OU Football 2024 Season

[dankrutka]

Yeah, this is definitely not the biggest game in a long time. With this offensive line, WRs, and a young QB, this OU team is more likely a 6 to 9 win team. Tennessee has looked really good, and I'd be really surprised if OU can hang, but hopefully things can come together and OU wins the turnover battle to hang in it. Still, OU has played in far more important games, including national championships and playoffs, than this one in the last few decades.

[BoulderSooner]

Yeah, this is definitely not the biggest game in a long time. .

this is by far the biggest home game since Ohio st in 2016 and ND before that .. add to that the 1st SEC conf game .. and yeah it is Huge .

and ticket prices reflect that ..

[OKCRealtor]

What do we know about injuries if anything yet for this week?

We are gonna need 2-3 defensive TD's I feel like & no major mistakes by JA to have a chance. Unless he puts on a superman cape all a sudden we just don't have a line to block.

[BoulderSooner]

What do we know about injuries if anything yet for this week?

We are gonna need 2-3 defensive TD's I feel like & no major mistakes by JA to have a chance. Unless he puts on a superman cape all a sudden we just don't have a line to block.

well this is the first time we get the SEC required injury report on thursday ..... but the thought is that Anderson and Dolby will be back and Hickman is a maybe ..

[warreng88]

College Gameday in Norman this Saturday. Any guesses on who the guest picker will be? Maybe CeeDee Lamb? Blake Griffin?

[ManAboutTown]

College Gameday in Norman this Saturday. Any guesses on who the guest picker will be? Maybe CeeDee Lamb? Blake Griffin?

Barry Switzer.

[FighttheGoodFight]

Boz, Lana Del Rey or Chet Holmgren are my guesses.

[dankrutka]

Trae Young makes a lot of games too.

[warreng88]

I forgot that Lana Del Rey said she was a big OU fan. Nathan Followill (Kings of Leon Drummer) and Patty Gasso would be other good guests.

[burksooner]

Does anyone know of any OU specific bars in OKC that are doing anything for the OU-Tennessee game this weekend?

[FighttheGoodFight]

I will say the recent no rain has the field looking rough.

[BG918]

I will say the recent no rain has the field looking rough.

Norman in general is looking rough because of the recent drought - not a good look for our SEC visitors but alas not anything we can change..

[Jersey Boss]

I will say the recent no rain has the field looking rough.

I wonder what the issue is using sprinklers?

[April in the Plaza]

I will say the recent no rain has the field looking rough.

But not as rough as the qb play, lol.

[OKCRealtor]

Hot take over reaction is that Jackson Arnold is a total bust and likely done at OU. Littrell needs to be fired immediately but JA is a turnover machine.

We have the literal opposite of Lincoln Riley but at least his games were always exciting to watch albeit frustrating. 6 wins will be a struggle at this point with several blowouts to be expected from here.

[MagzOK]

I wonder what the issue is using sprinklers?

While it hydrates my yard, well water doesn't have all the nutrients that rain water has to green up the grass quite as good as rain. You just don't get the exact same results from sprinkler water than you do rain. I guess they could use a ton of fertilizer and chemicals to supplement the sprinkler water maybe.

[gjl]

Well water sure makes my tomato plants grow better than watering them with city water.

[MagzOK]

I questioned the Seth Litrell hire from the get-go. I understand that the administration was still probably healing from the burn by Riley so they went with a safe, home-grown hire. But he was fired from North Texas for his lack of offense. I just thought OU needed to make a splash hire at OC especially going into the new league, not trying their hand at an unproven, or already failed coach.

The piecemeal offensive line is not working.

Jackson Arnold has lost the luxury of having a long leash. He's a paid professional raking in $1M in NIL money. With this new era of NIL comes the scrutiny of being a professional player. NIL has changed my perspective on the leeway these kids have historically received. Since the Alamo Bowl last season to now, Arnold is a turnover machine. I'm not saying I'm ready to give up on him, but I also saw great potential in his backup.

It is possible for five-Star players to not work out. We've had some five-star QB recruits not work out, but that's not unique to the QB position. Some players simply just don't pan out. Arnold was a great QB in high school, but that doesn't always pan out in college like we all hope it will. That being said, he probably would be better if he had an OL that could actually block and give him time so he's not constantly running around trying to force throws, but he could protect the football better.

Hawkins provides an element that can help our QB play overcome our abysmal offensive line and lack of running game. He was very flashy, made some great throws on the run, and was fun to watch. I think we saw a preview of our next QB.

In this day and time and playing in the SEC now, if there's no real improvement we need to ditch Litrell after his first season and get that splash hire.

I absolutely LOVE the defense.

[Bill Robertson]

I agree with all that say the offensive play calling is really bad. And the QB play has been also. But the OC's playbook is smaller when the O-line can't keep the defense out of the backfield for more than 2 seconds. Often not that long. Defenses just push this line around.
The one thing the OC could do is rely more on quick, short passes. But good defenses will stop that if it's all you can do.
Deep routes aren't going to happen because there's not time. Trick plays like reverses or RB passes aren't possible for the same reason. We should have a better OC. No doubt about that. But this year I'm not sure how much difference it would make. Pat Jones's very common quote "It's not the Xs and Os, it's the Jims and Joes" is fitting in the case of this O-line.

[OKCRealtor]

I feel like we would have been fine had Lebby stayed or we brought in a better hire. Decision was made to stay in house with Littrell probably for continuity with JA but it looks like a horrible decision now. It's multi-faceted but we have one of the worst offenses in the entire FBS.

Kinda makes you wonder if offensive recruiting is about to take a major hit & what talent we do have starts hitting the portal. There's really no excuse to be as bad as we are. We look like a team from the mid 90's.

[OKCRealtor]

Edit: Double post, board is lagging.

[kukblue1]

Does OU win 2 SEC games this year?

[dankrutka]

I questioned the Seth Litrell hire from the get-go. I understand that the administration was still probably healing from the burn by Riley so they went with a safe, home-grown hire. But he was fired from North Texas for his lack of offense. I just thought OU needed to make a splash hire at OC especially going into the new league, not trying their hand at an unproven, or already failed coach.

I don't have any qualms with the Littrell criticism, but your Littrell story is mostly OU fan fiction rage. Littrell took a moribund UNT program and led them to more success they'd had in a long time. A lot of it happened when Oklahoman Mason Fine was the QB. Littrell was fired because UNT couldn't win bowl games, but before Littrell was there, UNT didn't make bowl games. Littrell also had offensive success as the offensive coordinator at Indiana and North Carolina. He has a track record. So, it's fine to think Littrell is doing a poor job, particularly due to the lack of execution, but you don't have to make stuff up to make the argument.

Personally, I think it's hard to fully evaluate Littrell considering (a) Arnold seems to possibly be a bust (he wasn't a Littrell recruit), (b) the offensive line lacks talent and is deeply injured (much of this blame lands with Bedebaugh), and (c) the injuries at wide receiver are devastating (only 1 of the top 5 WRs remains). I don't think the play calls have been the problem (unless you want to argue that it requires too much for Arnold to evaluate on plays), but the execution has been bad. The only hope is that (a) Hawkins can be better, (b) the offensive line gets healthier and is able to develop some cohesion and continuity, and (c) some young WRs like Pettaway step up. I definitely don't think firing Littrell during the season would serve any purpose, especially considering there's no logical heir to take over the offense.

[dankrutka]

I don't have any qualms with the Littrell criticism, but your Littrell story is mostly OU fan fiction rage. Littrell took a moribund UNT program and led them to more success they'd had in a long time. A lot of it happened when Oklahoman Mason Fine was the QB. Littrell was fired because UNT couldn't win bowl games, but before Littrell was there, UNT didn't make bowl games. Littrell also had offensive success as the offensive coordinator at Indiana and North Carolina. He has a track record. So, it's fine to think Littrell is doing a poor job, particularly due to the lack of execution, but you don't have to make stuff up to make the argument.

Personally, I think it's hard to fully evaluate Littrell considering (a) Arnold seems to possibly be a bust (he wasn't a Littrell recruit), (b) the offensive line lacks talent and is deeply injured (much of this blame lands with Bedebaugh), and (c) the injuries at wide receiver are devastating (only 1 of the top 5 WRs remains). I don't think the play calls have been the problem (unless you want to argue that it requires too much for Arnold to evaluate on plays), but the execution has been bad. The only hope is that (a) Hawkins can be better, (b) the offensive line gets healthier and is able to develop some cohesion and continuity, and (c) some young WRs like Pettaway step up. I definitely don't think firing Littrell during the season would serve any purpose, especially considering there's no logical heir to take over the offense.

Does OU win 2 SEC games this year?

OU needs to beat Auburn and South Carolina. Losing by 10 points to the #6 team in the nation is not the disaster some are claiming, but none of these wins will come easy. OU will have to take them.

[MagzOK]

I don't have any qualms with the Littrell criticism, but your Littrell story is mostly OU fan fiction rage. Littrell took a moribund UNT program and led them to more success they'd had in a long time. A lot of it happened when Oklahoman Mason Fine was the QB. Littrell was fired because UNT couldn't win bowl games, but before Littrell was there, UNT didn't make bowl games. Littrell also had offensive success as the offensive coordinator at Indiana and North Carolina. He has a track record. So, it's fine to think Littrell is doing a poor job, particularly due to the lack of execution, but you don't have to make stuff up to make the argument.

Personally, I think it's hard to fully evaluate Littrell considering (a) Arnold seems to possibly be a bust (he wasn't a Littrell recruit), (b) the offensive line lacks talent and is deeply injured (much of this blame lands with Bedebaugh), and (c) the injuries at wide receiver are devastating (only 1 of the top 5 WRs remains). I don't think the play calls have been the problem (unless you want to argue that it requires too much for Arnold to evaluate on plays), but the execution has been bad. The only hope is that (a) Hawkins can be better, (b) the offensive line gets healthier and is able to develop some cohesion and continuity, and (c) some young WRs like Pettaway step up. I definitely don't think firing Littrell during the season would serve any purpose, especially considering there's no logical heir to take over the offense.

He was a .500 coach at North Texas. 5-8, 9-5, 9-4, 4-8, 4-6, 6-7, 7-6 -- these are his wins and losses -- only 3 winning seasons. I think it was probably more than goose eggs in bowl games that got him fired.

He was 4-8 as OC at Arizona.
He was 4-8 in 2012 as OC at Indiana, 5-7 in 2013.
He was 6-7 in 2014 as OC at NC, 11-3 in 2015.
This is one winning season from 2011 to 2015.

That's his track record. Hardly offensive success, as you say.

Again, hardly a splash hire.

Brush up on your numbers before you start calling out fan-fiction.