texas

 Good morning Sooners fans. Coming into the Red River game on the heels of the shittiest of shitshows, our Sooners will try to do their best impression of a football team today. What a strange season it's been. I am aware of the fact that Nebraska sucks, but there is no way they suck enough to make the defense that showed up last week look good. What the hell happened? After Lincoln, for the first time in many years, I actually felt like the defense could win us some games. Then, they got absolutely destroyed by KState and TCU who aren't exactly the 99 Rams. Last week when talking with Mitchy before the game, he offhandedly joked that this wasn't a John Blake team, but honestly I don't remember a Sooners team getting embarrassed that badly since Blake was at the helm. Nothing worked on defense and in a be-careful-what-you-wish-for scenario the dreadful Dylan Gabriel went down and Davis Beville came in to dispel any rumors that he might know how to execute a forward pass. In two short weeks the Sooners went from a top 10 team with playoff aspirations to out of the top 25 and standing around with their dicks in their hands. 

On the other side texas gets back their QB Quinn Ewers who looked like the real deal before going down against alabama. Plus they have probably the best RB in the country with Bijan Robinson. Sprinkle in a dash of completely inept Sooner defense and we have a 3 Michelin Star recipe for an absolute ass beat. But....you never know in this one (speaking of John Blake: James Allen > Ricky Williams anyone?).

Offense

This is the worst OU quarterback situation since Justin Fuente duked it out with Jarrail Jackson in the 90s. Only Patrick Fletcher is not walking through that door. Has anyone checked out the Snow Junior College QB? While entertaining myself with this trip down memory lane aka nightmare OU football era I am simultaneously disgusted with how far the QB situation has fallen. We have been so spoiled for the last two-plus decades. And for the first time since Mitch and I have been doing this exercise in futility known as our "blog" I am struggling to think of who is a good candidate for OPG on offense. I'll dart throw a Marcus Major pick our there. I just can't envision a WR or TE going off with no one to give them the ball.

Defense

What a tire fire this has become. Again. I'll say DaShaun White for no good reason.

Score

I really have no confidence today. Pathetically enough I'm just hoping we don't get blown out again. But, I will sit down and watch at least the beginning with hopes that there is a miracle somewhere up Venables sleeve, maybe if he yells enough they'll play well. Sooners pull off the improbable, 31-30.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Longhorns

 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

TCU

 Quicker than expected, we've reached the point in the season where this become a lot less fun. KState, the team OU refuses to beat did their thing again last week and ruined our season. More accurately, we ruined our own season. A few takeaways, the defense looked very vintage OU in making Adrian Martinez look Drew Brees and Tom Brady had a baby with Steve Young. Which is really a feat considering he's got quite the body of work proving that he's excitingly mediocre to sub-par. Second, Dylan Gabriel is not the answer. He's pretty terrible actually. I've been saying all season that his horrible inaccuracy would burn us against a good team. Turns out I was wrong, it burned us against a team that Tulane beat. But, in spite of his shittiness, this one falls on the defense. OU shouldn't lose to anyone when scoring 36 points. 

Offense

I will go with Marvin Mims here. Even though DG will likely leave about 75 yards out there with missed throws, Mims is too good to contain. I think he goes off for 100+ and a score today.

Defense

I'm really down on the D after last week. It was so frustrating. But, I'm still not defeated enough to quit picking someone so I will say Billy Bowman for the simple reason that he is the first guy I thought of.

Score

I saw this as a trap game earlier in the year as TCU always plays us tough, it's on the road and I presumed we'd be coming in undefeated and getting amped for texas. Sadly, that is inaccurate but I'm still nervous for different reason. Notably, that we don't look very good. Still I will ride with OU in this one in what I assume will be another track meet as I have doubts we can stop anyone halfway competent. Sooners win 38-33.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner

K State

 The Sooners kick off this evening for their first conference game of the year. Last week was a most pleasing dismantling of a very bad Nebraska team. I was predictably nervous thinking that the coaching shake up would inspire the huskers, but after a first drive TD the Sooners starting playing what I think is referred to as “defense”. I’m vaguely remembering this concept. But whatever it is, it’s fun and I hope it continues. It’s amazing how just competent tackling and being in position makes an enormous difference. Seems so simple, but OU hasn’t done it in years. I hope it continues against a KState club that has been a thorn in the Sooners side the last few years. 

Offense

On paper, Dylan Gabriel’s season looks very good up to now. He has solid numbers, doesn’t turn the ball over and the Sooners are 3-0 in strong fashion. But to the eye, dude looks terribly inaccurate. He misses so many open receivers and the deep ball he was lauded for previously is, um, inconsistent. It’s all fine against bad teams, but the Sooners will lose against good competition if that continues. As such, I’m going to stay away from the passing game with today’s OPG and go with Marcus Major. Eric Gray had a huge game last week and this week I think Major steps up and has a great game. 

Defense

When OU hired Brent Venables the hope was that he could turn the D around. So far he has made good on that. As I mentioned before the competition hasn’t been great, but in recent years bad teams had huge games against OU consistently. Today I’m going with Reggie Grimes. Dude has been a beast and I think he gets another sack today. 

Score 

The Sooners are 13.5 point favorites today. Two TDs is a healthy margin, especially in conference play. But, it’s in Norman and I think OU heads to cover city. Sooners win 34-17. 

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner 

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Kansas State Wildcats

Hello Sooner fans. Our boys find themselves 3-0 after an inspired win at Nebraska. I mentioned last week that the axing of Scott Frost was the dead cat bounce of a 20 year free fall and I was not wrong. The Huskers were outmanned in every facet of the game.

That said, there is still a certain cache with the Cornhusker brand and delivering a thoroughly dominant performance against them, at home, in a primetime tv time slot was a big deal for Brent Venables and the Sooners. Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt called the game and could not stop talking about how this Sooners team looks and feels different. 

Today the Kansas State Wildcats roll into Norman, offering the Sooners another opportunity to take a step forward and to show the college football world they are, in fact, different than Sooners teams of recent memory. KState always give the Sooners a hard time, a fact not lost on oddsmakers who have installed the Sooners as 13.5 point favorites. It's suckers bet to take KState. Past is not prologue for these Sooners.

OFFENSE

The Sooners racked up 35 first half points on the shamefully slow Husker defense last week in Lincoln and it should have been worse. Dillon Gabriel was not crisp on several passes including most of his tries deep middle. He missed an easy throw that would have gone for six on a deep middle pass and the Sooners subsequently had to try for a field goal which also missed. We Sooner fans are spoiled with high level quarterback play but that also means we know what it looks like and Gabriel is not at that level currently. Now, to his credit, he's above 65% completion and, crucially, has zero turnovers. The question is, what can his ceiling be? Remember, he missed most of last season and he's played all of three games. You have to think that he's going to start settling in, slowing down a little and hitting more of those deep targets. Seeing if he can develop under Jeff Lebby is the most interesting thing to watch for me on this side of the ball from this point forward. If things progress as I hope that and Gabriel takes control of the offense then watch out. 

Gabriel is my OPOG today because I want to see him clean it up today and really take the reins of the offense. A welcoming home crowd should provide that opportunity.

Key to Gabriel's success will be Eric Gray. The Sooners clearly are hell bent on establishing the run and Gray has been fantastic. The Wildcats will sell out to try and force the Sooners to throw. I expect lots of play action with Gray getting the ball often on short passes and screens. 

DEFENSE

Deuce Vaughn is the Alpha and Omega of the Wildcats offense. The Sooners, in their turn, will gameplan around slowing and/or stopping him. This will be the first real test of the Sooners defense. I've seen nothing yet to indicate the Sooners aren't up to the challenge.

If the Sooners can win the line of scrimmage as they have every game thus far, Nebraska transfer Adrian Martinez will be running for his life.

The Sooners have been holy terrors defensively and it hasn't been just one person. Reggie Grimes, Billy Bowman, Danny Stutsman, Ethan Downs and Jaren Kanek have all stood out to me over the course of three games. You love to see it. 

Now, I said past is not prologue but you can count on the Wildcats being physical. That's just what they are. The Sooners, though, are now in a position to not only match it, but if they can somehow be demonstratively more physical than the Wildcats, watch out. It's an indicator the Sooners are not to be easily dismissed in conversations for national title contenders. That's not crimson colored glasses, either. We're talking about having an established identity that, if the Sooners had it over the last five seasons, could have resulted in one if not more titles. Seriously.

For my DPOG today I'm going with Deshaun White. He got ejected for targeting last week which opened the door for extended playing time for Kanek. Kanek already looks like a beast and if he's hot on the heels of White then hopefully that inspires White to step up his game. 

SCORE

I don't think this will be a particularly high scoring game but I definitely see the Sooners winning comfortably by three scores. I don't think the Wildcat offense will be dynamic enough to damage the Sooners if the Sooners can maintain the focus and physicality they've shown so far this year and I think the Sooners offense has a chance to really settle in and start hitting their stride with the game being in Norman. 

I like the Sooners 42-17.

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers

Hi OH Sooner fans. It's another glorious football Saturday. Shit's getting real for the Sooners this week as they hit the road and take on a big name in the Nebraska Cornhuskers. I almost spit out my teeth when I read the news that the Huskers gave up 642 yards in a loss last week to Georgia goddang Southern. Not GeorgiaTech or plain ol' Georgia. Georgia Southern. That, my friends,  is a turd that cannot be polished and Scott Frost is now unemployed. 

Are the Sooners walking into a trap? Can the Huskers possibly re-compose in one weeks time and by sheer will  and the good Lord's blessing play well enough to beat a game Oklahoma football team?

No.

OFFENSE

The Sooners offense is still a work in progress. It would be a massive understatement to call most of their first half last week uninspired. I would love to blame the listless and spoiled home crowd for it.  One could even make the excuse that they might have been looking ahead to the Huskers. Fact is they're still looking for an identity. 

I think they want to be a punishing running team and they've been leading that effort with Eric Gray. Gray is good, averaging almost seven yards per carry, but Marcus Major is the way. Major is dorking people out of their shoes  and running through people if needs be. I think he's going to get more action today as he should. 

Dillon Gabriel has been great. I must admit I'm not blown away by anything he does so far but the fact that he's completing 70 percent of his passes and has zero turnovers is as good as you could hope for from him. Imagine when he has complete comfort in the offense. Methinks primetime tv against a big name team could do wonders for Gabriel's confidence if he can maintain his progress. Hopefully the Husker D is as shitty this week as last.

I'm going with Marcus Major this week for my OPOG. He earned more PT last week and he's too good to keep off the field. His success will make life too easy for DG and Marvin Mims et al. 

DEFENSE

I love the enthusiasm coming from these guys. They have been the backbone of the squad so far and that's exactly as it should be. They need to be steady today as the Huskers will no doubt be inspired by the coaching change. 

The simple key for the Sooners is getting off the field. They have to win the majority of third downs so they can stay fresh and drain the hearts of the Huskers.

I'll take Billy Bowman for my DPOG today. He has been in on a lot of tackles thus far. He's all over the field. It looks like he's got his sea legs under him and his confidence is growing game by game. Make the leap today, my guy. 

THE SCORE

I grew up with a couple of sisters whose family are die hard Huskers. I will never forget the shit they gave me in the 90's when it appeared OU football was in danger of being forever irrelevant. My how the tables have turned. Nebraska is sad. Scott Frost is the dead bounce after a 20 year free fall.

The Sooners show the world this today and they win big. 

Sooners 34 Huskers 13

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner 

Nebraska

This week our beloved Sooners travel to Lincoln to rekindle what was once one of the great rivalries in all of college football. Conference realignment and the ever-changing college football landscape ended that era and as it stands, it's doubtful that anyone playing in today's game has any first-hand memory of that time. Nevertheless, the fans certainly do and it will be a raucous atmosphere today in Huskerland. No doubt you have seen that Scott Frost, one-time wunderkind QB of the very same Huskers, was fired after successfully driving his alma mater program firmly into the ground. Nebraska has probably never been worse in my lifetime as they are right now. Where have you gone Frank Solich? That said, I have some trepidation regarding today's game. First, OU did not look particularly good offensively last week against Kent State. They narrowly held a halftime lead after not being able to score during the first half until the final minutes. They erupted in a dominant third quarter, and then went back to napping to close out the game. I'm confident that it will take more than one quarter of scoring to beat an energized Nebraska program on the road, which brings me to my second fear. 

Nothing ignites a team like a coaching change; particularly a team that has talented players and has been underachieving. In essence, they are now playing with nothing to lose. They have a new, interim coach, they'll get the rah rah "show them what you're capable of" type speech, the fans will be amped to have regained something akin to hope, and as it stands their season is already in the toilet so what's the worst that can happen? In short, it's going to be a tough place to win today. There are reasons for optimism however. Unlike the last few seasons, the OU defense appears to be capable of making a stop or two on occasion this season. It's way too early to say they are an asset. But, who else thinks that the Kent State game, if played last year, would've been close in the first half, and then traded TDs the rest of the way to win on a failed onside kick attempt with 50 seconds left? There are reasons for optimism on both sides of the ball, today is almost an ideal next step to getting ready for conference play. Let's hope they can seize the opportunity and put together four quarters of good football on both sides of the ball.

Offense

I rarely get anything remotely right with these half-assed predictions. It's not uncommon that I pick a player who isn't even dressing. So when I say I got Marvin Mims right last week, I will likely sprain my elbow patting my own back. Let's see if I can make it two in a row. This week, I'm going to go with Braden Willis. I think the opener was a taste of what Lebby plans to do with his 27-year-old TE this year. That is to say, get him involved early and often and particularly in the red zone. I like Willis to catch 6-8 balls today and get at least one score. 

Defense

The defense, as I mentioned, seems to be improved. So much so, that there are actually a few options that could plausibly be considered for a defensive MVP of the game. But, unlike offense, I'm not going to go out on a limb here. I'm taking Danny Stutsman. This guy has been everywhere the first two games, and I only think this is going to continue as he gets more and more comfortable in the defense. Nevermind that he seems like he'd be the guy that eats the goldfish at Old Tex in Johnny B. Goode, "Texas sushi, Boy!" (serious deep cut there, if you have any idea what I'm talking about you should be equal parts proud and ashamed), if he makes plays, I'm in. 

Score 

OU is favored by 11 in this one. I think that is generous for the Sooners. As I mentioned, this will be a tough game on the road against a team with nothing to lose. Charles Thompson has faced the Sooners before so he knows what to expect. I think this game is won or lost in the fourth quarter and is tight the whole way. I think the Sooners TCB however, and this game is a 24-20 dogfight. Sooners win.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner