Tell me about ou

[billfromlaketravis 11,290]

45 minutes ago, BigHornedLurker said:

Am I the only one that sees what's happening at ATM and OU to be almost identical ?

 

Fresh HC over his head , fan bases clamoring for more , QB and offensive issues galore.

Good maybe great defenses 

It's almost the exact same story 

I like OU’s roster and 25 class quite a bit more than aggy. I’ll cautiously buy their defense. Agreed Tennessee took their foot off the pedal, but they also didn’t run it down their throats.

Venables is probably a better coach than Elko. He stole signs like crazy, but Venables won 2 championships as a DC. Elko hasn’t won shit. 

I fully expect some Venables shenanigans in the Cotton Bowl. I could see Texas trailing in their first quarter before blowing them out. 

Edited September 22 by billfromlaketravis

[LTtxfan 48,722]

It's 3pm...  AND

Spoiler

blOU  SUCKS

 

[ChiTownDoc 20,891]

Damn guys, I know OU sucks.  But saying we are aggy now and into the future?  FML

[Pdawg88 1,107]

1 hour ago, LTtxfan said:

Sark needs to kick the shit out of blOU this year...  🤘

I don’t think that will be a problem 

[LTtxfan 48,722]

Just now, ChiTownDoc said:

Damn guys, I know OU sucks.  But saying we are aggy now and into the future?  FML

not aggy...

Go have some chicken or frito pie at Eischen’s    

 

Eische

[The University 848]

7 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

Damn guys, I know OU sucks.  But saying we are aggy now and into the future?  FML

[statsman 5,355]

23 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

Damn guys, I know OU sucks.  But saying we are aggy now and into the future?  FML

Drew Kelson made the point that, although OU and the Ags are in a similar place, they got there from different directions. 
 
Sooners are so used to good football, they have cognitive dissonance. The Sooner fans cannot conceive of a crappy offense wearing crimson and cream with paper clips in their helmets. It doesn’t compute. 
 
Meanwhile, the Ags expect their crappy offense to excel because they have no idea what good football looks like. 
 
Driving home this morning, the Sooner podcasts were more entertaining than the Texas podcasts. I suspect Venables is much like the Sooner fanbase- he has been attached to not just good, but exceptional offense for over a quarter of a century, and he doesn’t quite get how much planning and good work goes into having one (although he will either learn or go back to being a DC). 
 
This is why Castiglione gave Venables a preseason extension, so as to not be forced into a premature decision. 
 
OU is much like the Dallas Cowboys right now. They gave a lot of money to Arnold, Burks and Damonic Williams and expected them to be great, because they cost a lot. It doesn’t work that way. 
 
Now, Arnold might have a future. Who knows? OU has gone decades since not having a capable QB on the roster (interrupted by short stints of Bell and Breville). Making decisions without having solid answers is a new territory for them. If Arnold has a future, can OU commit to it?

Edited September 22 by statsman

[UTEE97 3,377]

39 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I could see Texas trailing in their first quarter before blowing them out. 

[Pdawg88 1,107]

29 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

not aggy...

Go have some chicken or frito pie at Eischen’s    

 

Eische

That place is like 15 minutes from my house. It is really good. 

[Dondrysdale1 363]

4 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

Disappointed Drumm & Thune are fun  😋

POSTGAME POD... Can Hawkins Rejuvenate OU's Floundering Offense? | Under the Visor Podcast

Drumm looks like somebody died. Then thune spends 10 min telling them why you get no inside info for your 9.95. “It was all brewing behind the scenes, but couldn’t feed into a panic as Arnold was gonna start all along no matter what we reported.” Oh ok Parker.

[Pimphand 5,525]

On 7/4/2024 at 12:19 AM, F250 said:

A decent QB was our kryptonite last season

FIFY

[The Dog 43,418]

[MonkeyDoughnut 10,005]

2 hours ago, statsman said:

Drew Kelson made the point that, although OU and the Ags are in a similar place, they got there from different directions. 
 
Sooners are so used to good football, they have cognitive dissonance. The Sooner fans cannot conceive of a crappy offense wearing crimson and cream with paper clips in their helmets. It doesn’t compute. 
 
Meanwhile, the Ags expect their crappy offense to excel because they have no idea what good football looks like. 
 
Driving home this morning, the Sooner podcasts were more entertaining than the Texas podcasts. I suspect Venables is much like the Sooner fanbase- he has been attached to not just good, but exceptional offense for over a quarter of a century, and he doesn’t quite get how much planning and good work goes into having one (although he will either learn or go back to being a DC). 
 
This is why Castiglione gave Venables a preseason extension, so as to not be forced into a premature decision. 
 
OU is much like the Dallas Cowboys right now. They gave a lot of money to Arnold, Burks and Damonic Williams and expected them to be great, because they cost a lot. It doesn’t work that way. 
 
Now, Arnold might have a future. Who knows? OU has gone decades since not having a capable QB on the roster (interrupted by short stints of Bell and Breville). Making decisions without having solid answers is a new territory for them. If Arnold has a future, can OU commit to it?

I'd be surprised if Arnold isn't one of the first QBs in the portal on coaches request. It was really clear against Tenn and seen in prior outings that he can't let go and move past bad plays. His entire demeanor changes and he becomes deer in the headlight slow in game and head in hands miserable on sidelines. He might grow out of it, but my money is he won't at OU.

[horn_of_the_morning 978]

A pretty decent analysis of how OU's OL came to be what it is today. Many parallels with what we went through from 2010 onwards. May their banishment in the OL desert last a decade as well.

https://www.soonertimes.com/viewtopic.php?t=8469

 

Spoiler

For the TL/DR crowd, here's the summary:

OU had EXTREME boom & bust results for their OL signees from the 2019-2022 recruiting classes. The players they "hit" on - they "hit" so big that they left early for the NFL. The players they "missed" on - they "missed" so badly that they players never contributed & transferred out to "lesser-caliber" schools, where they still aren't contributing. They also didn't recruit enough players in the 2021 & 2022 classes, where they only signed 4 high school OL COMBINED. Whether this was due to a reluctance by the coaches to participate in NIL or not is speculation & rumor, but these 2 classes have particularly hurt OU. These 2 classes should be the heart & soul of the OL room & at least provide upper-classman experience & leadership, if not a healthy chunk of the 2-deep. Instead, they're almost completely void of players.

OL recruiting has to be the hardest position to evaluate & forecast, given the time it takes OL to get bigger, stronger, & develop solid fundamentals. Combine the lower "hit rate" for OL with the unlimited transfer portal, IMO, you've got to sign 4-5 high school OL in every recruiting class. Any OL you bring in via the portal need to be in addition to the high school recruits, not in lieu of them. OU appears to have adopted that recruiting strategy in the 2023-2025 classes & hopefully beyond. That's the good news. The bad news is it may be 2026 before the OL roster is more balanced and rebuilt with talent, depth, & experience.

Here are the details:

From 2014-2018, OU routinely was signing 4-5 OL per recruiting class. 1-2 of those signings was usually a JUCO player.

2019 Class - This is the beginning of the problems. OU signed 3 high school OL (Wilkins, Ndoma-Ogor, Alexander) & 1 JUCO OL (Felix). They also brought in 2 transfers (Roberts & Proctor). Nothing out of the ordinary in high school signees. This was the beginning of OU utilizing the transfer portal for OL. The problem with this class, however, is that OU "missed" on all of the high school recruits. None of them contributed in any meaningful way. All 3 HS OL transferred out. As I recall, none played or are still playing at a major conference school.

With the extra Covid year, you could have a 6th-year senior or 2 left on the roster from this class.

2020 Class - OU signed 5 high school OL (Raym, Anderson, Harrison, Parks, Nelson) & brought in 1 transfer (Murray). Mixed bag on this class. Harrison was definitely a "hit" as he went in the 1st round of the NFL draft; however, he left early. Raym was a "hit" as a multi-year starter. Murray was a "hit" as a transfer. Multi-year starter & got drafted. Anderson, Parks, & Nelson were "misses." They didn't contribute at OU & all 3 transferred out. Anderson is starting at SMU; Parks went to South Carolina, but from what I can tell, is not on their 2-deep. Nelson transferred to Northern Arizona.

Nobody from this class is still on the roster. This class should be your redshirt seniors. It's great Harrison left early for the NFL & I don't fault him at all for leaving. However, combine his departure with the complete miss from 2019, & you can see the depth issues starting to emerge. Raym could have (maybe should have) come back for 1 more year of eligibility. Given the state of the center position currently, I'd sure like to have him back.

2021 Class - Here's where things really start to go south. OU only signed 2 high school OL (Byrd & Montgomery) & brought in 2 transfers (Morris & Congel). Missed on both HS OL; both transferred out. Byrd is a backup LG at SMU; Montgomery transferred to Memphis, but did not appear on their 2-deep for the 1st game of their season. Congel started & played. Morris was clearly a "hit" as he started & was drafted by the NFL. But, he also left early.

There's nobody left from this class on the roster. This class should be your Seniors & Redshirt Juniors & should be starters or experienced depth.

So, now OU has completely missed on high school OL evaluations 2 of 3 recruiting classes. Another transfer success in Morris, but he also leaves early for the NFL...

2022 Class - Again, OU only signed 2 HS OL (Taylor & Sexton). They brought in Guyton & Mettauer from the portal. Clearly Guyton was a "hit" as he was drafted in the 1st round. Mettauer was also a hit as a multi-year starter. Taylor & Sexton are still on the roster.

These should be your redshirt sophomores & juniors. This class should be the bulk of your starters & 2-deep in 2024.

Another transfer success that leaves early for the NFL, but now you're left with only 2 players from the previous 4 recruiting classes (20 total players).

2023 Class - OU signed 4 HS OL (Green, Bates, Howland, Ozaeta) & 3 OL via the portal (Everett, Rouse, Shaffer). 3 of the 4 HS signees are still on the roster. We know about Green & Mizzou. If the stories about OU matching his NIL request are true, you can't blame OU for losing him.

These are your redshirt freshmen & true sophomores. In an ideal world, you don't really want these guys starting unless they are a special talent. You want them pushing the players from the previous classes for playing time.

2024 Class - OU signed 5 HS OL (Brooks, Autry-Dent, EPL, Akinkunmi, Aisosa) and 5 transfers (Hickman, Brown, Nwaiwu, Tarquin, Hatchett). Early reports on Brooks & EPL were very positive. Rumors are that EPL will start getting some playing time at guard or even start.

2025 Class - OU has 4 HS OL currently committed (Fasusi, Fodje, Afalava, Hollenbeck). Hopefully they're able to add 1 more. They will likely need to bring in 2 or 3 players via the portal, maybe more pending players who transfer out of OU.

So what happened in 2021 & 2022 that so severely affected those classes? The only thing I can think of is NIL became legal. All the "reporting" on OU & NIL was that OU was unorganized & "way behind" other schools in packages they could put together & what they were able to offer. These reports came mostly from the Sooner Scoop gang & Josh McQuistion, their recruiting insider. I don't remember anything egregious with OL recruiting like there was with DL recruiting at the time, but I recall Bryce Foster being pretty serious with OU until ultimately signing with Aggy. We all know what they did for their class in 2022 (the greatest class ever), so who knows...

OU also had the coaching change in November 2021, so maybe that affected the '22 class. Early reports from BV's tenure were that OU didn't want to lead with NIL. Specifically in regards to Bedenbaugh, it was said that he didn't even want to discuss it with recruits. Again, these reports mostly came from Sooner Scoop, but they were echoed by Drumm at OUInsider, notes on TFB, and by Ikard & Lehman on The OU Breakdown. More recent reports are that OU has really gotten its act together in the NIL space & they are able to make competitive offers to recruits. Hopefully that continues to be the case & OU is able to continue rebuilding its OL room with high school recruits and quit having to so heavily rely on the transfer portal.

 

 

 

Edited September 22 by horn_of_the_morning

[texifornia 56,019]

At least Brent got his steps in, guys

What a blockhead DC performative toughness move

[chainsaw 9,657]

3 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I fully expect some Venables shenanigans in the Cotton Bowl. I could see Texas trailing in their first quarter before blowing them out. 

Dillon Gabriel ain't walkin through that tunnel

[The Ace of Aces 5,054]

I don’t know guys, seems like OU has a lot of injuries. To be safe I think they should shut down their football program.  

[chainsaw 9,657]

12 minutes ago, texifornia said:

At least Brent got his steps in, guys

What a blockhead DC performative toughness move

If he does it regularly, I got no problem with it.

If he did it for the cameras, he's a fraud and deserves a Jimbo extension asap.

[Aqua Buddha 14,222]

1 minute ago, chainsaw said:

If he does it regularly, I got no problem with it.

If he did it for the cameras, he's a fraud and deserves a Jimbo extension asap.

He's a fitness psychotic so he prolly does it regularly.  Heupel, quite frankly, should do it more.  He's 53 and Heupel is 46 but you'd never guess it by looking at either one of them.

[Aqua Buddha 14,222]

2 hours ago, The Dog said:

It's easy to say that now but Heupel was completely awful as OC.  Stoops had to do that and to his credit, Heupel learned and grew from it.  

[Magus Ossis 2,748]

Would Heupel have been terrible as an OC had he been allowed to pursue the personnel for Air Raid and actually to run Air Raid rather than being redirected based on Stoops' awe (or response to that of boosters) of JFF?

Edited September 22 by Magus Ossis

[ChiTownDoc 20,891]

46 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

He's a fitness psychotic so he prolly does it regularly.  Heupel, quite frankly, should do it more.  He's 53 and Heupel is 46 but you'd never guess it by looking at either one of them.

Yeah there's a lot to make fun of with OU and Venables.  But his look vs Heupel's likely isn't one of them. 

Beat up but glad there's a game even though losing at Auburn could end up the most embarrassing loss in some time.  That bye before Dallas is huge.  I think that allows us to get to 56-7.  

[quigley 1,352]

2 hours ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

I'd be surprised if Arnold isn't one of the first QBs in the portal on coaches request. It was really clear against Tenn and seen in prior outings that he can't let go and move past bad plays. His entire demeanor changes and he becomes deer in the headlight slow in game and head in hands miserable on sidelines. He might grow out of it, but my money is he won't at OU.

The negativity Arnold inflicts upon himself after bad plays was evident in the AZ game from last year also. But, despite two awful turnovers early, he came back to have a pretty good game before some bad luck at the end (tipped ball pick six).

The other negative vibes thing about him is that his teammates don't rally around him after a bad play. No one gets near him if something goes wrong. Weird.

[texifornia 56,019]

27 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

Yeah there's a lot to make fun of with OU and Venables.  But his look vs Heupel's likely isn't one of them. 

Beat up but glad there's a game even though losing at Auburn could end up the most embarrassing loss in some time.  That bye before Dallas is huge.  I think that allows us to get to 56-7.  

Heupel looks terrible. That dude isn't living healthy. Literally unbelievable he used to be a great athlete.

[Aqua Buddha 14,222]

8 minutes ago, texifornia said:

Heupel looks terrible. That dude isn't living healthy. Literally unbelievable he used to be a great athlete.

If you were to see him in public and tell someone you knew who had no idea about anything college football that Heupel was the starting QB on a national title team, no one would believe you.

Bosworth is 59.  Venables is 53.  Heupel is 46.  Which one looks the oldest?

[chainsaw 9,657]

20 minutes ago, quigley said:

The negativity Arnold inflicts upon himself after bad plays was evident in the AZ game from last year also. But, despite two awful turnovers early, he came back to have a pretty good game before some bad luck at the end (tipped ball pick six).

The other negative vibes thing about him is that his teammates don't rally around him after a bad play. No one gets near him if something goes wrong. Weird.

It crazy how one bad game can completely derail a guy's confidence and fuck his career prospects.

[honolulu horn 6,145]

[thunderlounge 7,637]

14 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

If you were to see him in public and tell someone you knew who had no idea about anything college football that Heupel was the starting QB on a national title team, no one would believe you.

Bosworth is 59.  Venables is 53.  Heupel is 46.  Which one looks the oldest?

 

I'm gonna tell my kids this is Brian Bosworth:

 

[SamMan 1,327]

I love the loser mentality this dipshit is channeling while trying to philosophize on how running off a sixth-year all-conference QB was actually the right move regardless of the fact that the dude they handed the fucking job to has already played himself out of it. I’m sure the players who came back, you know the ones who have way more blood/sweat equity in the program, are totally cool with the idea of punting their final season because some mythical window may open in the future, but only if Jackson Arnold doesn’t have to compete with that all-conference QB who, by the way, probably would have been more motivated to prepare and perform well the entire offseason than a guy with a true freshman behind him. Awesome message to send.

I feel a little bad for @ChiTownDoc, in particular, because he was one of the more supportive posters on this site when shit was somewhat dismal here this summer, which freaked me out a little. I think he was expecting a loss but still. That defense is legit. I’ve known both of OU’s offensive coordinators at various points in my life, and I have zero confidence that they will ever perform up the minimum standard you guys have grown accustomed to. I’ve stated before that I’ve never been too jazzed about Jackson Arnold’s prospects, so I’m not really surprised by this latest development. That said, I was hoping it didn’t get to the point where Hawkins made his inevitable ascent before the game in Dallas. Ikard and Lehman said they didn’t want to see Arch in the Cotton Bowl, and I have somewhat similar feelings about Hawkins. I don’t think it will make a huge difference, but the kid has juice..way more than Arnold. That’s all I’ve got. The defense played well enough to win, even if Heupel took his foot off the gas. Losing Dolby sucks. That offense is dogshit and I have no idea what they are doing.

*Final note: while I enjoyed watching OU lose, the game reminded me of 2014 when Baylor came to Austin and Texas wasted a superlative defensive effort. They absolutely shut Bryce Petty down that day, but it didn’t matter because Briles and everybody watching quickly realized Texas wouldn’t be able to execute on offense and they cruised to victory, essentially on a blocked FG returned for a TD (Swoopes fumbled a QB sneak at the goal line on a 99-yd drive, too).

[Longboard Horn 39,891]

 

[Longboard Horn 39,891]

Watched the game at work. Holy shit OU's rush defense sucks and their O line is in bad shape. Tennessee only averaged 2.9 yards per rush, but it looked a lot worse. Especially because the sooners only averaged 1 yard per rush. 

[Alien Octopus 496]

12 hours ago, Aqua Buddha said:

He's a fitness psychotic so he prolly does it regularly.  Heupel, quite frankly, should do it more.  He's 53 and Heupel is 46 but you'd never guess it by looking at either one of them.

Limited heart beat theory, Heupel blew his winning the heisman. 

[LTtxfan 48,722]

No pressure, still not sure why Arnold threw into this coverage 😬

 

[Dondrysdale1 363]

Don’t think he ever saw #3 he thought he beat corner and had the arm to get it there before the safety

[TexArcher 37,097]

2 hours ago, Longboard Horn said:

 

So we can expect some credit when we fuckstomp Mississipppi State this weekend?  I know they're not Tennessee, but "there are no easy weeks in the SEC," right?

Something like, "This is the SEC's welcome to Texas moment..."

[WinningIsHard 3,959]

11 hours ago, texifornia said:

Heupel looks terrible. That dude isn't living healthy. Literally unbelievable he used to be a great athlete.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18,350]

21 hours ago, FreeHorn said:

They also have a million dollar problem. Between this season and last, Arnold will be closing in on 7 figures. How much will that play a role in his playing time?

Of all the unintended consequences of NIL, the concept of overpaying for busts out of high school and what it does to roster management was one I never saw coming. 

Yesterday I listened to one of the sooner post game pods posted upthread. I think the one with Thune? In any event, they came to the conclusion that Arnold’s struggles were due to the OU defense being so good that practicing against them destroyed his confidence. Seriously. Iron sharpens shit, I guess. 

It’s some next level fart huffing and I can’t imagine the gymnastics it takes to get there. The guy is a rs freshman in his fifth game playing in a mediocre system with a bad line and few playmakers. He’s been pretty bad but they aren’t helping him out at all. 

[Lat22 3,951]

Their OL is god awful. 

[closetojumping 62,010]

44 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Of all the unintended consequences of NIL, the concept of overpaying for busts out of high school and what it does to roster management was one I never saw coming. 

Yesterday I listened to one of the sooner post game pods posted upthread. I think the one with Thune? In any event, they came to the conclusion that Arnold’s struggles were due to the OU defense being so good that practicing against them destroyed his confidence. Seriously. Iron sharpens shit, I guess. 

It’s some next level fart huffing and I can’t imagine the gymnastics it takes to get there. The guy is a rs freshman in his fifth game playing in a mediocre system with a bad line and few playmakers. He’s been pretty bad but they aren’t helping him out at all. 

Serious thought exercise for people regarding the OU offense:

Name a player you’d take from that side of the ball and who you would replace them with on the Texas depth chart. 

-No one on the OL

-No one at TE

-No one at QB

I don’t even see how those can be debated. 

-One could argue Burks for a backup slot if he’s healthy. He looks good, so do our guys. The okie media oversold him after the spring, he’s not some revelation. 

-Barnes over Gibson or Wisner behind Blue? Given UT injuries, sure, Barnes is a fit somewhere in there.  

Not one starter from their depth chart and it’s not hard to not be a homer looking at it. They’ve recruited poorly on offense, haven’t developed who they’ve recruited and they done a poor job with them in S&C and keeping them healthy.

[HenryJames 65,537]

43 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

-One could argue Burks for a backup slot if he’s healthy. He looks good, so do our guys. The okie media oversold him after the spring, he’s not some revelation. 

He averages 11 ypc for his career. Meh.

[bad_teammate 13,022]

"Putting all our hopes on a redshirt freshman was a fool's errand... this TRUE freshman, however, he's the answer to our prayers!"

[Longboard Horn 39,891]

 

[South Austin 51,656]

Doubtful Hawkins is another Caleb Williams, but glad we get some film on him before the game in Dallas, unlike in 2021 when OU benched Rattler in the second quarter in favor of Williams, who proceeded to tear up our defense.  

[Longboard Horn 39,891]

7 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Doubtful Hawkins is another Caleb Williams, but glad we get some film on him before the game in Dallas, unlike in 2021 when OU benched Rattler in the second quarter in favor of Williams, who proceeded to tear up our defense.  

All those retard frat boys chanting "we want Caleb" at gameday.... they kept chanting it and I was telling them to STFU. Basically it went like 

Them: "we want Caleb!"

Me: "No you don't!"

Had to then explain to a sorority girl I was with and her friends that we don't want Caleb because we don't have any film on him and that's the most dangerous type of QB because you never know what you're getting. 

[closetojumping 62,010]

10 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Doubtful Hawkins is another Caleb Williams, but glad we get some film on him before the game in Dallas, unlike in 2021 when OU benched Rattler in the second quarter in favor of Williams, who proceeded to tear up our defense.  

I think Hawkins can be a quality dual threat QB in the college game. He’s always going to be at injury risk due to size and OL support (at least for this season). Guys I know who that cover this stuff think he’s got a good head on his shoulders and that he’s tough. 

OU will hype him as their next Heisman candidate if he puts up any kind of numbers at all, but we know that is par for the course. I don’t see him as that, personally. 

[HenryJames 65,537]

15 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Doubtful Hawkins is another Caleb Williams

Doubtful Seth Littrell is another Lincoln Riley.

[South Austin 51,656]

10 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

OU will hype him as their next Heisman candidate if he puts up any kind of numbers at all, but we know that is par for the course. I don’t see him as that, personally. 

Well, there's that, and PK's defense appears to be miles ahead of that 2021 defense.  Still, glad we have opportunity to prep for him.

[gernblansten 3,151]

It really doesn't matter much who the QB or OC is when the OL cannot run block or pass protect and there's no difference making skill positions. You're basically hoping for defense or special teams scores to win games 21-17.

[Pdawg88 1,107]

22 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

I think Hawkins can be a quality dual threat QB in the college game. He’s always going to be at injury risk due to size and OL support (at least for this season). Guys I know who that cover this stuff think he’s got a good head on his shoulders and that he’s tough. 

OU will hype him as their next Heisman candidate if he puts up any kind of numbers at all, but we know that is par for the course. I don’t see him as that, personally. 

His mom is hot too!

[closetojumping 62,010]

1 minute ago, Pdawg88 said:

His mom is hot too!

There are rules here, man.