What a game down in Dallas last week. The Sooners took care of business against a texas squad giving all they had. Some mistakes in the redzone by the Sooners masked what was, generally, a dominant performance. The defense, though they gave up some points and quick drives, mostly played well. They'll need to shore up some of the pass defense on the back end, and eliminate poor redone decision from Hurts to continue to improve and TCB again vs West Virginia.
In past years, this week's game would have made me pretty nervous. Coming off of a huge rivalry win with national title implications, I would have pegged the Sooners for a let down. While I still think this is likely, WVU is not nearly as good as they've been in recent season and it would take an utter meltdown for OU to lose this game. That said, the Mountaineers do have talent and I read today that Austin Kendall will be starting for them. After being, more or less, jerked around for a few seasons at OU, he finally ran out of patience when Hurts transferred in. He's a talented player and certainly wants to prove that not keeping him as the starter at OU was a mistake by Lincoln Riley. I expect a career performance from him.
Offense
CeeDee Lamb finally announced his presence on a national stage last week. And true to form, the first week I gave in and went with Hurts was arguably the first week he didn't run away with OPG. Lamb was a force, and even with texas' terrible tackling, he still ripped off some runs after catch that were very impressive. I expect WVU to spend a lot of time trying to take him away (best of luck). While I think Hurts will put up stupid numbers again, the ground game has never really gotten rolling from the RB position. OU has crazy run game numbers, but they are definitely amplified by Hurts ripping off huge gains with regularity. I think that changes this week, I like Kennedy Brooks to have a huge game and to break off at least one home run play for a TD.
Defense
At this point I think I'm ready to admit that the defense has certainly improved. By no means are they elite but, as I mentioned last week, they don't have to be. With simply an average to slightly above average defense, the Sooners should be all set with point they put up. I have to do a little back pat for last week, Mitch and I nailed the Kenneth Michael Murray pick, he was everywhere against UT. Another guy who was everywhere is my pick this week, I like a little slice of Canadian Bacon, Neville Gallimore to wreak havoc all Saturday long.
Score
Can the OU defense step up against a hungry team with nothing to lose? Can the offense eliminate redzone mistakes and pick up 7 down there? This week starts the conference games that require the most mental toughness; no big rivalries to get hyped for, no highly ranked opponents, just week after week of everyone's best shot. This is the first step in continuing the Sooner chase for another playoff, Sooners win (but don't cover...33.5!), 48-24.
Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner
In past years, this week's game would have made me pretty nervous. Coming off of a huge rivalry win with national title implications, I would have pegged the Sooners for a let down. While I still think this is likely, WVU is not nearly as good as they've been in recent season and it would take an utter meltdown for OU to lose this game. That said, the Mountaineers do have talent and I read today that Austin Kendall will be starting for them. After being, more or less, jerked around for a few seasons at OU, he finally ran out of patience when Hurts transferred in. He's a talented player and certainly wants to prove that not keeping him as the starter at OU was a mistake by Lincoln Riley. I expect a career performance from him.
Offense
CeeDee Lamb finally announced his presence on a national stage last week. And true to form, the first week I gave in and went with Hurts was arguably the first week he didn't run away with OPG. Lamb was a force, and even with texas' terrible tackling, he still ripped off some runs after catch that were very impressive. I expect WVU to spend a lot of time trying to take him away (best of luck). While I think Hurts will put up stupid numbers again, the ground game has never really gotten rolling from the RB position. OU has crazy run game numbers, but they are definitely amplified by Hurts ripping off huge gains with regularity. I think that changes this week, I like Kennedy Brooks to have a huge game and to break off at least one home run play for a TD.
Defense
At this point I think I'm ready to admit that the defense has certainly improved. By no means are they elite but, as I mentioned last week, they don't have to be. With simply an average to slightly above average defense, the Sooners should be all set with point they put up. I have to do a little back pat for last week, Mitch and I nailed the Kenneth Michael Murray pick, he was everywhere against UT. Another guy who was everywhere is my pick this week, I like a little slice of Canadian Bacon, Neville Gallimore to wreak havoc all Saturday long.
Score
Can the OU defense step up against a hungry team with nothing to lose? Can the offense eliminate redzone mistakes and pick up 7 down there? This week starts the conference games that require the most mental toughness; no big rivalries to get hyped for, no highly ranked opponents, just week after week of everyone's best shot. This is the first step in continuing the Sooner chase for another playoff, Sooners win (but don't cover...33.5!), 48-24.
Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner
No comments:
Post a Comment