closetojumping

The sooners scrimmaged again yesterday and the offense still sucked. They're dealing with a lot of injuries on the OL and at WR, but they're not calling any of them serious besides the WR that went down for the season. They're also apparently canceling the third scrimmage scheduled this weekend because they're having wide spread depth issues and injury concerns. Here's the update from Sooners Illustrated: With just over two weeks remaining ahead of the season opener on August 30th, Oklahoma held their second official scrimmage of fall camp on Wednesday afternoon in Norman. Intel is coming into Sooners Illustrated on how things went, so without further delay let's get into it: – The top question everyone is going to immediately have, of course, was if this scrimmage was more balanced than the first one, in which the defense virtually dominated from start to finish. To put it simply, this scrimmage was more evenly matched than the first one - but still heavily led by the defense. A source described the action as still being "dominated" by the defense but with the offense being more overall productive than the first time, with them breaking through into the endzone "a few times" as opposed to just the once on Friday. – Quarterback Jackson Arnold, similarly to the offense, also had a better day overall but still with some struggles mixed in. Arnold threw another interception at the very beginning of the action, but in total had a better outing. This is all to be expected for a first-year starting quarterback going against an experienced defense - without starters at both offensive line and wide receiver (more on that below). It's all a learning curve for him right now. And no, there is no quarterback controversy here. Arnold is 100 percent the guy in Week 1. – Some important context to all this to keep in mind as well is the offense is extremely banged up right now - in particular along the offensive line. True freshman Josh Aisosa got the start at center on Wednesday in place of Branson Hickman, who is one of a medley of guys dealing with some "bumps and bruises" as Brent Venables termed it on Tuesday. The wide receiver room is also dealing with some injuries as well, so Oklahoma is playing it safe with that position following Jayden Gibson's season-ending knee injury. – With all that in mind, I'm told there is a very real possibility that OU will skip out on what is supposed to be their third and final scrimmage on Saturday. That is not set in stone, by any means, but is possible as they try and keep guys rested. None of the injuries, outside of Gibson, are serious but the Sooners still want to be cautious and doing so wouldn't be unheard of by any stretch. We'll see if they end up electing to go through with it, but the fact it's a discussion should give everyone an idea of the how banged up some spots are and how physical this camp has been this month.

Yeah, I read that dude's post and noticed, outside of many other fantasy takes, that he's added star rankings to both Bisontis and Dewberry. Neither guy was a 5 star by any service.

He was just using the discussion to insert some manipulated A Few Good Men dialogue.

Please just shut the fuck up with this uninteresting, tired pedantry. Christ.

For those who care, I've posted and spoilered below a comical practice update from ATM 247's Carter Karels. The guy tries, but if you read just this article, you can see how kowtowed these guys are by Elko and his staff. The guy can't really say anything at all. He doesn't mention that Terry Bussey has been moved full time to TB even though the word has leaked all over the place. Similarly, they had a few other injuries that were serious enough for guys to start missing practices, even if they're not out for the year. Who? Don't know but it sounds like someone on the OL. You can see Karels try to work around it. How healthy is a program if the staff is this paranoid about anything being said about this team? The restrictions are fucking absurd.

What is your problem with beer leagues, sir? That Friday night game will be the beginning of the end for a one Stanley Drayton. Temple looks like a bottom 15 G5 team this year.

People who never played WR will see a guy have a bad practice or two catching the ball and assume that that player is a problem. If the player has always dropped passes, sure. If not, it's nothing and ignorable. Nothing crystallizes your position like an enemy on the horizon. Getting into game mode will cut and clarify for someone like Cook.

Juan Davis is absolutely this year's David Aaron/Courtnee Garcia type who is all set to have all kinds of stats springing to life with his fucking breakout year. It's super exciting and believable to see this!

I hated Woolfolk being awesome at OU. It was a pleasure seeing him bust in the pros.

Oh JFC.

That motherfucker is going to have them winning again. I simultaneously respect it and despise it. I’d love to see a home and home with them in the future. I don’t think they have the heart or the cajones for it, but it would be fun. I listened to Adam Carriker on XM 84 earlier this week talking with some hosts about Nebraska and their outlook this year. One side tangent they got on was old rivalries and such. He said that “I know I’ll catch hell for saying it here in Nebraska, but I miss playing Texas and I think most players would agree” and even the hosts were shocked.

Anyways, I have a friend that is a bit of Georgia honk with friends on that staff. I was surprised to hear him tell me recently that Smart is in Urban Meyer at UF territory with that team if he's not super careful quickly here. They're bringing in guys that are harder to focus and control on critical developments at hand. Hope that's true.

The pollsters have particularly lazy and uncreative this year. I'm guessing the realignment has created some level of uncertainty, so voters just gravitate towards big brands. Unless you're Washington, then you can fuck off. There are several schools that should absolutely be ranked and aren't: Auburn - everyone hates the QB and remembers the NMSU loss to a level that merits them hardly getting any votes? They had one of the worst WR corps in the country last year. Freeze has recruited well and stocked well from the portal. Irrespective of his issues, the guy can fucking coach. This is year 2. They have Bama and Georgia, but the schedule is otherwise either favorable or manageable depending upon your view of the SEC as a conference this year. ULM, Vandy, Alabama A&M, New Mexico - that's 4 automatic wins (NMSU jokes aside). They can and should beat Cal, Arkansas and ATM at home. Between OU, @Mizzou, @ Kentucky, you don't have to squint too hard to get to 8-4/9-3, which would either be well inside the top 25. Memphis - they return basically their entire offense and 6 of their starting front 7. They catch FSU at a good time and otherwise should have 10 or 11 wins. They could be 12-0 with the right breaks. Boise State - Outside of a road game to Oregon, their schedule is favorable, they have a ton back, and the new regime allegedly knows what they're doing well enough for everyone to be excited. Virginia Tech - This one actually baffles me. They have a standout QB, a soft non-con, avoid FSU, UNC, SMU, ND, NC State, and Louisville in conference. They return 20 of 22 starters on the two deep. That's a team that should be solidly in anyone's top 25. Other thoughts: -Georgia Tech returns a bunch from a solid team and they don't even get a single vote. -Utah basically has like 2 games on their schedule that present a challenge. They're an old team that is tough and talented. They should be well inside the top 10. -FSU is a lazy, lazy pick. They lost a ton of talent, the QB has been a fucking joke his whole career, and their schedule is brutal. I don't expect them to be ranked by season's end. -ATM is an even lazier pick. They lost way more talent to the portal than they gained, they're razor thin with depth across the board and they have a ton of unknowns with a new regime. Everyone is giving those idiots the benefit of the doubt with a turnaround for no actual, discernible reason. Because of the 247 transfer rankings? Liucci blowing harder than ever? That The Elk is talking tough about cultural turnaround? They're staring down the barrel of 6-6. -Everything I just said about ATM outside of regime change is applicable to Miami and USC, except both play tougher schedules than ATM. Terrible voting.

I really sense an undercurrent of passion between the three of @Scholz, @Pdawg88 and @ChiTownDoc. I feel like there could be some real fireworks if these three got together in person and bonded.

That's a stretch, but correct directionally.

Get a fucking grip. I know you pride yourself on having attended 5-6 schools and being a fanboi of at least 10 more, but Georgia and Texas are not generally viewed on the same level, and fucking US News & World Report isn't going to change that. Georgia's viewed a good school for a football school in the South. Texas is an internationally recognized research institution and generally held in that regard. Many of us have worked with folks all over the western world in various industries, and I challenge anyone else besides texifornia to come forth and argue also that folks have the same perception of institutions between Texas and Georgia. That is the first time I have ever heard that shit.

Even with Utah traveling okay and the corporate tickets being used, I would be surprised if the lower level was fully filled out for that event. Grim.

There have been rumors of him being a heavy drinker for years. You’re a doctor, does that look like someone not hammering the sauce?

The most hilarious part about all of this is there is a zero percent chance that any fan would want to see retribution against the source on this. It would devastate their season. Elko is allegedly considering banning family from practices now. This is funny shit and this fat fuck Elko appears out of his depths. It’s nothing drinking multiple handles a night can’t solve for Elko though.

Sydir Mitchell, and I swear I find this hard to believe and assume it is being passed around for humor and not an actual truth, struggles to get through team warm-ups and then group warm-up follows before they start actually running drills or plays. It’s like pulling some of you off the couch in your pajamas and forcing you into hard calisthenics in 95 degree weather while wearing a helmet. Same outcome.

You make a great point about CU being relevant again. Colorado should never be down the way they’ve been, for as long as they have been. They have a beautiful campus, a quality brand, okay academic rep, and they’re located in one of the better spots on the map. Colorado the state doesn’t have a ton of talent, but the greater Denver area produces some quality. Then, CU should be pulling plenty from Texas, California, Arizona, KC, STL, and the Pacific northwest. McCartney and then Neuheisel knew this and did this. It’s absurd that they turned most of those spigots off.

Yeah, I agree about best team versus best season. I still think Texas could do both, but this second post on ND sums up what I’ve been writing about for months as well. I was kind of shocked to hear one of the legit reporters/insiders for ND on XM 84 this week speaking candidly and with eyes wide open about this season. He said that the schedule is unforgiving, but not in the way you’d think - it’s transparently light barring some surprise teams. As a result, if they lose two games, they do not think they’re getting the old Notre Dame benefit of the doubt. He said they (staff, admin, people around the program, Freeman) have looked at other teams’ schedules and feel like there are going to be too many 9-3/10-2 teams from the P4s with better resumes. You just never hear that kind of stuff in public unless a program knows that they’d look like idiots to position it any other way. With all of that considered, the dude was answering the question of “most important game on your schedule” and he concluded that they all know, without a doubt, that they have to win the game in College Station. As much as I enjoy despising Notre Dame, I respect their outlook and felt assured that they’re not walking into aggieland feeling entitled.

Manny Diaz can be beaten in a race, unless the finish line is the sideline.

If you splice the electric cord to your microwave oven and connect one piece to the tv and the other to the big antennae outside the screen door of mobile home, you should be able to pick up signals from all over the world.

I’m sure you know that you can find Arnold and the gang streaming somewhere.