Army

Apologies if this is even shittier than usual (hard to imagine, I know), but I'm doing this on my ancient phone. Let's wrap up last week quickly. The Sooners D got the Dennis Green treatment in that they are who I thought they were. A poor tackling unit that excels at letting opponents convert 3rd downs. But, whilst ugly, it was a win which is more than can be said for the last ISU game.

Army comes to Norman today for a nice little paycheck. I'm a bit of a pushover for Army for some reason. Their steadfast refusal to update their offense and the Army Navy game is always kind of cool, in a Harlem Globetrotters exhibition kind of way. I think they hang with teams better than they should because of that antique offense which they run with expert aplomb. But the talent disparity generally catches up with them eventually.

Offense

Those that thought Rod Anderson wouldn't be missed I think have to have some doubts about that now. The running game was certainly adequate but didn't appear to be something OU can lean on now. Hopefully that will evolve as the season progresses. I'm finally giving in this week and picking Kyler Murray. I've spent the first three week trying to outsmart myself, today I give in and go with Murray who has been really great (I enjoyed the infographic comparing him to Mayfield at this point last year, eerily similar).

Defense

Man, how can I find a new way to implement the kiss of death this week. Maybe I should pick Mike Stoops and then maybe he'll have been fired prior to kick off. I truthfully don't know and the options are extremely appetizing. I'm just picking Kenneth Murray today. It feels like the kind of opponent where a LB can really pad his stats.

Score

I imagine Army will put together a couple of decent drives in this one, maybe even early. Their lack of forward passing ability though really plays to OU's defensive "strengths". I think the Sooners come
out a little sluggish but get rolling and are able to rest some guys later. Sooners win it 49-14.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin Sooner

OU vs. Iowa State

The Sooners head up to Ames, Iowa today. A place I treat like 7-Up; Never have, never will. But the Sooners should be much more interested in the trip as revenge is on all their minds. The Cyclones depantsed the Sooners in Norman last year and put Mike Stoops and the defense on their heels, a position they stayed in the rest of the year.

This year is different. Through two games the defense is clearly ahead of where they were a year ago at any point in the season. Whereas last years group hoped to just hang on, this years group has demonstrated an ability to hold down the fort while the offense gets its rhythm. This could come in handy today as the Cyclones are well coached and the Sooners are without Rodney Anderson. The day could require a complete team game.

OFFENSE

Losing Rod hurts badly. The offense struggled for quite a while after he left against UCLA. Credit the Sooners scheme and depth for being able to adjust in game. It doesn't hurt to have big time athletes all over the field either.

Today the key is who fills Rod's shoes. Trey Sermon has been mediocre. Marcelias Sutton can hit a hole hard but seems to have trouble getting to the second and third levels. This duo, or even T.J. Pledger getting in the mix, needs to provide more than a wrinkle.

Meanwhile, how do the Cyclones (or anyone) stop the Sooners passing attack? If they blitz, Kyler Murray will abuse you. If you hang back, Hollywood Brown or CeeDee Lamb will punish you. It's lethal and fun to watch.

Today for OPOG I'm going CeeDee Lamb. Not so much because of what I expect him to do today but as recognition for how badass he was last week. Good Lord is he good. That said, why can't he do it again today?

DEFENSE

I'm dying to be on this bandwagon. I'm like a guy hopping a train who is hanging on and getting dragged down the tracks while trying to pull myself aboard.

The team speed and collective discipline they've shown so far has been awesome. The front 7 is by far the best it's been in, what, six years or so?

I actually have players I want to pick and since I don't know anything about the ISU offense, save the fact they have a good downhill running back, I'm going to get on with it. I'm going Kenneth Michael Murray who, like CeeDee, got in the groove last week. He can build on that this week and start being Curtis Bolton's top sidekick.

THE SCORE

Make no mistake this is going to be a great test for the Sooners. It's their first road game. It should be a hostile environment. The Sooners have played against good coaches already but this is the first game against a team this settled and experienced. And there's some question in my mind about the Sooners running game.

I'm sure that last one will be resoundingly answered. If the D can maintain its discipline then I think the Sooners will just be too much and will punish the Cyclones.

If you can believe it I like the Sooners here.

Sooners 35, Cyclones 17

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

OU - UCLA

I'm not trying to be hyperbolic but it's hard to imagine the Sooners coming out of the gates looking any better than they did last week against Florida Atlantic. The first team offense played a quarter and a half. The 1st team D pitched a shutout. Special teams had their first blocked punt in years and their first blocked punt for a touchdown since 2002. Kyler Murray was nearly flawless, Hollywood Brown was a beast, Rod ran for 100 on 5 carries or something ridiculous. And from the "Who the fuck is this guy" department, Lee Morris went and earned himself a scholarship.

The defense deserves a ton of credit. This humble blog is far from the only locale in the football universe to rightly doubt and lambaste the Sooners in recent years. Last Saturday, in person and on tape, the defense looked faster and was in better position more often than most games last year. It was stunning in a great way.

Best of all, the Sooners completely dorked a total skeezbag in Lane Kiffin. Fellow dingleberry Chip Kelly arrives this week to get his taste.

OFFENSE

I am going to assume that there have to be other defense's on the Sooners schedule that will have a better chance to flummox or otherwise disrupt Kyler Murray et al than FAU. However, I don't think it's UCLA.

If I were the Sooners I would do some variation of what worked so well last week which was establishing a lethal running attack to set up intermediate and deep shots. What I love about this offense is that it's not dink and dunk it's all out blitzkrieg. It's maximum pressure on the opposing D every single play.

I'm going to go with Rod this week for OPOG. I see him going over around and through the Bruins on land and in the air.

DEFENSE

Deep breath. It was one game but lots of players stood out. Curtis Bolton, Tre Brown, Tre Norwood, Bookie, Parnell Motley, Ronnie Perkins. They need to build on this.

The UCLA offense was unable to do a whole lot against Cincinnati but it will be a nice test going up a Chip Kelly offense. Regrettably, I fell asleep trying to watch the UCLA-Cincy game last week and really don't care to know too much about the UCLA offense. Apparently they have a pretty decent tight end.

For my DPOG I think I'll go Ronnie Perkins. He's a true freshman with a great name and he was flying around last week. Let's see it again, young fella.

SCORE

I like the Sooners big here. I can hardly type on account of my crimson colored glasses. It was so fricking hot last week and the Sooners looked so sharp this 1st team Fan didn't even last a half. This team is good and at home the Bruins don't have a shot.

I'll go Sooners 59, UCLA 17

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

Snark, Innuendo, Uninformed Opinion; It's Steamroller Week 1 - Florida Atlantic

Welcome back to the 2018 edition of the Steamroller. I watched a lot of soccer and baseball during the football offseason. I didn't check out the Red-White Game, I avoid message boards out of principal and The Oklahoman's football preview centered around the uniform change from Nike to Jordan. So, I feel really well prepared for this season.

I do know it's year two  of the Lincoln Riley era, year one of the post-Baker Damn Mayfield era and, apparently, year six of the return of Mike Stoops. It's been a while since there was so much uncertainty entering the season. This uncertainty does not come with diminished expectations.

I'll deal with my anxiety from least to greatest and start with Lincoln Riley. If I have confidence in anyone being able to lose a Heisman Trophy quarterback and take any cast and turn it into a 40 point scoring unit it's Lincoln Riley and it's not as if the cupboard is bare. Rodney Anderson was the most pleasant surprise on offense last year and is coming into the season healthy. CeeDee Lamb and Marquise "Hollywood" Brown are monsters in complementary ways. Trey Sermon has a year of experience under his belt. Only Landry Jones could do less with more. 

Speaking of Landry, the bar for Kyler Murray is anything greater than Landry and better or equal to Baker Mayfield. That will win another Big 12 championship. We know he has the arm and the wheels. Does he shit his pants and take off running too often in the face of a half assed pass rush? Can he check down multiple receivers? Can he make quality decisions on a consistent basis? He's played before and he's done well. The earlier these questions get answered, the better. But again, while there is no greater pressure on a QB in the country there is help carrying the load and the more effectively said load is distributed, the better off the offense will be. Quick reminder: Lincoln Riley is calling plays.

Finally there's Mike Stoops, who, according to wikipedia, has one career highlight since 2012:

In 2012, after a disappointing return as defensive coordinator to the University of Oklahoma, Mike Stoops impregnated an exotic dancer at the popular local haunt "Sugers" in Norman, Oklahoma.

It's safe to say the return of Mike Stoops has been underwhelming. He's been relegated to the booth on game days because his temperament is ill-suited (in a bad way) for today's culture. The last few years his defense's scoring average has been more formulaic (Whatever OU scores +/- 1 defensive stop  = points given up) than of consistent quality. It has made for thrilling viewing in the same way a drunk fart can fall on a knifes edge.

I am convinced that Stoops was coaching for his job every game after Iowa State last year. There's no way to know if I was right or wrong (which is precisely the sort of thin limb I like to step out on) but he's still in charge of the D. It sounds like recruiting is on the uptick and the most ballyhooed freshman on the squad will be starting on his side of the ball for the second straight year.

What I'm telling you is there is no better time to be optimistic about this defense than right now. It won't take long to find out if they are worth a damn or not.

OFFENSE

The focus will be on Kyler Murray and my suspicion is that Riley will not hold back utilizing him in any conceivable way. He should be giddy at the thought of unleashing the wheels of Marquise Brown and the arm of a big league center fielder.

I think a lot of coaches would lean more heavily on Rodney Anderson or maybe try to keep Murray in the pocket but that's not how this offense operates. Having to account for Murray's speed is the key to the show. He's my choice for OPOG. I think he's going to have some alarmingly easy throws to make.

DEFENSE

I'd by lying if I said I wasn't a little worried about a Lane Kiffin offense seemingly comprised of degenerate castoffs and transfers going up against a Mike Stoops defense in game one. The good news is there is good experience at all levels. The cornerbacks are solid and settled.

Can anyone tackle? It'd be a lot cooler if they could.

I'm throwing a week 1 dart in true Steamroller fashion and taking Tre Norwood for my DPOG. It's sheer gut instinct. My wet dream would be for someone from the D-Line or linebacker group to prove themselves a force that must be accounted for on every play. I'm not too nervous for my bedsheets though.

THE SCORE

There will be some good, bad and ugly in this one. But the Sooners need to be sharp overall. The first four weeks of this season are the toughest I can remember any year.

I think the offense will be smooth enough to score enough and the D comes out hungry ready to show that they can make a leap.

Sooners 45, FAU 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