Oklahoma Sooner versus West Virginny

I saw a headline, the day after the LA Rams beat the Kansas City Cheifs 54-51, asking if the world had just witnessed the future of football. The fact the question is being asked is one of the few glimmers of hope remaining for this Oklahoma football team. However, OU fans have been living this supposed "future of football" for three seasons now and I can tell you, we'd love to see some defense. The future of football, devoid of defense, is by turns fun, frustrating, predictable and inexplicable.

Tonight the present and future, as seen through the lens of the Big 12, will be on full display. The two best quarterbacks in the league, the two best offenses in the league, the two best offensive play callers in the league and two below average defenses. The couches will burn one way or another in Morgantown tonight.

OFFENSE

The only question for the Sooners is how best to overcome a lack of depth at running back or, more pointedly, what in the world could they do if Kennedy Brooks goes down. There seem to be no assurances that TJ Pledger is available or Trey Sermon.

Obviously, Kyler Murray can pick up the slack. But I think his effectiveness depends on Brooks being available. Otherwise it's liable to be a highlight reel of Murray running for his life for 60 minutes.

I'm going to go against the grain and pick Mr. Brooks over Kyler for my OPOG. I hope it's not a jinx. He needs to stay healthy, be productive and give the rest of the offense the room it needs to operate.

DEFENSE

It seems like every season the defense plays over its head at least once. I suppose one could argue that the Sooners blew their wad against K-State or TCU. I'm not buying it. They have, at most, four more opportunities to show something this season. But if they don't do it today they'll be down to one opportunity and that will be in some sub-tier bowl.  I don't want to sound like an ungrateful asshole but that might be the mercy killing this group deserves.

But back to today. Will Grier is liable to pick this group apart early and often. OU's best shot is obviously getting the Mountaineers to punt. I just heard on TV that the Kansas Jayhawks defense has 15 interceptions this season. The Sooners have forced 8 total turnovers. Anyone who says it's just impossible to defend dynamic offenses in the Big 12 is full of shit. The Sooners are hard baked at this point and getting turnovers seems to be a pipe dream.

I'll pick Parnell Motley for my DPOG today. Even though I just said the Sooners have a hard time forcing turnovers and even though Parnell Motley has inexplicably been Gasrag McGee this year, he is the guy who seems to come up big when it matters most.

THE SCORE

OU has to be composed from the opening kickoff. Kyler Murray cannot be jittery like he was against Texas Tech. OU cannot get down by more than 10 and hope to have enough defense to catch back up and pull ahead.

I'm certainly not confident. This game could be over in the first quarter. But as I slip on my crimson colored glasses I hold out hope for an outlier defensive performance.

I have to take the Sooners so.. Sooners 56, West Virginny 49

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

West Virginia

This Sooners team is about as disheartening as a one-loss team can be at this stage of the season. They embarrassingly lived up to my prediction last week in giving up 40 points to a putrid Kansas team at home. I saw a stat this past week that they are the first team since the AP poll was started (some time in the 30s) to give up 40 points in 3 consecutive weeks and win all 3 games. To summarize, this is unsustainable. WVU scores in buckets vs anyone, let alone this crepe-paper panty-rag that OU calls a defense. Would anyone be surprised if this game is 64-63 at the end? The only question is, who wins?

OU miraculously still has everything in front of them, however they do need help. Alas it will all be moot if they shit the bed in Morgantown, which is so plausible that I'm almost glad I will be on a plane and missing it.

Offense

I tried to go "next level" last week with a Lee Morris pick. And while I think the running game will be paramount to the Sooners' success today, I still think the offense will put up huge numbers in the pass game. I hope that they play as close to a ball-control offense as they possibly can in this system, otherwise it just means more time for the defense to be embarrassed. But, with the now dearth of RB's, I think a lot of the running will fall on the shoulders of Kyler Murray. Couple that with the passing numbers, and I'm staying squarely inside the box this week and picking Murray for my OPG.

Defense

Our buddy and friend of the Steamroller, Travis Frye texted us last week and declared this the worst defense since we've been rooting for OU (read: damn near 20 years), and I really can't argue with him. I would say that statement is both accurate and nearly unbelievable given the number of shitty defenses over the years. I really don't have a good pick as their are none, but for the sake of doing it I'll say Amani Bedsore, err Bledsoe.

Score

I opened with a half joking 64-63 final, I'll reel that in slightly. Truthfully, I don't think OU will win this game. After last week's loss this will be, by a good measure, WVU's biggest game of the season, it's in their house and their biggest strength matches up with OU's biggest weakness. But, I will hop aboard the optimism train and pick OU today, 55-52.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Kansas Jayhawks

Here's the crux of this one. The Sooners have one more chance to tune up before West Virginia. It's taking every ounce of my being to avoid using this space to explain how it's going to go down the rest of the way.

Fuck it.

The Sooners will win unconvincingly today. They will get their shit together next week. They have a really good shot at winning the Big 12 title game but if it's Iowa State I could see them losing it. For reasons that can only be attributed to television ratings, the Sooners will be selected to The Playoffs.  They will get beat. It is bizarre how year after year the same scenario unfolds.

Alas, Kansas.

OFFENSE

As per yoozsh, the Sooners can only stop themselves. At this point that means they get a little too cute on offense. For instance, when they average 10+ yards per carry they will throw in some razzle dazzle, get behind the chains then do some kind of draw play.

I can't really blame them. When you have a garage full of luxury vehicles you want to drive them all. Today though they really just need to make it short, clean and injury free. I realize I just got done describing the gaudy run game but since there are only two healthy backs the best way to go about keeping folks injury free is to use the run game sparingly.

Therefore, Marquise Brown, now fully healthy, should have a field day.

DEFENSE

It is quite something to be told week after week that you stink and, yet, be unable to do anything the next week to change anyone's opinion. Even by recent Oklahoma defensive standards this team is historically bad. They do not deserve to be in the playoffs. They will sadly do nothing to change the opinion today. It's lose-lose for them. If they play well who cares? They should kick Kansas' ass. Nothing short of six turnovers would make me feel anything close to warm and fuzzy entering next week.

I'll take Kenneth Murray. He at least tackles a lot.

THE SCORE

OU runs rough shod but Kansas gets 24.

OU 70 Kansas 28

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

Kansas

I think at this point it's safe to say that Ruffin McNeil hasn't fixed the defense. It's not the least bit better. That game last week was atrocious. The polarity of the defense in contrast to the offense is startling.  Thankfully KU comes to town today to get some things fixed, hopefully. If not, Sooner Nation can stop scoreboard watching because WVU is going to beat them next week.

Offense

Believe it or not, I know nothing about KU. But I do know that OU can score. Who carries the torch is almost impossible to pick for the best possible reason. I'm tempted to go with Sermon again based on the fact that dude is hard. But I am going to switch it up and say today belongs to Lee Morris. No idea why, maybe because I haven't picked him yet this year.

Defense

Fuuuuuck. How do I even pick anyone? I'll go Curtis Bolton as a less offensive choice than some.

Score

Kansas will probably break a few school records on offense today en route to a loss. Sooners cobble together a few tackles and win it 53-34.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner 

Bedlam

Another week, another big showdown for the Sooners. This one is the always heated in-state rivalry. OU didn't do so well in their last rivalry game, let's hope this isn't a repeat. The suddenly vaunted defense reverted to a very stoopsian feel against the high flying Red Raider offense. Sadly, I don't think it's going to improve much for the rest of this season anyway. Looks like OU will continue to have to outscore everyone in a track meet if they want to win games against the tough teams.

OSU is not as good offensively as they normally are, but this OU D is the cure for what ails any offense. I expect another shootout today, and OSU while inconsistent, has shown they can hang with and even beat some good teams. I'm thankful it's at home as a road test would have me clinched up like a snare drum.

Offense

It's becoming increasingly difficult to not look like a psychic when picking an OPG. Nearly every skill player goes off each week. Kyler Murray has been great, and after years of watching QB's in  his mold frustrate and tear apart the OU defense, it's a beautiful thing to have that on the right side. But, in a predictable attempt at outsmarting myself I'm once again going away from him. I like Trey Sermon in this one. Dude is a beast and he only seems to be getting better.

Defense

After two weeks of glad tidings against putrid offenses, the status quo was restored last week. Two uncharacteristic Murray int's early and an extremely questionable PI call on Parnell Motley late, didn't do them any favors, but they once again showed little ability to get consistent stops. I appreciate wanting to make offenses sustain drives, but the 18 yard cushion the DB's have been giving makes the 10 yard out all but guaranteed. I don't really have much faith in anyone, but Kenneth Murray has been pretty consistent, hopefully he'll do some nice things today. How's that for a tepid pick?

Score

The Sooners enter the day as 21.5 point favorites. I feel like I could make a decent living betting on Sooner opponents to cover. I certainly hope I'm wrong, but I just don't see how the D does enough to maintain that margin. I do think OU can score however and I like them to win this one 52-38, hitting the over in the process.


Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner

Bedlam

Bedlam. Nuff said. The Sooners are in control of their own destiny. The Cowboys are wasted turds. However, OSU is like a rattlesnake this year. They’re harmless if they’re handled correctly and dangerous when taken lightly. At best, they are a homeless man’s version of Texas Tech.

Meanwhile the Sooners are happy to have survived in Lubbock. They exposed a frightening lack of depth on defense and a new capacity for self inflicted wounds.

OFFENSE

Keep on trucking, man. I’m riding the hot hand with Trey Sermon for the simple fact that when he is on it’s beautiful to watch. He has tremendous vision and giving up 8+ years to him repeatedly is punishing to the opposing defense. An effective dose of Trey Sermon is going to be demoralizing to the Cowboys. I can’t wait.

While we’re here can CeeDee Lamb keep his fucking head on straight, please? He could be the best wide receiver in the country. He needs to do nothing besides play the game. No more self destruction, please.

DEFENSE

This version of OSU is their worst in years. They have one good player that they don’t know how to use in Justice Hill. The reason he is so innefective is because Taylor “Corndog” Cornelius is the worst quarterback OSU has had in recent memory. They also don’t have any good wide receivers.

Of course nobody could make these jackals look like world beaters quite like the Sooners if they don’t have their shit together. We need Bookie, we need Tre Brown. For my DPOG I’m going Jalen Redmond because the Sooners definitely need some push up front.

THE SCORE

The saving grace is this one is at home. The Sooners cruise. The Cowboys are ass.

Sooners 42 Cowboys 24

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner.

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders

Happy Saturday, Sooner fans. Things have really fallen in to place for the Sooners following the firing of Mike Stoops. First a bye week then back to back hum drum offenses to adjust to new leadership. And now it's time to put that new D to the test on the road, at night, in Prime Time. It's hard to overstate how big this is for the Sooners to prove to themselves and the college football world that they have some semblance of a D.

OFFENSE

The key for the Sooners here is to get Kyler Murray settled down as quickly as possible. The only chance Texas Tech has on defense is to get Murray to make bad decisions. They should do anything to get him scrambling 50 yards in the backfield and taking 12 yard losses. Of course if the O-Line picks up the blitz, he'll feast.

Speaking of offensive lines, the Sooners have a good one and I think they'll use it to bludgeon the Red Raider D and pound the crowd into submission. The Sooners are clicking so well on offense this year that they can score whenever and however they want. They know as well as anyone that their offense is also their best defense. I expect to see a lot of play calling designed to milk the clock.

For my OPOG I'm going Kyler Murray. This game means everything for the Sooners. Your best player has to step up.

DEFENSE

All I want in the world today is to be able to say, in an evil genius type of voice, it looks like the Sooners have a defense. The D has been playing well under Ruffin McNeil but the TCU and K-State offenses are nothing like what they'll face tonight. I'm not convinced the Red Raiders are a juggernaut, either. The Sooners, quite literally, only have to stop them four times to win.

There are so many new faces now I have no idea who to pick for DPOG. I have a vision of Bookie running around like a demon and being a blitzer making life miserable for the Red Raiders. I hope he's playing today. Apparently he's a game time decision. If he plays, he's my guy.

THE SCORE

I think this could be a tight, low scoring (by these teams standards) affair. The Sooners offense will be content to control the ball so they may be a little self limiting and the defense will hopefully get some stops.
If you can believe it, I have faith that they'll do it. I like the Sooners here 35-21.

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

Texas Tech

Welcome back to another week of the Steamroller. The Sooners go down to Lubbock for a tilt with Kliff Kingsbury and the Red Raiders. The Sooners D looked halfway decent last week. I'm not sure if this due to the new system paying dividends or a really putrid K State offense, but I'm inclined (read: negatively conditioned) to think the latter. Regardless, it was nice to see the defense get stops and keep the OU offense on the field. Let's remember, with the OU offense, the '85 Bears aren't needed, just something other than paper cutouts of football men. 

This week will certainly provide a tougher test. I read an article on Thursday talking about the 2016 matchup. At the time I was incredibly irritated (hope you were sitting down) by the horrid defense, but it was pretty amazing to watch the offensive exhibition by both teams. I'm grossly paraphrasing but, the article quoted Bob Stoops as telling Riley to keep his foot on the gas because, essentially, he had zero faith that the defense could stop Tech. I think that says a lot about his faith in brother,Mikey's D.

The Tech offense is going to be tough. It's going to score fast against the D and it's going to score more than any Sooner fan would like. Fortunately, I believe the OU offense will score a good bit too. The atmosphere will be intense; Tech is solid and a Saturday night home tilt against a top 10 team will bring out the crowd. There are a slew of huge games this Saturday, OU can't get caught scoreboard watching (as I will be doing), just beat Tech and keep the train rolling.

Offense

Another week, another surprise at RB. After writing off Trey Sermon last week, he came out and put both of his cleats squarely up the collective Wildcat ass. Which is tough because kicking with both feet is physically impossible, but humor me. I temper my excitement again because it was a dreadful K State team, but it looked like the running game may finally be rolling again after a long adjustment of missing Rod Anderson. Kyler Murray is so fun to watch too and CeeDee Lamb is breaking out as a dominant receiver. With all of those weapons, it makes zero sense that I'm picking Kennedy Brooks this week. He runs so hard, and I have visions of him catching a screen or short dump off and taking it all the way to the house.

Defense

I think the defense gets exposed again this week for the first time since that godawful texas game. My hope is that it isn't that bad again. The OU secondary hasn't been good, which does not bode well for this matchup. And while the lack of pressure sans blitz has been demoralizing, I think that's the difference today in that Amani Bledsoe come up with at least one huge sack/forced fumble that turns the momentum to OU for good.

Score

OU was -13.5 last I looked and the O/U is 78, so the pros agree that this will be high scoring. I like the offense to move the ball well and I think the defense does enough in a tough road test. I'm taking the over (barely) and OU to cover (barely), Sooners take it 48-31. 

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner.