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| Eric MF Striker |
It’s here you guys. Let’s get this party started. Can the Sooners get a seat at the playoff table? Can they keep me from questioning my fanhood before the Iowa State game? Are we who we think we are?
Here now some preseason awards, prognostications and the Louisiana Tech pre gamer.
MF’er
The MF’er is one of the cornerstones of this blog and the Sooner tradition. No higher preseason honor can be bestowed. Fuck the Herbies.
The 2014-2015 MF’er is Eric MF Striker. Striker’s emergence in 2013 had Sooner fans doing double takes as they saw visions of former Sooner greats such as Roy Williams and Brandon Everage. Striker is a guy who runs around like his hair is on fire and who can make an impact from anywhere he lines up. He’s a brute and slobberknocker on the blitz. He’s going to give opposing offenses fits and offer Mikey Stoops et al some nice flexibility.
While Striker was the No. 1 choice on all ballots of eligible voters there are some other intriguing choices. Jordan Phillips, Geneo Grissom, Dominique Alexander, Quinton Hayes, Julian Wilson and even Zach Sanchez got some consideration. Frank Shannon would be in the mix too if he didn’t run afoul of the law.
It’s the deepest defensive talent pool in years, a development that should moisten the thighs of many a coed.
Old Steady
Old Steady is an award named after former Sooner RB Chris Brown. Brown was pretty unspectacular for the majority of his career but if you handed him the football you got three yards every single time. No fumbles, no dancing in the backfield, no one-on-one situations with safeties. Just a predictable modest result.
We don’t know enough about anyone on this incarnation of the Sooners offense to say, “That’s Old Steady”. One could argue Keith Ford but how long is his leash after all his fumbling “issues” one year ago? None of the other RB’s are proven. Dimitri Flowers seems to be the heir apparent to Trey Millard but he’s not even starting.
So, until someone proves themselves there is no Old Steady. I think this is becoming it’s own tradition.
Things I’m excited about
The D
Man, if this group had Frank Shannon it would be downright scary. It still should be a menace. Jordan Phillips is back after a promising start to the season that led many to believe he could be the next great (long missing) anchor of the d-line. Throw in Chuka Ndulue, Charles “Ass” Tapper, Grissom, Alexander, Striker, Sanchez, Hays and the much ballyhooed triumverant of Ahmad Thomas, Hatari Byrd and Steven Parker and, cripes, there are some ballplayers over here.
The Run Game
This could make some people nervous because this group is short on experience. But I’m making lemonade here and telling you that, contrary to popular opinion, running back is not the hardest position to fill on a football team. Keith Ford has shown flashes of beast mode already. Coaches seem to hold Alex Ross in similar esteem and players rave about the practice work of the difficult to pronounce Samaj Perine. Some version of this group is going to pick yardage up in chunks. Hey...No worries!
Michiah Quick
I don’t spend my offseason with my hands down my sweatpants reading Rivals and Scout so pardon my surprise at seeing this true freshman's name not once, not twice but thrice on the depth chart. Apparently he was the #7 athlete in the country coming out of high school. It looks like this fella Quick, along with Sterling Sheperd, LaColtan Bester and Durron Neal are going to be ratcheting up the pressure on defenses to “cover space”. Now watch as he sits on the sidelines before burning his redshirt against Kansas.
Things I’m Nervous About
Was Trevor Knight’s Sugar Bowl Performance a Fluke?
History is a fickle mistress. Prior to his breakout performance against Bama, Knight had been benched and shown a poor grasp for the forward pass. Not only did one game erase that from the minds of Sooner faithful but it’s also landed him on every major awards watch list including the Heisman Trophy ™. Hey, I want the guy to succeed too but he has plenty of room for improvement. The encouraging thing about Knight is he appears to be a gamer. His best games were his first career start and Bama.
Was Josh Heupel’s Job Saving Sugar Bowl Performance a Fluke?
I wrote this about Josh Heupel after the Baylor game last year.
Josh Heupel is not fighting for his job at OU. He's auditioning for a QB coaching gig at Appalachian State at best. The Oklahoman trotted out Jenni Carlson for a piece asking if it's time for a change in play caller only to have Berry Trammel write an article about how Bobby prefers "Stability" versus "Experimentation”.
Again, history is a fickle mistress. The Sooners offense last year was historically abysmal most of the season. The players and staff would publicly say they weren’t surprised about what they did against Alabama but even they had to have been shocked after being so inept up to that point. The Sooners played three quarterbacks out of desperation in the bedlam game.
I am very cautiously optimistic that Josh Heupel retained what he learned and is now prepared to use all his weapons to their full advantage. If he does, the offense could be lethal. If he doesn’t then Jay Norvell will get his chance. Book it. Bob is learning to make changes to stay ahead of the game.
Are New Uniforms a Good Idea?
No. But I’m a surly, aging sonofabitch. Whatever the football team needs to do to continue luring top 17 year old talent to Norman to win football games is fine with me.
On To Louisiana Tech
Skip Holtz is the head coach and Tim Rattay is also on the staff so I hate them already. There is no good reason why the Techsters, or whatever they call themselves, shouldn’t just pick up their asskicking and a check and head on home. But the memories of TCU home openers loom large so the Sooners would be best advised to take this one quite seriously.
Offense
There are no shortage of things to watch for on this side of the ball. Will the real Trevor Knight please stand up? Who wants the bulk of the carries? Who will be TKnight’s safety blanket? How good can this O-Line be if it stays healthy?
I’m going to put my unsullied reputation on the line here and go all in on the Trevor Knight bandwagon week 1. He really needs to come right out and show that he has a firm grasp on this offense and prove that having the Belldozer take practice snaps at QB was the dumbest fucking idea of all time.
Defense
Can’t go with anyone besides newly minted MFer, Eric “Ted” Striker here. I think this defense is filled with baby eaters and they go PlayStation D this week. Man I’m pumped to watch these guys this year.
Score
42-7. No screwing around. The Sooners score in all phases and get the 2014-2015 campaign kicked off in a great way. Lots of baby making in Norman after this one.
Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner!
Notes about Notes from my Notebook
If I told you there was a Sooner named Jack Steed from DeSoto Texas and that Jack Steed was 6’2” and 200+ pounds, what position do you think the would play? The answer is Punter.
On the roster page of soonersports.com there is a little ear icon (to help with pronunciation) next to Josiah St. John but not one for Michiah Quick.
Here now some preseason awards, prognostications and the Louisiana Tech pre gamer.
MF’er
The MF’er is one of the cornerstones of this blog and the Sooner tradition. No higher preseason honor can be bestowed. Fuck the Herbies.
The 2014-2015 MF’er is Eric MF Striker. Striker’s emergence in 2013 had Sooner fans doing double takes as they saw visions of former Sooner greats such as Roy Williams and Brandon Everage. Striker is a guy who runs around like his hair is on fire and who can make an impact from anywhere he lines up. He’s a brute and slobberknocker on the blitz. He’s going to give opposing offenses fits and offer Mikey Stoops et al some nice flexibility.
While Striker was the No. 1 choice on all ballots of eligible voters there are some other intriguing choices. Jordan Phillips, Geneo Grissom, Dominique Alexander, Quinton Hayes, Julian Wilson and even Zach Sanchez got some consideration. Frank Shannon would be in the mix too if he didn’t run afoul of the law.
It’s the deepest defensive talent pool in years, a development that should moisten the thighs of many a coed.
Old Steady
Old Steady is an award named after former Sooner RB Chris Brown. Brown was pretty unspectacular for the majority of his career but if you handed him the football you got three yards every single time. No fumbles, no dancing in the backfield, no one-on-one situations with safeties. Just a predictable modest result.
We don’t know enough about anyone on this incarnation of the Sooners offense to say, “That’s Old Steady”. One could argue Keith Ford but how long is his leash after all his fumbling “issues” one year ago? None of the other RB’s are proven. Dimitri Flowers seems to be the heir apparent to Trey Millard but he’s not even starting.
So, until someone proves themselves there is no Old Steady. I think this is becoming it’s own tradition.
Things I’m excited about
The D
Man, if this group had Frank Shannon it would be downright scary. It still should be a menace. Jordan Phillips is back after a promising start to the season that led many to believe he could be the next great (long missing) anchor of the d-line. Throw in Chuka Ndulue, Charles “Ass” Tapper, Grissom, Alexander, Striker, Sanchez, Hays and the much ballyhooed triumverant of Ahmad Thomas, Hatari Byrd and Steven Parker and, cripes, there are some ballplayers over here.
The Run Game
This could make some people nervous because this group is short on experience. But I’m making lemonade here and telling you that, contrary to popular opinion, running back is not the hardest position to fill on a football team. Keith Ford has shown flashes of beast mode already. Coaches seem to hold Alex Ross in similar esteem and players rave about the practice work of the difficult to pronounce Samaj Perine. Some version of this group is going to pick yardage up in chunks. Hey...No worries!
Michiah Quick
I don’t spend my offseason with my hands down my sweatpants reading Rivals and Scout so pardon my surprise at seeing this true freshman's name not once, not twice but thrice on the depth chart. Apparently he was the #7 athlete in the country coming out of high school. It looks like this fella Quick, along with Sterling Sheperd, LaColtan Bester and Durron Neal are going to be ratcheting up the pressure on defenses to “cover space”. Now watch as he sits on the sidelines before burning his redshirt against Kansas.
Things I’m Nervous About
Was Trevor Knight’s Sugar Bowl Performance a Fluke?
History is a fickle mistress. Prior to his breakout performance against Bama, Knight had been benched and shown a poor grasp for the forward pass. Not only did one game erase that from the minds of Sooner faithful but it’s also landed him on every major awards watch list including the Heisman Trophy ™. Hey, I want the guy to succeed too but he has plenty of room for improvement. The encouraging thing about Knight is he appears to be a gamer. His best games were his first career start and Bama.
Was Josh Heupel’s Job Saving Sugar Bowl Performance a Fluke?
I wrote this about Josh Heupel after the Baylor game last year.
Josh Heupel is not fighting for his job at OU. He's auditioning for a QB coaching gig at Appalachian State at best. The Oklahoman trotted out Jenni Carlson for a piece asking if it's time for a change in play caller only to have Berry Trammel write an article about how Bobby prefers "Stability" versus "Experimentation”.
Again, history is a fickle mistress. The Sooners offense last year was historically abysmal most of the season. The players and staff would publicly say they weren’t surprised about what they did against Alabama but even they had to have been shocked after being so inept up to that point. The Sooners played three quarterbacks out of desperation in the bedlam game.
I am very cautiously optimistic that Josh Heupel retained what he learned and is now prepared to use all his weapons to their full advantage. If he does, the offense could be lethal. If he doesn’t then Jay Norvell will get his chance. Book it. Bob is learning to make changes to stay ahead of the game.
Are New Uniforms a Good Idea?
No. But I’m a surly, aging sonofabitch. Whatever the football team needs to do to continue luring top 17 year old talent to Norman to win football games is fine with me.
On To Louisiana Tech
Skip Holtz is the head coach and Tim Rattay is also on the staff so I hate them already. There is no good reason why the Techsters, or whatever they call themselves, shouldn’t just pick up their asskicking and a check and head on home. But the memories of TCU home openers loom large so the Sooners would be best advised to take this one quite seriously.
Offense
There are no shortage of things to watch for on this side of the ball. Will the real Trevor Knight please stand up? Who wants the bulk of the carries? Who will be TKnight’s safety blanket? How good can this O-Line be if it stays healthy?
I’m going to put my unsullied reputation on the line here and go all in on the Trevor Knight bandwagon week 1. He really needs to come right out and show that he has a firm grasp on this offense and prove that having the Belldozer take practice snaps at QB was the dumbest fucking idea of all time.
Defense
Can’t go with anyone besides newly minted MFer, Eric “Ted” Striker here. I think this defense is filled with baby eaters and they go PlayStation D this week. Man I’m pumped to watch these guys this year.
Score
42-7. No screwing around. The Sooners score in all phases and get the 2014-2015 campaign kicked off in a great way. Lots of baby making in Norman after this one.
Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner!
Notes about Notes from my Notebook
If I told you there was a Sooner named Jack Steed from DeSoto Texas and that Jack Steed was 6’2” and 200+ pounds, what position do you think the would play? The answer is Punter.
On the roster page of soonersports.com there is a little ear icon (to help with pronunciation) next to Josiah St. John but not one for Michiah Quick.
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