The Big 12 Championship

The Sooners have played their way into the Big 12 championship yet again and have a chance to start putting a pretty bow on a season for the ages. To recap,  Bob Stoops resigned and the Lincoln Riley era began. Baker Mayfield returns to "finish what he started". Then, in spite of losing their top wide receiver and top two running backs from a year ago, Baker manages to run an offense that's arguably improved over last year. Aaand, he's running away with the Heisman Trophy.

Following the inexpicable Iowa State loss, the offense has rolled on and the D has done enough to not ruin hopes and dreams. They've run the Big 12 gauntlet. Everything is out if front of them.

I am, dare I say, optimistic. It's all out there for the taking. A win and they're in the playoff. Standing in the way is a pesky Gary Patterson TCU squad. He will be pulling out all the stops.

OFFENSE

At this point there are no surprises. The presumptive Heisman trophy winner, the best O-line in college football and play makers all around. The Sooners need to take care of the football and not take sacks to win this one. TCU has to play otherworldly and still the Sooners will score points.

Round 1 of this matchup was the Rodney Anderson show. He dominated rushing and receiving. This may have been born more out of necessity than game plan as TCU has a salty pass defense. It's going to take a more complete collective effort from the wide receivers to build up enough scores to get comfy. Distributions to a variety of wide receivers and a bruising run game should soften things up nicely.

Baker is OPOG 1A (and spoiler: he will be for every remaining game) but for 1B I'll go Marquise Brown. Just a gut feeling. Visions of him catching the ball in stride in open space get me fired up.

DEFENSE

The oft maligned defense has managed to do just enough over the course of the season to win but, to their credit, they've battled, made plays when they absolutely had to, and made more adjustments both in game and in season than I can ever recall.

The good and frustrating thing about this D is they tend to play with an edge in big games. So they should be good to go. Why they can't do it all the time is beyond me but I'm moving on from it. All I care about is good effort and good tackling.

Much like the last time these teams met I'm not scared of Kenny Hill. He is average at best. This offense is a pretty good matchup for this defense. I'm sure there will be some frustration with awful tackling including some missed chances in the backfield and a run or two up the middle that go for big yards. It's just what you get with these guys. All you can ask is to keep it to a minimum.

I don't think there's a individual you can pick in this group. It'd be a stretch to say that's a good thing because the collective is untrustworthy. If forced I'll take Caleb Kelly. He has the potential to make an impact blitzing Hill, stopping the run or defending the pass.

SCORE

I'm feeling pretty good about this one. I ain't skeered of the TCU offense. I think the Sooner D will step up but they are going to take some big shots from the Frogs. Again, TCU has nothing to lose and will relish playing the spoiler role. The Sooners offense is going to do what it do. I'd like to see the Sooners keep the hammer down. No points are too many. No lead is safe. Hopefully they don't have to play from behind.

The D really just needs to be it's average best. If TCU punts more than five or six times I think that's enough cushion for the Sooners to build up a solid lead. Then it's on to the next round.

I'll take the Sooners 42-28

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner.

OU vs. TCU

Well that was exciting wasn't it? It was easily a top 5 Sooner game I've seen in person.

For grins, my top 5:

5. OU vs. Texas 1996. It was my Freshman year at OU. Only RRR game I've been to. I bought my ticket the day I enrolled. My seat was about 3 rows behind the texas bench and on the 50 yard line. OU was shit that year but won in overtime. First walkoff win I saw until...

4. OU vs. Oklahoma State 2012. A puncher's brawl. No Defense. Last team with the ball wins. OU had the ball last. Unbelievable game by the Sooners. If half the teams of the Stoops era had this team's guts, Stoops would probably have 3 titles.

3. OU vs. Nebraska 1985 - Being but a wee lad I had no idea what was on the line here. Winning seemed as natural as Saturday morning cartoons. I don't have much memory of the game except for sitting in the North End Zone with my Dad and freezing our asses off. This, along with parking cars for money to buy tickets, are my first memories of Sooner football.

2. OU vs. Nebraska 2000. The cherry on top of the cake that was Red October. Best football atmosphere I've ever felt. First time I physically felt electricity in the air.

1. The National Championship game versus Florida State 2001. The culmination of a boyhood following the Sooners. Grew up during the good times, went to OU during the bad. Standing at the doorway of the real world back on top.

Back to last week.

Man, what a game against OSU. No Defense except when it mattered. A classic Lonnie game. One stereotypical costly pass and gaudy numbers otherwise. Two double digit comebacks. Then an awesome celebration that made you remember these are just college kids. The wind was so strong up in the 103 that my eyes started misting over.

So now TCU. It's TCB Saturday Part Deux. Win and a BCS game invite is all but assured. (Great question posed by friend Lucas Howard. Do you want the Sooners to go to a BCS and face Oregon? Holy smokes. I like their chances against Kent State.) Potential letdown maybe? Sure, but this team has shown over the course of the season that they can take a punch. According to Rocky that's what winner's do.

OFFENSE

Man I want to throw Landry a bone here but I can't. I dare not even speak of what he's been doing the last couple of weeks. Instead I go Justin Brown who's been as reliable a receiver as any of the greats the last few years. He's gathered in something ungodly like 30 catches the last three weeks. Sure handed, hard to bring down, great blocker. Damn, sure do wish we had this guy another year.

PS. Please, dear Baby Jesus, don't let TCU see the tape what happens when you get pressure on Landry.

DEFENSE

It seems ludicrous to say, but maybe the boys are getting their sea legs back under them. Sure, they've given up yards in chunks and they're as soft up the middle as a three dollar tart, but they made plays when they had to last week and they need to hang their hats on these modest victories.

That said, TCU does not have the kind of offense that can score 50 points against average defenses. Even these supposed experts who say the Horned Frogs rush the ball very well are being kind at best and paranoid at worst.

TCU is not that good. I can't believe I'm doing this but I'm going Javon Harris here. If he makes me look like an asshole then it will be no surprise. But, if he can turn 3 whiffs into tackles, the defense just got about two touchdowns better. It's time for him to be a difference maker in a good way.

THE SCORE

TCU comes into the game being able to exploit the soft run defense of the Sooners. But can the Sooners take away the pass and make TCU one-dimensional enough to lock in on the run? Is the historically great TCU defense good enough to keep the Sooners offense off the field?

Maybe and no.

The Sooners are too much of a load on Offense and this could be almost like a home game for the Sooners. Fort Worth is an over 50 Sooner fan's wet dream. The only better regional location is Branson.

All things bode well for our Sooners.

OU 31 TCU 17

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner