The
Second, the linebackers are solid. It was a point of concern going into the season because Ryan Reynolds was the only one with experience. Keenan Clayton adds versatility to the position and has transitioned smoothly from safety and Travis Lewis is just a player. There was a lot of talk heading into the
Finally, we learned that this team has attitude! Call is swagger or arrogance or whatever else you’d like but
Under Stoops Oklahoma has always had talent but at times seemed to lack mental and physical toughness. Watching them on Saturday reminded me of Torrance Marshall talking smack to the Florida State captains at the coin toss of the Orange Bowl and the backing it up with his play on the field.
This is the attitude that Oklahoma has been missing for a while.
Report Card
Quarterbacks – Sam Bradford set a personal record with 395 passing yards. He added 5 touchdowns to it and I am willing to bet that he passes these marks before the season ends. He did throw two interceptions but you could argue that one of them wasn’t his fault since it bounced off the receiver’s chest.
Grade: B+
Offensive Line – No sacks allowed and 592 yards of total offense. Yep, they did their jobs!
Grade: A+
Running Backs – The touchdown production was down from the week before but total yardage production was up by 15 yards and yards per carry were up from 4.0 the week before to 4.5.
Grade: A+
Receivers/Tight Ends – Hello Ryan Broyles! He set a record for
receivers making their debut with 7 receptions for 141 yards. Jermaine Gresham had 93 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns were spread among 4 different receivers. Oklahoma Grade: A+
Defensive Line – Dustin Grutza was sacked three times but two of those were linebacker Travis Lewis.
Oklahoma ’s defensive line did harassquarterbacks all afternoon and held the Bearcats to under 100 yards rushing and just 3 yards per carry. Cincinnati Grade: A-
Linebackers – A combined 25 tackles between the three starters and several big hits. They did get burned a few times on short middle passes in the first half but that was fixed at halftime and they led the defense to completely shutting down
in the 3rd quarter. Cincinnati Grade: B+
Secondary – Lendy Holmes and Dominique Franks each snagged interceptions but
gave up over 200 passing yards in the first half before the adjustments were made. Oklahoma Grade: B-
Special Teams –
was 7/7 on extra points and 1/1 on field goals. That would be an A+ if we could stop there but we have to address 265 yards surrendered on kickoff returns. Expect some changes this week in that department. Oklahoma Grade: C-