Was listening to the Oklahoma Breakdown and Mr. Ikard brought something up that I found to be quite interesting in terms of tackling everyday at practice and that in turn helping the offensive players, specifically in terms of ball security. On the surface it makes sense. Sort of sounds stupid to even say aloud but stay with me. Ball carrier getting the experience of actually being tackled in practice routinely. One would think that correlates to holding onto the football just as much as it would a defender being able practice the art of tackling.
So I started looking at the numbers. Again, maybe this is purely coincidental. But for this exercise I'm going to tie the Sooners ball security problems to a strength and conditioning program, and maybe even moreso, a mentality throughout the program. We'll define those Bennie Wylie years as soft.
Obviously putting the ball on the ground is also a bit of luck in terms of recovering a fumble. How does the ball bounce, etc? So we'll just stick to flat out fumbles over the last few years.
2021: 16 fumbles, lost four
2020: 14 fumbles, lost six
2019: 17 fumbles, lost eight
2018: 9 fumbles, 6 fumbles
Here's where I remind you Jerry Schmidt left Oklahoma in 2018;
2017: 13 fumbles, 7 fumbles
2016: 18 fumbles, 9 fumbles
2015: 15 fumbles, 9 fumbles
2014: 12 fumbles, 7 fumbles
INTERESTING theme ain't it.
Anyways, it could be nothing but it could be something. The thought of a physical brand of football returning to Norman has been a constant through camp. We haven't mentioned how it would actually affect the offense. I thought it was really intriguing.
So I started looking at the numbers. Again, maybe this is purely coincidental. But for this exercise I'm going to tie the Sooners ball security problems to a strength and conditioning program, and maybe even moreso, a mentality throughout the program. We'll define those Bennie Wylie years as soft.
Obviously putting the ball on the ground is also a bit of luck in terms of recovering a fumble. How does the ball bounce, etc? So we'll just stick to flat out fumbles over the last few years.
2021: 16 fumbles, lost four
2020: 14 fumbles, lost six
2019: 17 fumbles, lost eight
2018: 9 fumbles, 6 fumbles
Here's where I remind you Jerry Schmidt left Oklahoma in 2018;
2017: 13 fumbles, 7 fumbles
2016: 18 fumbles, 9 fumbles
2015: 15 fumbles, 9 fumbles
2014: 12 fumbles, 7 fumbles
INTERESTING theme ain't it.
Anyways, it could be nothing but it could be something. The thought of a physical brand of football returning to Norman has been a constant through camp. We haven't mentioned how it would actually affect the offense. I thought it was really intriguing.
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