OU vs. TCU

Well that was exciting wasn't it? It was easily a top 5 Sooner game I've seen in person.

For grins, my top 5:

5. OU vs. Texas 1996. It was my Freshman year at OU. Only RRR game I've been to. I bought my ticket the day I enrolled. My seat was about 3 rows behind the texas bench and on the 50 yard line. OU was shit that year but won in overtime. First walkoff win I saw until...

4. OU vs. Oklahoma State 2012. A puncher's brawl. No Defense. Last team with the ball wins. OU had the ball last. Unbelievable game by the Sooners. If half the teams of the Stoops era had this team's guts, Stoops would probably have 3 titles.

3. OU vs. Nebraska 1985 - Being but a wee lad I had no idea what was on the line here. Winning seemed as natural as Saturday morning cartoons. I don't have much memory of the game except for sitting in the North End Zone with my Dad and freezing our asses off. This, along with parking cars for money to buy tickets, are my first memories of Sooner football.

2. OU vs. Nebraska 2000. The cherry on top of the cake that was Red October. Best football atmosphere I've ever felt. First time I physically felt electricity in the air.

1. The National Championship game versus Florida State 2001. The culmination of a boyhood following the Sooners. Grew up during the good times, went to OU during the bad. Standing at the doorway of the real world back on top.

Back to last week.

Man, what a game against OSU. No Defense except when it mattered. A classic Lonnie game. One stereotypical costly pass and gaudy numbers otherwise. Two double digit comebacks. Then an awesome celebration that made you remember these are just college kids. The wind was so strong up in the 103 that my eyes started misting over.

So now TCU. It's TCB Saturday Part Deux. Win and a BCS game invite is all but assured. (Great question posed by friend Lucas Howard. Do you want the Sooners to go to a BCS and face Oregon? Holy smokes. I like their chances against Kent State.) Potential letdown maybe? Sure, but this team has shown over the course of the season that they can take a punch. According to Rocky that's what winner's do.

OFFENSE

Man I want to throw Landry a bone here but I can't. I dare not even speak of what he's been doing the last couple of weeks. Instead I go Justin Brown who's been as reliable a receiver as any of the greats the last few years. He's gathered in something ungodly like 30 catches the last three weeks. Sure handed, hard to bring down, great blocker. Damn, sure do wish we had this guy another year.

PS. Please, dear Baby Jesus, don't let TCU see the tape what happens when you get pressure on Landry.

DEFENSE

It seems ludicrous to say, but maybe the boys are getting their sea legs back under them. Sure, they've given up yards in chunks and they're as soft up the middle as a three dollar tart, but they made plays when they had to last week and they need to hang their hats on these modest victories.

That said, TCU does not have the kind of offense that can score 50 points against average defenses. Even these supposed experts who say the Horned Frogs rush the ball very well are being kind at best and paranoid at worst.

TCU is not that good. I can't believe I'm doing this but I'm going Javon Harris here. If he makes me look like an asshole then it will be no surprise. But, if he can turn 3 whiffs into tackles, the defense just got about two touchdowns better. It's time for him to be a difference maker in a good way.

THE SCORE

TCU comes into the game being able to exploit the soft run defense of the Sooners. But can the Sooners take away the pass and make TCU one-dimensional enough to lock in on the run? Is the historically great TCU defense good enough to keep the Sooners offense off the field?

Maybe and no.

The Sooners are too much of a load on Offense and this could be almost like a home game for the Sooners. Fort Worth is an over 50 Sooner fan's wet dream. The only better regional location is Branson.

All things bode well for our Sooners.

OU 31 TCU 17

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner

Baylor

Good morning fine ladies and gentleman. My post today comes to you from the sunny locale of Sedona, AZ. A far cry from my decimated home city of New York. Sadly, I'll be returning there tomorrow but for now it's sunshine and lollipops for Natey. The Sooners face a solid Baylor team this Saturday afternoon. Seems odd that a few short years ago this game had a W placed next to it sometime in April, or as soon as it was scheduled. Now however, it's not Alabama but it's no gimme either.

No one is forgetting last year's barn burner where the boys in Crimson neglectfully left their defense on the bus. This Baylor team is notably lacking one RG3, but let's hope that we line up 11 conscious players on the defensive side of the ball this time (looking at you Javon G.R. Harris)*. Baylor does score points pretty well, however the one thing they are better at than scoring points is allowing them.  Besides, in spite of two losses, it feels like our defense has been better than it was last season. At the very least, it doesn't get torched with regularity anymore.

*This G.R. is noting his moniker as Gas Rag which is bestowed for his propensity to be burned easily and with regularity. This is a unilateral move by me, but I'm sure Mitch won't put up too much of a fight. While Harris does make some nice plays on occasion, he makes some real dumbshit moves as well. I'll take consistently solid over feast/famine any day of the week. Read: I really dislike Javon Harris.

I like our chances today, the team looked good against a pesky ISU team last week and avoided a let down after the emotional Notre Dame loss. It seems as though we've got a pretty decent shot at beating the Baylor Bears. Provided we can make them earn their points with long, multi-play drives and we can keep their offense off of the field with a solid ground game I think we'll win.

Offense

Mitch continued his startlingly good, season-long impersonation of Nostradamus last week with a Brennan Clay bullseye. While I'll concede that Clay was the player of the game on offense last week, I didn't do too shabby with a (less impressive) Justin Brown pick as he went for 7 and 107 with 1 TD. Let's hope we both pick different players today, and that both players proceed to dominate as they did last week. You see, readers, having two really good players on offense statistically, is better than having only one (stay with me). Today I'm going with Jalen Saunders, if for no other reason than the guy is damn fun to watch out there. I like him for several great runs after the catch, and at least one TD.

Defense

This side of the ball has proven to be a bit of a crapshoot as not only has it been hard to pick a player of the game before the game, but it's not been easy to pick one after either. Today, I'm going with Aaron Colvin. He's really developed into a damn fine DB and one that seems to be as adept in the run game as he is in providing coverage. I'd love to predict that he forces a turnover today... so I will. Either a pick or a forced fumble, but I won't decide between the two (listen, I'm no Keith "Ms. Cleo" Mitchell over here).

Score

As I said before, the Baylor fellows can score some points. As I also said before, they can give up some points too. I like the Sooners today in a bit of a shootout. We control the ground game enough on offense and the passing game enough on defense to win. Sooners 38-24.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner.

texas

The Red River Game is on us again. This is going to be an epic showdown. There's no love lost between these two. You can throw out the records on this one. It's going to come down to who can protect the football. These two are going to leave everything on the field. It's going to be a street fight.

And so it goes with these types of games. I'll admit I've got a railroad spike between my legs for this one. I do hate texas. One of those pure hates where it's nearly impossible to imagine a scenario where I'd root for them to win. (You have to root for Texas or go down on Rosy O'Donnell with a nasty yeast infection fresh after a marathon. Me: how hot is it during the run?) Even if you take all of the rivalry out of the picture (impossible) this game is enormous in both the conference and national landscapes. Oddly though this is the first year in a while where the conference championship didn't rest on this game. Both teams come in with conference losses. Nonetheless if the Sooners can win it they still have most of (if not all of) their goals within reach.

Now that I've ran the importance of the game into the ground, let's look at the game itself. I have visions of 2001 in this one. A tight defensive (or maybe inept offensive) game where it comes down to the end. Also like 2001 this game features a QB wont to shit all over the field in the face of pressure. Unlike 2001, that QB is a Sooner. I have a terrible fear that the texas D-Line will (easily) coax Lonnie in to multiple turnovers. Let's hope I'm as off the mark with that prediction as I normally am.

I think our defense is improving and will be able to do a decent job with their offense. Javon Harris, in spite of his pick 6 last week,consistently misses tackles and is obviously out of position. He is the worst piece of an otherwise solid secondary. Frank Shannon gave us hope last week that the flailing cockney tackler-Tom Wort's days may be numbered. I don't hate Wort but he's been a pretty average (at best) player. Though coaches are saying Wort will start, my guess is his lease will be pretty short. Regardless I think Shannon will get significant meaningful minutes. Let's hope last week wasn't an aberration.

Offense

To his credit, Lonnie has played relatively well against texas. That said, this is his first go at them without Broyles. While he did play well last week, he's been historically hot and cold week-to-week. As I texted Mitch last week, I guess we're getting Mr. Hyde this week. Here's hoping I'm wrong. I'm not going to get too out of the box on this one. I'm going with Kenny Fuckin' Shitbag Stills. I like him for 2 (that's right 2!) scores today.

Defense

Oh how I want to pick Frank Shannon, everyone's newest darling. But I'm not ready to, ahem, crown his ass just yet. I'm going slightly off the beaten path here and going with Casey Walker. He had a big game in Dallas last season and I think today he gets back in the groove again.

Score

As I said, I think this is going to be a low scoring affair. I've really had a bad feeling all week but I awoke today with renewed enthusiasm (read: morning wood). I think our D keeps us in it and we do enough to eek this one out. Sooners win, 17-13.

Now let's go out and roll these rotten motherfuckers.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner!!