With CC Machine still in Costa Rica, it's on me to give you all both an offensive and defensive recap. And I'm just guessing you'll be more than ready for him to return after you read what I have to say about yesterday. CC tends to be the more optimistic Sooner fan of the two of us and the Tech game is exactly the kind of game where he'd have plenty of compliments for this football team. I will have my fair share, but this game didn't really prove anything about this team that we didn't already know. We know they can get up for home games, we know they can be the dominant team we all thought they had the potential to be, but again we already knew all that. So yeah, a 38-point win on Senior Day was nice. Very nice. This senior class graduating with a perfect home record, even nicer. However, until this team proves it can win on the road it's hard to get too excited about a performance like yesterday.
We'll address the Kevin Wilson argument immediately after the jump, so I know you just can't wait to click it
We've got a lot to get to today, so no point in wasting any time. Let's discuss the offense.
- Kevin Wilson called a great game. That's right I said it. From the beginning of the game till the final whistle, he was everything I've wanted him to be. However, this is one of the most infuriating things about the guy and why I give him very little credit for yesterday. I'm sure all the Kevin Wilson apologists are collectively rolling their eyes, but I already know I'm never going to win you over. Let me elaborate for those who were previously with me on the dark side and may now be wavering. Again, I'll be the first to admit Wilson called a great game. However, why did it take 10 games into the season (outside of FSU) for that to happen? Even more importantly, why did it take two losses for the guy to realize we can run something other than the bubble screen??? Yeah he gets a little credit for yesterday, but 10 games in and two losses later the guy continues to frustrate the heck out of me. Mainly because yesterday was who he could be every Saturday and yet he is as inconsistent as this team is on the road.
- Any other day it would be an insult to start with anything other than Ryan Broyles' record breaking performance, but the Wilson issue had to be addressed. If there's an argument for Broyles not being the greatest OU WR of all time, I'd sure love to hear it. If he were to return for his senior season, will any of his records ever be broken?
- I'll admit right up front, this is serious nitpicking but Landry's pass to open the game was really bad. It was one of the few bad passes he made all day and he completed that very pass later in the game, but it displayed the hit and miss tendencies we've become accustomed to with his performances. Much like the game in general, we already knew Landry could play like this at home so his 22-29 for 317 yards and 5 TDs was great but also nothing get crazy excited about. Will this performance really matter if he comes out next week in Waco and shows us Bad Landry? It's probably not fair, but when you're the QB1 at OU you know that going in.
- I don't know what was up the refs you know what, but those two celebration penalties were absolutely ridiculous. I get that the call against OU was made because of the Tech call, but those were two shining examples of why the refs get booed whenever they step on the field. Neither of these kids did anything to deserve a flag and it was a disgrace that the idiotic refs caused both those kids to get reamed by their respective coaches.
- Really disappointing to see DeMarco Murray suffer an injury in his final home game. It was something he could have and did play through, but given the score there was obviously no reason to push it. He was limited to only nine carries, but he still averaged 8.8 per and got into the end zone on a nice swing pass after breaking multiple tackles.
- Did you see what Roy Finch is capable of coaches? Do you understand now how stupid it was to only give him five touches against A&M? The kid has a burst that virtually no one else on the team has and despite his size, you saw on his first career TD run he does not go down easily.
- Kenny Stills is a future star. I thought it going into the season and he's done nothing but confirm it throughout the season. The kid is just a smooth, fluid athlete at WR and if Broyles were to leave I'm confident Stills would be more than ready to pick up the slack.
- Stoops was asked after the game if the criticism regarding the offense and Kevin Wilson all week played any role in the game plan on Saturday. As you'd expect with Bob, he laughed at the thought that we the fans and/or media could possibly have any affect on him or his coaches. Well, sorry Bob but I'm calling some serious b.s. on that one. We already know you think we're all incredibly stupid, so no reason to try and change now. What's so frustrating is it's almost like they do this on purpose so they can go back and say "Look, we did it in the Tech game" when trying to defend themselves after some future road loss. I can certainly appreciate the fact that it's ludicrous to think they would intentionally do that, but remember that fact if they go on the road and struggle next week and Bob references this game in his post-game comments.
- Some later in the game observations. I was a little disappointed WR Trey Franks only got one catch. He had been coming on the last couple weeks, so it was unfortunate to see him be so uninvolved in the offense. I was happy to see WR Cam Kenney get in on Senior Day and have a couple nice catches. I've been really hard on the guy, but I was very happy for RB Mossis Madu as well. He got in and played really well, ran the ball hard, and most importantly didn't put the ball on the ground. I also thought RB Brennan Clay had a couple nice runs in garbage time. I really don't understand what the coaches do with QB Drew Allen. They put him in and do nothing to develop him by allowing him to do essentially nothing but turn around and hand the ball off. If, god forbid, Landry were to go down are we in any better shape than we were last year? Have they really learned nothing from their previous mistakes? Apparently the answer is yes.
Now, on to the defense.
- There are a lot of things in this world that I'll never understand and why DT Adrian Taylor had to suffer another serious lower leg injury is absolutely one of those things. Sick to my stomach doesn't even begin to describe how I felt when I heard he had torn his Achilles tendon. If there is anyone who doesn't feel just awful for this kid then I'd have to seriously question if they have a heart in their chest. I don't know what else to say, it's just a sickening feeling. I have no doubt you will, but keep your head up A.T.!
- I am rarely able to convince people to agree with me when it comes to what I'm about to say and I am constantly amazed by it. What I'm referring to is being up 45-7 with less than a minute to go in a game that has been well in hand for some time and yet Brent Venables rolls his starters out there on defense?!? LB Travis Lewis being on that field when you're up 38 points and not defending a shut out is a fireable offense. And no I'm not kidding. If he were to get hurt that late in a blow out game, I'd love to hear Venables try and explain why the hell he was even on the field in the first place? When it's the DT starters, I can understand. We don't have any choice at that position, but we've got plenty of options at LB and this is the primary reason when guys like Travis Lewis leave we are so poorly prepared to replace them. How the coaches continue to fail to grasp this is beyond me.
- I think most of us have tried to excuse it all year, but the simple fact is this is not a good defense. There are aspects of this defense that are good (like the cornerbacks, Travis Lewis, and Jeremy Beal), but they cannot cover up for the rest of the defense which is really struggling. This defense was absolutely gashed by the Tech run game. It felt like every time they ran the ball our defense was happy to give them 10 to 15 yards a clip. Tech wound up with 182 yards rushing, which was incredibly disappointing, and yet it felt like so much more. There is just no getting around the issues this team has up front and now you take Adrian Taylor out (despite the fact he was basically playing on one leg), they are even worse off than before.
- Based on the fact that LB Austin Box replaced Tom Wort in the starting lineup, it would appear that Venables finally accepted that fact that we've all witnessed these past weeks. He tried to explain it away in his post-game comments as a "co-starter" situation, but given Wort's struggles I've wondered for some time why Box wasn't playing more before Saturday. Wort did get into the game, but Box played a majority of the snaps against Tech. And there were just as many times where he was helplessly chasing down a WR from behind after being forced to cover a smaller, faster player he had no real chance of covering in the first place.
- As bad as the line was, the secondary was the exact opposite. The secondary has had their struggles (i.e. the safeties), but the cornerbacks have been outstanding since the Utah State game. They were expected to be a liability headed into the season and they have been anything but. Quinton Carter put up impressive tackle numbers, but do you really want your strong safety to be leading your team in tackles? It may be my small fan brain acting up, but I thought Jon Nelson played pretty poorly. I know he had an INT, but that could have just as easily been Hurst's INT as he had perfect coverage on the play and Nelson was really more playing center field. I just saw him miss a lot of tackles which lead to a lot of Tech's 182 rushing yards.
- It was great to see The Hammer back out there, but I continue to be confused by what the coaches are trying to do with him. As always, he was a stand out on kick coverage. He also got a lot of playing time on defense, but it appears his LB days are over. He played pretty much exclusively at DE and I couldn't help put focus most of my attention on him when he was on the field. What confuses me is he doesn't really appear to actually rush the QB? Maybe who's smarter than I am can watch him and tell me I'm wrong, but it's almost like he's always spying someone and never really has a chance to just go after the QB?
Special teams.
- Is there really much point to discussing this anymore? Jimmy Stevens shanked another field goal. Tress Way continues to look worse for some inexplicable reason. Sooner Nation continues to be baffled by the fact that this team has five kickers on scholarship, all of whom are undeserving of said scholarship. Pretty much sum things up?
Another win at home and a senior class graduating with a perfect home record are both great things, but this team has issues they have to at least try to resolve in these last two games. So are we a spoiled fan base that we I can't be happy with a 38-point win on Senior Day? Yeah, I'll give you that.