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
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