We shouldn’t be so quick to give up on BV. Here’s how Saban’s 5 years at Michigan State went. He was 25-22-1 in his first 4 years, and 9-2 in his 5th season. He then moved on to LSU and became the GOAT. BV will get us rolling if we don’t pull the cord too soon.

Michigan State​

1995–1997 seasons​

Saban became head coach of Michigan Stateprior to the 1995 season.[50] Michigan State had not had a winning season since 1990, and the team was sanctioned by the NCAA for recruiting violations that were committed under his predecessor and former mentor, George Perles.[51][52][53]

Beginning in 1995, Saban moderately improved Michigan State's fortunes, taking the Spartans to bowl games in each of his first three seasons.[54]From 1995 to 1997, Michigan State finished 6–5–1, 6–6, and 7–5.[55][56][57]

1998 season​

On November 7, 1998, the Spartans upset the No. 1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes 28–24 at Ohio Stadium.[58]However, even after the upset and an early-season rout of then-highly ranked Notre Dame the Spartans finished 6–6, including three last-minute losses featuring turnovers, defensive lapses, and special-teams misplays, and failed to earn a bowl invitation.[59][60]

1999 season​

Saban led the 1999 Spartans to a 9–2 season that included wins over Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State. The two losses were routs at the hands of Purdue and Wisconsin.[61] Following the final regular-season game against Penn State, Saban abruptly resigned to accept the head coaching position with LSU.[62]Saban's assistant head coach and successor, Bobby Williams, coached the Spartans to a Citrus Bowl victory over Florida, giving the Spartans an overall record of 10–2 for the 1999 season.[63][64] It was the most wins for the Spartans in a season since 1965, and the Spartans reached their highest ranking since the 1966 team.[65] Future NFL head coach Josh McDaniels served as a graduate assistant on Saban's 1999 coaching staff.[66]

What is your preference and why?
I like them on the sidelines myself. Get a better feel for everything right away. Get to look in their eyes and see how bad they want it.
******but have some good eyes in the box also.

It's hard to know what you can take away from a dominating FCS win, but I'll do my best. Here are the things this team can build on.

1. Confidence. The offense, and to some degree the defense needed this. It's the first time we've seen complimentery football, and the first time this season the defense could feed off of what was happening on the other side. Neither the O or the D was perfect, but they both did would you should do against a far inferior opponent.

2. We finally have witnessed the potential this offense has with a really good offensive line. When you open lanes, and protect, good things happen. It doesn't take a genius to see that building a really strong offensive front should be priority #1 starting in December, 2024. On a side note, am I the only one who wasn't upset with EPL's unnecessary roughness call in the third quarter? I loved it!!! That kid has the DAWG in him and needs to play a lot in our remaining games this season.

3. We have two very capable quarterbacks and we need to do whatever necessary to keep them both focused on the original plan. This is Jackson Arnold's team for at least this year and next. And Hawkins has a bright future after that. If you can protect these guys, they are both playmakers (which takes us pack to point #2).

4. Joe Jon called a great game. I imagine his game plan against Ole Miss would have looked much better with dominant offensive line play. (Again, taking us back to point #2). I'm not saying he should be the permanent hire, but it's clear he is head and shoulders better than Seth Littrell. Give him a dominant offensive line, and I think JJF is capable of winning a lot of games in the SEC.

Again, it's hard to know how much of today will translate against Missouri. OU did what they should have, and what they were expected to do against a supremely overmatched opponent. Which is more than we can say about anyone we've played since Temple. Confidence is everything, especially with young men coming of age. I really hope these guys found something today and build on it.

...this board was more active. It's absolutely brutal trying to get the Pokies to engage in anything resembling an intelligent political discussion on their 24/7 board

6 and 0. I know a lot of you don't care about the Thunder but if you live in the state you need to jump on the bandwagon. They're a really fun team to watch

Well... it's another game day. The OUInsider team will have you covered from Owen Field.

Oklahoma kicks off against Maine at 11 a.m. on ESPN+. The Sooners are a five-touchdown favorite.

Pregame reading: Young players who need to see playing time against Maine, Cookin' With Grill Boy

Anyone have a prediction? Does OU cover?

I’m curious the boards thoughts on why we are struggling this season. Does it start and end with BV? How big have the injuries been? I love Brent’s vision for our program but from an onfield implementation and operational standpoint it’s novice at best. Coaching beyond a couple of skill coaches are lacking with development as well on field production. Frankly I’m tired of the excuses these guys know ball, so the question is why is it not translating to on filed production.

We have played the toughest schedule in the country this year. If SC beats A&M, we have played 7 ranked teams and 3 of the top scoring defenses in the country. Context Matters.

Do we know which of our commits plan to enroll early? Really hoping some of our O-linemen will be here for spring ball.

Anybody else catch the tv announcer claim that Bauer Sharp has been a really good blocker for us? He's been "better" today, but he set a pretty low bar for improvement

Notes on Hester's record-breaking reception, injuries, a change at cornerback and David Stone's huge uptick in snaps.

I see where he was fired once again this time from UCF. Made 1.12 million at OU and 400k at UCF and was fired from both. Must be nice.

Greg Sankey has addressed the issue of fake injuries... 😅

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Give your definition of the OU offense. Mine below.

Oklahoma Offense - Has the same pulse as George Washington and all the founding fathers of America.

Boganowski likes contact. Dude really is a heat seeking missile in the run game from the safety spot

Week 9 brought the first true exploding cigar of the 2024 Survivor Pool, as heavily-favored Liberty managed to lose to previously winless Kennesaw State, taking down 34 contestants in the process. In all, we're down 36 survivors.

A tribute to the fallen:

Down in Flames (34) - @AggieSooner , @aphowell , @BInhofe , @BoomerKelley , @BradCam1 , @bradsalter , @Chiefgelanta , @CmdrMerc @EightIsGreat , @Ethancourcier , @GoatRoper98 , @herbaby , @HHSSooner1984 , @Homebrewed2 , @IHateUTexass , @Jromines , @Kaiera , @keithppd , @Lenbias , @leswilson79 , @oksportsfan , @Parker Thune , @RichieMcSooner , @Rouxcifer26 , @Shaggyda70 , @SKIPinKELLERTX , @SOONERBH , @Soonerdad13 , @Sooners_77 , @soonerxxx , @stevorolo , @TJC1027 , @Uncle_Rico96 , @youngs_
Picked Miami Twice In One Season (2) - @Android3011 , @soonerjag86

Here's where that leaves us. Our initial pool of 214 contenders has been trimmed by roughly 2/3rds, as only 72 survivors remain unscathed. Meanwhile, the ranks of the FBS unbeatens is down to 8 teams remaining.

Our Leaderboard:

• 3 Teams Used (6) - Nice work, @Akio, @BoomerHoops , @Chuck298 , @Jamespaul07 , @MarkBoomerOU1 , and @SoonerFamilyOf6 . For the moment, you're ahead.
• 4 Teams Used (42) - Still in the mix.
• 5 Teams Used (21) - Need some magic.
• 6 Teams Used (3) - You won't win, but with enough chaos, you could maybe get into a giant tie-break.

Interestingly, none of the leaders have used the same combination of teams, so lots of outcomes are still on the board, including paths to having a single winner rather than a tie.

Most Heavily-Utilized:

• Penn State (56)
• Indiana (51)
• Army (48)

Least Heavily-Utilized:

• Iowa State (24)
• BYU (29)
• Oregon (32)

All right, chat, who you got in Week 10?

I'm selling 2 visitor tickets, Section 125 Row 70 Seats 8/9, to Missouri($80/each). Tickets are offered at face value.

Could’ve been a form of the offense all season.

Simple things like running to the numbers advantage.

Staying in the same personnel/formation but running different concepts out of it.

It’s incredibly simple but just this version of the offense likely beats Houston by 4 touchdowns.