Caleb Williams picked up right where he left off, taking his stellar play at the Cotton Bowl home to Norman with a convincing 52-31 win over the TCU Horned Frogs last Saturday night at Owen Field in the freshman’s first college start.
I think the thing that most impressed me was how Williams was so patient in the pocket. He hung in until the last moment several times. He wasn’t looking to run at the first sign of pressure.
He had a pocket presence that frankly you don’t expect from a true freshman making his first start as a college quarterback.
The defense has to pull its weight, if OU wants to get title number 8.
But when he did need to run, he was effective, almost always gaining positive yards, including an electrifying 41 yard scramble for a touchdown late in the third quarter.
When all was said and done, Caleb’s stat line read like a seasoned veteran’s. He was 18 for 23 passing for 295 yards and 4 touchdowns, while also adding 9 carries for 66 yards and another touchdown.
The only criticism that I would have is that he under threw some passes that could have gone for touchdowns. I’m not really worried about that as he will get better at the long ball once he has had more of a chance to work with the starting receivers.
The other side of the ball didn’t fare as well.
TCU quarterback Max Duggan, who played through injury in this game, had a career night.
How many times have we said that about an opposing quarterback the past several years?
One can only hope that some of our injured defensive backs get healthy really soon. With our revitalized offense, we would have a punchers chance if we got to the College Football Playoff, but that defense we sent out there Saturday night isn’t stopping anyone.
The defense has to pull its weight, if OU wants to get title number 8.
(I’m a poet and didn’t know it…)
The continued pursuit of that elusive 8th National Title continues this coming Saturday when the Sooners travel north to Lawrence for a light workout against the Kansas Jayhawks.
Kansas football is who we think they are. A mild distraction for Kansas fans until basketball season starts.
They are 1-5 with their lone win coming against South Dakota, a game in which they needed a last minute touchdown to pull out the victory on their home field.
The spread is 38.5 points. Getting the cover in this game should be no problem unless the Sooners just implode and turn the ball over like four times…then they might only win by 20.
Can’t really put the Worry Meter at 0% because as the old saying goes, “anything can happen”.
So let’s go with 5% this week.
It’s a game for Caleb to get even more used to the offense, and hopefully everyone leaves town without any injuries.
With all that being said…BOOMER!!!
— Dave
Kickoff: Lawrence, Kansas Saturday 11 am ESPN
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