SOONERGUYS Blog

 The stage hands worked all day Monday and Tuesday breaking down the enormous “Mother Ship” stage that U2 had utilized in their concert on Owen Field on Sunday night. By Wednesday the old field turf, which had been smothered by aluminum flooring for the concert, was ripped up and only a barren expanse of central Oklahoma red dirt was left (see live webcam on www.soonerguys.com).

Such is this season of Oklahoma football.

The hopes of a national championship are gone like the semi tractor trailers that hauled off the steel structure this week. And, the hopes for building a Big 12 championship are in jeopardy. This has been a Vertigo season for Oklahoma.

And yes, on the day after Texas eked out a 16-13 win over Oklahoma, it did seem like a Sunday, Bloody Sunday.

Indeed the Sooner defense played like the best of Mike Stoops’ teams.

 But the offense on Saturday seemed very Stuck in the Moment, unable to get points when needed. Much like the rest of the season thus far. The Sooners have now lost its three games by a combined total five points. In other words Oklahoma is six points away from being undefeated and likely ranked No. 3 in the country. The Sooners Still Haven’t Found What (they’re) Looking For on offense.

But, there is a lot of work to be done. This is not a Moment for Surrender.

The new turf that will be laid this week will mark the beginning of a new season, or new group of seasons for the Sooners. It certainly is time for Oklahoma fans to Get On Your Boots.

Sam Bradford may well announce tonight that his days in an Oklahoma uniform are over. The Sooners have to fight on, with or without Sam Bradford. With or without a consistent offensive line. With or Without any hope for championships this season.

With or Without You.

Saturday may have been the first time since Oklahoma began playing Texas 109 years ago that the Sooners football team did not look ahead to playing next week’s opponent.

All Oklahoma was concerned about was getting back a healthy Sam Bradford at quarterback, shirking last week’s Miami loss, and yes, defeating a more athletic Baylor Bears than we usually expect.

The Sooners did all that in their 33-7 win.

But, now there is indeed No. 2 Texas coming up in Dallas.

We will be heading down I-35 on Friday. But most of us Sooner fans have already made the trip in our head. We are wondering where these 3-2 Sooners stack up against Colt McCoy’s seemingly unstoppable passing pipeline to Jordan Shipley. And then there is that stout Texas defense.

The pessimists say there is no chance Oklahoma will win this game. The optimists are expecting a Sooner victory because, well, it’s the Sooners.

But as we know, sometimes the favorite doesn’t win the Red River Rivalry (or Shootout, or whatever you want to call the border war in the Cotton Bowl). There have been 15 upsets in this game since World War II. That’s almost one out of every 4 games. The last one was last year, when No. 8 Texas defeated No. 1 Oklahoma 45-35.

The key to stop Longhorn fan chest beating will be the ability of OU’s linebackers to slow down that middle-of-the-field passing game that McCoy found so successful last year. MLB Ryan Reynolds is back to fill that gap, but he’s a step slower than before his injury in last year’s game. Also key will be the ability of Oklahoma’s offensive line to protect Bradford. Give Sam the time and he will throw enough passes (48 against Baylor) to almost force the butter-handed receivers to catch enough to score.

Oklahoma’s defense is No. 3 in the country, giving up just six touchdowns in five games. Individually, DE Jeremy Beal is No. 3 in sacks in the country, with six. Oklahoma’s rushing defense is No. 3, giving up only 49 yards per game. But, Texas has the No. 1 rushing defense in the country, allowing only 46 yards per game.

Like last year this game may be decided on a kicking game error (or great play, depending for whom you cheer). OU’s Dominick Frank has had an outstanding year returning punts. But, Texas has too – with three punt returns for touchdowns, including against Colorado on Saturday.

This was thought to be a challenging but promising year for Oklahoma. Instead it’s turned into a rough season, with the potential for disaster. The Sooners can begin salvaging the season with a win in Dallas and a promise of a Big 12 Championship in December. On Saturday night we will know whether this team has the fortitude to do just that.

— Mike

Most observers have already named the OU-Texas game on October 17 the pivotal contest of the year (including Alex in his video report here), so it is little wonder the talk of last year’s Sooner defeat in Dallas is already quite loud.

Much of the discussion centers on the play of walk-on linebacker Brandon Crow, who was pressed into service when starter Ryan Reynolds sustained a season-ending knee injury. With the previous LB star Curtis Lofton having left early for the NFL the Sooners were without a strong backup.

Crow had his lunch eaten against Texas. The Texas coaches focused on the inexperienced LB, running tight end drag pass routes and mis-direction plays against him the rest of the game. He wasn’t the only reason OU lost 35-45 to Texas last year, but the position became a huge Achilles heel in that game. With some shifting of personnel Oklahoma coaches adjusted and Crow played little more the rest of the year.

With backup Tom Wort out for the season and Mike Balogun’s eligibility still in doubt, will we see the walk-on from Comanche back on the field against the Longhorns?

Considering all the grief Crow received after last year’s performance no one would have faulted him had he chosen to shelve the remainder of his football career.

But he didn’t. Crow is suited up and giving it his all in pre-season practices, fighting for his linebacker position. Whether he gets on the Cotton Bowl field in October remains to be seen. We hope that doesn’t have to happen. But, in the meantime, our hats go off to him for showing the mental toughness to work through that bad experience and fight for the right to wear the crimson and cream.

UPDATE:  Crow is being tried out as backup fullback.  Good job by the coaching staff to get him involved in a way for which he may be best suited. 

In true boastful Texas “we are better than anyone else” fashion, Gov. Rick Perry on Friday suggested the liberal control of the White House was reason for Texas to consider seceding from the Union (I’m not making this up).

Gov. Perry reminded us that Texas used to be a separate Republic (true, in the biggest land grab in North American history the Texans stole it from another country – Mexico); and he thinks it can legally secede (this is what happens when the lawyer isn’t consulted before going public).

He forgot that last time they tried that was from 1861-1865 and it did not turn out so well – 618,000 Americans died.

Here’s my suggestion to Gov. Perry: Just put an asterisk next to Texas’ name and say it is really a whole different country, but the stupid BCS rules don’t allow it. Yeah.

Still there would be bad news for the Longhorns: If Texas were a different country, then the Longhorns finished second last year to “National” Champion Texas Tech.  — Mike

The Longhorns have had 10 players arrested for all sorts of criminal conduct this year, but that fact did not stop an assistant athletic director from trying to suppress the student newspaper’s reporting that backup QB John Chiles was a suspect in an Austin police investigation into an assault.  

Assistant AD John Bianco wrote threatening emails to the Daily Texan, claiming its reports of public statments made by the Austin Police Department were “untruthful”, and further stating the Texan’s relationship with the football program would be hurt.  Bianco said that when potential employers of the student newsmen would learn of the reporting it would “hurt you in the long run,” the newspaper editor reported.

Of course many Texas fans probably think the student paper is wrong for reporting any wrongdoing by its elite athletes.  And one can question whether reporting that someone who has not been arrested is a “suspect” is a good idea or not; but, the big bad athletic department trying to coerce student journalists from reporting a fact about something which is of great public interest is far worse. 

I imagine the folks in Austin are bit testy about their public image right now.  They have probably seen too many of those t-shirts floating around the rest of the conference showing the broken longhorns in handcuffs.  — Mike