Daylight on Sunday morning did not illuminate the reasons why the Sooners laid an egg following Saturday night’s rain storm.
But, we certainly know how Texas Tech embarrassed Oklahoma 41-38 to end the Sooners’ school record 39-game home winning streak.
Ryan Broyles fumbled. Jaz Reynolds, James Hannah and Brennan Clay dropped passes. Landry Jones threw behind receivers. The offensive line allowed Tech rushers to keep Jones running for his life.
All that, sure. It was of course a team “effort”. But the worst defensive performance at home since John Blake’s 51-7 loss to Texas A&M in 1997 was the overpowering “how” in this game.
The Oklahoma defense gave up 41 points and killed the Sooners chances of getting their 8th national championship.
“We got our ass whipped on our field,” LB Travis Lewis summed it up after the game.
For a team with a defensive-minded head coach in Bob Stoops and a coordinator in Brent Venables who has done a masterful job in some key games, it surprisingly seems like the legacy of the Stoops era is marred by pitiful defensive performances. Remember, this Texas Tech team that ran rough shod over this defense following a two-hour rain delay had lost two of their last three games, against No. 17 Kansas State and No. 24 Texas A&M.
Oklahoma’s D was without injured DT Casey Walker, DB Jamell Fleming and LB Tom Wort, but if Oklahoma was the sort of defense that could carry them into a BCS championship game, then losing three players should not have made that much of a difference.
The Sooners defense never seemed to be able to slow down the Red Raiders offense that racked up 572 yards and had 17 plays of 10 or more yards.
The Sooners defense had no answer for an inside screen play that Tech ran for two of their five touchdowns. Now, I don’t know whether the Red Raiders have run that play in earlier games, but if they had then the Sooner coach’s flunked the test of getting the Oklahoma D to see it coming.
The defensive line never put much pressure on Tech QB Seth Doege, who did a masterful job finding open receivers. Certainly, the quick pass offense of Tech would have made that difficult, regardless, but this game was without any special blitz package from Venables, who is known for taking such risks in key situations.
The Oklahoma defense gave up 41 points and killed the Sooners chances of getting their 8th national championship
“I thought it (defensive performance) was very poor,” said Venables. “Obviously they weren’t coached well and we didn’t play well. Tech came out, they hit us first and they hit us last. They hit us in between and we couldn’t stop them.”
One of those coaching mistakes was a game decision not to pull cornerback Gabe Lynn until he had given up several huge gains. Lynn was repeatedly abused by the Tech passing game as he was unable to keep up with receivers or manage to locate Doege’s passes. After Venables moved Colvin to corner and put Sam Proctor at safety the secondary had better success covering Tech receivers .
The fact Oklahoma’s offense managed to narrow a 31-7 3rd quarter lead to 31-24 early in the 4th quarter is a testament to its offensive talent. But, the fact that even with that gained momentum, the defense then allowed Tech to march unfettered down the field to grab another 10 points is an example of the huge achilles heel of this team that threatens to knock the Sooners from any BCS bowl game.
The Sooner rushing game greatly missed Dominique Whaley — out with the flu. Replacement RB Roy Finch had some good plays in his stead, including a 55 yarde run in the first quarter. But, not counting that play, offense averaged a mere 2.8 yards per carry.
So, it was surprising that with 8:00 left in the game, and Oklahoma down only by 10 points and seemingly about to close the gap, Offensive Coordinator Josh Heupel called Brennan Clay’s number on a 3rd and a long two at the Oklahoma 45 yard line. He lost one yard and the Sooners were forced to punt the ball away.
On the ensuing possession it appeared the defense had stopped Texas Tech, but Aaron Colvin was flagged for interference on a 3rd and 8 to keep the Red Raiders drive alive. The next three plays went for 13, 30, 0 and ended with a 14 yard TD pass from Tech QB Seth Doege to Tramain Swindell (a Millwood, Oklahoma product) and Tech was up 41-24.
Oklahoma got three more possessions in the game, scoring touchdowns on two of them. But on the deciding drive, five of Jones’ passes were thrown incomplete and the Sooners had to try a field goal with 2:42 left that would have likely assured an overtime. Michael Hunnicutt’s 29-yard try hit the right upright and fell no good. Such was the bad luck that seemed to mar Oklahoma’s entire game effort.
What to do now? Oklahoma travels to Manhattan, Kansas next week to play the Wildcats who beat these Red Raiders in Lubbock.
The pressure will again be on the defense.
“There is no magic plan. You change up what you do. It stinks and you hate for it to happen, but at the same time character will be revealed,” Venables said.
Indeed, the next few games will reveal much about the 2011 Sooners. We know how they can lose a game at home, and if they stink up road trips to Kansas State and later, Oklahoma State, then we will know the “why” as well. — Mike
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I have been saying for years that Stoops needs to fire Vulnerables, this is the perfect time, Mike Stoops is available and as we all remember, his defenses at OU were fantastic. Part of being a great coach is to recognize coaching weaknesses, and having the testicular fortitude to fire that coach.
As a side note, the special teams have sucked for years also!