Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Longhorns - The Big 12 Championship

It's the Big 12's wet dream cum nightmare; The conference's bell cow flagship schools playing on the national stage for a conference championship and yet, if Oklahoma loses, the Big 12 is shut out of the playoffs. Let's worry about that later and enjoy this for what it is. A second helping of the best rivalry in the conference, a chance at revenge for OU and a closing argument for Kyler Murray's Heisman bid.

This one will be a slug fest for the ages. Get your pepto, squishy balls, sniffing glue, booze or whatever you need. The Longhorns have nothing to lose and would love nothing more than to play spoiler to their arch rivals playoff hopes. The Sooners have to win and even that may not be enough to get them into the playoffs. They need to look good doing it. This, coupled with their historically awful defense, means the Sooner offense is going to be petal to the metal all day. There is no such thing as scoring too many points.

OFFENSE

I envision a greedy and aggressive Texas defense getting abused by misdirection and quick strikes. Murray will pick his spots to make some big gains. Marquise Brown might get 200 yards again.

The key, as always, is to not fumble the football. Murray might throw a pick and you have to live with that. But the fumbles are killers.

If Kennedy Brooks is remotely close to his usual self that bodes well for the Sooners. If Lee Morris and/or CeeDee Lamb are prominently involved that bodes well for the Sooners.

For OPOG I'm picking Kyler Murray the rest of the way. I think he deserves the Heisman. Nobody means more to their team. No team playing today needs their best player to perform more than the Sooners need him.

DEFENSE

We live in a world where a defense can give up 700 yards and still say it deserves much credit for a victory. Such was the case for this beleaguered unit last week against West Virginia. Texas has a few impact players on offense but are nowhere near as dynamic as WV.

The key to me is rocking Sam Ehlinger's world. So help me God if he has repeated success with that stupid draw play the Longhorns torched us on in October.  I'd love to see the Sooners commit to shadowing Ehlinger  and blitzing early and often from different positions all the time. Take chances. If your defense is shit and sitting back is ineffective, then why not? Speaking of nothing to lose...

For DPOG I'm going Caleb Kelly. For some reason I believe Ruffin McNeill is on the same page as me and will have the LB's shadowing Ehlinger and trying to light him up. He's as capable as any and frankly is due for some personal redemption.

THE SCORE

I like the Sooners here 56-49. It'll be two teams who hate each other slugging it out and the nation's best offense coming through yet again.

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

Iowa State

The Sooners travel to the bustling burg of Ames, IA, today to take on the Cyclones. If you were unaware that OU lost its only regular season game of last season against Iowa State, simply peek through your blinds, there is likely a bi-plane over your house dragging a banner behind it saying as much. In short, even in Louisiana I've been beaten over the head with this detail. It was a perfect storm of a bench QB being much better than even his own coaches thought, and a (marginal) defense being completely unprepared for him. This season, it sounds like (un)Kempt(beaver) may not even play due to injury. Regardless, I don't think the element of surprise will rear its ugly head again.

Last week was a win, but if there is such a thing, it was the worst kind of win. The kind where your Heisman hopeful (read: dominant) RB goes down for the year "with a knee." The "experts" and even Lincoln Riley seem to have downplayed this injury quite a bit. I was talking with Mitch earlier this week and we both agree that replacing Rod is no easy task. Yes, there are other weapons on the offense and even in the backfield, but he's clearly the best back on the team. That's not a loss that goes unnoticed. The question today is how much will Trey Sermon step up and can Kyler Murray take the next step as a passer to relieve some of the pressure off of the run game. Couple that with the first road test of the year and this is no key party in terms of guaranteed success.

Offense

So far the offense has (shockingly) not missed a beat from last year. It's a different style, and we can credit wunderkind Lincoln Riley for putting his guys in a position to succeed. The ball has been spread around nicely, presumably making it difficult for defenses to take away one particular weapon. As I mentioned before, injury has done those defenses a favor in taking away a big one. But I think Riley will adapt and I'm going to go with Trey Sermon today. I think he's heard the doubters and moreover, I think Riley wants an "I told you so" statement that the running game is still strong. This plays well for Sermon's confidence and for future opponents to know that even without Rod they'd better be ready for a run game. Sermon goes for 100+ and 2 (that's right, 2) TDs today.

Defense

If I were writing this same crap 15 years ago, defense would've been the fun part to pick. This season, albeit against 2 (so far) questionable opponents, the defense has looked...has looked...halfway decent? There, the kiss of death, so far I've dealt it to two players, now why not the whole unit? Today will present a tougher test I think, and the road factor always makes it tough, particularly if they have success early. One guy I've liked so far is Curtis Bolton. He beat out all-world recruit Caleb Kelly and has played well so far. Basically, I just guaranteed that he's out with severe food poisoning or he's spontaneously combusted.

Score

While the Sooners have given plenty of reason for optimism in the first two games, this is on the road against a pretty tough opponent. Iowa State has a good coach and these conference games are always a challenge. I think revenge is on the minds of the players for last season however, and I think Riley learned from last year that every opponent has to be taken very seriously. The Sooners withstand a close first half against a fired-up Cyclone team and pull away late to take this one, 41-24.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner

UCLA

As far as new quarterback era debuts go, it would be tough to do better than last week. An allegedly solid FAU squad proved to be more the consistency of butt mud. OU plowed through them and around them and over them with strikingly little resistance on their way to a dominant blow-out. That a FAU returned 10 of 11 starters on defense, carries some merit even. Even the Mike Stoops-led defense resembled something more than the usual collection of porcelain figurines strategically placed to look like a football team. But before we go sucking each other's dicks, let's keep in mind that this is FAU after all. And despite some preseason optimism, they are likely to be one of the easiest contests on the schedule. This week a likely more formidable UCLA Bruins team comes to town.

Here is the sum total of my knowledge of the UCLA football team: they lost their opener, they've had some (very) historically decent seasons, they wear a light blue/gold color combo that I hated as a kid but find mildly appealing as an adult. That they couldn't beat Cincinnati last week doesn't mean a ton to me as I know nearly as much about Cincinnati as I do UCLA. I'm certain though that if they were a real national contender this year, they wouldn't have lost. After saying all of that, I do assume they'll be a much bigger test for the Sooners. Hopefully the Sooners are firing on all cylinders on offense again, and the defense continues to play a passable version of itself and OU can keep rolling.

Offense

It's tough to decide who I would pick from last week if I had it do over again, though I don't think Rod Anderson's  absurd line would be a bad choice. Kyler Murray looked very good, but wasn't exactly tested. That said, I am going to go with the dynamic fellow this week. Will the running game be solid? Sure, I think so. But, I think UCLA will make this enough of a game that Murray plays more than 1.5 quarters, and as such puts up some pretty solid numbers. I think 300+ in the air and accounts for at least 3 touchdowns.

Defense

In keeping with tradition, I managed to pick a player who failed to start the game. It was slightly better than some past efforts in that Caleb Kelly is on the team, and is not injured. However, I did have my eye on Ronnie Perkins. He made several plays early and his name sounds like he could write one hell of a song about driving an 18 wheeler. Mr. Perkins, you now have the hex on you, you've been warned.


Score

Knowing nothing about UCLA makes this difficult, but the result will in all likelihood be as wildly off-base and inaccurate as most weeks. I think the Sooners TCB and put on a solid win. I do think they may come out slow as the script is flipped from last week, in other words everyone is expecting the world and UCLA has been given no chance. With that in mind I think the Sooners do yeoman's work and win it 41-24.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner

Florida Atlantic

We're back again loyal reader(s) for another year of the oft ignored/seldom read Steamroller. I am not sure how long we've been doing these posts but I'm thinking it has to be getting close, if not surpassing, ten years. Not a lot has changed save the forgettable and undoubtedly maligned audio/visual season. I could fairly easily go back and look up exactly how long it's been but that type of superficial research would break precedent of this half-assed site. Instead we'll press onward, facts and accuracy be damned. Welcome back. 

Last seasoned ended in unceremonious if not typical sooner fashion, with copious scoring and a steadfast refusal to attempt anything resembling defense. Several key players are gone from that very good sooner team none more notable than Baker Mayfield. When a player is drafted first overall, it's generally safe to say his replacement will represent a decline in production. For the first time in a few seasons QB is a question mark, however it's not a question of whom, but of how big that decline will be. Much of the luster has worn off of Kyler Murray since his freshman year at texas A&M. In part due to an underwhelming first year there, but also simply because time tends to create doubt, warranted or not. He looked good in tiny appearances last season, but teams gameplanning for him specifically represents a completely different obstacle. It will be interesting to see how he does. 

Offense

The aforementioned QB change aside, plenty has changed on the offense otherwise. Most notably the loss of key components on the offensive line. As any analyst worthy of an ESPN Under Armor high-school all-star game will tell you, this is where games are won and lost. Mayfield was great, make no mistake, but great protection and running game certainly help. Speaking of running game, last year's committee at RB slowly evolved into the Rodney Anderson show (who's inexplicable abandoning against Georgia cost OU the game in my opinion, but I digress), and what a show it was. That said the Sooners still possess great depth here. I'm a sucker for Trey Sermon who's a beast and it speaks to Anderson that he's gotten almost no hype going in to the season. WR looks well stocked and Calcaterra appears to be a capable replacement at TE. In this one however, I have to go with Anderson. Ball control will be essential against a fast paced, capable offense like FAU, and feeding Rod (really need a solid nickname here, The Rod?) will be a must. I think he goes for 150 on the ground and scores twice.  

Defense

As optimistic as I am with the offense, the defense is equally discouraging. I'm not sure where to find optimism, though I'm sure Mitchy can, yin/yang etc. Has anyone had a wider swing of adoration to loathing than Mike Stoops? I have ran the gamut with him and I've come to the conclusion that he's probably a great coach, coaching in the wrong era and unable to adapt. This could be a week one problem against a Lane Kiffin team that might as well be in the Big 12 with their style of play. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to pick a player here. I will go with Caleb Kelly. My main reasons are he has shown promise in the past, was a physically gifted recruit, and I'm 75% sure he's still on the team. 

Score

I think, as most do based on what I've read, that this will be a shootout. If OU comes to play defense in this one, let's just say it will be a welcome break of character. The last line I saw had OU -21, I would take FAU in that one, and I might now that Mississippi has sports books and I'm passing through there this weekend. I didn't see an over/under but barring something absurd I'll take the over. I do like the Sooners at home, and I think they do enough to win this in an angst provoking win. Sooners take it 47-33. It feels good to be back and it feels good to again say:

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner 

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.

Tulane

I hate to discuss old business at the beginning of this every week, but that was a damn good time last Saturday. At the risk of disparaging Bobby Stoops, that was the type of performance that hasn't been seen at OU in a decade. I can't remember the last time the Sooners played on a stage that big (and no, a nationally meaningless sugar bowl does not count) and kicked a team's teeth in. Aside from a solid drive, following a big kickoff return to open the second half, Ohio State did nearly nothing. Which leads us to the crux of the situation and I can't believe I'm even saying it but, the defense looked fucking good. Granted Ohio State hasn't done one thing to prove it's a good offense at this point and the Sooners may have exposed JT Barrett as what he is, a running back playing quarterback, even still that was damn fun. Let's also not overlook the OU offense. Offensive question marks aside, I don't think many would argue that Ohio State has a bad defense, in fact their front seven is one of the best in the country. Last Saturday, the only team that stopped OU on offense was OU. Bask in that glow for as long as you like.




....and we're back. Tulane rolls into Norman today for a tilt with the, now number 2 in the country, Oklahoma Sooners. Tulane resides in the heart of a rabid college football town, alas the town is rabid for LSU. While the Green Wave is never much more than a blip on the national spectrum, this is no run of the mill doormat. Should OU roll? Yes. Should this game be a formality? Yes. But, Tulane generally has a handful of NFL caliber players on the roster, and this is a prototypical let-down game. Am I worried? For the first time in years, I actually feel confident. Did I mention I'm excited for the Lincoln Riley era?

Tulane evidently runs some old school option type offense. I'm sure this is a jazzed up (New Orleans joke) version with some odd formations that get them in that game, but it boils down to disciplined assignment football. Ohio State game aside, this is not the type of offense that the Sooners under Mike Stoops have struggled with. The reason that option football has all but disappeared is because defenders have gotten so fast and athletic that teams who don't stay disciplined, or that miss assignments can recover. Fortunately for Sooner nation, the OU defense is both fast AND athletic. Basically, OU needs to get out of this one healthy and tuned up for conference play.

Offense

Cutting and pasting Baker Damn Mayfield here would be a short and accurate way of nailing this each week, but that would deprive you loyal reader(s) of me making an absurd and stupid pick each week (Trey Sermon last week not withstanding). I read earlier this week that coaches expected Mark Andrews to play this week, but predictably the Oklahoman neglected to revisit the subject as practices commenced. Why would anyone be interested in the health of the Sooners second best offensive weapon? (Regardless of his health, it seems like a good week to rest him in that I think this is winnable without him.) I went RB last week and I think (for now) Sermon has solidified himself as the first option. That said I think I'm going to go with CeeDee Lamb, he looks like the real deal and as fun as Badet is to watch, I think Lamb has the makings of a star WR.

Defense

Wow, what a show last Saturday, several guys looked the part not the least of which is Parnell Motley who really has the makings of being a stud. He was tested several times and answered. I don't however, envision Tulane passing a lot (though the may be forced to eventually if the score dictates it) so I'm going with Caleb Kelly. He's been somewhat quiet the first couple of weeks and with his speed I think he's going to make a bunch of tackles against the Green Wave's run-first offense

Score

I do think there might be some letdown after last week's emotional win. It has to be hard to get up for a second tier team after beating the number 2 team on the road. I do think the Sooners roll, however, just maybe not as dominating as could be. Sooners tighten up in this one, 49-21. This is getting fun again.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner

Oklahoma Sooners versus Ohio State Buckeyes

In victory last week the Sooners managed to not only avoid calamity, as the Longhorns of Texas and Bears of Baylor could not, they looked damn good in what was a very businesslike and near flawless ass whoop of UTEP.

Regrettably, the UTEP Miners are not on the slate this week. It's The Ohio State Buckeyes and revenge is on the minds of the Sooners.

I am cautiously optimistic about the Sooners chances but I think it's certainly fair that the Sooners are more than touchdown underdogs (as of press time).

OFFENSE

The most interesting factoid I read this week was that more Sooners caught balls against UTEP (14) than did across all games last year. So.. I don't know if that means there is more depth or if it's a natural evolution of a Lincoln Riley/Baker Mayfield offense. The concept of spreading the ball around seems positive to me but it's more likely just scrubs getting to play more than usual in a route.

The second most interesting thing I noticed was the Sooners O-Line seemed to do a lot of pulling of the guards. I asked at the time if anyone could remember seeing us do that because I couldn't. Mark Schlegel, good dude and loyal reader, agreed. My father-in-law waived me away and said we do it all the time. It looked great.

I think the key here this week is in the five headed run game (Since they remembered Dimitri Flowers is also very good) being at least moderately effective. No matter the score and win or lose the Sooners will have balance in the play calling. They will run the ball a lot. If you do nothing else but check the box score tomorrow for yards per carry you'll be able to tell if the Sooners won or not. If it's below 2.5 yards per carry they lost.

In that vein I am going to go a little off script here and take Abdul Adams for my Offensive Player of the Game. It's foolish to take someone besides Mayfield but what's the fun in that? I also really want to pick Dimitri Flowers because of his versatility and the apparent willingness to, Gasp!, take advantage of it.

Other things I really liked last week before we move on. Abdul Adams, the liberal sprinkling of Dimitri Flowers, Mark Andrews now a wide receiver in a tight ends body. Lincoln Riley sitting Mayfield the whole second half.

DEFENSE

When I watched OSU get a little scare from Indiana last week I came away unimpressed with JT Barrett's passing ability. On the flip side, OSU continues to churn out high quality running backs.

In watching the new look Sooner D it appears the secondary should be a strength and the linebackers have some work to do.

It was Emmanuel Beal who looked a little lost to me. Kenneth Murray disappeared a little but give him a pass for it being his first collegiate game. I'm picking knits because overall the D was PlayStation level after the first UTEP drive.

The point is the defensive line and the linebackers (dba the 4-3) need to play huge for the Sooners to have a shot. The OSU run game cannot be allowed to turn Barrett into even a moderately effective passer. They also can't let short plays turn into long gains.

OSU just overpowered this group last year. We will learn a ton about them today. For my Defensive Player of the Game I'll go with Jordan Thomas. I like his game and desperately hope he gets one, maybe two picks.

THE GAME

I am clinging to the belief that there is greater depth across the board for the Sooners to stay fresh enough to keep up with the strength of the Buckeyes. If the Sooners can run the ball, control the clock and, in a perfect world, jump out to an early lead, JT Barrett might be pressed just enough to do something dumb.

The Sooner D doesn't have to be perfect but they need to keep the running game in check and get off the field on third down.

Barring an absolute whipping, nobody is going to get too bent out of shape with a loss. Or they shouldn't. That's the benefit of being a new coach. The Sooners can do this though. A smart, confident, total team concept can get this done.

Sooners 28, Buckeyes 21

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner