The last time the Sooner Schooner tipped over, Oklahoma lost. To Kansas State.
Deja vu.
And the Sooners totally deserved it. The final was 48-41, but I’m here to tell you that this was a butt-kicking. I thought Oklahoma was out-coached and out-classed in every department.
The defense was obviously terrible.
Special teams couldn’t figure out pooch kicks.
And the offense had zero spark.
My wife asked me what I thought went wrong, and the first thing I thought was that the Sooners just aren’t nearly as good as we thought. I didn’t think they were that great against Houston, and it appears that both Texas Tech, West Virginia and Houston are beyond terrible.
But I came up with three specifics:
- The Sooners defense has suddenly lost depth. The injury to Jon-Michael Terry apparently cannot be understated. Where was the rush today? Where was the aggressiveness? And then Parnell Motley lost his mind and kicked a Kansas State player, getting himself disqualified.
I don’t believe these are the only injury issues on the team either. My understanding though is that, today, OU had a whole bunch of second- and third-teamers playing.
- Oklahoma abandoned the run game. This one is baffling to me, and it’s 100 percent Lincoln Riley’s fault. The innovative play-caller was anything but today. Check out this box score:
a. Jalen Hurts: 19 for 96 yards
b. Trey Sermon: 3 for 9 yards
c. Kennedy Brooks: 3 for 2 yardsRiley is well-known for being able to memorize all his play calls and cite them on his radio show. Well, he should forget today’s batch because they were John Blake-era trash.
I’ve read some folks comparing Jalen to Vince Young. I can see it a little bit in terms of his running style, but I can also see why he ended up second-string at Alabama. The drop-off from Baker and Kyler to Jalen, to me, is pretty significant.
That Kennedy Brooks only ran three times, and that Rhamondre Stevenson didn’t even touch the ball is baffling. Unexplainable.
- Grant Calcaterra’s absence.
Going back to the start of the Bob Stoops era at OU, the tight end has been a huge part of Oklahoma’s success.
No tight end caught a pass today for the Sooners.
Calcaterra has been out for three weeks with an “undisclosed injury,” and his absence today was killer. No tight end? No running game?
Anyway, them’s my thoughts. The good news is that Oklahoma has been very resilient after losses in years past, and they lost at a good time of year.
Win out, and the Sooners will be in the playoffs.
My hunch though is that this team has 1-2 more losses in them.
I think your point on the running game and the play calling is the total key to it all. We have total studs at the RB position. I mean, at least 3. Likely 4-5. The run game opens the rest. Hurts should NOT be running so much. I mean … he’s not invincible. Why risk him so much. And then Riley calling the trick plays. We didn’t NEED trick plays if we had a run game. What a total wasted game. There was no need for that total nonsense coaching this time. You are right…. it harkened back to a real bad time in mid/late 90’s. Lincoln, you are awesome. Don’t get out in front of your damn skis.