There are probably some among us OU fans that refuse to admit that little brother OSU poses any kind of real threat. Normally I'd be right there with them, but since joining CC Machine I've tried harder than ever before to wade through the homerism and be at least a hair more objective. So with that said, even I through my crimson colored glasses can recognize the fact that OSU presents some significant challenges at multiple positions for our Sooners. So we'll give you all some of the usual suspects and some of the maybe not so obvious guys, then it's up to you to keep the conversation flowing into the comments section.
First up are the guys everybody knows. We tend to try and dig a little deeper here at CC Machine, but to not mention these guys would be incredibly foolish and minimize the fact they are very legitimate candidates for your vote.
Weeden has a major league arm (literally) and an incredibly quick release. He's been sacked the fewest times in the league, which is both a product of said arm/release as well as an excellent OSU o-line. If OU is not able to pressure Weeden, it could look somewhat similar to the Mizzou game and we do not want that. Even if OU isn't able to get the actual sack, making Weeden at least feel the pressure will be key in disrupting his rhythm.
via media.scout.com
Hunter is a dynamic RB and arguably the best in the Big 12. He's a guy who never goes does easily and many times when you think you have him contained, he makes a little jump cut or wiggle move and picks up valuable extra yardage. Despite the fact that OSU loves to throw the ball, I'd have to imagine that given OU's struggles defending the run all year that Gundy and Holgorsen will try and exploit that with Hunter. However Hunter is not their only threat at the RB position, but we'll get to that in a minute.
I'm not gonna lie, I had to resist every OU fan urge in my body not to use Blackmon's recent mugshot for the picture above. But that's not what this post is about and it's certainly not like I've never made a mistake in my life, so the kid gets off the hook with me (at least for now). There's probably not much I can say that you don't already know about Blackmon. The kid is a freaking beast and will be a ginormous threat from the second they kickoff on Saturday. My guess is Blackmon garners the most vote, but I could be wrong.
Personally, this is the guy that scares me the most. That's not meant as a slight to the three-headed monster above, but Randle is the kind of guy that I can see killing OU. It's really a perfect storm type of nightmare for a paranoid OU fan such as myself. OU always seems to give up a career best type game to somebody every game and I have this immense fear that Randle will be that guy on Saturday. He's a backup, he's incredibly dangerous in both the run and pass game, and he's just waiting to breakout. I'm already having nightmares about him breaking multiple long plays and OU DBs desperately trying to chase him down.
Josh Cooper
via blog.newsok.com
I'll spare you the much played out Wes Welker comparison. Cooper reminds me a lot of Mizzou WR T.J. Moe. Cooper plays predominantly in the slot and much to the dismay of most OU fans I know, means he will probably be matched up against a LB (WHY?!?!) all day. So, if Venables lives up to his past transgressions you can expect Cooper to be very involved in the offense on Saturday.
If you're wondering why I included OSU's outstanding kicker here then you're probably not that big of an OU fan. OU's struggles at kicker have been well documented, so if this game were to come down to a field goal who do you think would be more confident in their kicker? Not to mention OU could be forced to repeatedly go for it on fourth down whereas OSU could instead take an almost automatic three points. This could easily be the difference in the game and that my friends is scary (at least for us).
I'm going to go ahead and cut this short here as I know you all have very limited attention spans (just kidding). That does not mean that OSU doesn't have some weapons on defense, but I'd have to think even the most diehard OSU fan (like these guys below) would say the offense should be our primary concern.
So feel free to discuss some of the defensive guys we might need to worry about in the comments below and if there is and OSU fans lurking, you're more than welcome to participate in the conversation.
BOOMER SOONER and as always;
