Looking Ahead To The 2011 Football Schedule
by ccmachine on Jan 14, 2011 1:33 AM CST
in Oklahoma Sooners Football
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PrintLess than two weeks from the end of Oklahoma's 2010 football season the bar seems to be raised higher and higher for 2011 with each passing day. We've discussed underclassmen returning for their senior seasons, skill position players that should be game breakers and how coaching staff moves will affect the performance on the field. But what about the schedule itself? Who are the 2011 opponents for Oklahoma? Let's take a look.
The Sooners have six home games next season, will face five opponents on the road and one at a neutral site. Here's a view of their opponents ranked from least to most difficult.
12. TBD: Ball State - The Cardinals posted a 4-8 behind freshman quarterback Keith Wenning. They'll most likely be Oklahoma's season opener.
11. 10/15: @ Kansas - Anything that could go wrong for the Jayhawks in 2010 did resulting in a 3-9 finish. Yes, the Jayhawks did beat Georgia Tech in Lawrence but they also lost to North Dakota State there as well.
10. 11/12: Iowa State - The Cyclones finished 2010 at 5-7 and will be breaking in a new quarterback in 2012.
9. 10/22: Texas Tech - Two questions face the Red Raiders going into the 2011 football season. 1) Who will play quarterback? 2) Will Texas Tech find a defense?
8. TBD: Tulsa - Quarterback G.J. Kinne guided Tulsa to a 10-3 record and a Top 25 finish in 2010. The Golden Hurricane will be coming to Norman with something to prove.
7. 10/29: @ Kansas State - The Wildcats scored a total of 48 touchdowns in 2010 and Daniel Thomas was responsible for 19 of those. KSU has a lot to replace in Thomas and quarterback Carson Coffman is the first person they'll look to.
6. 11/19: @ Baylor - Any respect I gained for the Bears in 2010 was gone by the end of their 38-14 loss to Illinois in the Texas Bowl.
5. TBD: Missouri - The Blaine Gabbert era has drawn to a close in Columbia but a talented group of running backs remains.
4. 10/08: Texas - No one really knows what to expect from Texas in 2011. One thing we do know is that the Red River Shootout should never be overlooked.
3. 11/05: Texas A&M - The fact that this game is in Norman should provide Sooner fans tons of confidence but this looks to be the toughest home game of the 2011 football season for OU.
2. TBD: @ Florida State - Oklahoma had their way with the Seminoles when the two teams met in Norman early in the 2010 season. However, we were looking at a different Florida State team at the end of the season as the Seminole defense caught on. Now they'll be looking to make a point with the Sooners early in the 2011 season.
1. 11/26: @ Oklahoma State - The Cowboys were as close as they've ever been to winning the Big 12 in 2010 and it was the Sooners who came to Stillwater and ruined their party. Thanks to the restructuring of the conference Oklahoma will be playing OSU on the road again in 2011.
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Three games...
will make the difference between 12-0 and 9-3. First off, Texas is Texas, even if all the early season predictors have seem to have forgotten about their existence. Their 5-7 record is as much of a fluke as 2009 was for OU. Anyone here should know that. Texas will be back and with a vengeance. Expect 2011 to be a “Revenge Tour” for the Longhorns. Second off, Florida State. We flat out embarrassed them last year. They are as tough to play in Doak Campbell as OU is in Gaylord Family. Their QB coming is is no Christian Ponder, but he has experience and is not chopped liver either. If Florida State is indeed back, that statement will have to be made at the OU game. This is a Florida State team, that could and very well should play with a chip on their shoulder. But then again, Bob Stoops has already demonstrated how he practically owns family and close friends with the exception of Pelini in 2009. Thirdly, OSU. The difference, and this point is arguable, between OU winning and losing this game in 2010 was the health of Justin Blackmon. When both Weedn and Blackmon came back, the headline could just have easily read. “Blackmon and Weedn come back for another shot at OU”, Forget conference championships, National Championships, or BCS Bowls, they play football in Stillwater for one reason and one reason only, to beat OU. While someone else on the schedule could come up and cause an upset, it is not likely. The game is either in Norman or against a vastly overmatched opponent, I do however believe if that home winning streak is to end, it is likely to happen when Texas A&M visits, but one thing I have learned since we started playing that set of Aggies in the Stoops Era, you can count on a close game in College Station or a Blowout in Norman.
I'm a Sooner Born and a Sooner Bred, and when I die I'll be a Sooner Dead!!!
While I agree with your assement that Texas will be back...
I don’t believe you can call the 2010 season for them as a fluke, and compare it to OU’s 2009 season. OU’s problem in 2009 was injuries. 2010 for Texas is structural. I believe that is was more emotional on the part of the coaches & players. They had an attitude of entitlement. They believe they could beat anyone just because they are Texas. I’m not sure that’s going away as fast as people think. I may be wrong on the time frame, but I believe they have another year before they learn from their mistakes. Having said that, Texas is Texas, they may be down the rest of the season, but they will bring their best game against us in Dallas.
FWIW...
Carson Coffman was a redshirt senior this last year. K-State will need to replace their starting QB and 1st/2nd string RBs at the very least.
Hail to the Purple, Hail to the White
Wildcat in spirit, Wildcat in fight
Hail Alma Mater from sea to sea
Onward forever, Hail Victory!
That should bump them up, he was freaking terrible
"I don't like Texas. I don't like the city of Austin. And I don't like the color orange. It reminds me of puke." The Boz
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Coffman was terrible but the other dude was AWFUL
Joey Halzle would have been an upgrade…
by OU JJ on Jan 14, 2011 4:54 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
What's up with us getting double dipped
for away games two years in a row at OSU and Baylor. Texas doesn’t have to do that at all. I’m not sure about the rest of the Big-12 scheduling, but it somehow doesn’t seem quite right.
If the Big12lite stays at 10 teams
for awhile, I’d assume you see some more double dipping. For example right now we play both Kansas Schools in Norman, which means next year on the road to both. I can remember way back in the big 8 days, OU playing K-state at home 2 years to split this up. AND, I’m sure other schools will have a similar issue with Okla schools or Texas and A&M.
Also a 9 game conference schedule works out SO much better if each school has a neutral site game. OU and Texas obviously already have that. KU-Missouri in KC seems to have caught on, but really that’s the only natural ones. Baylor-Tech in Dallas? OSU/A&M in Dallas? K-state-Iowa State in KC?
Colorado Rockies correspondent at My Team Rivals (www.mtrmedia.com/rockies) and my own site Rockies Reporter (www.rockiesreporter.wordpress.com)
Look at OSU's 2011 schedule
http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa-11/big-12/2011-oklahoma-state-cowboys-football-schedule.php
@ Tulsa
@ ATM
@ Texas
@ Missouri
@ TTech
@ ISU
The interior 4 games. Ouch.
OSU has to double dip in Austin. Not that it’ll matter.
2009 Texas was not a fluke year. You don’t get consistently beat by the likes of bad to mediocore teams like UCLA, Iowa State, K-State, and Baylor.
I’d prefer for OU to double-dip in Stillwater than College Station with the team ATM will likely return next year. Not that OSU won’t drop off in 2011, but the Pokes are just not as imposing as those Aggies on their home turf.
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