#4 Oklahoma At UTEP - Things I'm Looking For

As the 2012 Oklahoma football team prepares to make their debut Sooner Nation is sitting on pins and needles in anxiety. Even today more disturbing news came regarding the Sooners roster. This afternoon we were informed via various media outlets that defensive tackle Torrea Peterson joins the list of Sooners who did not make the trip to El Paso. Yup, that means Oklahoma has three defensive tackles out for this game and a suspension list that is now longer than the number of Oklahoma State football players the national media can recount by name.

Even so, a dominating performance by the Sooners tonight will go a long way in easing some of that doubt and anxiety. No one is legitimately expecting to see a complete and polished product on the field from Oklahoma tonight but an indication that the ship is pointed in the right direction is a must. What's that indication? A comfortable win over UTEP on the road. That's first on a list of things that I'm looking for tonight.

Here's the rest.

Points...and lots of them. West Virginia flexed their offensive muscle earlier in the day today and Oklahoma State is about to run it up on a bowl subdivision school. I'm looking to see where the Sooner offense compares in week one to the other highly proficient teams in the conference.

David King Dominate. Initially I wanted to see Casey Walker do this but...well...you know. There's a reason why the coaches moved King from end to tackle. My guess is that he showed potential greater than Jamarkus McFarland and and Jordan Phillips. I want to see that on the field tonight to convince me that this move isn't a bust.

Landry Jones make sound decisions. Surely he'll feel some pressure tonight from the UTEP defense, right? He's got a brand new crop of receivers and no established safety blanket yet. I want to see how much confidence he has when the heat is on.

Defensive fundamentals. Oklahoma has a new defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in Mike Stoops and Tim Kish. I want to see how that translates into fundamentals in coverage and tackling. I'm hoping to see a fundamentally sound defense.

Trey Metoyer unleashed. There's no hiding it now. This kid has superstar potential as a true freshman and so far the only ones who have seen him are his teammates and coaches along with the media and twenty thousand or so fans that attended the spring game. Time for the rest of the world to get to know him.

Solid special teams. The kicking game at Oklahoma is as good as it has been in several years and if the Sooners can add solid coverage and a return game to the mix then they should be a dangerous special teams which is always a plus.

That's a few things that I'm looking for tonight. How about you?