Three years in a row OU has now lost to texas. Oh I know in 2014 the scoreboard gave us the win. But they still kicked our ass all over the field. Just like last Saturday.
What a huge embarrassment. How in the world does this team not come ready to play against their main rival? It’s the the Red River Shootout! It’s the Cotton Bowl and the Texas State Fair! It’s Billy Simms and Earl Campbell! It’s Roy Williams and Christy Simms! What else has to be said?!
Is it the coaches that have a problem conveying the importance of this rivalry? Is it the players themselves that for some reason can’t get up for this game?
It’s actually both. And I can’t for the life of me understand it. If we start with the players, Stoops is right. At some point the players have to decide to be ready to play. It’s more than talent and skill. They have to have a passion for it every single play.
Take Sanchez for instance. He’s great when things are going his way. But any kind of adversity and he just loses any swagger he might have had.
At some point the players have to decide to be ready to play. It’s more than talent and skill. They have to have a passion for it every single play.
And then after a loss we get to read on his Twitter how we are all fair weather fans and the team will be back on top etc. etc….
But it’s not just him. Can anyone on this defense tackle? It’s like they thought it was two hand touch against texas.
Where are the players that just want to take someone’s head off when they step on the field? Where is the nasty? Where are the guys like Curtis Lofton or Torrance Marshall? Those guys hit you and you knew you were in for a long day.
And the offense was just as much to blame. The o-line is just terrible. It’s hard for Mayfield to step up in the pocket when there isn’t one.
And the two seniors on the line are the main culprits. Darlington and Kasitati get beat on a regular basis. This line is the product of the recruiting of Bruce Kittles, Bobs buddy, and James Patton. They were let go, but this line is here now and it will take a few years to get any better.
And that gets us to coaching. Sure Stoops is right when he says the players have to want to play hard, but ultimately these are the players the COACHES recruited. The coaches have to take responsibility for getting their team up for a game as well.
I don’t even want to talk about the defensive scheme Mike threw out there Saturday. Two high safeties? Against this longhorn team? Maybe Mike got the dates on the calendar mixed up and thought we were playing Texas Tech.
Good grief, texas only ran about 3 or 4 basic plays while only throwing the ball 11 times and we still couldn’t stop them.
And Lincoln Riley didn’t have his best day calling the offense either. The flats and runs to the edge were there and when we took them yielded positive yardage. But Riley got too cute with his reverses and again decided to ignore the run game.
All this of course added up to one of the worst losses in Stoops tenure. And everyone is to blame.
And don’t look now, but outside of two contests, every game from here on out is very losable. Starting with Kansas State in Manhattan. They only scored 45 points against the number 2 team in the nation and were within 2 minutes of beating them. And they are doing this with a walk on back up QB who used to be a wide receiver.
If OU shows up with the same energy and game plan they displayed in the Cotton Bowl, they’ll get beat by four touchdowns.
History, however is on the Sooner’s side. Bob Stoops has never lost back to back conference games, and strangely enough has never lost on K-State’s home field.
However that won’t stop the Worry Meter from once again registering in the 90% range. Oklahoma needs to bounce back quick if they hope to save the season. With all that being said…BOOMER!!!
—Dave
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