TCU quarterback Shawn Robinson is the second least efficient passer in the Big 12.
He also has the most interceptions among Big 12 quarterbacks.
TCU has a record of 3-3, and has only scored a cumulative total of 47 points against the 3 Big 12 opponents they have faced thus far. That’s an average of just over 15 points a game in conference play.
Sounds pretty dismal. But fear not Horned Frog fans. The cure to all your ailments is on the way! Ladies and gentlemen I give you the Oklahoma Sooner defense!
Too harsh? I guess we will find out this Saturday morning when the Sooners travel to Fort Worth to take on the Horned Frogs in a must win game.
I say must win because every game from here forward is a must win game if the Sooners want to have a legitimate shot at the Big 12 Title and any whiff of a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Every game from here forward is a must win game if the Sooners want a legitimate shot at the Big 12 Title.
Every game from here forward is a must win game if the Sooners want a legitimate shot at the Big 12 Title.
If past performance means anything, they will be pumping Shawn Robinson for the Heisman after he has a career day against the Oklahoma defense. We’ve been outstanding at the art of making average quarterbacks look, well, outstanding. Zeb Noland of Iowa State, Charlie Brewer of Baylor, and Sam Ehlinger of texas. All three average to good college football quarterbacks. All three had their season high in passing yardage against the Oklahoma defense. And all three had multiple touchdown passes against the Oklahoma defense.
Heck, Ehlinger accounted for FIVE touchdowns against Oklahoma. The defense is so bad that the offense has zero room for error. They almost have to score on every possession and can in no way afford to make any turnovers.
This fact was never more apparent than against the longhorns. Kyler Murray turned the ball over twice and it led to 10 points. And there are some people blaming the offense for the loss because of those turnovers.
Never mind that the offense still scored 45 points, 21 of which came in the fourth quarter in a furious comeback to tie the game. But the defense had to hold texas one last drive to force overtime.
Who here really thought the defense could get that stop? I guess I can’t really blame the people who want to find the offense at fault for the loss. Given the defensive performance of late, can we be expected to count on the defense for anything?
So the offense should know that they have to be perfect. It’s not fair, but that’s where the team is at right now.
And the firing of Mike Stoops, while it was needed, is not a magically instant solution.
It will take a long time to get the defense playing to the level of the elite teams in college football. You don’t just change schemes overnight. The basic defensive philosophies are installed and drilled down over the off season. You can make some tweaks here and there, but you can’t just change the whole system and expect the players to be able to execute it at a high level after a bye week.
Letting Stoops go, though it came about eight months late, was the right first step. But there is a marathon to follow. And it has to include some position coaches on the defense that need to start updating their resumes, as well as better and/or different talent being recruited.
The most we can hope for the rest of the year is that interim Defensive Coordinator Ruffin McNeill can call a better game, and hopefully, a much more aggressive game than Mike did. And we might get a spark of more effort from certain players, if rumors are to be believed that not all the guys were enamored with Stoops.
But that might say more about a player than it did about Mike, unfortunately.
So the Worry Meter is at 95% this week. No reason to think that the TCU quarterback won’t have his best game of the year this Saturday. So the offense will have to be perfect if the Sooners are to come away with a win. With all that being said….BOOMER!!!
-Dave
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