Oklahoma Sooner vs. Georgia Bulldogs

 Good Saturday, Sooner fans. The weather in OKC this morning was rainy and gloomy, a perfect match to the current outlook of this Sooners football team. The Sooners are coming off a, shall we diplomatically say, uninspiring win against the New Mexico Lobos.

Confidence is not high. John Mateer turned the ball over. The offensive line had no push. The offense is a disaster. The Sooners now take the show on the road to perennial power Georgia. The question is, can the Sooners make enough improvement to keep it close? I don't think so.

OFFENSE

14 points against the New Mexico Lobos is just unbelievable after an off-putting performance against Michigan. What can the Sooners do? Ben Arbuckle has to go. I will be shocked if he's still calling plays by the Kentucky game.

Alas, today I think the Sooners best bet is to utilize multiple tight end sets. Go big with extra blockers and run a lot of play action with some boots for John Mateer. He runs for his life anyways. He can't go through a progression. Get him in situations where Georgia defenders have to choose between spying on the running QB or defending a RB or TE in that second level. 

I'll take Rocky Beers today because he has been a bright spot. Fire Arbuckle on the spot if he runs an empty backfield shotgun QB draw or jet sweep on a 3rd down.

DEFENSE

The problem today for this defense is not getting off the field or having the personnel to match up with Georgia. It's whether or not they can win turnover margin. Unfortunately, Mateer puts them in a real bind that's tough to overcome. The next three weeks are going to be brutal for these guys.

Today, I bet Owen Heinecke continues to do his thing. 25 tackles through three games is pretty tough.

THE SCORE

Look, I'm not suggesting the Sooners are going to wave the white flag against Georgia today and Texas in two weeks. It would be a season changer to go 1-1. But I do fear Arbuckle just isn't a guy who is going to do anything other than continue to try to jam a square peg through a round hole.

It's too much to expect the playcalling to become competent, the offensive line to suddenly own the line of scrimmage and your quarterback to be able to work through progressions and not make at least two dumb passess per game. That's just what we have. 

Best case, Arbuckle's headset is turned off and someone else is running the show behind the scenes. We get through the next two game and cut Arbuckle loose and try to make something of the rest of the season.

Georgia 28, Sooners 6

Prove all us haters wrong, boys.

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner. 

Georgia

Holy smokes, this is a big one. If you would have talked to me a few weeks ago, specifically right after the Big 12 championship, I would have been pretty confident for this one. But as time has passed, my confidence level has gone down notably and Georgia increasingly looks like a really tough draw. Don't get me wrong, I'd prefer to play them over Clemson or Alabama, but their defense is really, really good. Historically, it seems (to me anyway) that when a high powered offense meets a dominant defense, the defense typically has the edge. I certainly hope that doesn't hold true tomorrow afternoon.

Georgia relies on defense and ball control offense. This certainly matches up well for them as it has a two-fold effect of stopping the OU offense and keeping them off of the field with a very strong running attack. What they don't necessarily excel at is the passing game. This is probably a best case scenario for the leaky OU secondary. With any luck, Mike Stoops will have a solid plan to contain the Bulldog backfield. Otherwise, it could be a long afternoon for the Sooners.

Offense

Much hand wringing and angst has been happening over Mayfield and his illness. Rightfully so, as he goes so do the Sooners playoff hopes. Basically, it's the same story as it has been all year, Mayfield will need to carry the team in this one. With that in mind, it seems obvious he should be player of the game pick. True to form however, I am going to outsmart myself yet again with a "savvy" pick. It goes without saying that everyone is going to have to play lights out for OU to have a shot. I'm going to say Mark Andrews is the key to them winning. I think he has to have a big game softening up the secondary and opening up the run game with some big plays underneath.

Defense

If OU has a chance, it will be because the stop the run and make the Georgia freshman QB beat them. The D Line will have be stout and the LB's will be the key to them winning this one. I like Emmanuel  Beal to have a big game bottling up the Georgia Chubby. I think he makes a shitload of tackles and forces at least one turnover in a key performance.

Score

I'm shitting bricks on this one. OU has won all year by scoring early and often. I just don't see that happening against a stout Georgia defense. For the first time all year, the Sooners will need long methodical drives and they will have to play a ball control offense where points are at a premium. Though the Sooner D has been pretty terrible all season, I think Georgia's offensive style is a decent matchup for them. I think Mayfield does enough, and the defense does too in a butt clincher. OU 24, Georgia 20. Let's beat these guys.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner