Texas Tech

I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of this horrid defense. Each week it's the same frustrating scenarios, and boiled down it's the complete inability to stop any offense ever. The offense which is consistently solid and I'm convinced can score on any defense is going to ultimately be wasted by a defensive unit that is shit. Unless things get cleaned up on defense I don't think OU even wins the Big 12, let alone gets in the playoff.

I don't know much about Texas Tech and I'm not about to break precedent now and actually learn about the opponent. I imagine they pass it a lot, but have no clue who their QB is or if he's any good. I do know they played O-State pretty closely a couple of weeks ago. Suffice it to say, I think they'll put up some points against the Red Carpet (my nickname as well, incidentally).

Offense

Baker Mayfield

Defense...just kidding, but it really is that easy. The offense hasn't been quite as dominant lately and the recipe seems to be to sit back in a zone and make Mayfield scramble. Fortunately, he's pretty good at that, but the receivers do need to step up. With that in mind I'm going to go with Mark Andrews. He's the biggest mismatch out there and he's really been Mayfield's go to guy.

Defense

This is the unit single handedly responsible for taking the Sooners Boner Meter from Cold Steel to Flacid Frank. There is little more irritating in the sporting world than rooting for a team that cannot play defense. At. All. Poor tackling, guys out of position and a complete and total inability to make any adjustments. I'm not even talking about in-game adjustments, I mean week to week. It's the same shit repeatedly. I'm going with Parnell Motley because he's about the only guy worth a shit. However, that may be purely based on the fact that no one throws his way on account of gas rag manning the opposite side. Who knows?

Score

This feels like a track meet, and it probably will be to some extent. But, I feel like these games that feature two high powered offenses often fail to meet the hype. So I'll say it's low(ish) scoring by OU's standards, Sooners hang on again 30-27.


Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner

Oklahoma Sooners versus Texas Tech

What a confusing team this is. You have to hand it to them for playing with heart. I mean, they've shown real guts on the road this year against the Buckeyes, Longhorns and now the Wildcats. They legit could have three losses by now. Baker Mayfield deservedly gets a lot of credit for being the heart and soul of this squad. Where would this team be without him? Holy smokes this guy is a legend in the making.

On the other hand, what in the ever holy shit is it going to take to get some halfway decent defense? The average scoring difference between the Sooners and their opponents is less than a touchdown over the last four games. They are 60th in total scoring defense. Meanwhile, the offense is top 3 in total offense.

I try to be all namaste' and, "winning by 1 point is all that matters" (which is true) but this is bullshit. The offense needs some help stat. This is not a championship team with this defense. It's not a Playoff team with this defense. It's probably not a Big 12 champion with this defense. Texas Tech put up approximately 4,653 yards against this D last year and TCU, West Virginny and OSU are all still on the slate.

OFFENSE

Let's scrap the wildcat formation. It's a gimmick that does this offense a complete disservice. With Baker Mayfield you have a guy who can run play action, run himself, scramble to buy time, look off defenders and throw laserbeams. On any given play he can do any thing. When you run the wildcat you are taking the ball out of the hands of the most difficult player in college football to defend. As a play caller you are doing the one thing that makes life easier on the defense. So why?

End rant.

Interesting story from the camping trip and sitting around watching the game with a bunch of dads. One guy played in a golf tournament with Lincoln Riley a couple years ago. Riley told this guy that Rodney Anderson had more skill and potential than either Joe Mixon or Semaje Perine. Anderson demonstrated said skill against K-State. What a run for the game winner. I had no idea he was a four star recruit.

Meanwhile this offense is rounding into form. Mykel Brown and Marquise Brown really stepped up last week and have the wide receiving crew looking like a four or five deep machine. Abdul Adams should be back this week too which will be nice.

My official new strategy for OPOG is going to be pick someone besides Baker. Just for fun. I'm going to ride the Rod Anderson train.

DEFENSE

I will begin positively by noting that in the second half of last Saturday's game and late against Texas, the D stepped up when it needed to. But let's not over polish this turd. The tackling is (broken record alert) atrocious. Jordan Thomas is getting worked. The inconsistency is so frustrating.

Kansas State had scored something ludicrous like six total points in their prior three games before us. Texas, likewise, was having difficulty scoring. Iowa State trotted out a QB who had never played in live action before. They all put up boucoup points It's a trainwreck and is going to ruin any chance at glory.

So I'll put on my crimson colored glasses and pick Caleb Kelly this week. Out of the people who kind of disappear in games he seemed to get the most fire lit under him in the second half last week.

THE GAME

I can't imagine 9,000 combined yards happening again since Pat Mahomes moved on to the NFL. But as mentioned earlier any QB that can fog a mirror can put up points against this D. Having Abdul Adams back will help the Sooners. Baker will be Baker. I think it will be another shootout.

Sooners 49 Red Raiders 42

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

Sooners vs. KSU

On my phone here from Camp Classen in Davis OK. I'm with about 20 second graders and their dads.

Solid if not butt puckering W last week. I hope there's no let down today. Between a D that has a hard time getting turnovers and injuries I'm a little nervous.  Also the weather is going to be shitty. It seems like that favors the turtlenecks.

I hope wrong. For my OPOG I'll go Trey Sermon. For D I'll say Devonta Lampkin.

Score Sooners 31 and Wildcats 17
Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner.

Kansas State

Well, OU survived again last week. That's what it's come to at this point, isn't it? The glad tidings and hand jobs that followed the (increasingly improbable) road win at Ohio State have all be vanished. A home loss to a decidedly mediocre team and a sphincter testing rally against another decidedly mediocre rivalry team will do that. Nonetheless, a win is a win and today looks to be another challenge. Hopefully the Sooners will do their usual trick of coming out of the gates sprinting and get a sizable lead. Hopefully they will not forget that the game is 4 quarters instead of 2 again. K State is always a tough win, and they seem to win a game or two every season that they have no business winning. Playing solid fundamentals and putting players in position to make plays will do that, regardless of talent discrepancies. Snyder, no matter what your taste for him is, always has his guys ready and that's highly respectable. In short, this game is certainly not a gimme and a loss, while deflating, would not be incredibly shocking at this point.

Offense

Mark Andrews reestablished himself as a man amongst children last week and basically kept the ever-so-slim national title hopes alive single handedly. Mayfield continues to do his thing and nearly every game I find myself thankful he's a Sooner and not a foe when he scrambles around for 15 seconds and then cuts the opponents heart out with an unlikely first down scramble or long completion. With that said, K State generally does a decent job of making teams beat them with someone other than their marquee players. I think CeeDee Lamb steps up today and gets a lot of looks and, consequently, has a huge day as the Wildcats work hard to take away Andrews.

Defense

They looked a little better last week, but make no mistake, texas is pretty bad, and their QB is shit. I don't know much about K State at all, let alone how much experience they field at various skill positions, but I'm comfortable guessing their QB will have a career day today. It's been a rocky season up to now for LB Kenneth Murray, but Snyder's teams often go with the "5 yards and a cloud of dust" method so I think the youngster has a big day against a run heavy attack.

Score

This game has loss written all over it. Going to Manhattan is always a tough win, and as I mentioned earlier, the Wildcats are always prepared. I hope it's not another late-game meltdown, but it's certainly a possibility. For now, I'm going to remains as optimistic as I can and say the Sooners escape again, this time with a 24-21 victory.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner

The Red River Rivalry - OU vs. Texas

Well three weeks ago I had a real cavalier attitude and would have been brimming with confidence that the Longhorns would get worked by the Sooners and stay relegated to middle of the pack in the Big 12 for the remainder of the season. But I'm now reeling after what might be the worst Sooners loss of All Times. The Sooners were 31 point favorites at home.

I am specifically very concerned about Jordan "Gas Rag" Thomas and the Defense and the fragility of the offense, particularly with regards to the wide receivers.

Let's scrap this doom and gloom though. We need some positivity because this is a big one. Both coaches need this. Both schools needs this. This is huge from a balance of power perspective.

OFFENSE

I am very concerned about what the loss of CeeDee Lamb meant to the Sooners offense last week. That a freshman wideout is apparently the only person who can reliably get open is alarming. I am confident and hopeful that the game plan will be better this week. I expect more Mark Andrews and Grant Calcaterra on crossing routes. And some other wideout needs to emerge and be useful. The lanky guys like Jordan Smallwood and AD Miller are wasting their careers being mediocre and unreliable.

I'd like to see some sparkle from the running game today too. The Sooners need to use the line and get yards in chunks via the run game. It is unclear if Abdul Adams will play. I assume no. So someone needs to be third banana behind Trey Sermon and Dimitri Flowers. I think it will be Baker Mayfield.

In big games you stick with big players and OU has the best player on the field in Baker Damn Mayfield. I can pick no one else for OPOG. I envision more designed runs on first or second down with the goal being to open up some short easy throws. The scramble and go deep method seems problematic.

Basically, all phases of the offense need to fire on all cylinders. But it starts and ends with BD Mayfield.

DEFENSE

Here is a question I've been floating around all week. Why does OU play their cornerbacks based on the hash mark (boundary vs. wide or whatever they call it) instead of based on matchup? Is this common? Is one method easier to learn or teach than another?

I would be inclined to put my best corner on the oppositions best player, take my chances and make the other team figure out another way to beat me. That's just me. But I read in the Oklahoman just this morning that Mike Stoops is reluctant to change his Scheme. It's been working too well, I guess. So the freshman Texas QB should have little to no issue identifying where on the field Parnell Motley is. Typing this makes me angry. Isn't the goal to make life for the opposition more difficult?

The front four, and namely the middle two, need to get some damn push too. This freshman QB could be a nightmare. He can run which is the only dimension you need to give a Mike Stoops defense fits.

For my DPOG I'll pick Ogbonnia Okoronkwo. He's a senior, he's hopefully pissed about last week and, frankly, I'm not sure who else to pick. I'd say Parnell Motley but for reason's already stated I imagine his name gets called infrequently today.

THE GAME

The defense has to hold texas to less than 24 points. They just have to. I really think Mike Stoops job is on the line here. He was a holdover for the sake of cosistency but he is threatening to ruin hopes and dreams if he doesn't get the defense's shit together.

On offense the wide receivers have to step up. Mayfield could have smoked cigarettes in the backfield last week waiting for someone to get open and it wasn't happening. Piss poor. Can't have it today.

I think the Sooners bounce back but I fear texas has a bigger chip on its shoulder at the moment.

Sooners 35, Texas 31

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

texas

Hello reader(s), doing this thing on my phone this week as I'm out of town. So please excuse the fact that it's shittier than usual and enjoy that it is much shorter. As for last week, the defense looks worse than last year, that's tough to pull off. I don't know enough to know if it's a talent or coaching issue, or both, but guys are consistently out of position and they have absolutely no ability to stop the pass. Oh and Jordan Thomas fucking sucks, he's the new Matt McCoy memorial Gas Rag.

Offense

The juggernaut was decent last week, but Mayfield's inability to find receivers downfield even when having all day to throw was troubling. I'm going to go with Trey Sermon. No reason really, I just like him a lot.

Defense

Geez, back to shit town here. I'm not ready to wash my hands of them yet so I'm going to make a pick. I'm going to go with okoronkwo (sp?), it's throwing darts at this point and I landed on him.

Score

This game had me nervous before the shit show that was Iowa State. texas always comes to play in this one and they really have little to play for besides ruining the Sooners season. Oh and we all remember the last Tom Herman squad that OU played. Still I'm hopeful Iowa state was the wake up call I thought Baylor was. Sooners edge them in a tough one 31-30.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Iowa State

The Sooners have gone to the Bill Belichick School of Motivation and are pulling out all the stops today for Iowa State. They've asked fans to candy stripe the stadium in red and white and they are wearing alternate uniforms.

Hey, whatever it takes to avoid a pitfall at this point. The Sooners are "In Control of Their Own Destiny" so why take chances? Apparently the Sooners haven't lost to the Cyclones in 38 years or something ridiculous. That's the kind of stat that makes me smear my britches.

OFFENSE

I mean no offense to Iowa State but that rumble the Sooners feel underneath their tires will be the ISU defense. This Sooner offensive juggernaut is really just too much for the Cyclones. I'm not just being an asshole. What are you supposed to do if you bottle up all those receivers and BD Mayfield finds Dimitri Flowers or just scrambles for a first down? It isn't fair really. And what does a defense do come the 4th quarter when Orlando Brown starts treating you like a steam roller on a street construction project?

This offense is fun to watch and I've tried to just ride the hot hand with my picks for OPOG. This week I'm going Ceedee Lamb. That dude is electric and I think with this 11am start time he'll be all Wakey Wakey Eggs and Bakey.

DEFENSE

No one could have used a bye week like these dudes. Most of the secondary and half the linebackers are "dinged up". Jordan Thomas will be back which is nice. Hopefully he's good and fired up after getting lit up like a Christmas tree against Baylor. 

I watched a little of the Iowa State - Texas game a week or two ago and this ISU QB is "Average at Beest". This bodes well. Parnell Motley, Esq. should have a field day.

For my DPOG I'll take Steven Parker Jr. He seems like a good Christian.

THE GAME

This one makes for a nice easy Saturday. It's an early start to a nice stress free Saturday. Enjoy the boys as they "TCB" and cruise to a comfortable victory. 

Sooners 49, Iowa State 14

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner

Iowa State

The Sooners come into this one off of a narrow and ugly win vs. a winless Baylor team. As usual, my crack reporting was woefully off, thinking Seth Russell still played for them--and as usual, I'll brush that off with a "fuck it." As you may have ascertained from my "piece" last week, I was fully drinking the Sooner Kool-Aid and felt as though they may never lose again. Ever. But hindsight, being what it is, it merits a quick review of teams the Sooners had beaten. UTEP, Ohio State, and Tulane all have what in common? None of them know how to execute the forward pass with any consistency. Granted QB or not, Ohio State has loads of talent, but OU has historically done well against run-first teams. Baylor passes first and asks questions later, the RB being mostly a "show-piece." This is alarming going into conference play where, as you may have noticed, the spread is all the rage.

In spite of the lamentations that the Sooners' bye was too early in the season, at this point I'm happy with its timing. If they had rolled over Baylor, I, too, may have wished for a bye a few weeks later to heal up, but as it stands, I think coming off a reality check where the D was exposed, the bye could be helpful. Ideally the Sooners have been "woken up" to the reality that maybe they aren't as complete as they thought they were. The offense continues to look good, but hopefully the defense gets it together and is ready for Big 12 play.

Iowa State is a solid team. 2-2 at this point, but narrowly losing a close rivalry game against a good Iowa team and also losing against texas who is probably better than their record would let on, belies a solid squad. They roll into Norman ready to give their absolute best shot to the number 3 team in the country. Coming off the bye, I hope the Sooners aren't looking ahead to the texas game and are focused on TCB today.

Offense

The worries coming into the year of having lost 3 essential skill players from last year have been mitigated by a great offensive line and a QB that elevates everyone around him. It seems each week that someone new steps up and has a great game, all of which of course is predicated on BD Mayfield. Today I'm throwing my dart in the direction of Mark Andrews. I feel like he's had an off-week to let that knee heal up and though he's played through that, I think he's close to 100% this week and has a big game against an Iowa State defense that I don't think can match up with him.

Defense

Whew, last week was ugly. PTSD inducing flashbacks to last year (and last several years). No ability to pressure the QB on obvious passing downs, and receivers getting open deep on said passing downs. It was a maddening effort littered with big plays and an inability to get off of the field on 3rd down. Aside from being torture to watch, that shit won't fly if a national championship is the goal. But I'm not ready to wash my hands of them just yet. While Parnell Motley has stepped up as the most reliable defender, I'm going to go with another DB that has been overshadowed a bit this year. I like Steven Parker to have a solid game today in all phases, stepping up in the run game and making a couple of big plays in the secondary.

Score

My mood has gone from overconfident to cautiously optimistic, or cold steel to firm chubby on the boner-meter for you high-brow types. And while I think Iowa State is better than their record, I think a Sooner squad at home, coming off of a bye is just too much today. I think the Sooners get back on track to some extend and win this one in a tune-up for Red River. Sooners win it 44-20.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner.