Well the only good thing you can say about it was that it is a win. The defense played so so. The offense not so much.

First OU game I've watched where I struggled to stay awake. Probably doesn't help that the game ended at nearly 1 AM

Is this team just having to gel from an offseason full of changes, or are they just not that good?

Its hard to tell since OU has laid some stinkers of season openers but still managed to finish strong. Trying to be optimistic here....

First OU game I've watched where I struggled to stay awake. Probably doesn't help that the game ended at nearly 1 AM

Is this team just having to gel from an offseason full of changes, or are they just not that good?

Its hard to tell since OU has laid some stinkers of season openers but still managed to finish strong. Trying to be optimistic here....

They are merely average at best. They struggled for a majority of the game with a team that isnt very good at all.

I won't pass judgement for the season based on this but it's good that they have an easy game next week before going into the rougher part of the schedule.

OU , MS and BS are all overrated. OU is not an elite team. WV wins the big12

OU , MS and BS are all overrated. OU is not an elite team. WV wins the big12

LOL, there you have it. The season is over after one game.

How would you evaluate that against someone like 5th rated Oregon which played at home against Arkansas State. They scored 57 but gave up 34. I think if I had to choose based on a season defining game, I would choose for the defense to give up 3 points on the road against a mediocre team compared to giving up 34 at home against a mediocre team.

LOL, there you have it. The season is over after one game.

How would you evaluate that against someone like 5th rated Oregon which played at home against Arkansas State. They scored 57 but gave up 34. I think if I had to choose based on a season defining game, I would choose for the defense to give up 3 points on the road against a mediocre team compared to giving up 34 at home against a mediocre team.


The difference between Oklahoma and Oregom
OUstarters played the whole game Oregon starters only play first quarter. if they go to WV like that they will get killed.

Definitely not a pretty game at all. I did fall asleep by the time the 3rd quarter rolled around. I would definitely say #4 is a bit high for this team right now, but seriously they weren't the only top 25 team to get a scare against an easier team. Just more proof pre-season polls are pointless.

Bring on Bama...

OU would get killed by Bama, USC, and any number of elite teams. OU offense is vanilla, predictable and inconsistent. BS has lived off 2000 for 11years and MS sideshow on the sideline has grown very old. Also, not a tough team, very fortunate we were not accepted into the big 10, SEC, or any other elite conference. We are where we belong playing Baylor, TCU, Kansas. WV will kick our arses and maybe Texas as well

Watching the replay right now. First of all I thought the defense played fairly decent. The only points they gave up were the blocked punt, granted they did miss some field goals. We just need to get used to the bend dont break defenses.

As for the offense there was a lot of fresh faces so it didnt surprise me it took them a bit to start to gel. They should be fine moving forward. Still have them going 10-2.

Im glad they faced a little adversity, on the road, in the first game and responded in a positive note.

The offense will get much, much better. Lots of new faces and it takes time for everyone to get in synch. Next game will help tremendously.

I was encouraged by the defense, particularly the secondary. Everyone seemed to be positioned properly and UTEP didn't move the ball at all after the first drive, apart from one long run.


As always, there will be lots of twists and turns as the season unfolds, which is what I love about college football. Still, I wouldn't bet against OU at this point.

Am I the only one that thought the broadcast could have been better? Is this what we have to look forward to for the rest of the season? Maybe Fox Sports isn't so good.

There are so many games on this weekend that it seems like everybody has the "Z" broadcast team on everything but the few major games.

The offense will get much, much better. Lots of new faces and it takes time for everyone to get in synch. Next game will help tremendously.

I was encouraged by the defense, particularly the secondary. Everyone seemed to be positioned properly and UTEP didn't move the ball at all after the first drive, apart from one long run.


As always, there will be lots of twists and turns as the season unfolds, which is what I love about college football. Still, I wouldn't bet against OU at this point.

This

BS has lived off 2000 for 11years and MS sideshow on the sideline has grown very old.

Your entire post was absurd, but this was my favorite part. OU's record since the 2000 title game would be one of the best, if not the best, in the entire nation. Titles are hard to win. I hope OU wins another soon, but OU fans who don't appreciate what Stoops has done are either short-sighted or ignorant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bWC_80_Nqg&feature=plcp
(These are just Sooner highlights. No UTEP highlights.)

OU doesn’t match up in the trenches very well with some of the stronger teams….. And absolutely yes, Alabama would kill OU, mostly because of their much better linemen.

The most frustrating issue under Stoops has been the reoccurring OL problems. A strong majority of OU’s losses under Stoops can be traced back to poor play in the trenches mostly on the offensive side of the ball.

These are problems that are corrected by preforming better player evaluations in the recruiting process and I also believe by recruiting 1 or 2 more linemen each year than they have.

OU’s OL attrition rate under Stoops seems like it’s way too high.

I agree that the line performance has been key but don't think evaluation has anything to do with that. They have recruited numerous high caliber lineman that they haven't gotten. I suspect that Stoops is much more aware of what the problems are than you are.

I'm not sure what your point is about OL attrition under Stoops. Are you saying that is Stoop's fault in some way?

Chasing offensive linemen away has been Schmidt's issue. It seems too many primadona high school players don't want to work at anything since never had to growing up and no one made them.The ones who have a great work ethic to go along with exceptional talent seems to be more rare than it used to be,

Your entire post was absurd, but this was my favorite part. OU's record since the 2000 title game would be one of the best, if not the best, in the entire nation. Titles are hard to win. I hope OU wins another soon, but OU fans who don't appreciate what Stoops has done are either short-sighted or ignorant.

I am willing to wait until after the season to remind you of my comments? Great, highly paid coaches seem to be able to win Miles, Saban, Myers, even Iowa States Chizek. What no big check Bob?

I agree that the line performance has been key but don't think evaluation has anything to do with that. They have recruited numerous high caliber lineman that they haven't gotten. I suspect that Stoops is much more aware of what the problems are than you are.

I'm not sure what your point is about OL attrition under Stoops. Are you saying that is Stoop's fault in some way?


The evaluation process of players is everything……


Some coaches do it better than others… with the OL being the hardest position to project.

In many cases OU’s very best teams usually had a high number of lightly recruited OL players that few others wanted. This is why the evaluation process OL is so critical at a place like OU. Our low population numbers make finding these gems even harder.

Determining who has the heart, desire, personality along with the grades and athletically ability to fit into OU’s program is all part of the evaluation process.

When it comes to the statues of the program the buck stops with Stoops... With some of OL players who left….. it wasn’t a question of playing time…they were going to play. They didn’t like the conditions for some reason. . Whatever has caused OL players to quit has been a recurring problem that other top programs don’t seem to have.

Stoops took 3 OL in his first class and it came back to bit him big time later. Stoop generally hasn’t signed as many OL as most other successful programs... Most programs carry about 18 OL Stoops has rarely been at those levels.
When compared to the Alabama OL OU’s is light years behind. But I see no reason why the OU football program should not be a program that is able to sign and develop a top 5 OL……but that requires signing more OL than what Stoops has been willing to sign.

I am willing to wait until after the season to remind you of my comments? Great, highly paid coaches seem to be able to win Miles, Saban, Myers, even Iowa States Chizek. What no big check Bob?

It's always hard to talk to brick walls.

OU's problem with o-linemen has been attrition. This August OU lost 3 rotation o-lineman (Habern, Evans, Dismuke) to career ending injuries (Although Evans might come back) and a promising freshman quit football completely. If these freak injuries don't happen then OU would have one of the best o-lines in the country. Unfortunately, the breaks didn't work out.

I am willing to wait until after the season to remind you of my comments? Great, highly paid coaches seem to be able to win Miles, Saban, Myers, even Iowa States Chizek. What no big check Bob?

This ^ is what annoys the heck out of most college football fans out there....Must be a frequent caller on sports animal

I am willing to wait until after the season to remind you of my comments? Great, highly paid coaches seem to be able to win Miles, Saban, Myers, even Iowa States Chizek. What no big check Bob?
Chizik was only at Iowa State for two seasons and left there for Auburn after the 2008 season. Paul Rhoads is the current Iowa State coach.

Your entire post was absurd, but this was my favorite part. OU's record since the 2000 title game would be one of the best, if not the best, in the entire nation. Titles are hard to win. I hope OU wins another soon, but OU fans who don't appreciate what Stoops has done are either short-sighted or ignorant.

I remember the 90's. Ugh.

Same problem we've had for several years, no fire in the special times.
Primarily, we refuse to try to block a punt or field goal.
We don't even attempt to block a punt, which, in turn gives the punter
several extra seconds to allow his tacklers to head down field and hang
a higher punt.

This lack of guts spreads through to the whole team and sets the tone
for how much effort the defense and offenses gives us.

There was a time when we blocked punts or made an effort strong enough
that we got into the head of the opponent's punter. Now, we're predictable
and our returns suffer.

I remember part of the 60’s the 70’s the 80’s the 90’s and now the 00’s.
I have seen a lot of good and great football not only from OU but from others as well.


While I do very much appreciate the job Bob Stoops has done at OU, something just isn’t being done right.
There are lots of ideas on why that might be?

IMO it’s mostly about whom he recruits and particularly the poor line recruiting.

But we have seen a great well motivate Alabama team whose roster of players in recent years has been largely made up of players from the state of Alabama.

The 2000 OU Orange bowl team had 12 starters on it from Oklahoma. This team had 4 starters that were former walk-ons and 4 starters were from Texas.


Every OU team that has won a national championship except by a very slim margin in 1985 had a majority of Oklahoma’s on the roster.
You can fact check this here. http://soonerstats.com/

People keep bringing up o-line recruiting when the problem is o-line attrition. If OU had everyone they expected to have on their o-line 2 months ago it would be one of the best in the nation.

I agree that OU needs a special teams coach. Stoops has been stubborn on this and OU's special teams have been terrible for the last 5-6 years.

People keep bringing up o-line recruiting when the problem is o-line attrition. If OU had everyone they expected to have on their o-line 2 months ago it would be one of the best in the nation.



It would have helped not to have had those players hurt / suspended but much of OU O-line attrition in Stoops time at OU has come for emotional and mentality reasons.

If you’re recruiting OL with the right emotions and mentality it lowers the O-line attrition rates and probably by a lot.
A good evaluatation will do much more than just evaluate physical talent. The best recruiters are good at spotting potential problems and perhaps move on to other players.

With all their natural advantages and except for about 2 QB’s look at how poorly Mack Brown has handled and recruited QB’s.
This stuff has an impact on the win loss records.

It would have helped not to have had those players hurt / suspended but much of OU O-line attrition in Stoops time at OU has come for emotional and mentality reasons.

If you’re recruiting OL with the right emotions and mentality it lowers the O-line attrition rates and probably by a lot.
A good evaluatation will do much more than just evaluate physical talent. The best recruiters are good at spotting potential problems and perhaps move on to other players.

This has been a big problem on the team, but I'm trying to remember this being a big problem on the O-line, and I can't remember it... Can you provide examples besides the true freshman from this year? Otherwise, the problems seem to be somewhat minimal. Of the 5 guys that could have contributed 3 were injuries, 1 Juco lineman didn't qualify (but he was always a grade risk), and the freshman quit. Now, WRs is where character has been a huge problem.

This has been a big problem on the team, but I'm trying to remember this being a big problem on the O-line, and I can't remember it... Can you provide examples besides the true freshman from this year? Otherwise, the problems seem to be somewhat minimal. Of the 5 guys that could have contributed 3 were injuries, 1 Juco lineman didn't qualify (but he was always a grade risk), and the freshman quit. Now, WRs is where character has been a huge problem.

This is just off the top of my head…. Most of these players quit, transferred or where kicked off the team. A few others had career ending injuries.There are several more OL who stayed but were but contributed very little.
The attrition is made worse when OU has signed such low numbers of O-linemen in the first place. There have been times when OU has been forced to play O-linemen before they were physically or mentally ready. This has cost OU games. As I previously mentioned most top teams keep more O-linemen on their roster than OU has under Stoops.
This doesn’t include current suspensions / injuries
2002
Abner Estrada

2003
Antonn Reid
Brandon Keith was a starter and 7th round of the 2008 NFL Draft
Akim Millington was a starter
Brian Zimpel kicked off the team

2004
Randy McAdams
James Quinn… scandal
Cameron Schacht

2005
Jesse White
Ben Barresi
Brandon Keith was drafted

2006
Chase Beeler… was drafted
Chad Roark


2007
Alex Williams
Kody Cooke

2008
Britt Mitchell

2009
Jeff Vinson
Josh Aladenoye

2010

2011
Dylan Dismuke

2012
Will Latu

The only thing that impressed me is their secondary and only allowing 37 pass yards

I liked all the mustard talk, I don't know **** about the O Line!