The 120th Red River Rivalry

Happy college football Saturday, Sooner fans. It's a big one today, you guys, as our beloved Oklahoma Sooners take on the deservedly reviled texas longhorns in the 120th edition of the Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. It marks the first time meeting as SEC foes, and it's already one of the top games in a conference where, "It just means more". Hopefully, it lives up to the hype.

The Sooners are 4-1 and happy to be there after an amazing come from behind win at Auburn two weeks ago. It was Michael Hawkins Jr's first start and it was memorable. MHJ was 10-15 for 161 with a dazzling two point conversion to cap the comeback after a Kip Lewis interception return for a touchdown.

Today, the longhorns come in ranked number one, a two touchdown favorite, with an 85% chance to win according to ESPN's matchup predictor. This one is going to be tough. 

OFFENSE

Michael Hawkins is the guy. The line play has been better since he took over, probably because he can read a defense and communicate what he sees. For the Sooners to win today, MHJ will need to take another big leap, so to speak, and sustain some drives. We know he can do it with his legs, and against Auburn he threw some dimes when he had to. I think to win, he's really going to have to demonstrate he can throw the ball to different levels of the defense and move it around so the Sooners can have some semblance of a running game. They have to be able to sustain drives, win the time of possession and essentially play keep away.

Also, to have any chance, it would be nice if the Sooners could get some or all of their banged up receivers and running backs. Some combination of Nic Anderson, Deion Burks and Taylor Tatum would be huge.

I'm going MHJ for my OPOG today. He's the first true freshman quarterback to start this game for OU in the entire history of this rivalry. Can he meet the moment?

DEFENSE

These boys are elite and they'll need to be today. Quin Ewers is back in the saddle for the longhorns and he obviously is the reason the horns are such prohibitive favorites. I like the Sooners chances of getting to him. Steve Sarkisian is a bit of a mastermind, I have to admit, so this one could be an epic chess match.

For my DPOG, I'll go with R Mason Thomas. This guy has that dawg in him when it's on the line. Today, it's on the line.

SCORE

Quite literally, everything has to go right for the Sooners to have a chance today. MHJ has to take another step forward. The Sooners need some key personnel on offense to be available and effective and the defense has to be their best version of who we now know they are. The Sooners need to win time of possession, keep Ewers off the field and get at least two turnovers.

Put it all together in a rivalry game and you can chuck that line out the window. If the Sooners win, it'll be a score of about 27-21

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

If it all works out, the Sooners can win 

texas

 After a week off to enjoy the Auburn win, it's back to business in the biggest of ways. The Red River Rivalry is once again renewed as the Sooners make the drive down to Dallas to meet texas once again. While I am a fan of tradition and historical matchups between teams, when OU left for the SEC I wasn't particularly heartbroken that we won't play KState every year. That game was just another team on the schedule. Even OSU, though I really hate Mike Gundy for innumerable reasons and loved beating him, doesn't really matter to me that much. But texas? That's a big one. John Blake survived two full seasons on the back of beating texas his first year in one of the rivalries bigger upsets. So all the to say, I'm thankful that the rivalry is continued even with the conference shift. 

Now, while I'm glad to be playing texas, I'm not terribly optimistic about this year's matchup. texas comes in as the #1 team in the country. I read that this is the 10th such meeting in the historic rivalry where one of the two teams is #1. Of those, the top team has prevailed 7 times, and one tie. The most recent upset of said #1 was our Sooners losing (what a shock) in 2008, 45-35. Now would be a wonderful time to update that most recent #1 loss. It will be an enormous test. I'm hopeful our Defense (who would've thought??) will be able to keep us in it. Quinn Ewers is back and texas can score with the best of them. While they don't run the ball extremely well, their passing game is borderline unstoppable. Our offense is banged up, and the offensive line is just, well, shitty. Points will be hard to come by. But, we've had two weeks to get ready, hopefully heal up a little and put together a gameplan to slow them down and hopefully score some points ourselves. 

Offense

Michael Hawkins has been solid. He mostly takes care of the ball which is huge. He does however struggle to move the chains. Auburn ate him up but he still managed to put enough together late to salvage a win. But, I think that game was a good one to get under his belt in terms of playing a big game on the road against a tough crowd. But, I think if OU is to hang around today, ball control will be essential and as such I think the offense will attempt to lean on the run game. I'm going with Gavin Sawchuck today. He's not been great so far, I think he breaks out today and has a James Allen-esque (I'm old) performance on the biggest rivalry stage.

Defense

I'm a staunch Danny Stutsman believer. Dude is great, and when our defense was struggling I refused to move away from him. I don't think I've picked a different defender in the past two seasons. But I finally see other guys stepping up. And in the interest of shaking up the mojo today I'm going with R Mason Thomas. He's been a wrecking ball and we will need him to plant Ewers, Manning or whomever is back there and force some turnovers with pressure and sacks. 

Score

texas is favored by 14.5 or 15 depending on your timing. Either way, more than two touchdowns. That's the vegas oddsmakers laughing at OU's prospects. A rivalry game of this nature with that large of spread should be lighting a fire under our guys. texas has all of the pressure, we have nothing to lose and the "nobody-is-giving-us-a-chance" gris-gris (look it up) on our side. OU stuns texas in one of the rivalries biggest upsets, 31-30.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner

Auburn

The Sooners travel to Auburn today for the first SEC road game and the first meeting against Auburn in the regular season. Auburn is down this year, but down is relative and winning on the road there will be tough. The Sooners played relatively well against Tennessee last week, at least defensively. I think game flow resulted in Tennessee playing a toned down version of their offense but the Sooners responded nevertheless. 

The biggest takeaway from last week, aside from a disappointing loss, was Jackson Arnold being benched. Venables made some uncharacteristically candid (in my opinion) comments regarding Arnold. Basically saying that he had absolutely no idea what Arnold was thinking on the RPO play where Arnold threw a backwards pass that wound up being a fumble. Venables, in so many words, said that handing off to the running back was a no-brainer choice there and on no level was a pass to the wideout even a part of the play. I'm wondering if Arnold is just wildly unprepared. He may have coasted, even dominated, on sheer talent in high school, but that clearly won't work at this level. Thus, the Sooners have made the switch to Michael Hawkins. He didn't look exceptional as a passer, but he made enough plays with his legs to inspire confidence that he might provide a spark on offense.

Offense

I've done an absolutely miserable job of even getting close here. In my defense the offense has been mostly terrible. Losing Farooq certainly hurt but we all know the real story here has been the piss poor offensive line play. Arnold is benched, we will see for how long, and Hawkins is in. I am looking for Hawkins, in a tough spot on the road, to have a solid first start. I think he keeps plays alive with his legs, makes enough throws, and keeps the defense off the field today. He's my OPG.

Defense

Stutsman! Stutsman! Stutsman! (chanting, smashing beer can on forehead, biting the head off a squirrel etc. etc.)

Score

Auburn has not done a great job of taking care of the football. The Sooners defense has done a nice job of forcing turnovers. This is the first road test of the SEC era of Sooners football. They have uncertainty at the QB position. We too have uncertainty at the QB position, coupled with a bad offensive line. Auburn is 2.5 point home dogs today. I think OU does enough today with the defense. Sooners win on the road 27-25.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner!

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Auburn Tigers

 Welcome to another Saturday of Sooner football. The Sooners are coming off one the  more memorable games in the modern era. They lost while playing host to Josh Heupels Tennessee Volunteers in the first ever SEC tilt for the Sooners.

Jackson Arnold played poorly, posting a 4.7qbr while coughing the ball up three times in the first half. His nuts were so far up in his throat it was choking off oxygen to his brain. Thankfully, the coaching staff realized this and benched him in the first half. Kudos to them for doing so.

The defense played lights out and showed they can keep the Sooners in any game. We now live in a biazarro world where the Oklahoma Sooners have a defense that can hold teams under 31 points and an offense that might have trouble putting up 24.

The Sooners are now 3-1 and today they face a beatable Auburn Tigers team. Unfortunately, nothing is going well for the Sooners. They bring in a true freshman quarterback with a still banged up patchwork offensive line. Michael Hawkins Jr. will be without Taylor Tatum at running back. Nic Anderson is out at WR, along with Deion Burks. Of course, this is in addition to the other injuries at wide receiver.

OFFENSE

My theory is that we haven't seen a real Seth Litrell offense yet. He's got the same record as Jackson Arnold and the same patchwork O-Line. I'm not sure Lincoln Riley could call a game with JA. That said, I'm definitely not expecting 60 today or any time this season. I'm just saying, improvement with MHJ seems plausible.

My OPOG is Michael Hawkins, Jr. He is the only reason for hope as last week he settled into a nearly impoosible situation, against the best defensive line the Sooners will see all season. He looked sharp, decisive and, importantly, he wasn't scared and he showed his team he'd lay it out for them.

He's going to have his struggles and I sure hope he stays healthy. The rumor is he's been better than JA since he got on campus. Maybe the Sooners have their guy after all.

DEFENSE

This is easily the best defense we've had in the last 15 years. It's a shame such a good effort resulted in the L against the Vols. 

Today, they face a mistake prone Tiger offense with their own questions at Quarterback. They could feast if there isn't a letdown.

I'm going with Jayden Jackson for my DPOG. That young fella is disruptive and always in good position to make plays.

THE SCORE

It's time to see what the kids can do and hope for incremental improvement today. We've got a freshman qb with a depleted wr group. Keep an eye out for Jacoby Johnson. They are moving him from db to wr and, according to rumor, he is playing so well he could start. He's 6'2" and could be a good target.

I do think the Sooners win today just because, thankfully, Auburn is not good. I'll take the Sooners 34, Auburn 17.

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

Tennessee Volunteers vs. Oklahoma Sooners

 Good afternoon, Sooner fans. It's a hot day and big weekend in Norman. The Sooners kick off their SEC era again Josh Heupel and this town is hyped. Tennessee fans are everywhere. This is big time.

It's so big I have to be brief here. This one feels like when Texas Tech came in thinking they would make a national statement in Norman, at night. The Sooners smoked them. I'm not saying the Sooners smoke the Vols today, but they are not going to run over, around and through the Sooners.

If we know nothing else, it's that being the underdog is when we play our best.

OFFENSE

Obviously, it's the O-line. That's the story for every game from here on out. The Sooners will have Nic Anderson back today. Taylor Tatum is emerging as a stud in the backfield. Jackson Arnold can get you out of a jam. But without that O-Line, we're toast.

Today for my OPOG I'm going Taylor Tatum. If OU can run and win the time of possession battle, we have a chance.

DEFENSE

I saw a stat that said the Vols average more rushing yards per game than OU's entire offense per game. Erego, vis a vis, suffice it to say, the Sooners have to stop the run. 

The Tennessee QB has never played a true road game. The crowd and the D need to frazzle him. 

My DPOG is R Mason Thomas. Dude is a beast.

THE SCORE

I really don't think the Sooners can match the offense of the Vols. But if they do, they will win by of score of, say, 31-28.

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

Tennessee

 This Saturday marks a new era in Sooner football. For the first time since the formation of the Big 12 our Sooners open up a conference play in The SEC. It’s a big deal and really solidified the SEC as the premier football conference in America (if it wasn’t already). Sadly, our Sooners open this new conference era with a murderers row of opponents. Our next 5 games are against teams all within the top 7 rankings currently. I guess this is what we can expect now. Unfortunately we’ve looked, um, pretty shitty as an offense so far. And while Tennessee is definitely a team more know for their ability to score, SEC football is defense first and then figure everything else out. This doesn’t bode well. 

Accordingly, Vegas has us a 7 point dogs at home. This is probably pretty fair and, honestly probably generous for us. The crimson and cream did manage to right the ship somewhat against Tulane but definitely didn’t put them away until the last few minutes and it was very much anyone’s game in the fourth quarter. Yikes, I’m not optimistic. 

I’d be remiss to not mention this as the homecoming of Josh Heupel. He was a great QB for OU and a very mediocre OC. I know he’s turned Tennessee around but all of this lamenting of his firing forgets the fact that that the Sooners offense was the epitome of mediocre and predictable while he has the reigns. He’s clearly grown as a coach (and a human—physically) since he left. I wish him all the best and I hope he gets a warm reception from the home crowd, but I also hope he loses. 

Offense

Jackson Arnold has been pretty bad. He was better last week, but damn sure not good enough to win against a better opponent. Tennessee plays as close to big 12 football as it gets in this conference. I suspect OU will try to control the ball and win time of possession. As such I am going with Taylor Tatum. He’s been very good, and I know he’s not the number 1 guy yet but I think this week he breaks out. 

Defense 

Who else? Stutsman, that’s who. 

Score

Whew, I’m really pounding the Sooners brew and looking through all the right lenses here. I’ll squint just right and turn my head to precisely the right angle to see OU em stunning Tennessee 27-24. 

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner 

Tulane Green Wave vs. Oklahoma Sooners

 The Tulane Green Wave come to Norman on a beautiful Saturday to take on our 2-0 Sooners. The Sooners looked like wet turd on offense last week in a much closer than the oddsmakers predicted 16-12 nailbiter against hapless Houston. The defense looked good and sealed the game. It looks like they may have to do that for the foreseeable future. 

Tulane gave a scare to Kansas State last week in New Orleans. The Sooners had better be ready to play.

OFFENSE

The offensive line is putrid. They got no push in the run game and they were undisciplined in the final moments with an inexplicable personal foul almost costing them the game. 

Today's OPOG has to be Jackson Arnold unfortunately. He has to figure out a way to manage this team and figure out a way to get some yards on first down. They can't be living in 3rd a long. This is the last week before it gets "real". With this offensive line, I have serious doubts.

It doesn't look like Nic Anderson is back yet, either, so JA has his work cut out for him.

DEFENSE

This group is playing hard and by and large doing the right thing. They had one bad breakdown last week which is going to happen.

That said they have to be better to cover this offense. That's wild to think in the modern era, but here we are. 

Today I like Gracen Halton for my DPOG. He's at 2.5 sacks thus far and he's a big, disruptive fella. Why not?

THE SCORE

It turns out that some concerning hallmarks of the Brent Venables era is a lack of discipline and poor ball control and clock management at the ends of halves.

I can't believe the lack of confidence in the Sooners offense at this point. Perhaps they can fill a hole or two on the line this week. 

I'll take the Sooners 31, Tulane 17

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner.