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- Happy Wednesday, Sooners fans! For those who partake, I hope all hangovers have abated. For my case, I’ve given up the sauce, but games like this bring up the ghost of Lloyd Bridges-as-Steve McCroskey….
- Eeyup, from the moment Austin Seibert’s field goal attempt on the first drive went doink! off the right upright, this game just felt like it wasn’t meant to be. Houston and Ohio State showed that we’re not ready to play four quarters of football. At best, the 2016 edition of the Sooners seems ready to play one offensive possession of football against teams of that caliber.
- BLAME THE ROMANS. Remember the earthquake before the Houston game? Our sacrifices to Vulcan were inadequate that day, and we were punished. This Saturday, of course, it was thunderstorms that delayed the game for 90 minutes. Plenty of time for us to have made the proper sacrifices to Jupiter, Roman God of Storms. Sez Wiki, the proper sacrifice to Jupiter would have been lamb. Our watch party served chicken and dumplings. And OU lost.
- (A proper Roman would describe that logical train as “Post hoc ergo propter hoc” reasoning, but hey, what have the Romans ever done for us?)
- BLAME NUMEROLOGY. Four was not our lucky number, as the Buckeyes’ first two scores came on fourth downs. On their fourth down, they made a simple alignment shift that seemed to – nay, did – baffle our young linebackers. On our fourth down, an inexcusably blown blocking assignment led to Baker Mayfield being charged by a bull rush like he was at Pamplona, which led to a deflected pass and a pick six.
- BLAME THE OLDER PLAYERS. I actually think there’s some truth to this one. Specifically, there are two older players who made bonehead moves that really hurt this Sooners squad: Zack Sanchez and Dominique Alexander. Bob Stoops will always tell his players that if they can get selected in the first round of the draft, with all the guaranteed money that’s there, they should go for it. Sanchez was taken 141st and plays on the practice squad; Dom was an undrafted free agent who’s sitting on the bench in Cleveland. We certainly could have used both on Saturday. I wish them both luck, but can’t help but think what they left on the table by not coming back.
- (tangent) – I wish I had made observances to Jupiter, lamb burgers are tasty.
- RISK/REWARD. We knew going into this year that we had a ridiculously tough non-conference schedule. I think part of the reason for our lofty preseason ranking (and longtime readers know what I think about preseason rankings) is because of the Risk/Reward it seemed to offer. Everyone enjoys the Reward part of the risk/reward paradigm, but human nature often blinds us to the Risk element. It’s why casinos make lots and lots of money.
- That said, Bob Stoops has won the risk/reward gamble more often than he’s lost it. Consider: he’s 3-0 against both Alabama and Florida State. He’s beaten Notre Dame in South Bend. He’s the only coach to win every one of the BCS bowl games. Since 1999, he’s never had a losing season. These ain’t peanuts, y’all. Just for a bit of context, let’s look at how some of the other “name” schools have fared since 1999….
- CLEMSON: As recently as 2010, went 6-7. Lost the 2012 Outback Bowl to West Virginia by a score of 70-33. Dabo Sweeney was the coach both years. The school did not fire him.
- AUBURN: Went 5-7 in 2008, the last year Tommy Tuberville was coach. T-Tubs had at least tied for first in the SEC four times. The school fired him. Went 3-9 in 2012, two years after Gene Chizik had them win the BCS national championship. The school fired him. 2013 was Guz Malzahn’s first year, and Auburn played for the BCS natty again – since then, his teams have gone 8-5 and 7-6. They, also, are currently 1-2 on the season.
- USC: Has had seven head (or interim) coaches since 1999. Went 7-6 as recently as 2012. Their official win-loss record for the 2005 season is 0-0.
- NOTRE DAME: Has had five coaches since 1999. Although they competed in the BCS Natty in 2012, Brian Kelly has gone 8-5 three times.
- TEXAS: Sucks.
- MICHIGAN: Lloyd Carr was the coach in 1999, and that’s a guy I really respected. Michigan let him retire when he wanted to, and for his last game, unranked Michigan beat 9th-ranked Florida (Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow) to send him off in style. Since 2008, they’ve had three losing seasons.
- Noticing a pattern? I could keep going. LSU, Florida, Florida State, Oregon, Penn State (no comment), Georgia, Nebraska….
- Anyway, the point of all of this is that if there’s one man in the world whose job should be safe, it’s Bob’s. Anyone who says otherwise is straight-up overreacting.
- (Bear in mind, though: I’m a Milwaukee Brewers fan. So when the Brewers are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs – most years, effectively in late April – I can sit back and enjoy watching a ball game without having to worry too much.)
- Speaking of Milwaukee, this week’s song is a happy little number from Milwaukee’s famous sons, The Violent Femmes. Because we’ve had a few days, we can be happy again.
- Peace and love, Sooners fans! Anybody got any big plans for the bye week?