(hairy) Ball State

Good, nee GREAT title. So the Fighting Somethings (probably) of Ball State come into Norman tonight to defender the honor of The (insert mid-major conference here). I personally think that OU is going to handle this one. In fact, you might say I think we'll come out with a mind to do a little Ball busting. Even though they may have inspirations of being Cinderella tonight, I don't think they're going to enjoy the Ball. However, their offense isn't terrible and so our defense will really need to be on the Ball. Personally, I hope they everyone of them runs out like they just snorted an eight Ball. It won't hurt that Still and Broyles will (probably) be on the field and feeling well together for the first time all season, just to get the Ball rolling. Also, I think Dom Whaley is going to go out today and straight Ball. In short, I look for OU to have a Ball in this one.

Wow, I simultaneously embarrassed and impressed myself with that montage (by the way, what is the over/under on Berry Tramel making a similar pun, only in seriousness, at some point in regard to this game?). The fellows from Ball State may have fallen into a bad week to come to Norman. Allegedly everyone is pretty pissed at how they played last week on our defense and my guess is they'll look to make a statement and get the confidence going again a bit in anticipation of next Saturday's showdown.

Keith made some nice points in his mid-week bullets. However, he buffed out the scratches a bit for my taste. Let's be honest, Landry has looked terrible all year. Yeah, he has put up gaudy numbers but I can't think of one time where a drive looked great because he made excellent throws. He constantly over and under throws players, he makes at least 3 or 4 plays a game that make you say out loud the words "What the FUCK was he doing?", and he rarely (if ever) seems to go through a progression. Don't believe me? Watch him and where he is looking on pass plays, he almost never goes to a second or third option. Mark my words, if/when we lose this season it won't be in spite of him.

Second, the defense looked bad. What the fuck is all of this three man rush shit? More importantly, where are the alternatives when it doesn't work. The first two drives against Mizzou, we had three down linemen generate zero pressure on their QB. It was that or bring 8. Can we get some 4 or 5 man rushes on occasion? However, I'm not nearly as worried about the defensive situation as I am with Lonnie. I think (hope) last week was an aberration and a wake-up call for the D. I can see how they might have been patting their backs a little after the effort at FSU and let up some. Hopefully they learned that it doesn't work that way and it didn't cost us a loss last week.

Finally, it's probably deserving of at least a mention on here that Habern is out for several weeks. The O-line has been a bit of a patchwork job already thanks to injuries. We are getting some guys back, as Jarvis Jones looks to return to more regular duty this week. But, losing our center and arguably our best lineman is tough. We will definitely miss him, but hopefully Ikard can fill in adequately. Watch for some bobbled snaps in the gun possibly today. Hopefully not though.

OK, enough pessimism. That probably should've been it's own column last week but I never got it done. Anyway, I don't know a ton about Ball State. I know the basic stuff that's been in the papers (None of the Homework!). They evidently have a decent offense, and one that has been perfect in the red-zone. I don't think they turn it over much, maybe even no picks by their QB yet (what that must be like). But, apart from an Indiana team... er, scratch that, they've played no one.  I think we'll, handle them pretty well today on both sides of the Ball (keep 'em coming). Zing!

Offense

Well, I'll save the suspense of telling you who I'm not (ever) going to pick. Instead, let's talk about who I think it will be. I know I've not mixed up the players of the game too much this season, but nonetheless I'm going with my gut again. I think it's going to be Dom Whaley. I just love that guy and, let's be real, Brennan Clay is a good player but he shouldn't be starting or taking carries away from this guy. Whaley is great in all aspects of running the ball. I haven't paid much attention to his blocking, but I don't remember him getting beat specifically, at least not consistently and he seems to catch the ball pretty well although that sample size is pretty small. Let's start to feature him I say. Anyway, I think he breaks 100 this week for the first time and scores twice.

Defense

Somebody is going to have to step up and impress this week. I know Old Steady will be out there being, well, steady. He's vocal and he'll have the boys fired up. Also, I think we're due for a Tony Motherfuckin' Jefferson break out game. He's been solid but quiet so far this year. Don't make us regret the Motherfuckin' award. I'm keeping with my repeats theme for defense today and going with Frank Alexander. I don't think it's even a close race as to who has been our defensive MVP thus far and overall most improved player. He's been an absolute beast, and that Mizzou game last week fucking impressive. I think big Frank gets to the QB at least once and continues to be the disruptive force he's been all year.

Overall, I think we'll handle these guys. They'll no doubt score a bit, but I don't think they really threaten us at all in this one. I think the Defense come out fired up, and I think the offense clicks well. I hope Ikard gets enough reps. under center this week to be comfortable going into next week. I think we score early, I think we score often, and I don't think they do too much at all. Drew Allen gets some completions this week and Roy Finch gets plenty of touches as the Sooners win going away 48-14.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner!

OU vs. Ball State

One pair of OU football season tickets costs no less than $800.00. Your $800 gets you six games. In Oklahoma, the year is measured by the first game of the football season and the BCS Championship game. We'd just as soon not have January through July. So, to me, the idea of not going to a home game is ludicrous. But Oklahoma football fans are pretty spoiled and, believe it or not, this incoming Ball State football team has not captured the imaginations of the Sooner faithful. The result is the easiest, cheapest ticket you can imagine for a top-5 football team. I swear I saw Sooner fans giving tickets instead of coin to local panhandlers this week.

It doesn't help that last week's performance against Mizzou was marked by a pretty heartless effort by the Sooners. For whatever reason no one in Sooner nation seemed real fired up.

This Ball State ball game should serve as a perfect opportunity to correct last week's mistakes and get sharp in some areas because next week is a damn big one.

Things to work on:

• Pass Defense. The Sooner D was gashed last week and so far this season this unit either gets tackles for losses or gives up yards in massive chunks.
• Sustained aggressiveness on the Offensive Line. The Sooners can score fast and look like a machine when the O-Line is nasty. This unit needs to prove they can keep their heads out of their asses and keep their focus for a full game. It will be hard for them to do today.
• The Backup QB situation. Lonnie's jersey has been kept pretty clean this year but all it takes is one play for your whole season to ride on someone untested. The Stoops era has been marked by a stubborn unwillingness to give backup QB's any meaningful game reps. It's never made sense to me but maybe Bobby learned something from Sam Bradford's Senior season. There's no better time to strengthen the depth chart than today.
• The 3rd and 4th Wide Receivers. See the Backup QB Situation. Besides the emergence of Dom Whaley the most intriguing story on the Sooners Offense, to me, is who ultimately wins that 3rd spot out of Trey Franks (who won't play today), Dejuan Miller, Jaz Reynolds and Kameel Jackson. Franks, Miller and Reynolds have all made cases while Jackson is the darkhorse but is being given every chance. 
• Spreading the ball around. I really don't see this happening because Texas is next week but Lonnie could benefit by practicing checking down his receivers, working on reading progressions and distributing the ball to as many people as possible. 

OFFENSE


I'm stepping out on a precarious limb here but I'm going to go with Roy Finch today. In a perfect scenario Dominique Whaley's day is done after the first or second series of the 3rd Quarter. Finch or possibly even Freshman wunderkind Brandon Williams should see a good number of touches. If Finch is to have any kind of meaningful impact for the Sooners this year he needs to make the most of his chances today. So I believe (stupidly) in the good of humanity and I enjoy seeing the triumph of the human spirit so I believe Finch will rise to whatever occasion might be presented. However, I wouldn't be surprised to see him try too hard and fumble which would be devastating for him from a future PT (now that's Playing Time - Football Lingo) perspective.


DEFENSE


If I had to select a defensive MVP for the Sooners so far this season it would have to be Frank Alexander. He is a one man wrecking crew. Any Sooner opponent watching film has to be making plans to avoid this man whenever possible. I would even hope an opponent as hapless as Ball State is aware of this. That means, like a pack of lions working the hunt in tandem, Ronnell Lewis is going to have a lot of opportunities to make plays. If all goes according to my plans, he might break someone in half today. I'd be all for it. So The Hammer is my defensive pick.


THE PICK


Ball State are 40 point underdogs. The only real question is can the Sooners cover it. I know they can but I don't think they will. Josh Heupel seems pretty content to run whatever kind of offense he needs to keep the opponent at arms length. He'll have the Sooners going on long, boring methodical drives and it will be as vanilla as possible given the Red River Rivalry is coming up.


Maybe I should try to give away my tickets after all. Nah.


Sooners 42, Ball State 7

Edited to add: Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner! Tip them PBR's

OU - Mizzou Game Tape Review

This article is sponsored by the American Pigeon Museum and Library in Oklahoma City - When you have a message that you want delivered slow or maybe not at all, choose pigeon's, choose the World of Wings. 

Some quick thoughts after watching the tape (Presented in bullet points for my man TFrye who, "doesn't have time for paragraphs"):

• There is no real good excuse anymore for Dominque Whaley not being the feature back. The carries between he and Brennan Clay were nearly even. No disrespect to Clay, who really is a solid player, but he doesn't have the "missability" of Whaley (as Emmitt Smith might say). There was a series in the 3rd Quarter where Whaley had a hole close and he made himself small and, "squirted through the line" for a 1st down. The next play he caught a short pass, delivered a hit, stayed in bounds then used a spin move and a leap to get inside the 5. The next play he outran the defense to gain the corner and score. In short, he can do just about anything.
• The Sooners Offense is at it's best when the ball is getting spread around. Any offense is but I mean the Sooners really need to get Trey Millard and James Hanna involved every now and again. Those guys are under-utilized weapons.
• Jaz Reynolds did a nice job stepping up in Kenny Fuckin Shitbag and Trey Franks's stead.
• At the game I felt like Lonnie is a System Quarterback. I believe it more and more. His numbers are gaudy but his pant shitting robs him of real greatness. By pant shitting I mean anytime the pocket may collapse.
• In person I was disappointed in Josh Heupel's play calling. On tape it wasn't so bad. I think it was the fact that the "hurry up to the line play" was beyond predictable. When half-drunk homers in the last row of the upper deck are calling the plays, chances are good your opponent's Defensive Coordinator is dialed in as well.
• The Sooners D-Line is badass and Frank Alexander in particular is a damn beast.
• Gabe Lynn still looks lost on Defense.

OU vs. The Mizz

When the schedules were released this game looked like a marquee matchup. Sure, former Mizzou QB Blaine Gabbert left school a year too early to go to the NFL but, like all recruits, Gabbert's replacement is even better than Gabbert (who was the greatest of all times!).

Today, thanks in large part to a pedestrian victory over Miami (OH) and a loss to the only other D-1 team they've faced, Mizzou finds themselves nearly 30 point 'dogs. The GameDay crew didn't even bother with a score prediction. That's how little anyone cares for Mizzou's chances. As an aside, it's this college football irrelevency which inexplicably has given Mizzou reason to believe it belongs in the SEC.

Meanwhile, our Sooners, by virtue of a hard fought victory over a top five ranked Florida State squad on national television, has earned it's 30-point favorite status. Today they return to Owen Field where, lest we forget, the Sooners don't lose and where they shall be greeted as conquering heroes.

Oh, throw in the fact that the Mizz beat OU last year and revenge will be on the mind. Motivation plus confidence plus home field advantage equals an ass beat. It's true.

OFFENSE

Kenny Fuckin Shitbag Stills really pulled the Sooners ass out of the fire last week. Whilst doing it, he established himself as a bonafide threat and more than Robin to Ryan Broyles Batman. Trey Franks has also run afoul of some team rules and finds himself in street clothes today. I think this all means big things for Kenny. I mean, he's pretty much a badass. So I'm picking him.

In other offensive news I'm looking forward to Lonnie settling down (again) and the O-Line dominating consistently.

Also, my big question is will Roy Finch touch the football? Does it matter?

DEFENSE

Last week the Sooner D was vicious. I can't remember hitting like that since Mike Stoops was here. I shat my trousers when I saw Old Steady on the field.

This is a good time to mention that I was way off on who would sport the #12. My source said it would be Tony Jefferson. Full confession: My source was my grundle. I also thought Old Steady would wear 12 when he came back. So of course Frank Alexander wore it.

Today the key is stopping the run. Mizzou has some kid that averages 38 yards per carry. We can't let that happen.

I'm excited to see which Javon Harris shows up. On that note, I'm picking him as my defensive POG.

THE SCORE

I think Mizzou is a fraud. I'm wary about a possible letdown from the Sooners after an emotional victory. I'm hopeful the home crowd elevates the Sooners to greater emotional heights.

OU 42 Mizzou 17

My PBR's been cracked. Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner.

Missouri

The Sooners return home this Saturday for the first conference game of the season. After a huge road win last week, we will look to avoid a letdown this week at home. I think this is an easier game to avoid letting down in due to the fact that Mizzou beat us last season in our first (and only) week as BCS #1 ranked. It was obviously the only game Mizzou was interested in as they subsequently lost a few they shouldn't have and didn't even win the, now obsolete Big 12 North. This is precisely why they never won any Big 12 championships. Circling one middle of the season game as your biggest game of the year sets you up to not give a shit about the others. Anyway, they've been talking shit all week and appear to have a swagger coming into a house where they've not won since 1966. 1966. 

Missouri is probably a little better than they're given credit for ranking-wise (read: unranked). They lost a close one on the road in OT to the only real opponent they've played. Untested as they are this season, they return some pretty nice players, particularly on defense. According to Venables, their front four is tougher than FSU, which may be lip service but even if it is, mentioning that with a straight face says they are fairly legit at the least. Running the ball will be tough, and keeping the heat off the imminently flappable Lonnie will be key to avoiding turnovers and controlling the ball. 

Offensively, Mizzou has a QB that appears to be EJ Manuel with more speed. Not exactly what we would love to face, but he's unproven and appears prone to making some mistakes. He did however, have his best game on the road at ASU which shows he's at least capable of making plays in tough situations. At RB they start a 3rd stringer that is playing due to injuries. He did however, rack up 260+ yards in the first half last week...against FCS opponent Western Illinois. So, I'm not sure how much that means, probably little. 

I think we will be ready, I think our defense should be able to slow them down quite a bit, and I think our offense will be clicking much better than it was last week. All of that, plus the home field advantage will prove too much for Mizzou. As much as the company line is "it's just another game" etc., I think payback is more on the players and coaches minds than they are letting on. I'm pumped, it's another primetime game on national TV and we will come to play.

Offense

After the first two games of the season, we've displayed a pretty balance attack. Lonnie looked average last week which was sadly better than most expected. This is probably why everyone is acting like he played so great. Exceeding expectations always helps. With that said, it's hard to not want to pick a WR as the offensive player of the game. I think I nailed it (patting back) with the Stills pick last week, he saved us really. And the week prior, Broyles dominated. Couple that with the fact that the Missouri secondary appears to be the weakest part of their otherwise solid defense makes one of those two a solid choice. While, I do think one, and maybe both of the receivers will have big games, I'm going with an RB for my pick. I think Dom Whaley once again feeds off the home crowd and comes up big tonight. I love his running style. It's such a great mix of elusiveness, power, speed and has shown a nice ability to break tackles. I think he gets close to 100 yards, but 2 scores give him my player of the game tonight.

Defense

Last week the D looked good, Javon Harris and Tom Wort battled each other to become the first ever most valuable player and least valuable player simultaneously in the same game. Mitch sent me this text during the game which summed it up pretty well "Love Javon Harris. Next series might hate him. PS I might have a heart attack." Not sure how any of this leads to my pick, but I thought it was worth mentioning. While the squad in general doesn't want to mention pay back from last season, one player did. The gist of his comment was that though it might seem strange, he was looking ahead to this game even last week prior to FSU. Though I'm glad I didn't know that last week, it makes me have a chub knowing it now. Further provoking me to full on hard is that the player was Tony Motherfuckin' Jefferson. I think he comes to play, racks up some big tackles and forces a turnover of some fashion.

As for the final score, I think we will struggle a bit at times defensively, not sure why I think this but a hunch I guess. That coupled with  their solid defense prevents a rout. However, I think we turn it on enough that it's not as close as it was last week (I fucking hope not anyway). I think the Sooners win this one 34-17. 

It's payback time, and I for one can't fucking wait.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner

Monday Thoughts

Wellsy wellsy, OU came through in a big way Saturday night. That was a really nice win on the road in a pretty tough atmosphere. It's too early to know what FSU will be like through the year, but their D seemed tough enough that they should win a lot of games. Losing Manuel (not sure how long) would hurt them though.

Lonnie predictably looked very pedestrian in this game. Yeah, everyone is on their knees in front of him for the 4th quarter touchdown pass, but honestly it was a terrible throw. All night he under-threw receivers, missed guys, and generally didn't play that well. Credit to their D some, but we've seen this dance with him before. Stills bailed him out more than once with unbelievable catches, and that TD was all him, but it should've been uncontested walking in the endzone as open as he was.

Speaking of Fuckin' Shitbag, what a night! He just might have "emerged" a bit. If I were an opposing defensive coordinator, I certainly wouldn't be comfortable doubling Broyles all night and leaving Stills one on one anymore, he proved he's very dangerous on the other side and can make some seriously tough catches in traffic.

Finally, the most encouraging thing about that win was the defense. I can't even remember the last time we won a game because of our defense. Yes, they've had good runs and have played well for the most part every year. But, that game was different. Apart from the one horrible play on 3rd and 28, I started getting the feeling that no matter what the offense did we were in good shape. I haven't felt that way since maybe 2001? Which, if this defense is like any of our defenses from the past 6 or 7 seasons, it's only going to get better as the season goes on. That could be scary if it holds up. Yes, there were breakdowns and despite a good game from Wort, he still makes some major mistakes, but we looked damn good Saturday.

Next up is Mizzou, and I expect that our guys are looking forward to the opportunity to pay them back for last season's loss in Columbia. I hope the D is ready again because it's another good offense (and defense really) from a Missouri team that I think is better than their early record. Glad this one is at home.

Florida State

Well, here are we are again reader(s). Mitch and I are, lets say, "not on the same page" when it comes to confidence this week. He predictably, is befuddled by the musings that FSU might actually be able to play with us or dare I say, beat us. I on the other hand, have sprained my neck nodding in agreement. Not really, mostly I reserve the right to question the Sooners myself. When media types suggest that FSU can hang with us, I spout prolific expletives and question all sorts of things relating to their mental status and genital fortitude.

Nonetheless, I'm quite worried about this one. As I alluded to in some email banter with Mitch this week, this game feels eerily familiar to me. To me, it feels like OU Nebraska 2000, when we re-cemented ourselves atop the college football universe by beating a #1 Nebraska team coming into our house. This has the pins set up in a similar fashion, and I certainly hope they don't fall in the same way.

FSU has presumably been taping calendars above the weight bench, listening to subliminal tapes etc. referring to this date. All since roughly one year ago when we absolutely kicked the shit out of them. They've improved no doubt. What worries me most about them isn't EJ Manuel, it's their defense. Yeah, Manual (another douchebag with initials for a name) is a great improvisor and the sort of QB that has given us trouble in the past, but I think he'll make some mistakes on the big stage (I fucking hope he does). Their defense however is coached by Mark Stoops. Who at this time last year was still in the early stages of implementing his system and was accordingly exposed by a great offense. However, as the season went on they got better and better. History has told us that if there is one thing the Stoops boys can do, it's design a damn good defense. That aside, they have some serious talent up front and in the secondary. My ass has puckered to inversion while writing this.

All of that doomsday gloom has led me to but one conclusion, we will win. Everyone keeps talking about how they return x number of players and they're experienced etc., but if anyone gives a shit, so do we. For the record, I'm in complete agreeance with Mitch that Tom Wort is suspect. He seems content on every play to lay out the hardest hit of all time. The only problem is he doesn't seem to care if it's the ball carrier, or if he misses completely. He has way too many missed tackles in open space. So I'm not thrilled with him either, he's not approaching Matt McCoy memorial Gas Rag status just yet, but he's certainly peering in the window. Also, I loved the Dominique Whaley/Allen Patrick comparison, well played. On to the picks:

Offense

Mitch is right, I'm not sold on Lonnie. Until he takes over in a true road game (e.g. today), then he's just not my guy. We've all seen the splits on home v. road stats for Lonnie this week, not pretty. But I'm optimistic (perhaps naively so) that another year under the belt will have evened those splits out and he'll play well today. I can't pick him however. I love the Broyles pick, spitting right in the face of the defense  who will no doubt be "keying" (real life football lingo!) on him most of the day. I hope Mitch is right, but I don't agree. I'm going to go, once again, with his battery mate so-to-speak in Kenny Fuckin' Shitbag Stills. Two weeks after making perhaps the worst offensive player of the game pick in the history of time (since he wasn't even in the stadium, though I was unaware of that suspension when I made the pick a week earlier), I'm sticking to my guns. I think Fuckin' Shitbag gets quite a few balls thrown his way in light of Broyles being the focus of the defense, and he does plenty with them.

An aside, I agree that the run game is crucial and more or less echo all of Mitch's sentiments on that front. I will make one prediction, Lonnie will throw at least one pick while trying to force one to Broyles.

Defense

I'm pretty nervous here as well. I think containing Manuel will be tough, but is manageable. The key will be the secondary, breakdowns like last week can't happen. It especially can't happen when Manuel scrambles and buys time. That's where the front four come in. I like our rotation there and I think they can do some damage. Which is why you can imagine the relief I felt when I saw that Mitch and I are going with the same guy here, Frank Alexander.  I think big Frank is going to have another really nice day. That said, I think Tony Motherfuckin' Jefferson also plays big and comes up with some kind of turnover today. He's wearing Soggy's 12, and frankly he's one hard Motherfucker.

I think this is going to be a (maybe) surprisingly low scoring affair. I think Lonnie struggles a bit, but I think their offense does as well. I think if we can avoid giving up big special teams plays (not a given), we can handle them well enough to win. I'm shitting bricks over this one, I'm not going to lie. The crowd will be tough, we will need some time to get our feet under us, and will have to withstand at least one furious second half charge. Sooners win, 24-21.

PBR's talls are iced. I'm pumped. Let's go out and beat these rotten motherfuckers.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner.