[sanguinetti]

On 3rd/4th downs (not counting penalties):
@ UT: 10 of 17. Conversions of 10, 8, 8,7,7
@USC: 7/22. Conversions of 11, 17, 10
@ Ole Miss: 5/17. Conversions of 8, 10, 10, 8, 8, 6
@ Tenn: 7/14. Conversions of 8

Not as bad as I remember in the moment. But tehre were quite a few 3rd and longs that were converted due to penalties

a couple long ones against Auburn. 4th and 11 maybe in our RZ on one of their scoring drives.

 

[Sooner04]

Is that different than watching us struggle at home to beat an Auburn team with a since-fired coach and Jackson Arnold at quarterback?

Don't discount momentum. They were unaware, at the time, of their suckage. It's irrefutable fact now, but it was not that afternoon. Penn State in the 4th quarter against Oregon is a completely different team than the one that walked up the tunnel 30 minutes later.
Our 2016 team might've been the best team in the country by the time the Sugar Bowl ended. But that same team got its teeth kicked in week 1 by a 4-loss Houston bunch. I put a lot of stock in momentum, and the win against Auburn shouldn't be discounted because Arnold missed some guys by fingertips.

 

[WichitaSooner]

Don't discount momentum. They were unaware, at the time, of their suckage. It's irrefutable fact now, but it was not that afternoon. Penn State in the 4th quarter against Oregon is a completely different team than the one that walked up the tunnel 30 minutes later.
Our 2016 team might've been the best team in the country by the time the Sugar Bowl ended. But that same team got its teeth kicked in week 1 by a 4-loss Houston bunch. I put a lot of stock in momentum, and the win against Auburn shouldn't be discounted because Arnold missed some guys by fingertips.

Not discounting the win at all, but the OP was taking a shot at Riley for winning a close road game over a team that’s every bit as good as Auburn. If his theory is that that game somehow shows that USC isn’t very good and/or we are miles ahead of them, it’s worth pointing out that we’ve had our own unimpressive wins.

But I mainly just don’t understand the need to continue pretending that Riley didn’t do plenty of good things for OU. To act like he just won because of “Bob’s players” is silly. It’s like people just want to pretend like the offense and defense hadn’t both started struggling before Riley was brought in as OC.

 

[Eielson]

Is that different than watching us struggle at home to beat an Auburn team with a since-fired coach and Jackson Arnold at quarterback?

The game where our QB1 had a broken hand for 3 quarters and still led us to a win in regulation?

Jackson Arnold was better than all 3 the QBs we were playing for watered down Big 12 championships:

Oklahoma 30-23 Baylor (Dec 7, 2019) Box Score - ESPN

Box score for the Oklahoma Sooners vs. Baylor Bears NCAAF game from December 7, 2019 on ESPN. Includes all passing, rushing and receiving stats.

www.espn.com

 

[WichitaSooner]

The game where our QB1 had a broken hand for 3 quarters and still led us to a win in regulation?

Jackson Arnold was better than all 3 the QBs we were playing for watered down Big 12 championships:

Oklahoma 30-23 Baylor (Dec 7, 2019) Box Score - ESPN

Box score for the Oklahoma Sooners vs. Baylor Bears NCAAF game from December 7, 2019 on ESPN. Includes all passing, rushing and receiving stats.

www.espn.com

Mateer also was playing on an artificial leg. Let’s keep milking that as much as possible. And he was the DB getting repeatedly torched by their WEs, right?

So bizarre that you’re for some reason comparing Jackson Arnold to three random QBs from several years ago. But I wonder how Brent would have done in that watered down league. (Checks notes … 10-8 with no conference title game appearances? Surely that can’t be right.)

 

[Eielson]

Not discounting the win at all, but the OP was taking a shot at Riley for winning a close road game over a team that’s every bit as good as Auburn.

USC only beat Nebraska because their QB1 got injured. Meanwhile we won with a QB1 who had a broken hand. Terrible comparison.

 

[Eielson]

Mateer also was playing on an artificial leg.

It's pathetic to pretend he didn't break his hand even after surgery. I understand you broke your hand thinking about Lon, but that's not how Mateer broke his.

 

[BoulderSooner]

Is that different than watching us struggle at home to beat an Auburn team with a since-fired coach and Jackson Arnold at quarterback?

the same auburn team that should have beat UGA ...

 

[Eielson]

the same auburn team that should have beat UGA ...

Yeah, they haven't lost a game by more than 10 all year, including multiple playoff teams. Good defense with below average QB play...sounds a lot like the Baylor team we barely beat in OT. Auburn may actually be better.

Anybody that thinks the level of competition is comparable has their head buried in the sand.

 

[WaymanFan]

But I mainly just don’t understand the need to continue pretending that Riley didn’t do plenty of good things for OU. To act like he just won because of “Bob’s players” is silly. It’s like people just want to pretend like the offense and defense hadn’t both started struggling before Riley was brought in as OC.

Obviously, he did some good things since we went to three straight playoffs. He had five of the 32 starting QBs in the NFL at the start of the season. Not sure anyone else can make a claim like that in a given year. That said, the reason many people think that he won because of Bob's players was because each of his five OU teams got slightly worse. In all honesty, that's pretty hard to do...but he did it. His first team was the only one with a legit shot of winning the Natty. That fell by the wayside when he chose an OT field goal to tie instead of trusting a Heisman winning QB and three future 1000 yard NFL receivers to pick up ONE yard...and those defenses he put out...YIKES!