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Let’s face the reality: We need better players and coaching for OU to come back

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The Sooners are who they are. About a top 15 to 20 team who will compete in a weak Big 12 and might even win it with some luck.

That’s the ceiling right now. They don’t belong on the same field with the Ohio States and Alabamas of the world. That much was evident when a very young and inexperienced Buckeye team took OU to the woodshed a few Saturdays ago.

Oh some people will tell you that the Sooners just made too many mistakes and they aren’t that far off blah, blah, blah. Nope. Not gonna fall for it. Ohio St. dominated and it wasn’t close. They had by far the better team that night.

Remember when OU was unbeatable on Owen Field? Those were the days. They are who they are for now. And it’s about players and coaching. We need better players and arguably better coaching.

The better players are on the way if the 2017 recruiting class stays intact. But it will need to be followed up with great classes in 2018 and 2019 to get back to the early 2000s dominance all Sooner fans hope for.

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Defense was a shambles — you tell me why Mike Stoops is still defensive coordinator

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Enough is enough. How much longer is the Sooner team going to be defined by poor defensive secondary play?

And this year we can’t blame it on Zack Sanchez.

This is all on Mike Stoops.

Even on the spectacular second quarter 21-yard TD catch by Ohio State’s Noah Brown, which was in fact well covered by wide receiver-converted-to-defensive back Miciah Quick, the Sooners had seven defenders in coverage of only three Buckeye receivers.  With Quick alone against Brown, that meant six defenders were covering the two receivers J.T. Barrett did NOT throw to.

That TD with 4 seconds left in the second quarter gave Ohio State a 35-17 halftime lead. Game over.

Brown caught five passes for the Buckeyes. Four were for touchdowns.

“(We’re) not coached well enough and not athletic enough or skilled enough to put ourselves in position (to defend on pass plays),” Coach Bob Stoops said.

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Sooners facing better players in game against Buckeyes, Worry Meter at 95%

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Mission accomplished against ULM. 59-17 against an outmanned opponent.

On the face of it, it would seem the Sooners got some stuff worked out. Baker threw to several different receivers, he didn’t force the ball downfield. The running backs found the holes that the O-line opened for them. Riley called a much more balanced game.

The defense pitched a shutout in the first half, and most starters sat the second half. And we cleaned up the stupid penalties.

But in the end, we really don’t know. We can just hope that the problems that surfaced in the season opener against Houston have been fixed, because a similar offense comes to town on Saturday, but with much better players.

Ohio St. has a better Greg Ward Jr., and a better Duke Catalon and a better Steven Dunbar. Ohio St. will also have better depth at every position than Houston had. And unfortunately Ohio St., up and down the roster, will have better players than Oklahoma. It’s just a fact.

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