On our true last possession of the first half (we ran out the clock when we got it back with 30-some seconds) and the first two possessions of the 2nd half (3rd Q) we had this:
* 4 sacks
* 2 field-goals on 3 red zone possessions. (that's 6 points out of a possible 21, excluding 2 point tries)
Is it unfair to expect even more out of your HC/OC than 62 points? Yes (obviously) and no - regarding the 'no': Riley needs to cover the opponents points (otherwise it's called 'losing'), until he does something about his DC and we don't need half a hundred (I don't care about the innuendo about Riley having to take Mike - it is officially his DC: do something about it, like insist on changes on that side.).
Until the DC problem is resolved (hopefully $#!t-canned), we can't turn into a crappy red zone team late in the year - not against TCU nor a playoff caliber team (should we make it). These are unique times for OU, calling for as many scores as we can squeeze out of our Heisman-led offense.
So, on to the problems:
REDZONE SACKS: Who better to suck an overzealous DL or blitz way upfield, only to loft it over their heads to a set up RB screen than our mobile Houdini QB? Why don't we do this, especially with one of our quicker backs (anyone but Sermon, who is a bit slow out of the blocks but a beast to take down)?
TDs vs FGs in the Redzone: All I know is dropping straight back in the redzone and waiting for something to open up in the endzone were absolute drive-killers on those 4 sacks. And the wildcat reared its head again (thankfully only once) and runs up the gut were stuffed. Surely Riley has got more creativity than this - Flowers seems to always get open, why not him on a short fly/buttonhook in the end zone? It just seems that with a short field, Riley has butt-puckered of late.
If I were Riley I'd have the offense almost focus exclusively on redzone sets...and on the D side I would insist they practice corralling the cut-back run (how many times do we have to see no backside containment or a player there who can't tackle?). And replace Jordan Thomas already - what do we have to lose by replacing him with a true frosh? My eyes are tired of eating toast on D....
* 4 sacks
* 2 field-goals on 3 red zone possessions. (that's 6 points out of a possible 21, excluding 2 point tries)
Is it unfair to expect even more out of your HC/OC than 62 points? Yes (obviously) and no - regarding the 'no': Riley needs to cover the opponents points (otherwise it's called 'losing'), until he does something about his DC and we don't need half a hundred (I don't care about the innuendo about Riley having to take Mike - it is officially his DC: do something about it, like insist on changes on that side.).
Until the DC problem is resolved (hopefully $#!t-canned), we can't turn into a crappy red zone team late in the year - not against TCU nor a playoff caliber team (should we make it). These are unique times for OU, calling for as many scores as we can squeeze out of our Heisman-led offense.
So, on to the problems:
REDZONE SACKS: Who better to suck an overzealous DL or blitz way upfield, only to loft it over their heads to a set up RB screen than our mobile Houdini QB? Why don't we do this, especially with one of our quicker backs (anyone but Sermon, who is a bit slow out of the blocks but a beast to take down)?
TDs vs FGs in the Redzone: All I know is dropping straight back in the redzone and waiting for something to open up in the endzone were absolute drive-killers on those 4 sacks. And the wildcat reared its head again (thankfully only once) and runs up the gut were stuffed. Surely Riley has got more creativity than this - Flowers seems to always get open, why not him on a short fly/buttonhook in the end zone? It just seems that with a short field, Riley has butt-puckered of late.
If I were Riley I'd have the offense almost focus exclusively on redzone sets...and on the D side I would insist they practice corralling the cut-back run (how many times do we have to see no backside containment or a player there who can't tackle?). And replace Jordan Thomas already - what do we have to lose by replacing him with a true frosh? My eyes are tired of eating toast on D....