let me preface these comments by saying that they are in noway intended to put a "homer" spin on my observations. As a life long Sooner, I simply know more about us, warts & all, so take these comments as somewhat knowledgeable opinions, nothing more, nothing less. This is by far the best O.U. offense in the Stoops' era. The '03 Sooner offense has evolved from last year into a pass to set up the run philosophy. The components that have led us in this direction are as follows: *Wide Receivers: Notwithstanding the success of Damian Mackey, Curtis Fagan, Josh Norman, & Andre Woolfolk, this is the best receiving corps in the history of Sooner football, primarily because this group was recruited as receivers & not converted DB's or HS QB's. Although Mark Clayton gets most of the pub', the group, including Clayton, Brandon Jones, Travis Wilson, JeJuan Rankins, Mark Bradley, & Will Peoples are all fast, block well, & for the most part sure-handed. Brandon Jones is the most athletic & has outstanding size but has shown a tendency to drop catchable balls. They all fight for the ball & are extremely dangerous in the open field, particularly Clayton. *QB: Ironically, JW's two knee injuries have made him a better QB. He now must stay in the pocket and check through his progressions rather than tuck it & run. He has become a master at finding the secondary & tertiary receiver & throws with uncanny accuracy. His long ball is simply a laser. For those of you as old as I, think Darryl "The Mad Bomber" Lamonica. He has also demonstrated a wonderful ability to hit receivers in stride, resulting in huge YAC's. He's more mobile than he's given credit for but will never be mistaken for Vincent Young. Contrary to some posts I've seen on this board, our backup QB, Paul Thompson, is outstanding & brings an added demension that JW doesn't have....he's a runner who also has a cannon for an arm. RB: Not the strength it was with Q back there, but both Renaldo Works & KeJuan Jones are above average. They combine power & speed but pretty much on an even keel with neither being real fancy. Jones is better between the tackles & in short yardage situations. We will never abandon the run but as I've said, will pass to set the run up. In all our games save the last 3, we eventually ran on all our opponents as the games progressed. Baylor & T-Tech stacked 8/9 men in the box & had some success stopping the run but were torched over the top. K-State had by far the most success playing us straight up. FB: This position in our scheme never carries the ball. It's mainly a blocking position with a pass catching role coming out of the backfield. J.D.Runnels is an outstanding blocker & pass catcher but to my knowledge, only carried the ball in the later stages of the T A&M game when we were doing everything we could to try & hold the score down. TE: Again, not the position it was when Trent Smith played. Smith was a WR in a TE body & we had great success splitting him out & putting him one on one with the safety. This current crop of TE's is in the more traditional role; i.e., blockers first & pass catchers second. Ironically, it's a position in which we have tremendous depth but it's been lore one-deminsional this year than in the recent past. Lance Donley starts but we'll play two or three during the course of the game. OL: Great talent & athleticism but the thinnest in terms of depth on the offense. The right side is the most talented including Center, Vince Carter, Guard, Davan Joseph, & A.A Right Tackle, Jamaal Brown. Brown could come out as a junior this year. Our week link with this group is Left Tackle, Wes Sims. He's talented but inconsistent & if there's a chance for a breakdown in backside containment, he's the likely culprit. This offense is capable of crunching out a sustained 80 yd. drive or striking fast, either over the top or with a short route that turns into a big gainer due to the speed & elusiveness of our receiver corps. We have a tendency to score in bursts & when these "hot" segments manifest themselves in a game, we are unstoppable. The key will be how much time JW has to throw. If he can read the defense & go through all his progressions, it'll be a long night for the Tiger D, but if we don't pick up the blitz or your front four can put pressure on him w/o help, we will have to depend on our defense to win the game. I'm not familiar enough with your D tendencies to be able to predict success or failure but if I were scheming our O, I'd play zone in the secondary & try & keep everything in front of me & tackle well to ensure a minimum of YAC'S. Make us earn it! We are so explosive that these "spurts" as I've mentioned can be very demoralizing.In several games this year we've scored 21-28 points in a matter of minutes & simply taken our opponents out of the game. You simply must prevent us from making the big play....something K-State was able to do. I'll critique our D later. Hope this is helpful. Obviously, we're beatable but we're very good. Again, it's going to be a titanic struggle.
Thanks for the great info on your team. I can't wait to see LSU line up and play aginst OU, it will be a great game.
We've rolled up 14 to 21 pts. on people a couple of times in less than three minutes this year. I believe LSU has the # 1 scoring defense in the nation? Combine with our wide outs. Points can add up quickly. Mike Clayton is a great all round player and when teams focus on him, then Mauck throws to Devery Henderson or Skler Green or Justin Vincent. Henderson is literally an NCAA track champion. Green is this year's NCAA leading punt returner with speed to burn. Justin Vincent is a freshman RB who set a SEC championship record 201 yds rushing. Be afraid.
Hey! Great post! What OU board do you normally hang out at? I like talking with the folks at soonerfans.firstdownsports.com. Get some great back and forth there. Plus they seem to know what they're talking about. God help you though if you go there and start trash talking. They can certainly dish it up.
I post on several including Soonerfans, OuInsiders, & Ouboards. Each has it's own distinct personality. Soonerfans is probably the most nationally famous for it's incredibly creative Farking. The posters are obviously younger & intelligent as well as creative. OuInsiders is good primarily because of James Hale & his insight into the innerworkings of the program. My favorite is OUBOARDS.COM. Very mature & knowledgeable group. Several posters who are very close to the program. Not a board that tolerates smack or rumormongering. Reminds me of Tidefans.com & to some extent of LONGHORNFANZONE. I was put onto Tigerforums by one of the Tidefans moderators so I came over assuming a more mature & rational group. I love to talk college football with people who also love to talk college football & are able to keep personal feelings & prejudices out of the conversation.....frankly, easier said than done, especially leading up to a game of the magnitude of the Sugar Bowl.
take these comments as somewhat knowledgeable opinions, nothing more, nothing less. ..............................................................sure, why not *Wide Receivers: They all fight for the ball & are extremely dangerous in the open field, particularly Clayton. ... we are impressed when the Sooners take apart a hapless zone Dee in the Big 12 ... they're harmless against good man coverage dees with decent blitzing schemes that provide consistent pressure on the QB. ... Whitey cannot spot pass and hit those seams in our dee ...............................next *QB: Ironically, JW's two knee injuries have made him a better QB. He now must stay in the pocket and check through his progressions rather than tuck it & run. He has become a master at finding the secondary & tertiary receiver & throws with uncanny accuracy ... ... all the comments about Jason White apply to hapless defenses in the Big 12 ... none of them in the Top 25 ... with White ALL DAY TO THROW ... not anymore ... WHITE HAS FAILED MISERABLY TO ANSWER THE QUESTION ... WHY CAN'T HE SUCCEED AGAINST MAN COVERAGE WITH PRESSURE WHEN HE'S HIT 20+ TIMES IN A GAME Example: Alabama, KSU ... next--------<(((>< RB: In all our games save the last 3, we eventually ran on all our opponents as the games progressed. Baylor & T-Tech stacked 8/9 men in the box & had some success stopping the run but were torched over the top. K-State had by far the most success playing us straight up. ... yup, you answered that one for us ... KSU teed off on OU ... straight up FB: This position in our scheme never carries the ball. It's mainly a blocking position with a pass catching role coming out of the backfield. J.D.Runnels is an outstanding blocker & pass catcher but to my knowledge. .................. He better be able to block ... two at a time TE:Lance Donley starts but we'll play two or three during the course of the game. ... you sure will alternate TEs ... and the formations become predictable based on your personnel ... we can spot an OK running play and your screens with one eyeball closed ... and that's me ... I'm sure Will Muschamp can't see the run tendencies OL: Great talent & athleticism but the thinnest in terms of depth on the offense. Our week link with this group is Left Tackle, Wes Sims. He's talented but inconsistent & if there's a chance for a breakdown in backside containment, he's the likely culprit. ... That's not what KSU showed ... whipped you all day long on that right side ... the KSU RE looked like an All-American ... and White looked dazed and cornfused after being pressured AND HIT REPEATEDLY. THE OU RUN HAS DISAPPEARED ... THE OL NOT SUSTAINING BLOCKS ... tell us how many rushing yards OU has in the last few games. Hell, even lowly Alabama stuffed your run. This offense is capable of crunching out a sustained 80 yd. drive or striking fast, either over the top or with a short route that turns into a big gainer due to the speed & elusiveness of our receiver corps. We have a tendency to score in bursts & when these "hot" segments manifest themselves in a game, we are unstoppable. ... LOL ... not against pressure OR when your OL was whipped and got to White. Matter of fact ... 3 and out was par for the course. The key will be how much time JW has to throw. ..........................WOW! He figured it out ALL BY HIMSELF ... next If he can read the defense & go through all his progressions, it'll be a long night for the Tiger D, ... muahahahahahaha ... so, he'll have time to dance, you say but if we don't pick up the blitz or your front four can put pressure on him w/o help, we will have to depend on our defense to win the game. ............... can your defense score 4 touchdowns? ... next I'm not familiar enough with your D tendencies to be able to predict success or failure ....................................... LOL, Obviously but if I were scheming our O, I'd play zone in the secondary & try & keep everything in front of me & tackle well to ensure a minimum of YAC'S. ... muahahahaha ... abandon man coverage ... we're done now Make us earn it! We are so explosive that these "spurts" as I've mentioned can be very demoralizing.In several games this year we've scored 21-28 points in a matter of minutes & simply taken our opponents out of the game. You simply must prevent us from making the big play....something K-State was able to do. ... yeah, and HOW DID KSU DO IT? Watch the game again! I'll critique our D later. .................... Oh, we can't wait for this one Hope this is helpful. not at all ... was nothing we didn't know ... not to mention kinards Obviously, we're beatable but we're very good. ... obviously beatable ... very good, but not very great Again, it's going to be a titanic struggle. ... yes, right till kickoff ... when White is MAULED on the field and STOOPSIE cries UNCLE and tries to SURPRISE US with a running QB ... the scrambler ... and an OPTION ATTACK ... it'll get really Titanic ... fast ... how quick did the Titanic sink
Owen, Nice analysis, very well done (thank you, by the way, for your efforts). First question: Why do you feel that your LT is the "weakest link" along the line? Does most of White's pressure come from that side of the line? Tell me more about the interior of the line. If you cannot handle Lavalais and he gets that great upfield push, double-teaming him makes it all the easier for our huge DEs to get upfield and pressure White from both sides. Ramah, though a bit caustic, does make a very valid point about White versus man instead of zone. We don't play a ton of zone because we get such good pressure from the front four. Look at the SEC title game: constant pressure on Green and tight man coverage on the wideouts means the QB doesn't have time to get settled in the pocket and go through his progressions, and when he does make a throw (if he's not flat on his back by this time), it has to be perfect. Tough assignment for any QB...even a Heisman-trophy winning one.
Ramah, my critique is based on an objective observation of this Sooner team, not a subjective comparison of conference strengths or opponent's schemes. I believe our SOS is better than either L.S.U. or SC but that's not the point. Yes, K-State handled us. I was at that game & could spend hours dissecting the whys & wherefores of the outcome. Probably in the same manner you could dissect your home loss to Florida. What I wrote is a snapshot of what has worked successfully for us over the course of a 13 game season. Will it work in NO, only time will tell. We've seen Man, Zone, & a combination of both. I would caution anyone with any knowledge of football to not make the mistake of rationalizing an opponent's strenghs & weaknesses simply based on the results of that team's worst performance. Everyone is aware of the historical strength of the SEC & has great respect for the league. However, isolating on specific games & matchups is risky @ best. If I were to selectively iso. on Big 12 vs SEC matchups I could make a clear case over the last 5 years that the Big 12 is superior; both K-State & Nebraska have pummeled the Volunteers in recent bowl games. Texas pretty well handled L.S.U. in the Cotton Bowl, & O.U. swept Alabama in the recent home/home. Hell, the defenseless T-Tech Red Raiders managed to go into Oxford & out score a team that was within 2 makeable field goals of beating L.S.U. & going to the SEC Championship game. On the other hand, the Hogs go into Austin & manhandle the Horns. What's the point....there is no point. We respect L.S.U. & we expect the same sort of respect for our program. I watched the Tigers against Alabama & came away duely impressed. Again, this will be a classic battle. We will show up & so will L.S.U. In closing, I would only say....act like you've been there before....we have!
