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 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