2011-2012 Offseason Review

I scrapped the first draft of my Offseason Review. You see, a key offseason development was the dismissal from the football team of Jaz "Hands" Reynolds, Trey Franks, Kameel Jackson and Quentin Hayes. I must admit, I didn't realize Quentin Hayes was dismissed. I barely knew he was on the team. He's that good.

Two days ago, the Sooners announced three of the four have been reinstated (Kameel Jackson, he of the prematurely announced transfer to Texas A&M being the lone exception), although all three are still suspended indefinitely. I imagine they'll come back (At least Jaz Hands and Franks) after the opener at UTEP when it will become painfully obvious that a team with perennial title hopes cannot win said title with a system Quarterback and no experience at the Wide Receiver position.

Oh, and on that note, what else could put more pressure on Lonnie, Coach Josh Heupel and the rest of the Sooner offense? Why the return of Mike Stoops!

Nothing has the groins of Sooner faithful swolt like the return of Mikey. The love-hate relationship with Brent Venables is over and, so too, hopefully, the bend-but-don't-break defense that the Sooners have come to rely on over the years. I believe the final straw may have been Venables and Willie Martinez (also gone) architecting the Robert Griffin III Heisman Highlight Reel in Waco (I'm a glutton for punishment and watched the re-airing of this one a few weeks ago. To call the defense sieve-like is an insult to kitchen implements, or really anything, with gaping holes).

The return of Mike does, of course, bring it's own level of pressure and expectations but this is Oklahoma and nothing but a title is ever really sufficient. In this case, nothing short of the baby-eating, sure-tackling, ears-pinned-back mentality that accompanied the dismantling of Florida State for that national title in 2000 will suffice.

So, as I say, no pressure or expectations.

There were also some offseason roster moves. I happen to be of the mind that if a player has contributed exactly nothing to the football team, that player has taken exactly nothing off the table by not joining the team. I don't think armchair recruiting gurus feel the same but they can go kick rocks.

One such player that failed to qualify academically is JC WR Courtney Gardner. I'm sure this has nothing to do with the return of Jaz Hands and Franks. Will Latu, an offensive lineman also couldn't make the grade.

What hurts the most is the loss of Ben Habern who called it quits after dealing with nech issues since high school. Habern had started 30 games in his career at Center and was preseason All Big 12 this year as well. That stings and will come back to haunt. Book it.

Next, Navin and I will go over the offensive side of the football for the 2012 Sooners. Obviously, it will be chock full of "insider only" info so you'll want to check and/or set your RSS feed accordingly.

OU vs. Iowa State

It wasn't that long ago when this OU - Iowa State tilt was a mere formality. A final tune-up for Bedlam and the biggest game of all time. A winner take all trip to the national title game.

Oh, those were the days! We were young and fancy free. We were sheltered from the cruel realities of a harsh and unjust college football landscape. We were naive in thinking these Sooners were worthy of a title shot.

Hardy-fucking-har.

It's hilarious to look back and think this Sooner defense might be some kind of juggernaut. "The best of the Stoops era" some thought. Shit that's rich. You know who has played consistently well on this defense? Ronnell "The Hammer" Lewis (now injured), Big Frank Alexander and Jamel Fleming. That's it. Last week it just happened to be Javon Harris's turn to look the shittiest.Everyone has played a part in this debacle though.

Last week I mentioned the different phases of the season. I forgot one. It's the one where Sooner Nation starts calling for Brent Venables job. That call is getting loud and if things don't go well the next two weeks it will reach full throat. Our boy Travis texted during the game last week that he wasn't renewing his tickets next year if Venables is on the sideline and he was serious.

Venables's bend but don't break defense is, on rare occasions, awesome. But when it's off my God it's terrible and the lack of adjustment is infuriating. Last week the Sooners got beat deep no less than five times. The Sooners never even saw it coming and never seemed inclined to do anything about it. I didn't read any interviews or watch the coach's show but I'm sure there was lots of talk about just being out of position, not knowing assignments and that sort of blame on the players. Whatever. At times this defense hasn't looked ready to play and it's the job of the coaches to have them ready.

Enough.

Sooner Nation needs to wipe the collective snot off its face and get ready for the ballgame this week. Iowa State boasts brings a Quarterback who has three starts under his belt. He can occassionally complete a forward pass (always gives us fits) and they have the biggest rah-rah coach in the conference. If the Sooners have a woe-is-me attitude who knows what'll happen.

I'm worried about Iowa State. That's how far we've come!

OFFENSE

Lost in the rubble of a bombed out 2011 Sooner campaign is the heart and guts the offense has shown pretty much all year. At times they've been ineffective but they've never given up. They've never looked totally lost. Last week they should have run the ball more. But they make plays and they scrap and they put up enough points that they should win every game if they had a defense that was worth a shit.

Get ready for a steady dose of running the football. The wind is howling today. That makes Stoops nervous. That said, I'm going with Brandon Williams. He looked good last week and he has to have a breakout game at some point this year. Today is the day.


Before I forget, how about the Belldozer? Dude is an animal. Like last week I probably should pick him. The Sooners would have scored on that two-point conversion as well. Book it.

DEFENSE

Oh, c'mon Maw, do I have to pick someone? Can't I boycott? I'm going to go with a Senior since it's Senior day. That means it's Big Frank, Travis Old Steady Lewis or Jamel Fleming. I'll go with Old Steady. The Iowa State passing attack really should be useless so Old Steady should have a chance to make a number of plays. Will he? I don't know! That's why they play the games.

THE SCORE

I just don't know. This jekyl and hyde defense has me doubting things I thought were infallible. True to my nature I will turn a blind eye to reality and cling to the hope that our best team shows up. The defense will play decent enough to win. The offense will not get too spooked by the wind and the Sooners will win just like they are supposed to.

OU 42, Iowa State 24

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner

OU vs. A&M

Last Saturday the Sooners, predictably and thankfully, took care of bidness. At home (as usual) Lonnie looked all-world and the defense looked like it ate babies for breakfast. Of course they did. It was a home game.

Well today the big question is, "Can the Sooners put together a complete game on the road or will they look like assholes again?" On paper, this one presents a tremendous opportunity to do the former. A&M sucks but they are a more notable name than, say, Texas Tech, Baylor, K-State et al. A&M of course is the home of the 12th man even though that means less than ever. So, while A&M sucks, their cache' would make a victory look bigger than it is.

The worry is that A&M put in some guy named Tannehill last week, replacing the worst QB in the Big 12, Jerrod Johnson, and the Aggie offense showed signs of life. Of course the revived offense was playing a beleaguered Tech defense but still. Do they have newfound confidence? Will they play hard for Mike Sherman, the worst coaching hire in the last 5 years of the Big 12?

I'm scared shitless of early A&M offensive success combined with "Road Shaky" Lonnie. This is the worst case scenario. The best case scenario is seeing the Four-Headed Monster of DeMarco (now on a first name basis with Sooner Nation), Ryan Broyles, Kenny "Fuckin Shitbag" Stills and Roy Finch wreak havoc whilst the Sooner defense beats up on an unimaginative and stagnant Aggie offense.

I would love to favor the latter option and be able to say with no reservations that the Sooners will beat that ass today but I can't. The Sooners have shown that they are nothing less than shaky and completely untrustworthy away from Owen Field. So it goes.

On with the picks.

Offense
DeMarco is the leader of this team. He's the face of the franchise, the captain, Everybody's All American, etc. This Sooner team needs a statement win on the road, not for the national rankings so much as for their own psyche. DeMarco is the man who can put the team on his shoulders and deliver the goods. I can't even consider anyone else here.


Defense
Texas is the only game I've felt confident in my pick. Every other week it's like throwing darts. Navin nailed it last week when he said the Quinton M.F. Carter pick might be the worst of the M.F. era. But who should it have been? Nobody stands out on a weekly basis. We might need to come to grips with the fact that this Sooners defense could be the worst of the Bobby Stoops era. I need to go back and look to see when I predicted I would start calling for Brent Venables job. It happens every year about this time. Be on the lookout for inspired performances by the D from now through the Big 12 Championship. Then prepare yourself for the inevitable pant-shitting on national television that will define what ever bowl the Sooners land in. All that said I guess I'll pick Quinton M.F. Carter here. I mean, I haven't watched much tape of A&M but they seem to be more run-heavy than any other team in the conference. That means Q can help in the box and lay the lumber. Possibly. Hell I don't know. Quinton M.F. Carter is my defensive player of the game dammit.

The Score
I'm going to say the Sooners struggle to score points but they do halfway decent and A&M hits on some big plays early. I of course like the Sooners.

OU 28, A&M 14

OU - Utah State THE BREAKDOWN

Here's the way it should go; The Sooners embark on a new voyage towards another national title. The sun is shining, the air is crisp, grill smoke is wafting through campus and a lame duck opening opponent takes the pistol-whipping they are paid to take. 90,000 spoiled fans see the bloodbath they crave. Everyone totters home drunk and happy.

It had damn well better go this way.

Navin has done a fine job identifying the "strengths" of this Utah State team. I'm too lazy to confirm his research by doing my own and thus am unable to refute or add to his assertions. Which is fine and dandy anyways because whilst Navin tends to be more pragmatic I, on the other hand, wear "Crimson Colored Glasses" and think every game should be won handily, PlayStation style, like the game was set on Beginner. I'm too old to change who I am.

So if, as Navin suggests, the Utah State attack is predicated on running the football, then they are fucked. The calling card of a Brent Venables defense is stopping the run. This makes me giddy because there is nothing I enjoy more than watching the Line Backers get a dozen tackles per man. It will also force Utah State into long third downs at which point I'll enjoy watching the Sooner D-Linemen pin their ears back, forcing the Utah State QB to both shit his pants and throw ill-conceived passes into tight coverage. Hopefully this means several turnovers, maybe even a defensive touchdown. See above the note on bloodbaths.

So here's who I like in this one on both sides of the ball:

On Offense

I'm really feeling Ryan Broyles here. He's getting a lot of love nationally. A lot of pub, if you will. In week 1 he exceeds the hype. The reason being that Offensive Coordinator Kevin Wilson loves to get his QB's settled down and into the game by calling easy little passes. Broyles is going to be Lonnie's security blanket in this game and probably all season. This means short throws to Broyles in the open field where Lonnie gets in a rhythm and Broyles does what he does best; Running like his hair is on fire.  I'm calling at least 150 yards and the Heisman Hype engine firing up on the first turn of the key.

On Defense


I've already mentioned how I envision the Linebacking corps amassing roughly 50 tackles as a unit. In spite of that, I cannot go with anyone other than Quinton M.F. Carter as my Defensive Player of the Game. We made a t-shirt for him for God's sake. I think an INT would be a bonus but I'm more excited to see some bone-crunching hits and maybe a sack or two from Quinton. Carter and Ronnell Lewis could be the biggest bonecrunching duo since Roy M.F. Williams and Brandon Everage. This is legitimately exciting.

The Score


This one isn't as close as the score would indicate.

OU 63, Utah State 6