Elephant In The Room

[bcsoonerfan]

I can't help but wonder if anybody is saying anything about the super huge cushions by DBs against WRs.

Like, in the film room, when a WR gets a 3rd and 5 conversion against us because Jordan Thomas is lined up in the 18th row of the North end zone, is Mike or Coach Cooks saying anything? Are there just blanks stares and awkward silence as we move to the next play?

Would love to be a fly on the wall.

 

[PtLavacaSooner]

Well, if there is an elephant holding a box of laundry detergent and some toilet paper, I'd say they is a spy for Nick Saban...

 

[humblesooner]

You don't think Mike and Cooks are lining them up like that? Don't be naive.
If they weren't being told to line up that far off, they would all be on the bench.
No way the players are lining up like that on their own.

 

[soonerfastnloud]

You don't think Mike and Cooks are lining them up like that? Don't be naive.
If they weren't being told to line up that far off, they would all be on the bench.
No way the players are lining up like that on their own.

It has to be planned. Otherwise we have some really dumb players.

 

[bcsoonerfan]

You don't think Mike and Cooks are lining them up like that? Don't be naive.
If they weren't being told to line up that far off, they would all be on the bench.
No way the players are lining up like that on their own.

Ummm, I think you need to check your sarcasm meter.

I'm aware they are being told to line up as such. My curiosity is, what are they saying to these guys when the opposition plays pitch and catch on us, especially on 3rd and 5 or less, because we're lined up like we're defending go routes.

 

[PtLavacaSooner]

Ummm, I think you need to check your sarcasm meter.

Where can I find one of them there doo hickeys?

 

[soonerfastnloud]

If you find some let me know.

 

[bcsoonerfan]

Where can I find one of them there doo hickeys?

I ordered mine off the TV from a late night info-mercial. Just 76 easy payments of 49.99!

 

[bcsoonerfan]

As soon as I hit "post" I realized I missed a golden opportunity to use the Tech total yards and game score as the number of payments and price.

I feel I owe Portlavaca a personal apology. My bad homie.

 

[PtLavacaSooner]

I feel I owe Portlavaca a personal apology. My bad homie.

Oh, so now I'm a bad hombre...

 

[bcsoonerfan]

Oh, so now I'm a bad hombre...

Chill vato before you get cut!

 

[OUSOONER67]

I hope the elephants name is TRUMP come Tuesday.

 

[LongTimeSooner]

I think this is done when you don't think you have the physicality, speed, or reaction quickness (mental reaction) to line up and bump the receivers at scrimmage or cloak them. The general logic is that it is more acceptable to give up short yardage in the cushion rather than a score deep.

Which unfortunately seems to happen a bunch too. I think it is a 'no win' situation, but playing safe is especially bad because the DB is 'playing to not lose' rather than playing aggressively.

I think coaches are trapped into this because of the utter youth and inexperience of the secondary, but not because they are bad coaches.

 

[BillyRay]

I think coaches are trapped into this because of the utter youth and inexperience of the secondary, but not because they are bad coaches.

Not sure why some continue to buy into the idea that OUs secondary is plagued by youth and inexperience.

 

[runningback43]

Not sure why some continue to buy into the idea that OUs secondary is plagued by youth and inexperience.

Our secondary is simply bad. It's nice to blame youth and inexperience, but this is November. That excuse left the window at the end of September.

 

[PtLavacaSooner]

Not sure why some continue to buy into the idea that OUs secondary is plagued by youth and inexperience.

It's not. But those who suffer through addiction are often blinded by the chemical onslaught to their brains. Demons appear as angels of light and stuff. It it easier to understand when you have experienced it, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It takes time to clear out the cobwebs, so to speak, yet there is always hope.

I'm thankful that I no longer suffer from my past afflictions, but if I were to return, some people obviously are smoking some really good sh!t, and I'd be looking for it...

 

[CTOkie]

It's not. But those who suffer through addiction are often blinded by the chemical onslaught to their brains. Demons appear as angels of light and stuff. It it easier to understand when you have experienced it, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It takes time to clear out the cobwebs, so to speak, yet there is always hope.

I'm thankful that I no longer suffer from my past afflictions, but if I were to return, some people obviously are smoking some really good sh!t, and I'd be looking for it...

No secondary can be good without a good pass rush, which OU does not have, especially with so many injuries as well as young linemen and linebackers.

 

[LongTimeSooner]

Not sure why some continue to buy into the idea that OUs secondary is plagued by youth and inexperience.

This is just silly.

1 returning senior, 1 senior who has been continually bumped by younger talent, and 3 Freshmen. Also, Quick (who apparently is lost for the season?) was a WR last year, but started ahead of everyone but J Thomas?
CB
27 Austin, Dakota SR
7 Thomas, Jordan JR
11 Motley, Parnell FR
9 Parker, Jordan FR

FS
13 Thomas, Ahmad SR
20 Sylvie, Chanse FR

SS
10 Parker, Steven JR
21 Sunderland, Will SO

 

[LongTimeSooner]

Our secondary is simply bad. It's nice to blame youth and inexperience, but this is November. That excuse left the window at the end of September.

It's not an excuse, it is reality.

 

[BillyRay]

This is just silly.

1 returning senior, 1 senior who has been continually bumped by younger talent, and 3 Freshmen. Also, Quick (who apparently is lost for the season?) was a WR last year, but started ahead of everyone but J Thomas?
CB
27 Austin, Dakota SR
7 Thomas, Jordan JR
11 Motley, Parnell FR
9 Parker, Jordan FR

FS
13 Thomas, Ahmad SR
20 Sylvie, Chanse FR

SS
10 Parker, Steven JR
21 Sunderland, Will SO

Silly? So OU loses a couple of guys from last years secondary (Sanchez, Byrd), and all of a sudden the secondary is suffering from youth and inexperience?? And here we are past half-way thru the season, and you are STILL crying about youth and inexperience?? Do you make it a habit to just constantly make excuses for the coaches?? Just admit the secondary just isn't very good, and yes that does fall on the shoulders of the coaches for either recruiting bad talent, not properly developing the talent on their roster, or simply putting their players in a position to flat out fail on the field.

 

[BillyRay]

No secondary can be good without a good pass rush, which OU does not have, especially with so many injuries as well as young linemen and linebackers.

Now see, I can agree with this. OUs DL hasn't been getting pressure on the other teams QB worth a damn all season. No doubt this would be a more legit contributor to the secondary being bad than just using the usual "youth and inexperience" copout. That copout sounds like Texas fans this season. I would be embarrassed to use that as an excuse, then claiming it's reality!! LOLOL

 

[PtLavacaSooner]

This is just silly.

1 returning senior, 1 senior who has been continually bumped by younger talent, and 3 Freshmen. Also, Quick (who apparently is lost for the season?) was a WR last year, but started ahead of everyone but J Thomas?
CB
27 Austin, Dakota SR
7 Thomas, Jordan JR
11 Motley, Parnell FR
9 Parker, Jordan FR

FS
13 Thomas, Ahmad SR
20 Sylvie, Chanse FR

SS
10 Parker, Steven JR
21 Sunderland, Will SO

No, you are just silly.

Dakota Austin, senior 3 star recruit who had played in 26 games before this season, 3 career interceptions, 33 tackles, 3 passes broken up.

http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=208870060&DB_OEM_ID=31000

Jordan Thomas, junior 3 star recruit who had played in 25 games, starting in 11 last year, 5 career interceptions, 78 tackles and 5 passes broken up.

http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209396692&DB_OEM_ID=31000

Stanvon Taylor, senior 4 star recruit who started one game as a freshman and has done little since. He was rated the # 1 or 2 player in the state of Oklahoma, was bragged on by Bob before this season, has played sparingly, recording 1 tackle in 2 games this season.

Will Johnson, junior 4 star juco transfer who played in 11 games last year, starting 3 at nickelback. Rated #2 CB and #13 player overall by ESPN.

http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209874544&DB_OEM_ID=31000

Michiah Quick...

Ranked as No. 4 athlete in nation by Rivals and No. 6 by ESPN ... Four-star recruit by ESPN, Rivals, Scout and 247Sports.com ... California All-State selection and a first-team all-district pick as a senior ... Had 56 catches for 1,035 yards and 21 touchdowns as a senior while adding 460 rushing yards and five ground scores ... Added three punt return touchdowns and three kickoff return scores ... Hauled in 61 passes for 1,227 yards and 23 touchdowns as a junior ... Registered 52 receptions for 1,018 yards and 15 touchdowns as a sophomore ... Two-way performer played cornerback on defense, nabbing two interceptions as a senior ... No. 4 athlete (Rivals) ... No. 6 athlete (ESPN) ... No. 7 athlete (247Sports) ... No. 6 wide receiver (247Sports) ... No. 9 athlete (247Sports) ... No. 6 player in California (ESPN) ... No. 7 player in California (Rivals) ... No. 7 player in California (247Sports) .... No. 56 player in nation (247Sports) ... No. 75 in ESPN300 ... No. 76 player in nation (Rivals) ... Also offered by Alabama, Notre Dame, UCLA and USC.

He must really suck... right?

Steven Parker, junior 4 star recruit that had played in all 26 games his first two seasons, starting in 17 of them...

http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209396663&DB_OEM_ID=31000

Ahmad Thomas, a senior who had played in 38 of 39 possible games, starting in all 26 The last two seasons.

http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=208870560&DB_OEM_ID=31000

Will Sunderland, Kahlil Haughton, and Prentice McKinney, are all three 4 star recruits with game experience.

There are 60 starts for DB's coming into the season and 126 games played in among those who have started. Those are facts, which ruin your inexperience b.s....

 

[bcsoonerfan]

The secondary gets no pass from me. We are essentially wasting Jordan Thomas and Steven Parker. These 2 have the physical abilities and talent to be premier players at their positions. Ahmad Thomas is a solid talent but I expected him to be more physical than he is but we seem to coach or scheme that out of our guys.

Mike Stoops has been better at dialing up blitzes against conference foes but we still regularly rush 3 against 5 for fear of the quarterbacks legs and play with huge cushions against wide receivers.

Our entire defensive scheme appears to be an attempt to not get large yardage plays against us but in doing so it has essentially limited all physical mindset from these guys and we lack the ability to tackle in space when the quarterback and WR complete their 7 on 7 pass.

 

[PtLavacaSooner]

No secondary can be good without a good pass rush, which OU does not have, especially with so many injuries as well as young linemen and linebackers.

Young linemen? OU started 2 seniors and a RS junior on the DL against ISU. They rotated in Gallimore who was tabbed a top 8 DL by every service two years ago and redshirted last year. I read a lot about not having a Tommie Harris type DL, yet Gallimore is supposed to be that type of guy. This season started with a rotation of 8 players for the three positions, according to Bob. Losing Romar, Dimon, and Walker hurt, yet there are 17 defensive linemen on the roster.

D.J. Ward is a 4 star recruit rated as the #1 or 2 player in Oklahoma. Are you saying he isn't good enough?

Jordan Wade is a 4 star recruit, 5th year senior rated in the ESPN top 150. Is he not good enough? He started against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl...

Lampkin is a red shirt freshman, 3 or 4 star recruit, top 25 defensive lineman by most sites...

Overton is a 4 star recruit, # 2 or 4 in Oklahoma, top 25 DL by all services...

I suppose all the sites and OUr coaches are wrong about all the players that OU gets? McGinnis, Mann, Campbell are all 3-4 star guys, ranked in the top 40 to 50 or better for their positions. So why can't the OU guys play? Not just this season. This is a repetitive thing here. We just don't have the guys bullsh!t don't fly.

At 5:20 left in the 1st quarter against ISU, the commentators are saying that ISU is starting 3 walkons on the OL and have no depth. OU had one sack and one rush they stopped behind the LOS. Two plays for a loss for Idiots Out Walking Around State... Against a line made up of walkons... Brilliant!

 

[Phaeded]

Does anyone expect anything besides bend, break and fold against a Baylor O that didn't do much last weekend?

The elephant in the room is Bob making zero D staff change-ups. The playoffs are as long as the longest long shot, but should other teams start folding to the likes of MissSt like A&M did, there would be the infinitesimally small chance we could back in. The narrative would have to be "and their D is playing much better since Stoops changed xyz." Even without thinking about the playoffs, why is Bob sitting on his freaking hands?

We are 122nd in passing yards allowed...without having faced BU, UWV, or oSu yet.
http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/695/p3
Only 6 teams in all of D1 below us, and one of those is Tech....at 123rd. That's how bad we suck. Given our upcoming slate how do we not end up dead last in this category?