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.
I’m not saying that the team on the field now is chopped liver. Far from it. But Ohio St. will have the overall edge in talent and depth.
I’m not saying that the team on the field now is chopped liver. Far from it. But Ohio St. will have the overall edge in talent and depth.
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.
They may be younger and have less experience than the Sooners, but they will have better overall talent. The past six or seven years Oklahoma has fallen behind in recruiting when compared with other big programs in college football such as Alabama, Florida State, Clemson and Ohio State.
Stoops shook up the program and made the College Football Playoff last year. And as a result recruiting for 2016 and especially 2017 has taken a dramatic upswing. Some say to the top 5 in the country for 2017.
But that won’t help for a few years in terms of the infusion of talent. I’m not saying that the team on the field now is chopped liver. Far from it. But Ohio St. will have the overall edge in talent and depth.
Last year OU got everything it could out of the team and it was a great season. But by the second half of the Orange Bowl, Clemson’s depth and talent on the lines began to show and they won the game going away.
There is a lot of truth to Barry Switzer’s old saying: “It’s not the X’s and O’s, it’s the Jimmies and Joes.” Coaching can only take you so far. If you have better players, you have a huge leg up. Replace Sabin with Stoops and keep the players the same, Stoops leads Alabama to three out of the last five National Titles as well.
Don’t get me wrong though. The Sooners have a great chance to win this Saturday. Home field advantage is nothing to sneeze at.
But it’s going to take a near perfect game to pull this one out. No stupid mistakes. Don’t turn the ball over. Limit big plays when on defense. Hopefully get a turnover or two. Do all those things and we should be celebrating a big Sooner victory.
But there should be no surprise that the Worry Meter is spiking at 95%. Bob lost the 2003 National Title to Nick Sabin while Sabin was at LSU. But when they met again in the 2014 Sugar Bowl, Stoops returned the favor. After losing the the 2008 National Title to Urban Meyer and his Florida Gators, Bob again is in the position to return the favor.
Sure hope he does. I think I might hate Meyer more than Sabin! With all that being said…BOOMER!!!!
— Dave
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