That squeal of tires you heard was the Oklahoma Sooners’ national title hopes coming to a sudden stop.
At least for now. At least until the defense can figure out how to stop a quarterback who can actually throw the ball more than ten yards down the field.
The Baylor QB had a coming out party against Mike Stoops’ “bend but don’t break” defense. I realize that we are thin in the defensive backfield and help is on the way as Will Johnson and Robert Barnes should be back from injury, but unless Mike changes his whole defensive philosophy, it might not help.
The quarterbacks we have seen the first four games are nothing compared to what is coming.
The quarterbacks we have seen the first four games are nothing compared to what is coming.
Dropping eight and rushing three hardly ever works. If the QB has over five seconds to throw the ball, someone is getting open. And boy were they open in Waco. Winless Baylor scored 41 points against our defense. How bad actually is that? Well they scored 10 points against UTSA, 20 points against Duke and 20 points against K-State.
But to be fair our defensive showing wasn’t the worst so far this year against the Bears. Baylor rang up a season best 45 points against…wait for it….Liberty University.
So Stoops might want to think about sending a few extra guys to sack the QB in the future. Because the quarterbacks we have seen the first four games are nothing compared to what is coming.
You think Mason Rudolph, Will Grier and Nic Shimonek aren’t salivating at the chance to light up Mikey’s defense?
Look, I know it was just one game against a geeked up Baylor squad on their home turf. But taking Baylor’s best shot should still be at least a three touchdown win for the Sooners. Not an eight point sweat out the last possession squeaker.
Oklahoma has had a week off to ruminate on their struggles at Baylor and now set their sights on the Iowa State Cyclones Saturday morning in the first rooster kick-off of the year at Owen Field.
Iowa State is getting better every year. Their quarterback, Jacob Park isn’t great, but he’s not terrible. And if we let him stand in the pocket with no pressure, he will make some throws.
And they have one of, if not the best running back in the conference in sophomore David Montgomery. He has beaten out 2015 Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year Mike Warren for the number one running back spot.
Montgomery is a complete back. He can run, catch, run for speed and run hard for the tough yards. He to me is a combination of Perine and Mixon. High praise, but he is a good one and will only get better.
So the Cyclones have playmakers. The Sooners need to not take anyone for granted going forward. If OU comes in focused and plays to their capabilities, this game is a comfortable win in the range of 21-28 points. If they think they can just sleepwalk through the Clones, well, we would still probably win, but it would be another fourth quarter nail biter.
So the Worry Meter settles in at about 25% this week.
I’ll always take a win of course. But some style points would be nice Saturday. With all that being said……….BOOMER!!!
— Dave
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