Oklahoma Sooners vs. Florida State Seminoles in the Cheez It Bowl

More like Cheez Dick Bowl amiright?

The Sooners are putting a bow on another campaign, Brent Venables first as head coach, and it's a bit of a mercy kill. Frankly, it's more than they deserve. A 6-6 campaign is underwhelming by any definition. 

Enough of the pessimism though. At least the Sooners play a big name opponent in a warm weather clime. The Seminoles are 9-3, ranked 13 (too high) and are on their way up. They'll be excited to play. The Sooners are dealing with the now all too regular sight of players opting out for the NFL or entering the portal.

Most notably, the Sooners will be without the service of Eric Gray. As such, the Sooners are 9.5 'dogs as of this writing. What the pundits don't recall is that the Sooners rise to the occasion in meaningless bowl games.

Let's do this.

OFFENSE

The opt out of wunderkind Eric Gray makes for a nice opportunity for guys like Javontae Barnes and Gavin Sawchuk. One must hope that the dropoff from Gray to Barnes as a feature back is much less than Dillon Gabriel to Davis Beville.

Gabriel, Jalil Farooq and Marvin Mims are all available. Apparently the likes of Wanya Morris and a couple other O-lineman are gone.

What I'm driving at is that Dillon Gabriel is going to have to carry it. Scary as hell but doable. 

I'm going with Marvin Mims for OPOG as he's due and that means Gabriel has come to play.

DEFENSE

This is going to sound stupid but I think recent successes on the recruiting trail are going to give this group a boost going into the offseason. Also, they've been playing well enough to win for the last month or so of the season. And, they absolutely won the game against OSU. 

Now, I have no idea what FSU brings to the table on offense. Their QB's numbers seem comparable to DG's. The caliber of opponent is almost certainly worse than what OU faced all season. They beat LSU and Florida, OK, and lost to Clemson, NC State and Wake Forest. Unimpressive. Most. Unimpressive.

For my DPOG I'll go Ethan Downs. Why not? 

THE SCORE

Well, if you've made it this far you know I have no idea what the fuck to expect. Of course I think the Sooners win. 

They'll put up 42 with a slightly modified gameplan that accounts for the loss of Eric Gray but includes the full compliment of outside talent. 

The D picks up where it has left off after having played well the last month of the season.

I'm going 42-31 in a pretty fun game to watch.

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

Oklahoma Sooners versus Texas Tech Red Raiders

 Hello Sooners fans and welcome to a rainy Saturday in Oklahoma. The Sooners, fresh off a curious Bedlam win, find themselves bowl eligible and looking to finish the regular season on a high note today in Lubbock Texas against the Red Raiders of Texas Tech.

Against the Cowboys the Sooners played a first quarter on both sides of the ball that looked like quality football. From there, the offense was anemic while putting on a clinic on how not to manage the clock. The Sooners played hurry up and punt while the defense, to their credit, played like what you might hope and expect a Brent Venables football team to play like. 

Today the Sooners need to clean up a lot on offense and continue to build on defense.

OFFENSE

This offense is 8 for 33 on third down over the last two games. Everyone has been responsible. Jeff Lebby, Dillon Gabriel, WR's dropping passes, penalties, you name it. But you have to start with Jeff Lebby today. He has to be able to adjust and someone has to help him manage the clock and timeouts. 

From there, Dillon Gabriel needs to chill the fuck out. In the first quarter last week he looked in rhythm. He was light on his feet and he had confidence. You can sense his tension and see it on the field in the last three quarters when he fires laser beams on short routes or takes dumb sacks.

He needs to relax, give his playmakers a chance and run every now and then. Jalil Farooq and Marvin Mims need to step up. They have about 10 drops between them in the last month. When they get a chance at a catchable ball, they need to step up. 

I'm taking Dillon Gabriel today who has to be pleased with some of what he saw on film. Build on it. 

DEFENSE

I did not see last week coming. One could argue that this is not the Oklahoma State offense of years past and you would be right. But the Sooners have been letting mediocre offenses embarass them all season. It was a huge boost to be able to turn the ball over, hassle Spencer Sanders and hang on for the victory. 

Notably, the line looked better. Isaiah Coe, Jaylen Redmond and Jeffrey Johnson have been getting some pressure. Ethan Downs and Jonah Laulu have been visible. Laulu, in particular, shows some promise. 

CJ Coldon has arrived on the scene at DB. He seems to have taken over for a much maligned and often abused Jaden Davis. Billy Bowman has been solid since he came back. 

Look. None of these guys are all Big 12. But over the last month they've played well enough to keep the Sooners in the game. 

Tonight they need to keep it up because Lubbock is always a tough place for the Sooners to play and the odds of DG not shitting himself are slim.

For shits and grins I'll take my man Laulu for DPOG. Fuck it.

THE SCORE

I get the sense that the wide receivers of the Sooners are going to put it together today. And I think Jeff Lebby learned something from tape before he strapped on a feedbag at his Thanksgiving dinner. These two developments are key for the Sooners as they have to score probably 38 points to make sure they win. 

It's a tall order. Still, you know me, I'm taking the Sooners here 38-31.

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner.

Tech

 This team baffles me. They are a tire fire on the defensive side of the ball and then go and shut down Oklahoma State. However, I think that is probably more the exception than the rule. Nevertheless, it's always nice to beat Mike Gundy being that he is such a tool. I know nothing about Tech this year, once OU fell out of anything resembling contention (conference or otherwise), my interest in the rest of the conference essentially went to zero. I see they have the same record as we do. I see we are going to Lubbock. None of this is probably good if your hope is a Sooners victory.

Offense

I'm going to go with Marvin Mims today. Yes DG sucks. But this feels like a shootout game to me and who better to reap the benefits of that than your best WR. 

Defense

They've got a lot of work to do before I consider picking anyone over here again.

Score

OU is -2 as of now. I think that is probably reasonable even though they will probably lose. I'm going to go against my better judgement for the sake of this puff piece and say Sooners win 38-35.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner

O State

 Man this OU team is really bad. In my opinion the worst Sooners team since the John Blake era, which is equal parts good and also appalling. Brent Venables has come in and completely taken the wheels off of this team. He makes Alex Grinch look like Buddy fucking Ryan. Dylan Gabriel is pretty awful. Yes he makes plays occasionally, but more often than not he misses open guys, and I mean so open the blimp-cam has a hard time getting a defender on the screen with the receiver. There is little positive to say about this team. At this point, I'm just hoping the losses keep piling up so we can all move on from the Venables era and get a good coach back in there. 

Offense

At this point its basically Eric Gray or Eric Gray. Every other talented player is too dependent on DG to get them the ball. But, I will go with Braden Willis anyway. Maybe they'll run him out of the backfield a bit, or maybe Gabriel can complete a 5 or 6 yard pass to him and he can make things happen on his own. Why not?

Defense

Not a chance.

Score

Clearly the Vegas odds makers are knee deep in a serious crack addiction as OU is -7.5 today. I really think I might throw some cash at this one for OSU. Yes, they've looked pretty bad, but we just lost to WVU and everyone knows Mike Gundy has the biggest boner for beating OU. Still, for the sake of tradition I will pick OU at home 27-24.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner

Oklahoma Sooners vs. West Virginny

 Hello Sooner fans. Here's today's missed deadline BLUF:

The Sooners need to pick themselves up after a tough loss at home last week.

I'd like to see the offense use a lot of play action. Get Dillon Gabriel on the run where he has a choice to tuck and run or get something easy in space where mismatches exist for Brayden Willis and Eric Gray. Also, and critically, take care of the ball. 

The defense, well, they need to toughen up. 

The Sooners will lose handily if they show any sign of a hangover from last week. They need to show some gumption and, if they do, I think they can win something like 38-31.

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

West Virginia

 This Sooners football team simply is not good. If anything the defense is worse than the last few years and the offense most definitely is. Years of watching football has taught me that is not a good recipe for winning football. The really discouraging thing is that there hasn't been any improvement on defense. If anything, they've gotten worse as the season has gone on. I realize these aren't Venables guys, but they were good enough to be recruited by and play for a perennial top 10 team. If he is the defensive wizard everyone says, they should be getting better. They should at bare minimum be close to average. In a nutshell, I'm not impressed. Nor am I encouraged. It feels as though some dark days may be ahead of us. 

Offense

To their credit, the offense has looked better. And on a team lacking in bright spots, Eric Gray has certainly been one. He looks worlds better than he did last year. I'm not sure if this is scheme, or he's just figured it out but he's a nightmare in the open field and more than serviceable between the tackles. In turn, I am picking him as my OPG.

Defense

Just nobody even approaching decent here. 

Score

I know nothing about West Virginia, moreover I have no interest in learning about them. Sooners manage to do enough on defense to win. 41-35.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner 

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Baylor Bears

Hello Sooner fans. It is a glorious day for some fall football in Soonerland. Today the Sooners take on the Baylor Bears in Norman. I'm excited for this one as I think it's going to be a very good measuring stick for the progress and promise of this Sooners team. 

OFFENSE

The Bears are a well coached, defensive minded football team. It's going to be up to Jeff Lebby to scheme ways to hang on to the ball and be able to run. Eric Gray and Dillon Gabriel are the keys for the Sooners but they cannot have success if Marvin Mims isn't on his game. Last week Mims had some inexplicable drops. He needs a bounce back and he's my OPOG.

DEFENSE

The Sooner D is showing signs of life. The Bears, athletically, will present a pretty even matchup. This is going to be a huge test and benchmark for the Sooners. Can they be in position and can they execute. The Bears are obviously beatable. But it comes down to fine details and execution for the Sooners. 

They need four quarters of focus and intensity. I like their chances with a home crowd and I like the baby steps the defensive line took next week. Hopefully they can build on that and someone from that front four can put some pressure on the Baylor quarterback.

THE SCORE

As I mentioned, today is a measuring stick game. Can the Sooners move the ball against a chess playing defense? Can a Sooners defense that sometimes looks like they struggle playing Chutes and Ladders  keep the Sooners in the game?

I think this is going to be a low scoring, well played game by both sides. The score will be tight. The line is -3.5. I think the Sooners can get to 27.

I'll take the Sooners 27 and the Bears 24.

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

Baylor

Following a one week hiatus I'm back, relax. After a pendulum like start to the season where our Sooners looked equal parts dominant and completely inept, they seem to have settled in to something likely more realistic. Which is to say, they are mediocre. The type of team that will play a bowl game where about half of the seats go unsold. It's a far cry from our usual level of eking out a conference title and then wringing our hands about whether we're going to get into a playoff we have no business being in. I'm not sure which is worse, I suppose the current version. I at least feel far less inspired about my fandom. And with today's game against Baylor relegated to ESPNs subscriber only online network, the national interest is spelled out right there. 

I know nothing about Baylor other than they were initially ranked, as we were, and later proved that was wildly undeserved. I suspect if I knew more about them I would have a much more gloomy outlook on this one than I already do. But, after managing to beat a highly overrated KU team and slightly underrated ISU team I don't really know what to think. A blowout loss would  not surprise me any more than a win. 

Offense

Dylan Gabriel's play has mirrored that of the team in my opinion. At times he looks very capable and others he looks absolutely horrible. But, I will place enough of my faith in him that I will pick Marvin Mims this week. Eric Gray has been a very pleasant surprise this year, and I think he will make some great plays as usual, but I think Mims gets back on track today with a big game. 

Defense

I am not picking a defensive player. They are just so bad in all phases. I will however pick Billy Bowman's neckerchief as daintiest accessory of the game. 

Score

For no particular reason, I will pick OU to win today 31-27. Let's close out this lost season with a nice win streak and play spoiler to some of that teams that have done that to us in the past.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner

Oklahoma Sooner vs. Iowa State Cyclones

Good morning, Sooner fans. Warmest of greeting and salutations to you on this fine Saturday. Today our Sooners travel to Ames, Iowa to take on the Cyclones in what will hopefully be a pretty entertaining game.

We last saw our Sooners two weeks ago against Kansas. The situation was bleak at best and dire at worst. The Sooners had to win it and a path forward was difficult to find. Well, the Sooners beat the spread and eked out a 52-42 victory over the Jayhawks. Thankfully, the home faithful did not storm the field, but it did feel like a massive relief mixed in with a little bit of hope for something positive the rest of the way.

The Sooners follow that up with a well-timed bye and now face the surprisingly hapless Cyclones.

CUE GUS JOHNSON VOICE

It's the Battle for the Bottom in Ames!  

OFFENSE

It turns out that competent quarterback play is important and, against the Jayhawks, Dillon Gabriel put on his best performance as a Sooner. The offense looked, dare I say, modern and more often than not had the Jayhawk D grasping for straws and trying shit that you just don't see football teams do like play a prevent defense in the red zone.

The Cyclones will be much better, in spite of their record. The Sooners have to keep Gabriel comfortable. The backfield combo of Eric Gray and Javontae Barnes is becoming pretty lethal and opening things up for Marvin Mims and Drake Stoops. Gray, in particular, has made a leap and the Sooners need to find six ways from Sunday to get him the ball. 

Eric Gray is my OPOG but the offensive line needs to play their best game of the season so far to really give the Sooners their best chance of winning. DG doesn't take many sacks and his TD:INT ratio is fire at 13:1. Good things happen when DG is not getting terrorized. 

DEFENSE

The bye week could not have come at a better time for this unit. They have been getting their asses kicked for the better part of almost two months both on the field and off. They looked better against Kansas and still allowed 42 points. 

Billy Bowman still appears to be out for the Sooners and he might be the piece that makes this unit go just as DG does so for the offense. In his stead, Key Lawrence has been the most competent but is inconsistent.

The other story thus far is the lack of pass rush. Maybe that changes today since quarterback play seems to be a weak point for ISU.

The key, though, is the Sooners selling out to stop the rush. They have to get back to basics against a quarterback that is prone to turning the ball over. There can't be any bailouts on obvious running downs or first downs on "white flag" long down running plays. 

I'm not going to pick a DPOG because they are playing like such shit but I have a feeling that the off week gave some younger guys a chance to get some reps in practice and the staff is really separating wheat from chaff. 

Why not spend the rest of this season working on cohesion amongst guys you see as future pieces? Today is the perfect opportunity to identify the pieces that give you the best chance the rest of the way.

THE SCORE

The Sooners are favored by 1.5 and ESPN gives Iowa State a 65% chance to win. That...doesn't seem good. It's predicated on the idea that the Cyclone D will give the Sooners fits and that the Sooner D can't contain a wet fart and also ISU has been close to beating the Sooners in recent years while coming up just short.

It's mostly about the Sooner D though and I am truly interested to see if this coaching staff can take advantage of the bye week and is able to solve any of the issues that have plagued it ever since the Nebraska game.

Obviously, I have faith they have and, as such, I like the Sooners today in a somewhat surprisingly dominant fashion.

I like the Sooners 34-17

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

Oklahoma Sooners Vs. Kansas Jayhawks

 Hello Sooner fans and welcome to another gorgeous Saturday for college football. Gird up your loins and prepare yourself mentally for it to be another disastrous day for our Sooners. Our boys are fresh off a historical defeat against the rival Texas Longhorns, are losers of their last three games and are inexplicable favorites against the #19 ranked Kansas Jayhawks, a team that is almost certain to play over its head today in Norman. 

The way I see it, three things need to happen for the Sooners to secure a victory. All are big ifs. 

First, what crowd is on hand for the Sooners needs to be engaged and positive as long as possible. This team does not need the collective palpable anxiety of 90,000 weighing it down.

OFFENSE

Secondly, Dillon Gabriel needs to be set up for some early success. There has to be a scheme that takes advantage of what he does well (run) and what he does not (throw deep downfield). There are endless ways of doing this that do not include Gavin Freeman reverses. 

DEFENSE

Third, the Sooners D needs to feed off the success of the offense. I want to see effort like we had at Nebraska. While these guys have been historically bad, it doesn't help that the offense can't stay on the field.

David Ogbegwu is my DPOG

SCORE

There is a very good chance the crowd is flat, Dillon Gabriel is below average and the sails on the defense lay slack. This would not bode well. 

If the crowd is in it and stays in it after early success maybe the Sooners can string 60 minutes of competent enough football to beat the vaunted Kansas Jayhawks. 

It takes all of my crimson colored glass optimism to say the Sooners can put up 31 and hold the Jayhawks to something less than that. 

Sooners 31, Jayhawks 30

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

Kansas

 As a more-than-casual/less-than-obsessed fan of the Sooners football team, I'm certainly not privy to the list of things one has to do to be fired as head coach of the football team. I don't know what items are on that list. I don't know how many of said items need to be checked off in order to merit a firing. I'm fairly certain that a physical list of such doesn't even exist. But I feel confident that there is a mental list kept by every booster, every board of directors member, all alumni and anyone who is a fan of the Sooners. And I know, with no uncertainty, that losing to texas 49-0 is high on, if not the top of, that list. When John Blake was the coach, and yes I'm again comparing this team to those teams, and not unfairly I might add, he won exactly two games my freshman year at OU: texas and Oklahoma State. They were most certainly miracles (at least texas) and they most certainly bought him another couple of years as coach. Brent Venables seat got notably toasty last week. Losing is one thing, but getting absolutely embarrassed and destroyed in every facet against texas is something on a different level. This team has gone from cautiously optimistic playoff contender, to get it fixed or your ass is gone in the span of three games. That's no small feat. It's fair to say that we've been spoiled as fans, things haven't been this bad in nearly a quarter of a century. But here we are, and OU football is no longer frustrating. It is flat out bad and hard to watch. I have nothing good to say, my apologies. 

Offense

I will pick Braden "Whachootalkinbout" Willis here. He and Marvin Mims have so far shown they are the only capable members of this offense. The only time the Sooners moved the ball with any real promise last week was when Willis was installed as a gadget-y wildcat QB. Of course with that type of "success", Lebby and company quickly moved away from it and went back to the Davis Beville aerial display. 

Defense

There is nothing good to say here. Somehow the defense, with mastermind Brent Venables, is worse than last year. In fairness, aside from the run game, deep passes, intermediate passes, short passes and screens, they've been pretty good. Danny Stutsman? I guess?

Score

KU is actually decent. In a normal year I would expect the Sooners to get up for the opportunity to put the Jayhawks in their place. This year, even with the KU QB out, I don't see a lot of reason for optimism. OU is somehow -9 in this, that feels like easy money to me. But, I will throw ill-advised blind faith at it and say the Sooners somehow stay above .500 and win it 17-14.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner

texas

 Good morning Sooners fans. Coming into the Red River game on the heels of the shittiest of shitshows, our Sooners will try to do their best impression of a football team today. What a strange season it's been. I am aware of the fact that Nebraska sucks, but there is no way they suck enough to make the defense that showed up last week look good. What the hell happened? After Lincoln, for the first time in many years, I actually felt like the defense could win us some games. Then, they got absolutely destroyed by KState and TCU who aren't exactly the 99 Rams. Last week when talking with Mitchy before the game, he offhandedly joked that this wasn't a John Blake team, but honestly I don't remember a Sooners team getting embarrassed that badly since Blake was at the helm. Nothing worked on defense and in a be-careful-what-you-wish-for scenario the dreadful Dylan Gabriel went down and Davis Beville came in to dispel any rumors that he might know how to execute a forward pass. In two short weeks the Sooners went from a top 10 team with playoff aspirations to out of the top 25 and standing around with their dicks in their hands. 

On the other side texas gets back their QB Quinn Ewers who looked like the real deal before going down against alabama. Plus they have probably the best RB in the country with Bijan Robinson. Sprinkle in a dash of completely inept Sooner defense and we have a 3 Michelin Star recipe for an absolute ass beat. But....you never know in this one (speaking of John Blake: James Allen > Ricky Williams anyone?).

Offense

This is the worst OU quarterback situation since Justin Fuente duked it out with Jarrail Jackson in the 90s. Only Patrick Fletcher is not walking through that door. Has anyone checked out the Snow Junior College QB? While entertaining myself with this trip down memory lane aka nightmare OU football era I am simultaneously disgusted with how far the QB situation has fallen. We have been so spoiled for the last two-plus decades. And for the first time since Mitch and I have been doing this exercise in futility known as our "blog" I am struggling to think of who is a good candidate for OPG on offense. I'll dart throw a Marcus Major pick our there. I just can't envision a WR or TE going off with no one to give them the ball.

Defense

What a tire fire this has become. Again. I'll say DaShaun White for no good reason.

Score

I really have no confidence today. Pathetically enough I'm just hoping we don't get blown out again. But, I will sit down and watch at least the beginning with hopes that there is a miracle somewhere up Venables sleeve, maybe if he yells enough they'll play well. Sooners pull off the improbable, 31-30.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Longhorns

 Sooner fans, this is a bizarre situation. I understand the talent level of the first three teams the Sooners faced may not be the same as the next two but I don't know that I've ever seen a drop-off on defense the way that I've seen from when the Sooners played Nebraska and the following two weeks against Kansas State and TCU. Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt were jerking off on the Sooner defense in Lincoln. Against Kansas State they got manhandled. 

OK fine. We all knew the Wildcats are tough. I hoped the Sooners could not only match that toughness but exceed it. They didn't. They Wildcats put up almost 700 yards in Norman. 

OK fine. Surely against TCU in Fort Worth the Sooners would rebound and look coherent against, at best, a more balanced offense. Nope. The Sooners regressed again. On one play the Sooner D dropped eight on a  third down passing situation and let someone break free over the top. It doesn't matter who it was for the Horned Frogs or who got burned on defense. It was unacceptable. 

It begs the question: Are there bad apples? Bad talent? Poor coaching? All of the above?

I wonder though, if quarterback play doesn't somewhat contribute to the decline of the defense. It shouldn't, let's be clear. But, it has to be frustrating seeing your own quarterbacks sailing passes over open receivers or hanging on to the ball too long and having to go back on the field cleaning up messes.

That is not an exoneration of the defense. Dillon Gabriel has been terrible, though. I imagine if you broke down tape and judged passes that 8 times out of 10 should have been completed, the OU offense looks completely different. And a completely different offense take the pressure off the defense, etc.

Make no mistake, though, there are real problems. There are way too many penalties across the board. There are way too many defensive lapses. And the offense can't stay ahead of the chains.

Now here comes Texas. Perpetually overrated. They can lose any game they play. And yet, it feels as if this season is already lost. It may be. Dillon Gabriel probably isn't going to play. Even if he did, he's clearly not on a level the Sooners are accustomed to. 

What the fuck is going to happen this Saturday?

OFFENSE

Dillon Gabriel is probably out. It sucks, but fine. He's been pretty piss poor. Sooner fans rightly should be concerned that he was named the starter before he attended his first kegger and it was because of what was behind him. Davis Beville filled in after DG was concussed on a vicious hit at TCU and he was not good. He held on to the ball too long. He was 7 of 16 for 50 yards.

OK, so, the Sooners have played three QB's in practice this week not named Dillon Gabriel. Can one of them be solid enough to win the Red River Rivalry?

My OPOG is whoever plays QB, whoever plays the most snaps and whoever gains the confidence of the offense and the defense, if that's even possible.

My guess, and 100% pure guess, is that it will wind up being General Booty. He has playing time under his belt at at least a college level unlike Nick Evers. And he's not Davis Beville or Dilllon Gabriel.

I mean, that's really the best I can hope for.

DEFENSE

I honestly can't recall a faster fall from grace then the drop-off from the Nebraska game to the TCU game.

Now, you face a Longhorn team that has a first class running back. Okay, so the Sooners sell out to stop him. What if they can't? A legit question. This is a team that dropped 8 on third and long and still let someone leak out over the top for an easy score.

What is on  the table that is positive for this Sooners team on defense? They get no pressure on the QB, cause no turnovers and are tackling poorly. It's a mess.

Obviously the Sooners have to stop Bijan Robinson. If he gashes for 6.8 yards the Sooners are fucked.

For traditions sake I will take Danny Stutsman for DPOG but I don't think anyone is worthy.

THE SCORE

I've listened to a lot of arm chair quarterbacks say that this will be blowout one way or the other. I hate to say it but I'm not sure the Sooners have enough on either side of the ball, particularly at QB, to get the job done. 

That said, the Longhorns can lost any game they like. If the Sooners can bottle up Robinson to the tune of 3-5 yards per carry and they can manage to put the Longhorns into predictable situations and they can get lucky with whoever is at quarterback, then maybe they pull off a miracle. 

I don't think it's gonna happen. But, if it does, the Sooners can win 27-24 or something very close.

These are two teams who are wounded, not particularly good, and desperate for something positive. It could be pretty entertaining. But the difference is the Sooners don't have anything remotely close to Caleb Williams under center. That's tough to overcome. 

Sooners 27, Longhorns 24

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

TCU

 Quicker than expected, we've reached the point in the season where this become a lot less fun. KState, the team OU refuses to beat did their thing again last week and ruined our season. More accurately, we ruined our own season. A few takeaways, the defense looked very vintage OU in making Adrian Martinez look Drew Brees and Tom Brady had a baby with Steve Young. Which is really a feat considering he's got quite the body of work proving that he's excitingly mediocre to sub-par. Second, Dylan Gabriel is not the answer. He's pretty terrible actually. I've been saying all season that his horrible inaccuracy would burn us against a good team. Turns out I was wrong, it burned us against a team that Tulane beat. But, in spite of his shittiness, this one falls on the defense. OU shouldn't lose to anyone when scoring 36 points. 

Offense

I will go with Marvin Mims here. Even though DG will likely leave about 75 yards out there with missed throws, Mims is too good to contain. I think he goes off for 100+ and a score today.

Defense

I'm really down on the D after last week. It was so frustrating. But, I'm still not defeated enough to quit picking someone so I will say Billy Bowman for the simple reason that he is the first guy I thought of.

Score

I saw this as a trap game earlier in the year as TCU always plays us tough, it's on the road and I presumed we'd be coming in undefeated and getting amped for texas. Sadly, that is inaccurate but I'm still nervous for different reason. Notably, that we don't look very good. Still I will ride with OU in this one in what I assume will be another track meet as I have doubts we can stop anyone halfway competent. Sooners win 38-33.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner

K State

 The Sooners kick off this evening for their first conference game of the year. Last week was a most pleasing dismantling of a very bad Nebraska team. I was predictably nervous thinking that the coaching shake up would inspire the huskers, but after a first drive TD the Sooners starting playing what I think is referred to as “defense”. I’m vaguely remembering this concept. But whatever it is, it’s fun and I hope it continues. It’s amazing how just competent tackling and being in position makes an enormous difference. Seems so simple, but OU hasn’t done it in years. I hope it continues against a KState club that has been a thorn in the Sooners side the last few years. 

Offense

On paper, Dylan Gabriel’s season looks very good up to now. He has solid numbers, doesn’t turn the ball over and the Sooners are 3-0 in strong fashion. But to the eye, dude looks terribly inaccurate. He misses so many open receivers and the deep ball he was lauded for previously is, um, inconsistent. It’s all fine against bad teams, but the Sooners will lose against good competition if that continues. As such, I’m going to stay away from the passing game with today’s OPG and go with Marcus Major. Eric Gray had a huge game last week and this week I think Major steps up and has a great game. 

Defense

When OU hired Brent Venables the hope was that he could turn the D around. So far he has made good on that. As I mentioned before the competition hasn’t been great, but in recent years bad teams had huge games against OU consistently. Today I’m going with Reggie Grimes. Dude has been a beast and I think he gets another sack today. 

Score 

The Sooners are 13.5 point favorites today. Two TDs is a healthy margin, especially in conference play. But, it’s in Norman and I think OU heads to cover city. Sooners win 34-17. 

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner 

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Kansas State Wildcats

Hello Sooner fans. Our boys find themselves 3-0 after an inspired win at Nebraska. I mentioned last week that the axing of Scott Frost was the dead cat bounce of a 20 year free fall and I was not wrong. The Huskers were outmanned in every facet of the game.

That said, there is still a certain cache with the Cornhusker brand and delivering a thoroughly dominant performance against them, at home, in a primetime tv time slot was a big deal for Brent Venables and the Sooners. Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt called the game and could not stop talking about how this Sooners team looks and feels different. 

Today the Kansas State Wildcats roll into Norman, offering the Sooners another opportunity to take a step forward and to show the college football world they are, in fact, different than Sooners teams of recent memory. KState always give the Sooners a hard time, a fact not lost on oddsmakers who have installed the Sooners as 13.5 point favorites. It's suckers bet to take KState. Past is not prologue for these Sooners.

OFFENSE

The Sooners racked up 35 first half points on the shamefully slow Husker defense last week in Lincoln and it should have been worse. Dillon Gabriel was not crisp on several passes including most of his tries deep middle. He missed an easy throw that would have gone for six on a deep middle pass and the Sooners subsequently had to try for a field goal which also missed. We Sooner fans are spoiled with high level quarterback play but that also means we know what it looks like and Gabriel is not at that level currently. Now, to his credit, he's above 65% completion and, crucially, has zero turnovers. The question is, what can his ceiling be? Remember, he missed most of last season and he's played all of three games. You have to think that he's going to start settling in, slowing down a little and hitting more of those deep targets. Seeing if he can develop under Jeff Lebby is the most interesting thing to watch for me on this side of the ball from this point forward. If things progress as I hope that and Gabriel takes control of the offense then watch out. 

Gabriel is my OPOG today because I want to see him clean it up today and really take the reins of the offense. A welcoming home crowd should provide that opportunity.

Key to Gabriel's success will be Eric Gray. The Sooners clearly are hell bent on establishing the run and Gray has been fantastic. The Wildcats will sell out to try and force the Sooners to throw. I expect lots of play action with Gray getting the ball often on short passes and screens. 

DEFENSE

Deuce Vaughn is the Alpha and Omega of the Wildcats offense. The Sooners, in their turn, will gameplan around slowing and/or stopping him. This will be the first real test of the Sooners defense. I've seen nothing yet to indicate the Sooners aren't up to the challenge.

If the Sooners can win the line of scrimmage as they have every game thus far, Nebraska transfer Adrian Martinez will be running for his life.

The Sooners have been holy terrors defensively and it hasn't been just one person. Reggie Grimes, Billy Bowman, Danny Stutsman, Ethan Downs and Jaren Kanek have all stood out to me over the course of three games. You love to see it. 

Now, I said past is not prologue but you can count on the Wildcats being physical. That's just what they are. The Sooners, though, are now in a position to not only match it, but if they can somehow be demonstratively more physical than the Wildcats, watch out. It's an indicator the Sooners are not to be easily dismissed in conversations for national title contenders. That's not crimson colored glasses, either. We're talking about having an established identity that, if the Sooners had it over the last five seasons, could have resulted in one if not more titles. Seriously.

For my DPOG today I'm going with Deshaun White. He got ejected for targeting last week which opened the door for extended playing time for Kanek. Kanek already looks like a beast and if he's hot on the heels of White then hopefully that inspires White to step up his game. 

SCORE

I don't think this will be a particularly high scoring game but I definitely see the Sooners winning comfortably by three scores. I don't think the Wildcat offense will be dynamic enough to damage the Sooners if the Sooners can maintain the focus and physicality they've shown so far this year and I think the Sooners offense has a chance to really settle in and start hitting their stride with the game being in Norman. 

I like the Sooners 42-17.

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers

Hi OH Sooner fans. It's another glorious football Saturday. Shit's getting real for the Sooners this week as they hit the road and take on a big name in the Nebraska Cornhuskers. I almost spit out my teeth when I read the news that the Huskers gave up 642 yards in a loss last week to Georgia goddang Southern. Not GeorgiaTech or plain ol' Georgia. Georgia Southern. That, my friends,  is a turd that cannot be polished and Scott Frost is now unemployed. 

Are the Sooners walking into a trap? Can the Huskers possibly re-compose in one weeks time and by sheer will  and the good Lord's blessing play well enough to beat a game Oklahoma football team?

No.

OFFENSE

The Sooners offense is still a work in progress. It would be a massive understatement to call most of their first half last week uninspired. I would love to blame the listless and spoiled home crowd for it.  One could even make the excuse that they might have been looking ahead to the Huskers. Fact is they're still looking for an identity. 

I think they want to be a punishing running team and they've been leading that effort with Eric Gray. Gray is good, averaging almost seven yards per carry, but Marcus Major is the way. Major is dorking people out of their shoes  and running through people if needs be. I think he's going to get more action today as he should. 

Dillon Gabriel has been great. I must admit I'm not blown away by anything he does so far but the fact that he's completing 70 percent of his passes and has zero turnovers is as good as you could hope for from him. Imagine when he has complete comfort in the offense. Methinks primetime tv against a big name team could do wonders for Gabriel's confidence if he can maintain his progress. Hopefully the Husker D is as shitty this week as last.

I'm going with Marcus Major this week for my OPOG. He earned more PT last week and he's too good to keep off the field. His success will make life too easy for DG and Marvin Mims et al. 

DEFENSE

I love the enthusiasm coming from these guys. They have been the backbone of the squad so far and that's exactly as it should be. They need to be steady today as the Huskers will no doubt be inspired by the coaching change. 

The simple key for the Sooners is getting off the field. They have to win the majority of third downs so they can stay fresh and drain the hearts of the Huskers.

I'll take Billy Bowman for my DPOG today. He has been in on a lot of tackles thus far. He's all over the field. It looks like he's got his sea legs under him and his confidence is growing game by game. Make the leap today, my guy. 

THE SCORE

I grew up with a couple of sisters whose family are die hard Huskers. I will never forget the shit they gave me in the 90's when it appeared OU football was in danger of being forever irrelevant. My how the tables have turned. Nebraska is sad. Scott Frost is the dead bounce after a 20 year free fall.

The Sooners show the world this today and they win big. 

Sooners 34 Huskers 13

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner 

Nebraska

This week our beloved Sooners travel to Lincoln to rekindle what was once one of the great rivalries in all of college football. Conference realignment and the ever-changing college football landscape ended that era and as it stands, it's doubtful that anyone playing in today's game has any first-hand memory of that time. Nevertheless, the fans certainly do and it will be a raucous atmosphere today in Huskerland. No doubt you have seen that Scott Frost, one-time wunderkind QB of the very same Huskers, was fired after successfully driving his alma mater program firmly into the ground. Nebraska has probably never been worse in my lifetime as they are right now. Where have you gone Frank Solich? That said, I have some trepidation regarding today's game. First, OU did not look particularly good offensively last week against Kent State. They narrowly held a halftime lead after not being able to score during the first half until the final minutes. They erupted in a dominant third quarter, and then went back to napping to close out the game. I'm confident that it will take more than one quarter of scoring to beat an energized Nebraska program on the road, which brings me to my second fear. 

Nothing ignites a team like a coaching change; particularly a team that has talented players and has been underachieving. In essence, they are now playing with nothing to lose. They have a new, interim coach, they'll get the rah rah "show them what you're capable of" type speech, the fans will be amped to have regained something akin to hope, and as it stands their season is already in the toilet so what's the worst that can happen? In short, it's going to be a tough place to win today. There are reasons for optimism however. Unlike the last few seasons, the OU defense appears to be capable of making a stop or two on occasion this season. It's way too early to say they are an asset. But, who else thinks that the Kent State game, if played last year, would've been close in the first half, and then traded TDs the rest of the way to win on a failed onside kick attempt with 50 seconds left? There are reasons for optimism on both sides of the ball, today is almost an ideal next step to getting ready for conference play. Let's hope they can seize the opportunity and put together four quarters of good football on both sides of the ball.

Offense

I rarely get anything remotely right with these half-assed predictions. It's not uncommon that I pick a player who isn't even dressing. So when I say I got Marvin Mims right last week, I will likely sprain my elbow patting my own back. Let's see if I can make it two in a row. This week, I'm going to go with Braden Willis. I think the opener was a taste of what Lebby plans to do with his 27-year-old TE this year. That is to say, get him involved early and often and particularly in the red zone. I like Willis to catch 6-8 balls today and get at least one score. 

Defense

The defense, as I mentioned, seems to be improved. So much so, that there are actually a few options that could plausibly be considered for a defensive MVP of the game. But, unlike offense, I'm not going to go out on a limb here. I'm taking Danny Stutsman. This guy has been everywhere the first two games, and I only think this is going to continue as he gets more and more comfortable in the defense. Nevermind that he seems like he'd be the guy that eats the goldfish at Old Tex in Johnny B. Goode, "Texas sushi, Boy!" (serious deep cut there, if you have any idea what I'm talking about you should be equal parts proud and ashamed), if he makes plays, I'm in. 

Score 

OU is favored by 11 in this one. I think that is generous for the Sooners. As I mentioned, this will be a tough game on the road against a team with nothing to lose. Charles Thompson has faced the Sooners before so he knows what to expect. I think this game is won or lost in the fourth quarter and is tight the whole way. I think the Sooners TCB however, and this game is a 24-20 dogfight. Sooners win.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Kent State Golden Flashes

 Greetings, Sooner fans, on this absolutely beautiful Saturday in Oklahpma. It's week two for our 1-0 Sooners. The Sooners looked pretty sharp in game one of the Brent Venables era. Most notably, the defense was gang tackling. Dillon Gabriel was efficient in his first start. Today they welcome the 0-1 Kent State Golden Knights. The Sooners find themselves a 33 point favorite which seems pretty aggressive but, were I a betting man, would be tempted to take. 

Today I want to see the Sooners build off last week and stay healthy before hitting the road next week for a big one against Nebraska in Lincoln. 

OFFENSE

I didn't get to watch most of the UTEP game and had to settle for listening on the radio. It seems to me, though, that the Jeff Lebby offense was fast as advertised. They move the ball around pretty well and were able to get key weapons like Marvin Mims and Eric Gray involved early and often. Brayden Willis was a nice surprise for me also. He's a big target who moves well and he has the added advantage of being able to be positioned anywhere to exploit mismatches. Maybe he's making the leap.

Today the Sooners need to continue to establish their identity and then identify some home run hitters. Eric Gray looked great and Marcus Major looked powerful. I mentioned Willis and Mims but it'd be nice to get a few more players involved just to see what the offense has at its disposal. 

Today I'll take a chance on Theo Wease for my OPOG. I am thinking he's just getting back to a comfort level on the field after missing last year and he should be due to make a leap of his own. Maybe he busts one open today.

DEFENSE

The Sooners played A LOT of players on this side of the ball last week and I love it. Ted Roof and co. are trying to find out what they have and who's a gamer. I want to see more of the same today. I love the idea of having real depth on that side of the ball for the first time in a long time. Today's the perfect opportunity to continue to establish it. 

I'm going to ride the hot hand (or at least my impression of it) and go with Reggie Grimes for my DPOG. He seemed to be living in the backfield last week and should just build off that this week.

THE SCORE

The theme for today is build and Kent State is the perfect opponent for it. This one should be an intense cake walk. The Sooners continue to establish that toughness on D, find playmakers on offense and keep the injury sheet clean going into next week.

I like the Sooners bigly, 42-10.

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner. 

Kent State

 Hello Sooners fans, on the heels of an encouraging start to the Brent Venables era, the Sooners welcome a Kent State squad that I know absolutely nothing about outside of their record (0-1). Last week, it was incredibly refreshing to see competent tackling and consistently making “routine” plays on defense. There were still coverage breakdowns and receivers being left wide open, but the signs of improvement were strong and plentiful. It’s said the hunger is the best sauce and loosely applying that to the Sooner defense I think it’s safe to say the fans were hungry. 

Offensively, the start was about as flawless as it gets. Then they sputtered a bit after getting lured into thinking every play should be a home run. I was impressed that they were able to reset, lean on the run game and then consistently move the ball. DG was solid if not spectacular. There were some missed throws and a bit of indecision at times, but overall he looked good. The foundation appears to be there, let’s hope they can “clean up” some things from last week and get tuned up for the meat of the schedule. 

Offense

There were several guys that could plausibly have been named OPG and I think Mitch nailed the Eric Gray pick. Gray was good between the tackles but also looked very good catching passes out of the backfield. Today I like Marvin Mims to have a big day and to haul in some of those long balls that didn’t quite connect last week. I think he totals over 100 yards and a TD today. 

Defense

I was extremely pleased with the gang tackling last week. It’s clear that swarming to the ball has been a point of emphasis and the basic ability to not let a minimal gain turn into a disaster 3rd down conversion was incredibly refreshing. I also very much enjoyed the ability to pressure without selling out to the blitz. With that in mind I’m going to pick who I thought was DPG last week in Quentin Grimes. I think he gets another sack today. 

Score

Without knowing anything about Kent State, I’m encouraged enough from last week to think the Sooners beat that ass today. The Crimson and Cream clean it up and tune it up, 52-10. 

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner 

Oklahoma Sooners vs. UTEP Miners

Hello Sooner fans! Let's freaking go Champ U '22. It's been a long tumultuous offseason to say the least. The QB Whisperer fled for greener pastures and Caleb Williams plus half the squad followed him. And yet, I couldn't be more excited for a season of Sooner football because I have no idea what sort of product we will see on the field. And through the miracle of crimson colored glasses I have even managed to set high expectations. 

We will obviously see a fast paced offense that is predicated on gassing defenses and keeping them on their heels. Sounds awesome. Hopefully, the Ted Roof/Brent Venables defense will be ferocious. Also sounds great. Across the board, we can expect to be stronger. By all accounts ex-strength coach Bennie Wylie had no business being in the weight room. Jerry Schmidt is back. The vibe is palpably different.

OFFENSE

The Dillon Gabriel era begins today and that's a downgrade from Caleb Williams there's just no way to sugarcoat it. However, people seem to really like him and he was named the starter pretty much the day he arrived on campus. So, in the new Jeff Lebby led offense maybe he doesn't need to be a wunderkind. Especially today he just needs to find his sea legs.

Gabriel (Gabe) does have Marvin Mims returning along with Theo Wease, Jalil Farooq and some up and coming freshmen. Eric Gray and Marcus Major will get lots of opportunities in the backfield. 

Today I think Eric Gray is the OPOG getting opportunities to make moves out in the flat as a receiver. It'll be quick easy passes for DG.

DEFENSE

Word on the street is that this defense is going to attack from everywhere all the time. No gimmicks just straight gas. I imagine the LB's are going to carry a massive load so I like Danny Stutsman for my DPOG. Just gonna go with my one of my personal favorites from last year. 

Coaches do seem to be excited about Ethan Downs at DE and I'm not gonna be put out if the defensive line does some damage. 

Success for me today looks like a relatively clean game from a penalty perspective and less than three total busts. Seems possible.

THE SCORE

The way Brent Venables has come in and changed the attitutde of this team to its very core means I would not be surprised if the Sooners come out and just play brilliant, inspired football. At least for this game. It won't be flawless but it will be fast and hopefully intense.

Fans walk away with boners and the Miners leave butthurt.

Sooners 56, Miners 10

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner!

UTEP

 What an offseason it has been. The Sooners Football Program begins this season with a new coach for the second time since 2017. When Bob Stoops retired, I think his main goal was to turn the program over to a coach that he thought could lead the program for the next two decades or more. To turn it over to someone that would become the next legendary Sooners coach after Wilkinson, Switzer and himself (sorry John Blake). And then we all know what happened. But, my guess is that he has to be pretty happy with (and likely had a hand in) his long-time friend and assistant being the man that is in the spot now. As much of a dick punch Riley leaving felt like at the time (and it is still pretty shitty the way he did it), there are reasons for optimism. Lebby has led better offenses the last few seasons than OU had and Alex Grinch will be difficult to replace in the way that it's difficult to replace a roll of toilet paper. In short, I don't think it's a reach whatsoever that OU could conceivably get considerably better on both sides of the ball immediately. Talent will be the initial question mark and of course there will be growing pains with guys playing in a new system and learning a new playbook. That last part, however, might be somewhat mitigated by the fact that transfer QB Dillon Gabriel played in Lebby's system before (to the tune of 3600+ yards, 29 TDs and a 156.9 QB rating as a freshman). On defense, there is almost nothing but room for improvement. It's telling to 1) hear former Sooners in the NFL openly disparage Grinch for how bad he was and 2) see how much success guys have in the NFL after not doing a ton at OU. 

There were so many frustrating things about the team last year, but nothing irritated me more than their ability to play to the level of an opponent. Seldom did OU dominate and put teams away. Every game felt like it came down to the last possession. That's all wonderful when you're playing a tough road conference game or a top 10 matchup. But when you're playing conference doormats and teams like Tulane (that went 2-10 last year including 0-6 on the road) to a 40-35 (they gave up 35 points!) barn burner win, that is pathetic. Let's hope the new era starts with a dominant ass beat, backups in the third quarter, smiles and backslaps on the bench--of a 3rd tier team. As it should be. 

Offense

While most of the flashy recruits are gone, there is still a lot of talent on this side of the ball. The guys we know like Mims, Marcus Major, and company can play. I would say RB is a bit of an unknown as Major and Gray were solid in the past but both have talent and I think Gray catches a ton of passes out of the backfield in this offense and both of them have a great year. WR looks very good again, the offensive line has some new faces but looks promising and TE is in the capable hands of Braden Willis who has been with OU since 2003 seemingly. But, as predictable as it might be, I'm going with the new face at QB and Dillon Gabriel today. I think he absolutely light up UTEP and we get some garbage reps for the other QB transfer Davis Beville. I like DG for 300+ yards, 4 TDs and no turnovers.

Defense

There are some things to like about the defense in spite of the fact that they were pretty mediocre last year and lost several key players to the draft. Most of that stems from the hope that there is someone competent coaching them for a change. I like Key Lawrence and Woodi Washington in the secondary, and hopefully Jaden Davis can recapture whatever he had that made him look so promising as a freshman. The DL has several good (if no real stars as of yet) guys rotating in and out that they should be strong through four quarters. The LBs are strong with Ugwoegbu and Stutsman and DaShaun White. Today I like DaShaun White for DPG. He earned the famed Cheetah position in Venables' defense. I think he makes a ton of tackles and forces at least one turnover.

Score

I know almost nothing about UTEP. I do remember them coming to Norman many years ago and OU barely winning against Mike Price's bunch. This UTEP squad is already 0-1 (losing in their opener to the Flying Seth Littrell's of North Texas 31-13), and I predict the Venables era starts with a bang. OU dominates 45-6. 

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner