Baylor Bears

Whoa Doctor! This is a big one. As some of you may have heard, the Sooners travel down to the land of Branch Davidians for a massive tilt with implications to be felt from coast to coast. OK, really though, Baylor is good. They are unbeaten, they've (easily) beaten OU two times in a row (who'd have believed that 10 years ago?), and they lead the nation in scoring. Art Briles has certainly made the most of his Texas locale in luring top tier talent to Waco and maximizing that talent with an offensive system that racks up points on nearly everyone they play. The Sooners come in with a top ranked defense and an offense that has been doing a bit of scoring itself of late. Something has to give.

The national media has taken note as well. College Gameday is on hand, and Lee Corso will spread his beloved saliva all over the Baylor Campus as he clumsily pulls a stunt where he will either fire a (mercifully not loaded) shotgun or (hopefully) wrestle a live bear (...to his gruesome death). It's in primetime and ABC's top booth talent will be calling the game. Sooner nation is on high, to-do lists are wiped out early, chubby children in OU sweatpants eagerly shovel down fried chicken shapes drenched in ranch, all awaiting a drubbing of Baylor.  It's the biggest game for Sooner faithful in some time.

Baylor comes in starting a freshman Q. He put up prototypical Baylor numbers last week against KState. As I alluded to earlier, it's a system, and it works. Yes, they only put up 31, but this is more a result of windbreaker's minions plodding a ball control attack than a lack of Bear efficacy. But, what about that Sooner D? They've been very solid, but I fear it's opponent related as much as it is talent related. The front is solid, and it masks what I think is a shaky secondary. Baylor will absolutely score, and score often. Will Mayfield and Perine be able to do enough to match that pace? It looks to be a good one.

Offense

For all of the talk about Baylor and their high-flying offense, their D brings it as well. It will be a tough test for the offense. Mayfield is going to have to extend plays with his legs and do the same things that give our defense fits. But, that said, I think the run game is the key to winning this one. Their offense tends to score quickly, that means more time for their defense on the field. If OU can sustain drives, beat them up in the run game and wear them down, it might be enough to give them the edge in this one. I like Riley to lean heavily on Samaje Perine, and I like Perine to answer with a performance that will be talked about all week heading into TCU. Perine goes for 150+ and 2 scores. Boom.

Defense

Whew, this is where the rubber meets the proverbial road. OU absolutely has to get stops, particularly on 3rd down (hard hitting stuff here). I'm not sad that Seth Russell isn't playing in this one, too bad for the kid, but hey the Sooners need any edge they can get. The front has been excellent since the texas game. Their ability to get pressure and bottle up the run game will likely decide this game. The player I see stepping up in this one is Devante Bond. He's been a beast all season when healthy. I think he's flying all over the field tonight, coverage, penetration, and pressuring the Q. I think he's the difference maker and comes up with at least one sack off the edge.

Score

After losing to texas, this season felt hopeless. I all but bailed on the season, chalking it up to "same old Sooners" of the last several years. Since, OU has quietly done everything they needed to get back into the national conversation. Strangely, with Baylor, TCU and OSU coming up, they are still in the driver's seat for the conference (albeit with a steep road ahead) and if they can navigate their way through it unscathed, well...I just can't. None of what they've done matters if they take a dump tonight. They don't and the run starts today. Sooners win this one 38-35.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner.

Oklahoma Sooner vs. Tulsa Golden Hurricane

Sooner fans may still be basking in the afterglow of last week's miracle but the boys on the field need to get right back to work.

First, may I share a few words on last week's environment? Knoxville is one of the coolest college towns I've ever been to. The people were amazing. The bar scene was spectacular. The tailgates were crazy in that they are shoved into every nook and cranny (technical term) from inside parking garages to yacht decks on the Tennessee River. And make no mistake. They were yachts. It was also the loudest venue I've ever been to in my life and it wasn't even close. I could not more highly recommend spending time on a college football weekend in Knoxville.

Bob Stoops called the win perhaps the favorite of his tenure. It was pretty awesome and I will never forget the sight of 100,000 Volunteer fans getting their hearts collectively ripped out. That's exactly what you could sense happening on that long drive in the 4th quarter that tied the game.

Now we move on to Tulsa. I thought for sure this would be a great homecoming game to work on some things going into a bye. Then I spoke with an historically pessimistic tailgating buddy who informs that Tulsa has a 5-Star QB who transferred in with new head coach and former Baylor Offensive Coordinator Philip Montgomery. Turns out it's true and so this may prove to be a nice test for the defense and the secondary in particular.

OFFENSE

Baker Mayfield was obviously great last week. However, his ability to scramble highlighted the fact the O-Line needs to pull up their big boy pants and start putting some helmets on someone. No more of this "ole' bullshit". Can you imagine how many times Landry Jones would have been sacked last week?

The Sooners also need to get in a rhythm early. A slow start against Akron is OK in game 1. A slow start against Tennessee is OK in a hostile road environment against a pretty decent defense. A slow start against Tulsa has me making that sucking in noise through my teeth and worrying we've got a bad habit on our hands that's going to bite us in the ass sometime sooner than later.

There are some good options to get the rhythm going. You could run Mayfield, Perine or Mixon. You could try to strike deep with Shepard. Or you could pull a Heupel and do none of these (using your best players being too obvious).

I'm a big "ride the hot hand" guy so I'm taking Sterling Shepard this week. He was yoooj, just yoooooj last week and, as a veteran, he can get things going early.

DEFENSE

This unit is clearly improved but I'm still not convinced they are the real deal. I can't believe it but today will show a lot. Tulsa has what appears to be a balanced and potent offense. Baylor Light may be an insult to both Baylor and Tulsa but if it winds up being the case then the Sooner D is only going to grow from the experience.

Again, in the vein of riding the hot hand I'm going to take Devante Bond. He's been in beast mode for two weeks now. He's kept Frank Shannon off the field. I like him to continue today. Hopefully he can get some good pressure on this QB and the Sooners can turn them over a couple times.

THE SCORE

Tulsa gives up a ton of points. They score a ton. I feel like this one's going to start off as a shootout before the talent gap takes over. The Sooners do get going early on offense, the D shows signs of future struggles against potent offenses before showing flashes of potential.

Sooners 56, Tulsa 28

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner

The 2015 Sooners Awards and Predictions

Unlike most years, I'm not going to do a final record prediction. I want the same thing everyone else wants, and I just can't see a way to put it out there seriously. I think OU will absolutely improve upon last season, that's as much as I'm willing to predict so it leaves a pretty wide swath to cover.

I will, however, put out the awards/predictions/superlatives that I enjoy (if only me).

Oldest Looking Sooner: Devante Bond

This is a new award, one born strictly out of the fact that I happened across this photo while doing my exhaustive research on the defense. If you told me this guy was once cast as "Tough Guy #2" on an episode of Hill Street Blues, I would absolutely believe you. 

TC Bread Award: Jordan Smallwood

This award needs no explanation. I sifted through the roster and found Daimler, Christian who brought us such classics as the LeBaron and Cordoba. Also in the running was punter-cum-pornstar Jack Steed. Yet no one could unseat the incumbent. Poor Jordan Smallwood.

Most Likely to Disappoint: Baker Mayfield

This is no knock on Mayfield per se, but you know the old line about the backup being the most popular player on a team. I think Mayfield fell victim to that as Trevor Knight shat his crimson pants brown last year. I do think he will be a massive upgrade (tough not to be) but I don't think he's Bradford part 2 and, for many, that will be a disappointment.

Matt McCoy Memorial Gas Rag: Jordan Thomas

I opined last season that I hope no one earned this award, Thomas did so, and as such he goes into the season currently working to lose it. Thomas was not good last season. He was the whipping boy on an otherwise subpar secondary.

Old Steady: Samaje Perine

OK, now to the real awards and the only two that really matter (editors note: none of them really matter). Samaje reprises the Old Steady award for the first time since Travis Lewis. He's one of the best running backs in the country, but he's not just a home run threat. He's a battering ram that can be counted on to get 3 to 4 yards every time he touches the ball. Hence, Old Steady.

Motherfucker: Eric Striker

Perhaps it's an indication of a drop in talent, perhaps it's that we've been lucky enough to have two elite talents emerge early and become dominant mainstays on the defense, whatever the reason Eric Motherfuckin' Striker follows Tony Motherfuckin' Jefferson as the second two-time Motherfucker winner since the inception way back in 2000. Striker is an absolute menace, always playing at a speed faster than anyone around him and disrupting offenses in some way nearly every down. Eric Motherfuckin' Striker.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner