Bedlam

2020 has decided to throw a bone to Sooner (and, begrudgingly, Cowboy) Nation with today's Bedlam matchup being meaningful, at night and on national television. Little Brother thinks this is their year so the prospect of the Sooners breaking their spirits while also getting back into Big 12 championship game contention is a cherry on the cake.

OFFENSE

The Cowboys believe they have a respectable defense for once and are eager put it on display. I do not wish them the best and am having difficulty imagining a scenario where they hold the Sooners under 35. The Sooners, and particularly Spencer Rattler, will need to make some poor decisions in the passing game to not make the magic number. 

Rattler's decision making continues to improve, however, and I think their plan today is to wear out the Cowboy defense with a bludgeoning mix of Rhamondre Stevenson and quick throws to the sidelines. It will pay off in the last 20 minutes with the Sooners going over the top and stocking the highlight reel. It's gonna be a party.

I'll go with Spencer today for my OPOG in what I can see being his best game as a Sooner. He's much more prepared for the spotlight here in late November than he was as the much ballyhooed wunderkind of early September.  

DEFENSE

There is no doubt the Sooner D is rounding into something resembling form but they need to be careful today. It's a knifes edge between playing fast and having that speed exploited and the Cowboys do have pieces around the field to turn strength to weakness. 

The key will be how Alex Grinch handles the second level. For instance, I would much rather see Brian Asamoah, DaShaun White, Nik Bonitto and David Ogwoegbu at the point of attack than having Bookie or, God forbid, Pat Fields trying to contain or shadow Spencer Sanders. 

You obviously have to stop Chuba Hubbard while also keeping Spencer Sanders from running the ball. Here is where the D-Line has to be aggressive like they've been all year without being too fast and running themselves upfield so quickly they get exploited. 

I may be prematurely prognosticating here but I'm going to pick a DPOG. Ronnie Perkins. He looks like a baby eater and will put on a show tonight.

THE SCORE

A lot of people think this will be low scoring by Sooner standards but I think the Sooners will get to that magic number of 35. The Cowboys will have to work hard for what they get and will get lucky a little too because it's Bedlam and shit gets wild. 

But I like the Sooners easy at home 35 Cowboys 20.

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

Oklahoma Sooners versus Kansas Jayhawks

Happy Saturday, Sooner fans. The Sooners take on the Jayhawks today in Norman in a contest that hopefully will be called faster than the Oklahoma presidential race this past week. Kansas is atrocious. Owasso High might be able to give them a game. 

The Sooners, for their part, are coming off arguably their most complete football game against Texas Tech, a game where the Red Raiders were shellacked by a feisty and opportunistic Sooner defense, run over by Rhamondre Stevenson and smoked by Spencer Rattler who was doing his best Pat Mahomes impersonation. 

OFFENSE

It's crazy but the Sooners return to Norman for the first time since the K-State loss on September 26th. The group taking the field today is much further along and should cruise on friendly territory against the hapless Jayhawks. 

Rhamondre Stevenson looked fresh last week and should be a proverbial bull in a china shop. He'll be my OPOG today but don't sleep on Seth MacGowan. Lincoln Riley is finding news ways to get him the ball every week. He could be devastating in the passing game today by being a check down for Spencer Rattler. Rattler, for his part, can continue to progress by going through his reads. 

The Jayhawks are target practice and it's going to be devastating.

DEFENSE

There was a lot to be excited about last week with the performance of the D. The return of two-time PRCA gold buckle winner Ronnie Perkins injected some much lacking fire and snarl. Better yet, that attitude persisted for four quarters and was rewarded with more batted balls, INT's and loose balls than I can recall in years. 

Again, today provides an opportunity to build on that performance and continue to add depth everywhere. The Sooners will throw the kitchen sink at the Jayhawks both in terms of scheme and personnel. This game at this point of the schedule is a gift on a par with what the SEC does with mid-season Division II games.

Out of an abundance of caution I will not pick a DPOG this week.

THE SCORE

The newspaper today said the over/under on this game was 63 which seems ludicrous as the Sooners will have to stop themselves from scoring 70. While a shutout would be capital, it's hard to see a mistake free game from the D.

The Sooners obviously win easily and take this one 70-7.

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

Oklahoma Sooners versus Texas Tech Red Raiders

Good evening, Sooner fans. I am begging your forgiveness for the tardiness and brevity of this puff piece. The Oklahoma bureau of Sooner Steamroller has been without power since Tuesday on account of an apocalyptic ice storm. 2020 is relentless in its commitment to being the worst. 

Alas we press on.

OFFENSE

Spencer Rattler did a fine job of game management last week and he found his playmaker in Marvin Mims, Jr. This week I'd like to see Rattler continue to build and a key to his development is Austin Stogner. He had a nice game against Texas but last week dropped at least three balls that were heavily defended. His mission in life is to catch balls in traffic that are heavily defended. Stogner is my OPOG today.

DEFENSE

These guys are almost decent. I was but much pleased to see intensity and speed for the entire game. The Red Raiders offer another great opportunity to take a step forward. A night road game against a shit team is a recipe for heady vibes and PlayStation type numbers.

I am not picking a DPOG today. However, there are a couple of candidates who, if they don't watch themselves, could find themselves getting called out in a great way on this platform.

As an aside, it is patently ridiculous that country music legend, PRCA bronco rider and Sooner defensive end Ronnie Perkins is still not eligible to play as a result of a positive marijuana test last year. What in the actual shit. Can someone pull the stick out of the NCAA's asshole, please? This defense improves dramatically with him on the field.

SCORE

The Sooners cruise on the road and look and feel good doing it. I like the Sooners big time today. 

Sooners 49 Red Raider 17

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

Oklahoma Sooners versus TCU Horned Frogs

The Sooners certainly are not boring. At our big football watch party last week we were unabashedly calling for the benching of Jalen Hurts in the first half. He had taken my game plan (don't make dumb choices, turn the ball over) and executed it horribly. The defense, for their part, looked like doo-doo. Then, the second half. It was clinical PlayStation execution.

The season is still alive and means something here on senior day in Norman.

OFFENSE

Hopefully Jalen remembers the offense is at its best when all options are involved. They were forced by the unfortunate CeeDee Lamb injury to learn this in the second half last week. Under no circumstances is it necessary for him to carry the ball 30 times. Spread the love. Get rid of the ball quickly and decisively. His running should be the first option maybe 10 times.

It is in this vein that someone besides Jalen should be OPOG. I'm going out on a limb here and picking Austin Stogner. I will also pour one out for the brief, semi-illustrious career of Grant Calcaterra.

DEFENSE

Let's be very clear that the Sooners offense was the best defense before we go sucking each others popscicles about the performance of the D in the second half last week.

Now, when they had to, they certainly played well. Let's keep it going this week. The proverbial turnover monkey is off the proverbial back so maybe they keep it going today. The key is a plus two turnover differential.

Who gets the first one? I'm going with my DPOG and Country Music Legend Ronnie Perkins.

THE SCORE

I feel like this one is not going to be clinical. TCU has a history of coming to Norman and making things difficult. They are the eager spoiler today. They take the loss but make it interesting.

I'm going Sooners 31, Horned Frogs 21

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

Oklahoma Sooner versus Kansas State

The undefeated Sooners stroll into the Little Apple this Saturday to face a Wildcats team I know nothing about. It looks like they play a style of football hell bent on setting football back 25 years. I'm assuming they will look and act like a homeless version of Texas.

OFFENSE

If, in fact, this is a take 2 of a homeless man's Texas then the formula is pretty simple. Don't turn the ball over. If K-State's offense wants to hang on to the ball then the Sooners need to maximize their opportunities. Obviously this all depends on Jalen Hurts. Hurts boners against the Longhorns kept the game too close for comfort. K-State doesn't need to be led to believe they can hang.

I look for lots of running from the Sooners. There's been a lot of rumbling/grumbling about Trey Sermon's lack of carries but the simple fact is Kennedy Brooks is the best running back in the Sooners stable right now. The dude glides. Also, Hurts is more than eager to call his own number. Regrettably, what's left is table scraps.

Anywho, I'm going with Charlston Rambo this week because the Sooners will pass and K-State should probably try to make someone besides CeeDee Lamb beat them. We'll see how that goes.

DEFENSE

Supposedly K-State leans heavily on their running attack. This has country music super duo Kenneth Michael Murray and Ronnie Perkins licking their chops. The gang tackling continues this week with the same quality results.

Thus concludes my understanding of the K-State attack. They have a new coach and I have yet to watch them play.

For my DPOG I'll go with another wild card: Delarrin Turner-Yell. He's starting to fly all over the field. I think he helps the cause in a great way.

THE SCORE

Well, I think the Sooners keep from turning the ball over and the ball control offense that K-State hopes to deploy doesn't really work. In short, it's crimson-colored glasses all day, baby!

I like the Sooners 35-14

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner!

OU versus South Dakota

Well the season got off to a rollicking start with the Sooners thoroughly dismantling Houston. Jalen Hurts had 508 yards of offense himself and the defense looked mostly like a defense. Today the Sooners have a perfect practice game with FCS South Dakota. The Sooners have an opportunity on offense to get some game speed reps, the defense can continue its overhaul and hopefully a number of young guys get an opportunity to show what they can do.

OFFENSE
The name of the game today is to be injury free and take care of business so starters can be pulled as early as possible. There are plenty of young guys who can show what they have, including Spencer Rattler, supposed QB wunderkind in waiting.

For my OPOG I'll go Jalen Hurts. Not only did he play near flawlessly he seemed in awe of the offense he's been asked to lead. He's happy to be here and appears quite interested in maximizing his opportunity. Look for PlayStation numbers today again.

DEFENSE
The defense definitely looks different in a great way but there is plenty to improve upon. They made some dumb mistakes that kept Houston drives alive. They did not have a takeaway although they forced enough punts to keep Houston safely at bay. Most importantly, it seemed to me they lost their focus about midway through the 3rd quarter. They aren't good enough to do that. They haven't earned shit and you'd think there would be enough competition to not have to worry about it. They need to be sharp today regardless of score and competition.

For my DPOG I'm going to say  Ronnie Perkins. I'd really like to have him be MF'er.

THE SCORE
I think the Sooners play it ultra conservative mostly to give the kickers a chance to build some confidence but scoring will come early and often.

I'm thinking 60-13

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner!

OU - UCLA

I'm not trying to be hyperbolic but it's hard to imagine the Sooners coming out of the gates looking any better than they did last week against Florida Atlantic. The first team offense played a quarter and a half. The 1st team D pitched a shutout. Special teams had their first blocked punt in years and their first blocked punt for a touchdown since 2002. Kyler Murray was nearly flawless, Hollywood Brown was a beast, Rod ran for 100 on 5 carries or something ridiculous. And from the "Who the fuck is this guy" department, Lee Morris went and earned himself a scholarship.

The defense deserves a ton of credit. This humble blog is far from the only locale in the football universe to rightly doubt and lambaste the Sooners in recent years. Last Saturday, in person and on tape, the defense looked faster and was in better position more often than most games last year. It was stunning in a great way.

Best of all, the Sooners completely dorked a total skeezbag in Lane Kiffin. Fellow dingleberry Chip Kelly arrives this week to get his taste.

OFFENSE

I am going to assume that there have to be other defense's on the Sooners schedule that will have a better chance to flummox or otherwise disrupt Kyler Murray et al than FAU. However, I don't think it's UCLA.

If I were the Sooners I would do some variation of what worked so well last week which was establishing a lethal running attack to set up intermediate and deep shots. What I love about this offense is that it's not dink and dunk it's all out blitzkrieg. It's maximum pressure on the opposing D every single play.

I'm going to go with Rod this week for OPOG. I see him going over around and through the Bruins on land and in the air.

DEFENSE

Deep breath. It was one game but lots of players stood out. Curtis Bolton, Tre Brown, Tre Norwood, Bookie, Parnell Motley, Ronnie Perkins. They need to build on this.

The UCLA offense was unable to do a whole lot against Cincinnati but it will be a nice test going up a Chip Kelly offense. Regrettably, I fell asleep trying to watch the UCLA-Cincy game last week and really don't care to know too much about the UCLA offense. Apparently they have a pretty decent tight end.

For my DPOG I think I'll go Ronnie Perkins. He's a true freshman with a great name and he was flying around last week. Let's see it again, young fella.

SCORE

I like the Sooners big here. I can hardly type on account of my crimson colored glasses. It was so fricking hot last week and the Sooners looked so sharp this 1st team Fan didn't even last a half. This team is good and at home the Bruins don't have a shot.

I'll go Sooners 59, UCLA 17

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

UCLA

As far as new quarterback era debuts go, it would be tough to do better than last week. An allegedly solid FAU squad proved to be more the consistency of butt mud. OU plowed through them and around them and over them with strikingly little resistance on their way to a dominant blow-out. That a FAU returned 10 of 11 starters on defense, carries some merit even. Even the Mike Stoops-led defense resembled something more than the usual collection of porcelain figurines strategically placed to look like a football team. But before we go sucking each other's dicks, let's keep in mind that this is FAU after all. And despite some preseason optimism, they are likely to be one of the easiest contests on the schedule. This week a likely more formidable UCLA Bruins team comes to town.

Here is the sum total of my knowledge of the UCLA football team: they lost their opener, they've had some (very) historically decent seasons, they wear a light blue/gold color combo that I hated as a kid but find mildly appealing as an adult. That they couldn't beat Cincinnati last week doesn't mean a ton to me as I know nearly as much about Cincinnati as I do UCLA. I'm certain though that if they were a real national contender this year, they wouldn't have lost. After saying all of that, I do assume they'll be a much bigger test for the Sooners. Hopefully the Sooners are firing on all cylinders on offense again, and the defense continues to play a passable version of itself and OU can keep rolling.

Offense

It's tough to decide who I would pick from last week if I had it do over again, though I don't think Rod Anderson's  absurd line would be a bad choice. Kyler Murray looked very good, but wasn't exactly tested. That said, I am going to go with the dynamic fellow this week. Will the running game be solid? Sure, I think so. But, I think UCLA will make this enough of a game that Murray plays more than 1.5 quarters, and as such puts up some pretty solid numbers. I think 300+ in the air and accounts for at least 3 touchdowns.

Defense

In keeping with tradition, I managed to pick a player who failed to start the game. It was slightly better than some past efforts in that Caleb Kelly is on the team, and is not injured. However, I did have my eye on Ronnie Perkins. He made several plays early and his name sounds like he could write one hell of a song about driving an 18 wheeler. Mr. Perkins, you now have the hex on you, you've been warned.


Score

Knowing nothing about UCLA makes this difficult, but the result will in all likelihood be as wildly off-base and inaccurate as most weeks. I think the Sooners TCB and put on a solid win. I do think they may come out slow as the script is flipped from last week, in other words everyone is expecting the world and UCLA has been given no chance. With that in mind I think the Sooners do yeoman's work and win it 41-24.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner