soonernado

4-8

Purdy finished 4th in the Big 12 in QB rating (Rattler by a mile, Ehlinger, Sanders). That's fairly historic for ISU, but regarding them now as a conference contender, I can live with OU facing him twice again. Would rather see him and Breece than anyone and Bijan. Don't tell the locals I said that.

Come on, man. It's like a whole team of Perry Ellises up there. Raised by dinosaurs and enrolled in the Eisenhower administration. Purdy coming back is a mixed bag though. Gives you a certain floor, which for all Campbell's built is no given at ISU. But the turnovers under pressure are that team's ceiling, and there'll once again be a pretty good pass rush between them and the conference title.

Same old same old. If we have to go 1-1 heads up against Alabama this year, I'll take McCutchin. Yeah, all of that. OU has guys in the system equivalent to what they could scrape up now. McGowan will be viable once his vision and understanding of the offense come along a little more, i.e, stop trying to Roy Finch it anytime something goes wrong. Even Mikey Henderson can probably be RB1 if needed (and I'd love to watch it). They can at least get OU through any gap between Brooks and an elite 2022 guy. I will cut DM some slack for losing a close one to Bama less than a year after arriving in Norman. Coming up empty in '22 should be unforgivable.

But OU's had the advantage of a fresh new QB the whole time. Next year they'll be forced to reuse one and that's when Tom will get them.

I mean, Ed Orgeron didn't win a natty so much as he kept things quiet long enough for Joe Brady to win a natty and run for the hills. What this group shows me is that there is not a surefire winning formula unless you can money-whip one of the top active coaches into your program. (Hate to say it, but even aTm is proving that can work.) You have the proven hires but they're outnumbered by an assortment of outside non-HC hires, internal promotions, former interims, etc. The right guy is hard to find. Especially in a place where coaching football games is only a small part of the job.

Floating Bob Stoops, like every other rumor about him since he retired, just doesn't line up with why he walked away. There was no scandal about to break on his head like all of Stillwater insisted on believing. His dad dropped dead on a football field. He hadn't recruited competitively, or even acted like he wanted to, in years. He took the XFL job because it was what it was. No expectations, no pressure, no groveling to teenagers, hardly even any media, just low-stakes football with a few of his old players. If he didn't want the year-round circus that is OU, what does Austin look like? Matt Campbell is not the worst idea I've heard. He reportedly had paths out of Ames before now and signed an extension instead, so I don't know what that means. Maybe UT can throw more money at him. The headline that would cause me concern wouldn't be Campbell to Texas, though...it'd be Heacock going with him. I think it's irrational to dismiss Fickell just because Herman was also a former tOSU/Urban guy with a G5 head job. Fickell's track record at UC is longer and more consistent than Herman's at UH. He's also just a different person and it's hard to imagine him, or a randomly selected adult male, being so unlikable.

He can keep talking. All his hot air directed at Norman just seems to blow recruits up this way. In seriousness, what is going on down there? Didn't y'all win easily last week? Why did two close losses start a slow-motion implosion?

At best third-hand information, but I have read OU chatter that the coaches didn't love what he was putting on film. The track speed was a fit but the size wasn't, so it didn't take much to sour OU's opinion. I don't know that this should be read as making room for anyone in particular, including Bowman.

It'd be easier for y'all to fire him if you said he was.

Sam Ehlinger is your Jalen Hurts if Jalen Hurts had been singing Boomer Sooner in the womb and started here for eight years. You have to respect the leadership and toughness, but you just can't unsee the opportunities that a better passer would exploit.

That would shock me. Looking at both defenses, this is going to be a shootout at very best, and I don't think OU has the skill guys for that right now. OL could come together at any moment given the talent and the coaching, but our #1 and #3 receivers so far are an H-back and a true freshman, respectively, and RB1 is also a true freshman.

Respectfully, what in the past two weeks has led you to believe this OU team is capable of taking a football game seriously

WHO'S READY FOR A PILLOW FIGHT

In the last 10 years, I'd say OU played 6 games against Texas with QBs who could not routinely, if ever, make that exact throw: three with a construction worker last seen slinging picks in the XFL, one with the Chiefs' lesser-known TE, one with a QB who was subsequently run off to aggyland, and one with Jalen Hurts. OU was 5-1 in those games, and 3-2 in the same period with QBs who make that play in their sleep (at least in college). OU can lose this year, but that has nothing to do with Rattler. I'll send him into the Cotton Bowl tomorrow with no hesitation. It has everything to do with the talent, depth, experience, and size of the defensive interior against the fully calcified battering ram on the end of Ehlinger's neck.

I think the Big 12 has as good a chance as ever to put in a one-loss champion, assuming the season is completed, and even assuming the B1G pulls off the miracle of cramming in enough games for Ohio State. The PAC has eliminated itself only slightly earlier than usual and Notre Dame for once won't be allowed to watch CCGs from home if they're relevant. The other obvious threat would be a one-loss runner-up of the SEC champion's division, as in 2017. (I still don't think anyone wants to see a rematch of a CCG.) If we default to Bama winning the SEC, that eliminates the East. LSU is a shell of itself and seems unlikely to get through trips to Florida and Auburn before facing Bama. Auburn is perhaps the best possibility if they beat Newman-less Georgia and Burrow-less LSU before dropping a close Iron Bowl. Of course, anyone who loses a game around here is unlikely to go anywhere in the CFP anyway. If we're 10-1 I might rather just hang 400 passing yards on someone without 80% blue chips.

Ugwoegbu flashed late last season. Rumor has it he is doing well inside (but not ready to start there) while Barnes is doing...less well. Stutsman's main recruiter was Odom, so he should at least get his first look inside. I don't know how much McKinzie's moves to '21 and back to '22 threw a wrench in this cycle. There was less urgency in the '21 LB class when it looked like he could make it.

Wait, SEC fans think OU and Texas cheat?

Let's give Mims a chance.

Spray Tan is DeMarco. That was his name in Brennan Clay's wife's phone. Can't nail down the exact number either. Yes, Byrd is in and was probably the eyes from the Summit. The "O" emoji from that weekend was 2022. Leigh is going to take that LSU trip and from there it sounds like a coin flip. Recent history recruiting against LSU hasn't been great, but none of those kids have been from northern Virginia. Haven't heard anything about Gilbert or Hattley. With four DBs already committed and space becoming limited, both of those guys would be a lot. As of a couple weeks ago, Wallace was on the table. Have to assume he still is...there's no sure ILB in the class (247 lists Stutsman as OLB), no others on the horizon, and the current roster situation is such that we're moving Ugwoegbu inside and Barnes down.

*31-page thread flinging poop at class, team, coaches, program, school, state* "Why can't they come here and be nice?" And yet, here I am. What recruiting are we gonna talk about? I don't trust Spray Tan yet and saying stuff like that to Edwards is a rookie mistake. But the more reliable OU outlets see this as two holes for two pegs: OU and UT will split Wheaton and LJ Johnson, one way or the other. Is there more to it?