- Happy Monday, Sooners fans. I feel compelled to ask, after this week, "Are you not entertained?"
- I’ll go ahead and start this week’s bulletpoints off with a bang: is Oklahoma’s defense really that good? It’s been praised all up and down the reporting, but for me personally, I’m not quite ready to give it a place in a Stoops Top Five. Consider: 33 points, 513 total yards. And I don’t want to hear about the WVA Big Plays on busted coverages. And can you really tell much against La Tech, Tulsa, or Tennessee's offensive line? This defense actually reminds my (predictably) of my New Orleans Saints in 2009 – statistically not great, but some really key turnovers translate an L into a W. Take away a Quentin Hayes INT here and a Geneo Grissom sack/fumble there, and we’re looking at asking Landry and Kenny to give us Sooner Magic. I’m curious to hear if you think I’m right.
- Speaking of Sooner Magic, Alex Ross… he has it. Reading through the game thread and the postgame analysis, you’d think he was made out of liver that had been subjected to a Gordon Ramsey cutting board. I, for one, think that his kickoff return TD was the Sooner Magic spark that allowed us to win this game, and I’ll arm wrestle anyone who tells me otherwise. And wow, his 34-yard run made me wish I had 3D glasses. The kid deserves his propers. I get why he’s thought of as our #3 running back, but the kid’s no Moisses Madu, I’ll tell you that for free.
- I have nothing to add to the conversation about OU’s other tailback from Saturday night that you can’t read anywhere else. Samaje Perine is a full-grown man. Scary. But oh lordy me, our offensive line had some sick blocking patterns.
- (But my favorite quote on Samaje thus far comes from Bryan Fischer at nfl.com: "In many respects, the 5-foot-11, 243-pound back appeared to be a bigger version of Marshawn Lynch on the field as he ran over defenders and made life miserable for Mountaineers fans after a wild first half."
- I personally have no problem with the failed surprise onside kick. I’ll even take it a step farther and say that I hope they do it again. But that was hardly our only trip down the Mighty Ohio River with the Gambler – consider for a moment the trick play that tied the game at 20. What if we had done a straight pitch play that had failed? Check out the blocking: I counted *two* double teams to the left, and a quick release block by Knight that got him open. This play was closer than it looked, but oh, mercy, did it work.
- ESPN's profile piece on Eric Striker. If he were a song, I think he'd be "Hold Me Now" by the Thompson Twins.
- Eight penalties for 83 yards. Ouch. This is not a terribly Stoopsian stat, and it’s a progression that has only been getting worse. This is the kind of nonsense that can cost us a game. Worse, it’s the kind of nonsense that can cost us a game against the kind of opponent we should beat. We’ve got to be cleaner than this. I’ve not seen any reporter ask Stoops about this stat in interviews, which makes me curious.
- Our next opponent is the University of Idle. We have never lost to the University of Idle, but depending upon our performance, we may still drop in the polls.
- Non-football OU link of the week: OU’s School of Drama kicked off its own 2014 season with "Carrie: The Musical." (Fun fact: the OU School of Drama is the second-oldest in the nation, behind only Yale.) (It was also the undergrad major or yours truly, and so I know the amount of work that goes into putting on a good show. I was in the scene shop as much as most football players are in the weight room. Go support Sooners colleges of fine arts!)
- /promoting
- Peace and love, Sooners fans. Enjoy catching up on household chores this Saturday!