Bedlam: The Final Chapter

Happy Saturday, Sooner fans. The Sooners did not follow my gameplan last week and now find themselves in a familiar position, having to win out and get some help in order to back door their way into the playoff conversation.

The Sooners took a massive hit in Kansas as Danny Stutsman, the heart and soul of this defense, injured his ankle/knee and his status is questionable coming into this one. Offensively, the Sooners are already down Andrel Anthony and now just this week Jalil Farooq got himself arrested during a traffic stop. 

Meanwhile, the Cowboys are on a four game win-streak and have the nations leading rusher in Ollie Gordon II. If you thought Kansas was motivated to beat the Sooners, wait until you see the atmosphere in Stillwater. 

The best example of my hopelessly dumb homerism is my belief that someday the Sooners will understand that when opponents play Oklahoma it's the biggest game of their life, and that the Sooners will meet and exceed that effort level because they know if they lose the opposition is going to cry for joy, rip down goalposts and have stories they'll tell their grandchildren. Every time. 

I am telling you, today, it's the same situation in Stillwater and I have my doubts the Sooners will meet the moment.

OFFENSE

Last week Jeff Lebby's gameplan was conservative to say the least. They ran the ball 16 straight times at one point. Everything they did was telegraphed. The Gavin Freeman jet sweep needs to be ripped out or redacted from the play sheet. Not once did the Jayhawks defense look like they were on their heels. This is unacceptable. 

First, hopefully, Tawee Walker returns after getting banged up last week. He showed he's RB1. Second, I will lose my goddamn mind if Nic Anderson doesn't get six targets. Third, the Sooners have to try and go vertical. 

It's staggering to me to watch this offense not find ways to scheme their playmakers to an open part of the field to let them make plays. 

Finally, clock management has to be addressed. If the Sooners find themselves in a two-minute situation in the first half again, with all their timeouts, and they run out the clock, well, it's time for a change of some sort. What the fuck is that shit? Pull your nuts out of your throat and get aggressive. The Sooners cannot score enough points to feel secure in a game. 

I am hoping to will into existence some schemes for playmakers to make plays and, as such, am picking Nic Anderson as my OPOG. That guy is going to play on Sundays and Lebby and Dillon Gabriel need to get him the fucking ball early and often.

DEFENSE

This defense has shown that they are good most of the time, great some of the time and almost always their own worst nightmare. Their ability to keep themselves on the field via penalty is staggering. They can't have that shit today. 

More than the potential loss of Stutsman, the Sooners need to have Gentry Williams at corner. Things go downhill fast when he gets hurt (and he gets hurt almost every game). 

Beyond dumb penalties, the Sooners need to either rush the quarterback or play pass defense. No pass rush and no pass defense equals disaster. The Sooners have been proving that too often of late. 

Oh and they also need to tackle this Ollie Gordon II fella because he will run rough shod on the Sooners and do it six ways from Sunday if it appears we didn't wear our tackling pants today.

I'll pick Dasan McCollough today for my DPOG. He looks like he's getting real comfortable and ready to make a leap.

THE SCORE

Did I mention how nervous I am about this one? The odds of the Sooners having their act together in all phases of the game are non-zero but not much better than that. Trouble lurks everywhere so the Sooners really need their shit together in the following areas:

• No cute bullshit in the running game. Give it to Tawee Walker and let him run north-south.
• Find ways to get Nic Anderson the ball in space and give Jaden Gibson some chances one-on-one to make a play.
• Limit, reduce or, gasp, eliminate dumb fuck penalties on defense.
• Blitz
• Make field goals
• Learn clock management (coaches)

If the Sooners find a way to do these things I believe they can win by two scores. I doubt they do though and they get hit in the mouth, find themselves down early with Little Brother losing their goddamn minds. If that happens hopefully the Sooners can buck up and find themselves having a chance to win by a field goal.

I'll take the Sooners here 37-34 in a fitting thriller to end this Big Brother-Little Brother rivalry.

Boomer to the motherfucking Sooner. 

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Cincinnati Bearcats

 Happy college football Saturday, sports fans. Our Sooners are 3-0 at the conclusion of warm-up section of the schedule. They've looked mostly very good to this point. Dillon Gabriel is playing at a consistently higher level year over year and the defense is visibly much improved.

Today shit gets real. This will be Cincinnati's first game in the Big 12. It's the first true away game for the Sooners.  The Bearcats will be fired up and ready to show they belong. Our boys are going to have to show some character today if they want to come out with a W.

OFFENSE

Reportedly the Bearcats have a pretty solid defensive line. They have 10 sacks so far this year. The Sooners offensive line has been a little spotty and they haven't nailed down personnel. Keep an eye out here. You know the Sooners will never give up on the running game, but we don't need to see Dillon Gabriel scrambling early and often as it may make him a little more accident prone. 

It makes me wonder if Jackson Arnold might get in the mix if it does happen that the Sooners line can't keep the Bearcats in check. 

Meanwhile, in the passing game, the Sooners took some shots last week which was great to see. Nic Anderson showed he can be a serious threat. He's tall and strong enough to shed defenders. 

I like Nic Anderson today as my ovenmitts.com Hot Hand player of the game. 

DEFENSE

I'm keenly interested to watch the defense today. The Bearcats QB is a dual threat transfer from Florida. It's a given that the Sooners are going to take the Bearcats best shot. There's probably going to be some breakdowns and the Sooners are going to get punched in the mouth.

Today we'll see if they've got some grit. I think the mentality is there but it's going to get tested. 

Whoever is spying the quarterback is my DPOG. I don't know if that's Danny Stutsman, Jaren Kanek, Justin Harrington or someone else. But that's the key. I'm guessing they start with Kanek. I'm not sure if Harrington is even back from injury. 

The Sooners have three guys banged up that they need back ASAP. Harrington, Dasan McCullough and Gentry Williams. Williams, especially. I'd feel much better about things if two of these three were active today.

OK so my DPOG is Kanek.

THE SCORE

This is the perfect test at the right time for the Sooners. The Bearcats are a team we should beat by more than 14 (current spread). It's the situation for the Bearcats that makes this one so much more difficult. On the road, first Big 12 game in history for a Cincy team that will want to prove they belong. 

The Sooners need to play with an edge and attitude and squash the bug. The Sooners O-line needs to ball out and the defense needs to show some toughness. 

If it works out, I like the Sooners 31, Bearcats 17.

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner