OT: Football Talk

[WichitaSooner]

The defense was bad. Receivers were bad. Running game was non existent in the 2nd half. Basically everything but Hawkins was not good. Probably still nearly won in spite of that. Also this wasn't the same team from the regular season particularly on defense. If OU had that level of QB play say against Missouri or Tennessee or even South Carolina they probably win those games because the defense did enough in parts of those games to win them. Even Ole Miss with better QB play throughout is a winnable game. Fact is for most of this year our QB play was dog****. If the coaches knew where Jackson Arnold was really at as a QB they would have paid Dillon Gabriel 5 million for one year.

I agree with a lot of this. I just don’t have the same confidence you do that we would be capable of winning 8 or 9 games next season with the same QB play we got today. Brent’s teams always seem to find ways to screw things up. If the QB is good, the rest of the offense falls apart. If the offense gives us a lead (like Ole Miss), the defense collapses. Penalties, turnovers, poor play calling and coaching decisions … there is always something to sink us.

We undoubtedly should be better offensively next season if Mateer is healthy and Arbuckle is even halfway competent as OC. But we have very little margin for error. SEC games (and Michigan) will be tough battles. When games are on the line and we need good coaching and disciplined play, does anyone really think Brent will get the job done?

 

[SoonerBounce13]

He’s not it. Great guy, great DC, crappy HC.

Not surprising you are following WS again

 

[SoonerBounce13]

His in game management is so bad and doesn’t seem to be getting better. Not kicking the field goal was just baaaaaad.

lol this is a bowl game guys. He would have kicked the FG if this was a game that matters. But guess what? If we would have missed the kick (highly likely) yall would be bitching that we should have gone for it.

Game management was fine in this game.
Again, if we had a healthy offense, this is a blowout.

 

[WichitaSooner]

lol this is a bowl game guys. He would have kicked the FG if this was a game that matters. But guess what? If we would have missed the kick (highly likely) yall would be bitching that we should have gone for it.

Game management was fine in this game.
Again, if we had a healthy offense, this is a blowout.

Yep, all is fine. Just a tweak here and there and we are competing for titles. And what does the comment about it being a bowl game even mean? He obviously is making the decisions he thinks give us the best chance to win.

Going for it on fourth down concerns me far less than our inability to gain a yard against a defense that we should push around. I’d hate to think how many yards we would have lost if we didn’t have so many above average SEC lineman blocking on those plays!

 

[Boom Soon]

Not surprising you are following WS again

Hahaha that made me laugh. Trust me man, there are many many many Sooner fans out there questioning BV right now. And rightfully so. You can make all the jabs you want but the reality is that the two worst seasons of OU football have come under BV. If that’s the standard you like as a fan then so be it.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Hahaha that made me laugh. Trust me man, there are many many many Sooner fans out there questioning BV right now. And rightfully so. You can make all the jabs you want but the reality is that the two worst seasons of OU football have come under BV. If that’s the standard you like as a fan then so be it.

Again, any coach in the country at any school would have had similar results with this team and the injuries.

Some fans can’t comprehend that for some reason.

If you put Nick saban at the helm he ain’t doing any better…maybe a game or 2 difference.

I’m a lot more confident in this program than I was under the las year of TBOW

 

[WichitaSooner]

Hahaha that made me laugh. Trust me man, there are many many many Sooner fans out there questioning BV right now. And rightfully so. You can make all the jabs you want but the reality is that the two worst seasons of OU football have come under BV. If that’s the standard you like as a fan then so be it.

It’s remarkable that some people still trust Brent and focus on Riley as part of their defense of Venables. It’s hard to imagine how he could have done worse than he has, not only from a win/loss standpoint, but also just looking at how much the talent has fallen off. Is there a single guy on this year’s offense who will ever be drafted? I’m sure some will say Burks, but I think a prerequisite to being drafted is actually playing. And it’s just remarkable how bad he is at in-game decision making.

Our high school class was barely in the top 20, and outside of Mateer, our transfers are a bunch of guys who should be playing in the MAAC. Before this season, betting under on 7.5 regular season wins was easy money. Going into next season, I think 5.5 wins may be the most realistic number, since we add Michigan to the schedule.

 

[Boom Soon]

Again, any coach in the country at any school would have had similar results with this team and the injuries.

Some fans can’t comprehend that for some reason.

If you put Nick saban at the helm he ain’t doing any better…maybe a game or 2 difference.

I’m a lot more confident in this program than I was under the las year of TBOW

I would actually agree that I don’t think any other coach would have done much better with the exact set of circumstances BV dealt with. But it’s the overall product on the field I really have issues with. That and the fact that BV created atleast half the problems with the awful hire of SL. That doomed the season before it even began.

Anyways, thank God the season is over. I’m not going to talk about OU football until September. Hopefully BV rights the ship with Arbuckle and Mateer.

 

[Eielson]

If you're up in arms about a glorified scrimmage like this, you need a reality check. The season was terrible, but this game couldn't have possibly meant less. Bowl games don't matter anymore, especially when your QB and playcaller aren't even with the team. Not to mention Stutsman, Bowman, and our first two strings of pass catchers. Bowl games had been trending toward irrelevance for years, but the Bob Stoops game against Oregon was the final nail in the coffin.

 

[Eielson]

It’s remarkable that some people still trust Brent and focus on Riley as part of their defense of Venables. It’s hard to imagine how he could have done worse than he has, not only from a win/loss standpoint, but also just looking at how much the talent has fallen off.

You're mostly arguing with a wall here about year 3 being Riley's fault. There's no doubt we got worse every year after Bob handed a dream roster over to him, and we were a trainwreck of a program outside of generational QBs, but nobody is saying that year 3 is Riley's fault. In fact, at least 90% of the fanbase would strongly entertain letting him go if not for a big buyout. It's bizarre you keep hyping up Riley and saying we'd be in a better place with him as coach when...

USC Trojans 2024 Regular Season NCAAF Schedule - ESPN

ESPN has the full 2024 USC Trojans Regular Season NCAAF schedule. Includes game times, TV listings and ticket information for all Trojans games.

www.espn.com

outside of Mateer, our transfers are a bunch of guys who should be playing in the MAAC.

I hope your track record with football transfer portal predictions are similar to basketball.

 

[BCSooners]

If you're up in arms about a glorified scrimmage like this, you need a reality check. The season was terrible, but this game couldn't have possibly meant less. Bowl games don't matter anymore, especially when your QB and playcaller aren't even with the team. Not to mention Stutsman, Bowman, and our first two strings of pass catchers. Bowl games had been trending toward irrelevance for years, but the Bob Stoops game against Oregon was the final nail in the coffin.

I agree completely. Since that’s the case why not give young guys extra snaps? Mitchell, Robinson (why all the sudden is Sawchuk the man again?), PJA, Stone, etc.. I don’t want to start them or even play them the majority of the snaps, but I’d definitely give them a fair amount of snaps just to see.

 

[Eielson]

Again, any coach in the country at any school would have had similar results with this team and the injuries.

Some fans can’t comprehend that for some reason.

If you put Nick saban at the helm he ain’t doing any better…maybe a game or 2 difference.

I’m a lot more confident in this program than I was under the las year of TBOW

Saban has had some really bad first years, and absolutely could have had a similar first two seasons here. But year 3 would have been different.

The defense may have been similar, he can't control WR health, and he may have even picked the wrong QB/OC combo. But there's no way he would have let the OL get to this point. You can blame a lot of this year's offense on handing over the offense to Arnold (and an OC hire to appease him) along with bad luck/health, but the OL problem could have been spotted from a mile away. Saban would have fired BB or at least pulled every resources to land the type of OL class we just landed (but two years earlier). He would have had a great OL and veer offensed his way to 9 or 10 wins alongside this defense the way we looked against Alabama.

 

[Eielson]

I agree completely. Since that’s the case why not give young guys extra snaps? Mitchell, Robinson (why all the sudden is Sawchuk the man again?), PJA, Stone, etc.. I don’t want to start them or even play them the majority of the snaps, but I’d definitely give them a fair amount of snaps just to see.

I was working, so I missed the game. It seems like a ton of young guys played, though, right?

I'm not sure how much better our young guys would have been with a few more game reps today, and I believe if a senior is sticking it out, you absolutely should reward them with playing time in their final game. It means a lot more to them. If it's not a senior, playing time might keep them out of the portal. If giving Sawchuk a few extra snaps kept him out of the portal, I'm all for it.

Sawchuk is our unequivocally most proven RB at the collegiate level, but he hasn't been healthy this year. I didn't get to watch, but considering he was 1.6 ypc above the next guy, it seems like perhaps he is healthy again. I wouldn't be devastated if Sawchuk hit the portal, as he's not all-world, but I think people are too caught up in Robinson's one game that he coudn't replicate. He had one good drive against Mizzou as well as a good game against Alabama, but then he followed that up with 16 carries for 41 yards against LSU and Navy. Sawchuk on the other hand averaged about 7 YPC in the final 5 games of the season, going over 100 yards in all of them.

Gavin Sawchuk 2023 Stats per Game - NCAAF - ESPN

The 2023 NCAAF season stats per game for Gavin Sawchuk of the Oklahoma Sooners on ESPN. Includes full stats, per opponent, for regular and postseason.

www.espn.com

^This is far more impressive than anything our other backs have done.

Mitchell is the only real headscratcher to me, but he's already tweeted out in defense of his coaching staff, saying it's his fault he wasn't on the field. I love when they give Stone reps, but he's also backing up another true freshman in Jackson, who has earned the right to be on the field instead.

 

[WichitaSooner]

You're mostly arguing with a wall here about year 3 being Riley's fault. There's no doubt we got worse every year after Bob handed a dream roster over to him, and we were a trainwreck of a program outside of generational QBs, but nobody is saying that year 3 is Riley's fault. In fact, at least 90% of the fanbase would strongly entertain letting him go if not for a big buyout. It's bizarre you keep hyping up Riley and saying we'd be in a better place with him as coach when...

USC Trojans 2024 Regular Season NCAAF Schedule - ESPN

ESPN has the full 2024 USC Trojans Regular Season NCAAF schedule. Includes game times, TV listings and ticket information for all Trojans games.

www.espn.com

I hope your track record with football transfer portal predictions are similar to basketball.

I posted that minutes after someone argued that we are better off now than we were in Riley’s last year.

As for the roster issue, a big part of the reason Riley had such a strong roster when he took over as HC is because some of those guys came to play in his system. No one was saying our roster was a dream roster when Bob had to fire Huepel because things had gotten so bad. And when Riley left, he left behind tons of offensive talent for Brent. That has all been depleted and not adequately replaced. Not even close.

 

[BCSooners]

I was working, so I missed the game. It seems like a ton of young guys played, though, right?

I'm not sure how much better our young guys would have been with a few more game reps today, and I believe if a senior is sticking it out, you absolutely should reward them with playing time in their final game. It means a lot more to them. If it's not a senior, playing time might keep them out of the portal. If giving Sawchuk a few extra snaps kept him out of the portal, I'm all for it.

Sawchuk is our unequivocally most proven RB at the collegiate level, but he hasn't been healthy this year. I didn't get to watch, but considering he was 1.6 ypc above the next guy, it seems like perhaps he is healthy again. I wouldn't be devastated if Sawchuk hit the portal, as he's not all-world, but I think people are too caught up in Robinson's one game that he coudn't replicate. He had one good drive against Mizzou as well as a good game against Alabama, but then he followed that up with 16 carries for 41 yards against LSU and Navy. Sawchuk on the other hand averaged about 7 YPC in the final 5 games of the season, going over 100 yards in all of them.

Gavin Sawchuk 2023 Stats per Game - NCAAF - ESPN

The 2023 NCAAF season stats per game for Gavin Sawchuk of the Oklahoma Sooners on ESPN. Includes full stats, per opponent, for regular and postseason.

www.espn.com

^This is far more impressive than anything our other backs have done.

Mitchell is the only real headscratcher to me, but he's already tweeted out in defense of his coaching staff, saying it's his fault he wasn't on the field. I love when they give Stone reps, but he's also backing up another true freshman in Jackson, who has earned the right to be on the field instead.

I didn’t realize Sawchuk was hurt all year, I would just notice he’d come in and block & rarely get touches. Again I’m all for the starters and upperclassmen getting the bulk of the snaps. I’m just saying I would throw some guys 10-12 snaps that haven’t seen much action, unless there’s more behind the scenes. Again I know infinitely less than the coaches, just posing the question to see others thoughts or if people had info on certain guys.

 

[Eielson]

I know this is a hot take...but I have Robinson about as close to RB3 as RB1. He had one great game, but he's probably the least physically gifted. He could certainly take the Kennedy Brooks route and win out. I know he struggled, but I think Tatum has the best future, and is probably the only one with superstar potential. Sawchuk has the most collegiate production. Even Barnes has flashes when healthy. IMO, we have four backs that have failed to really differentiate themselves.

 

[Eielson]

I posted that minutes after someone argued that we are better off now than we were in Riley’s last year.

I have him blocked, but I see that now. Having said that, I stand by my arguing with a wall stance.

As for the roster issue, a big part of the reason Riley had such a strong roster when he took over as HC is because some of those guys came to play in his system. No one was saying our roster was a dream roster when Bob had to fire Huepel because things had gotten so bad. And when Riley left, he left behind tons of offensive talent for Brent. That has all been depleted and not adequately replaced. Not even close.

The day of Riley's first game at OU, he had Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Sterling Shepard, Samaje Perine, Joe Mixon, Rodney Anderson, Mark Andrews, and Dede Westbrook on the roster. And not just on the roster, but all but Rodney and Kyler were contributing in a big way from that first season (i.e. not developed).

I don't think a QB-less team with Mims and Farooq is even remotely comparable.

 

[daqman]

I know this is a hot take...but I have Robinson about as close to RB3 as RB1. He had one great game, but he's probably the least physically gifted. He could certainly take the Kennedy Brooks route and win out. I know he struggled, but I think Tatum has the best future, and is probably the only one with superstar potential. Sawchuk has the most collegiate production. Even Barnes has flashes when healthy. IMO, we have four backs that have failed to really differentiate themselves.

barnes and sawchuck need to transfer....robinson and tatum are the future. they will be so much better than what we've had the past few years.
would like to see demarco depart along with barnes and sawchuck.

 

[Eielson]

barnes and sawchuck need to transfer....robinson and tatum are the future. they will be so much better than what we've had the past few years.
would like to see demarco depart along with barnes and sawchuck.

Gavin Sawchuk 2023 Stats per Game - NCAAF - ESPN

The 2023 NCAAF season stats per game for Gavin Sawchuk of the Oklahoma Sooners on ESPN. Includes full stats, per opponent, for regular and postseason.

www.espn.com

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Saban has had some really bad first years, and absolutely could have had a similar first two seasons here. But year 3 would have been different.

The defense may have been similar, he can't control WR health, and he may have even picked the wrong QB/OC combo. But there's no way he would have let the OL get to this point. You can blame a lot of this year's offense on handing over the offense to Arnold (and an OC hire to appease him) along with bad luck/health, but the OL problem could have been spotted from a mile away. Saban would have fired BB or at least pulled every resources to land the type of OL class we just landed (but two years earlier). He would have had a great OL and veer offensed his way to 9 or 10 wins alongside this defense the way we looked against Alabama.

I mean you are acting like the oline was healthy this year as well. It wasn’t even close to healthy