First weekend of the college football season. Which of course meant getting hammered at 9 am in Norman while smoking some brisket, ribs, and chicken awaiting certain disappointment in a few months
Oh, that was last year. And the several years before life kicked me in the crotchel region. I was in Kansas City. With my in-laws. And my 2 kids under the age of 3. Playing golf on Saturday. And having a family gathering that evening.
10) Mike Stoops channels his inner 2001
What’s next? Mike meets his new bride at Twin Peaks?
The Oklahoma defense played like Mike’s defenses of old Saturday night, shutting out the ULM Warhawks, which is quite an accomplishment considering the bullshit we had to endure last year, including allowing a guy to rush for 177 yards in the opener (he managed a grand total of 720 the rest of the season). ULM isn’t Tech from 2008, but they aren’t Army either. The Warhawks are the best offense in the Sun Belt, and shutting them out is an accomplishment.
A few notable stats:
a) OU allowed 9 first downs
b) ULM went 2-16 on third down
c) ULM averaged 1.7 yards a rush
d) OU won the time of possession battle by 5 minutes
Amazing what happens when your offense establishes a running game, even when you aren’t moving the ball well. The defense never looked gassed. They were aggressive and well-prepared. A great game from the defensive coaches.
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9) Oklahoma State *might* have a defense
So I suppose that bend don’t break defense does work some of the time. Oklahoma State allowed Mississippi State to move the ball relatively well at times Saturday afternoon, only to force a couple of turnovers or step up the pressure, preventing the Spartans…errr…Bulldogs from putting more than a field on the scoreboard. SEC SEC … wait. Maybe it should be ALABAMA ALABAMA ALABAMA. Because the rest of the conference isn’t special, exhibit B being perennial underachiever Clemson defeating the great Georgia Saturday night.
But there are some concerns for OSU on the defensive side of the ball. For example, OSU relied on two MSU turnovers and 11 penalties. Most concerning was the time of possession battle – OSU lost by 8 minutes.
If this Oklahoma State defense is legit, and we won’t know until October, that final statistic has to reverse. The Cowboys will not win games in the Big XII losing the time of possession battle by nearly 10 minutes.
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8) So about Clint Chelf …
Yeah, that didn’t last long.
Apparently Mike Gundy studied the legendary John Blake by completely abandoning Clint Chelf as starting quarterback less than a quarter into the 2013 football season. After “winning” the quarterback battle this spring and fall, Gundy waited all of two drives to pull his senior quarterback and insert the more spectacular J.W. Walsh, who ran and passed for more than 100 yards against “SEC SPEED, Y’ALL!”
Was it the right move? Looks good today. Did he handle it properly? Eh, probably not. But this isn’t intramurals brother. You don’t get a raise for being nice to your back up quarterback.
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7) Trevor Knight is probably who we thought he was
Four straight punts, three of which were the result of three and outs. Two for his first eight attempts, most of which weren’t close. 48 total yards to end the first quarter.
Then Trevor Knight woke up.
Oklahoma would score on 6 of the next 7 drives, led primarily by Knight’s legs, as he rushed for 103 yards on 13 carries and passed for 3 touchdowns.
He was shaky to start the game. Which is probably being nice. But I thank God I wasn’t at the game to hear the Blake Bell chants. After watching Knight right himself, and watching Bell in the fourth quarter, it is obvious the coaches made the right decision in starting Knight, especially in light of …
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6) WTF is this offense?
Because whatever it is, I love it. 305 yards rushing. 50 to 33 rush attempts versus pass attempts. 6.1 yards per carry. Imposing your will. My God, OU couldn’t do this to any program not named Texas the past few years.
Local pundits (e.g. Real Jim Traber) will clamor about OU changing offensive identities while “BREAKING RECORDS BIG MAN!!” with pass first, second, and third, and probably fourth through twentieth. But it is disingenuous and ignorant to believe that type of spread offense works these days. By works, I don’t mean winning a Big XII title every couple of years, only to be boat raced by an average non-automatic qualifier or some team from Florida. I mean winning a national championship. You have to run the ball effectively to have a good team on both sides of the ball. As an OU fan and alum, I love where this offense is going.
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5) Tulsa gacks
Speaking of being an alum, who saw that coming?
*crickets*
The Golden Hurricane were obliterated by an average MAAC team this weekend in a game where the final score of 34-7 barely touches how lopsided this game truly was. Tulsa achieved half as many first downs as the Falcons. They managed 273 total yards, a paltry 51 of which was on the ground, including a long of seven yards. All of which led to losing the time of possession battle by an astounding 17 and half minutes.
This was a Tulsa squad expected to compete for the C-USA title and a possible unbeaten season, save for the game in Norman. Now, one has to wonder whether they can rebound this weekend with two Big XII games on the horizon.
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4) Division I-AA FCS v. Division I FBS
Eight … yes, eight … FCS teams beat FBS teams this weekend. Notable among that group was Kansas State losing at home to North Dakota State, and Top 25 entrant Oregon State losing to Eastern Washington. And to think, some of the morons we are subjected to on a daily basis believe a super division of college football is imminent.
Why? Because those mean directional schools from Canada are beating up on the $50 million budget big boys?
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3) JFF
Look, I am not one to wish for injury to any student athlete. Those guys aren’t paid. They make millions for their respective universities. They are full time students while practicing and working out every day. They deserve our respect.
But this mutha fucka …
Rice. You beat Rice.
And your mediocre team was outgained. By Rice.
306 yards rushing. By Rice.
Think about that when Alabama is Shawshanking you and your boys in a couple of weeks. Karma is a nasty bitch.
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2) The NFL starts
Go Chefs
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1) Predictions
West Virginia at Oklahoma
The Mountaineers were nearly the ninth FBS team to lose to an FCS team this weekend, having been taken to the brink by William & Mary (the school, not the hippie Replacements cover band). I mentioned last week West Virginia could be the 2nd worst team in the Big XII. I stand by that statement until proven otherwise.
Oklahoma: 38
West Virginia: 14
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Oklahoma State at UTSA
This is more to Mike Gundy’s liking. A stadium with 10,000 paying customers. No excitement surrounding the matchup. The ability to give two shits about the game plan and go yell at roofers. Perfect game for the nutless wonder.
OSU: 65
UTSA: 3
Lol. “WTF is this offense?” Oh, just the one that OSU has been running for several years now. They refer to it as the diamond formation. And yeah, Manziel is a cunt.
Jesus … Read the article, don’t just look at the pictures. OSU and OU both ran the diamond in 2010. They didn’t run the ball 60% of the time.
I did read the article actually. Sorry if I offended you, but you posted that picture with that caption, (followed by “whatever it is, I love it”) and talked about running the ball, so yeah, pretty easy mistake.
Actually, I posted the pic. I was just looking for a pic of OU lined up on offense.
Are you an OU fan much? ULM = University of Laughing Mistakes. Nice win.
That dog is precious.
Last time I checked, Mississippi State was the Bulldogs, not the Spartans. Wrong MSU. Google Fail.
Yeah, I google failed a few times. Like thinking UTSA was playing in Stillwater. Which is a logical conclusion because who in the hell plays at UTSA.
OSU fans would rather travel to San Antonio than stay in Stillwater.
Uh, it’s often how it works. As is often the case when scheduling lesser opponents, you do a three game deal– one at the lesser opponent and two at home.
Thank you Morning Animals!
For real?
Is this 1985? Are we analyzing games based on time of possession? Texas A&M was 96th in TOP last year. Oregon was 104th. Kansas was 18th.
I think looking at the time of possession ranks (and just about any NCAA stat) for an entire season can be a bit misleading because there are so many NCAA teams, and since the teams don’t play each other, it’s too controlled by variables like your schedule, strength of opponents, etc.
That being said, with OU having a smaller, quicker defense this year, I do think it’s important for OU to control the ball, run a little clock, and keep the defense off the field. If they’re doing that, they’re probably winning the time of possession, which is a good thing.
Neither played for the national championship. Oregon lost to Stanford because they couldn’t stop Stanford, who had the ball for 15 more minutes than Oregon. They out gained Oregon. Texas A&M won the Cotton Bowl. Woo. Hoo.
Looks like you offended some poke fans with this post…
It’s what TLO does best when talking sports.
OSU’s 2011 team lost the time of possession battle every week. It’s the most meaningless stat in all of football. Teams with up tempo offenses and average/mediocre defenses are going to have fewer minutes of possession than their opponents. It’s what you do with those possessions, not how long you stand around in the huddle, or meerkat back at the sideline waiting for the play to be called.
I must have missed OSU in the 2011 MNC game.
One missed FG away from it.
Boo chefs, go Beers!
ohhhh OSU fans……You’re a silly cantankerous bunch. Oh wait…I am one. Damn!
Well I WAS at the OU game sweltering in the August heat and I never heard anyone hollering to put Blake Bell in the game. But, let’s not get too excited about T. Knight. He’s got a long way to go and considering the opponent, needs a lot of work. He missed several open receivers and hit more turf short of the target than any of the intended guys. We’ll see what happens when they play a real team.
The best part of the game was Jep and Jessica from Duck Dynasty making more than one appearance. I guess if ULM had been playing Alabama or LSU, they would have sent Willie or Uncle Si.
The reaction of OU fans to those derps from Duck Dynasty was absolutely embarrassing.
+100
OU’s defense is back with a shutout of UL-M and OSU’s defense is still a little suspect after surrendering 3 points to a SEC team…not surprised with that skewed analysis.
Indeed.
I like how you act like OU’s defense has arrived, but seem to not be sold on OSU, when OSU went to a neutral field and gave up a field goal against a team that has 2 NFL Offensive linemen, a QB that could play in the league and a very good running back. And Walsh out passes and out rushes Knight against a superior opponent… Nice try there homer…
Well-stated, Nathan. ULM was clearly a ton better than MSU… on the road… keep telling yourself that Gravy. TOP is a worthless stat as well. Take a look at the teams winning the Big 12 title the last few years. MAYBE K-State was on top with TOP. Last I checked… can’t get to your heralded MNC without winning the Big 12.
Really 2 NFL offensive lineman, what team do they play on? QB that could play in the league and a good running back. You really don’t believe the spew your spreading, do you?
Well since Landry Jones is an NFL QB, it’s clear that Russell shouldn’t have any problem matching that. In case you weren’t aware Gabe Jackson is the 1st team all SEC Left tackle – who plays for Mississippi State. And Ladarius Perkins is the 2nd team All SEC RB – also plays for Mississippi State. The most notable thing about ULM, according to most people around here, is the affiliation with Duck Dynasty. Yeah – great program down there in Monroe.
OSU fans are so butthurt…all the time…
must get it from Gundy
“TLO is skewed, Mike Anderson was better than Adrian Peterson! boo hoo! :(” GFY cowboys!
Classy…very classy.
Exactly doc…. and who the hell is Mike Anderson? Wasn’t that guy an undrafted FA for the Broncos awhile back? Definitely not from OSU.
What’s with all the abbreviations on this thread??