*OFFICIAL OKLAHOMA VERSUS WVU GAME THREAD*
- Thread starter bcsoonerfan
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I think it very well could be that most have not bought in to what he is selling, playing to the standard.
Jaxson Dart is not any better than Gabriel. Didn't you watch him today? Dude has no escapability whatsoever
One of those days when friends everywhere with your text number are asking you what went wrong or mostly just bitch to high Heaven about the game. And my easiest answer is "I don't know." And to be very honest I do know what we are and are not doing (in my .02) but damn I have no idea why these kids are not putting what they know into play. It's so frustrating I just don't even answer my good friends any more. To quote my dad pre-dimintia "Everything has gone to hell in a hand basket" and yes, I do believe it.
When a Coach goes from we are family to WTF, there is a massive canyon and disconnect between Coaches and Players. I would bet we lose the next 2 games. Top to slop.
Same here. Early on I would blame it on Riley and what he took and what was left but thats not a good excuse anymore. I respond now with "tell me and we will both know."
Special? Last year I would cringe every time he would get the ball. It wasn't often though cause we had some great back's last year. This year, Gray is our featured back and gets tons of touches. Law of average says if you get enough touches, some will be great. I'm not impressed with mediocre play and players. Dillon Gabriel is another example of mediocre at his best. Our coaching staff seems very mediocre right now also.
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I'll tell you now:
The 2022 Sooners are not very talented and the Big 12 has passed them by or at least caught up to them.
There are a least 4 teams that are significantly better and the results of the games with OU reflect this.
This year's team lost much talent prematurely from last year and has not replaced it well at all. That looks to change for the better in two years if Venables' first two classes are any indication.
We can blame Riley and Venables, advocate Jaxson Dart as a better choice (which he's not) and throw the coaching staff under the bus, but the fact that this team's talent level is not very good trumps every other issue this team has....and the same turbulence Venables is experiencing would have fallen on any coach that OU could have come up with.
I dont know.....you could be right. I like Venables, but he is going to have to show me something by year 3 or he should be gone. I'd be shocked if there aren't some staff changes after the season. Change number 1 is get rid of Roof
Oh I hope just as much as anyone that it all works out however frustrating it is right now and I agree about Dart, he was a transfer for a reason.
I was right to not like the LR hire back then, hope BV proves me wrong about him, we will see.
Nowhere to go from here but up, I hope. A Bowl game and Bowl win would be nice and a step in the right direction but thats a tough row to hoe at this point.
That's revisionist history at its finest. OU does not have a talent problem. There are plenty of teams in the Big 12 doing more with less. The dribble that Riley "left the cupboard bare" is pure rubbish. OU has more talent right now than every other team in the Big 12 except Texas.
Taking everything into consideration, what happened at OU last December trumps that argument, IMO.
1998 - OU is seriously looking at its first losing season since then. I seriously doubt with the way this team plays that will be avoided. If the talent is truely there then BV has done a very poor job but as we have seen in the past the star ratings are not always gospel.
I think there are a number of reasons why OU is staring a losing season in the face. The experts that picked our Sooners to lose 4 -5 games many of us thought they was crazy. They get the last laugh as they evidently knew something many of us didnt.
Maybe the players have just thrown in the towel and after that 3 game losing streak of getting curb stomped by KSU, TCU and Texas started it. It apears it also took the sail out of BV rah rah attitude. After losing to WV I just dont see this team responding against either OSU or Tech to close out the season. I’ll watch and cheer hoping to see OU get bowl eligible but its a very long shot for it to happen.
I think there are a number of reasons why OU is staring a losing season in the face. The experts that picked our Sooners to lose 4 -5 games many of us thought they was crazy. They get the last laugh as they evidently knew something many of us didnt.
Maybe the players have just thrown in the towel and after that 3 game losing streak of getting curb stomped by KSU, TCU and Texas started it. It apears it also took the sail out of BV rah rah attitude. After losing to WV I just dont see this team responding against either OSU or Tech to close out the season. I’ll watch and cheer hoping to see OU get bowl eligible but its a very long shot for it to happen.
I’m not trying to make excuses but just consider this. If we could have changed one thing that happened after Riley left, I would argue that OU would be 7-3 or maybe even 8-2 right now. Williams as OU quarterback would almost certainly allowed us to win yesterday’s game and the Baylor game…..maybe even the K-State game. Williams rather than an inconsistent Gabriel would mean that much for this squad. He’s just that talented. It’s no excuse but it’s a fact, IMO.
Unfortunately we are not much different. Only exception they wasted cash because of Jimbo’s lavish dreams.
Good points and I think your right about CW. He would have been the difference maker this team lacks because it sure isnt Gabriel or Mims. Gray by far has been the best offensive player on the team.
No, because he came after a decade of futility, including the three most recent years of OU incompetence where people kept asking him, "Coach, can we get 11 guys on the field on special teams?"
Boo Blake was truly a shit show.
We have not a single difference maker on offense or defense. The closest on offense is Gray, but he's not fast enough to score when wide open in the secondary. Maybe for 20 or 25, but not 45 or 50.
And Mims, despite claims isn't close to a burner. He gets caught from behind unless he's playing against slow. And his eye fundamentals have left, after Gundy left. His drops are because he doesn't see the ball hit his hands consistently. That's not always about coaching, but it wasn't a big problem before.
I don't want to hear again how our OLine is our best unit. We absolutely suck on 3rd or 4th and short. Have all year. Look at the key play stats and how bad we are on 3rd and 4th down. O and D. That was the deciding stat, yesterday.
The key play in the game yesterday, WE JUMPED OFFSIDES ON 4TH AND 16. That's not on coaches. It's about players. It is colossal stupidity. And it happens over and over.
Yesterday on a key drive in the 4th Q, in tight quarters, our MLB hit their 2nd team QB in the hole. Their qb ran through the tackle like Earl Campbell through Isaiah Robertson. That's not about coaching. It's about players.
White and Bowman are the closest we have to defensive difference makers. White has become a solid player. But he's not a DM. Bowman might be in the future. But not yet.
Question. Is it really good news that we no longer have to worry about losing our OC to an HC job?
How is that? Go take a look at West Virginia's and Kansas State's rosters. Look at their starting lineup's recruiting ratings coming out of high school. How many of them would be starting at OU right now? Not too many.
Displaying the ratings of high school recruits to mean they are talented enough to avoid pitfalls like the current one at OU is not taking into account their level of performance on a collegiate level.... then to state this team has more talent than all but one other Big 12 team is not true. Talent is as talent does.
Last year's team underperformed in going 10-2 and required a true freshman quarterback to make it happen and to conceal some issues that only became apparent this season.
Riley's departure, in case you're not aware, cost OU one of the program's greatest talents at QB, its best receiver and motivated several other players to transfer out to other schools. Had those players stayed, or at least Caleb Williams and Mario Williams, OU would at least be bowl eligible by now.
Riley's exit to some degree is understandable in that OU was the lesser of the other teams in 4 of the CFP's, even though OU had some pretty good teams. But a lot of that stemmed from OU's inability to recruit as well defensively as it did offensively.... which was evident in losses by scores on 63-28, 45-34, 54-48 and 37-17. Riley now can recruit in California where there's potential to recruit better.
Now, OU seems to be paying the price in defensive recruiting by having such an inability or disregard for building championship defenses for far too long.
Venables needs and deserves time to stop this trend and get OU closer to being a competitive team in the SEC, hopefully by 2025.
Agree. But it won't happen quickly.
Venables, as would any coach in his situation, needs time.
If we know anything about BV is that he is loyal, I dont think he fires anyone. He brought them all here to do a job and I think he gives them a couple of years to do that job. Hopefully Roof steps down or accepts an admin-type job that will open up an LB spot and a potential DC. I don't see any reason Bates couldn't be the DC and get a hungry up-and-coming LB coach that has the same fire BV did as a young coach.
Gabriel was a serviceable enough QB at UCF to almost overtake a No7 Cincinnati team (33-36). I doubt he was surrounded by OU level talent there.
Interestingly enough, his QB rating this year is on par with all of his years (150s). There's something wrong with the QB rating system.
Everything I see owes up to coaching. The same people that blame the talent sure weren't shocked when Bob Stoops righted a sinking ship in year one. "The talent was there!" The narrative always fits the argument.
Coach Roof, like the rest of the staff, need time to flip this program onto a championship level, which won't happen with the non-freshman personnel on this year's team.
To keep calling for a staff overall is as unfair as it is premature. Two more years of solid recruiting is the remedy and Venables seems to be getting it done.
There is talent on this team, I do not believe we have any walk-ons playing on defense. Every one of those kids earned a D1A power 5 scholarship. I've coached for over 20 years and seen all kinds of talent levels. Kids who receive a D1A scholarship are receiving it for a reason. Most of these guys have been playing their position since middle school, man coverage is man coverage, a down block is a down block, A gap is A gap. etc... You see guys makings mistakes over and over. To me that's all about coaching and having them ready to play. Maybe these guys just dont have the football IQ needed, maybe they are being asked to do too much. Either way thats on the coaches. BV is still learning how to be a head coach, I've been as hard on him as anyone, but I do believe some of the fault is on him.
I agree...
Roof gone...cya
Jay Nunez gone...cya
After that will be hard call..however this group below has been a flop on field. But not in recruiting.
Roof gone...cya
Jay Nunez gone...cya
After that will be hard call..however this group below has been a flop on field. But not in recruiting.
Players who continue to make mistakes can be due to bad coaching. But the players Venables inherited (not including the 2022 class) previously played under a coach who had his eyes on greener pastures and the 2021 season reflected a team being led by a coach who, along with his DC, wanted out.
There's been a culture at OU in recent years of entitlement and defensive indifference. That can be a difficult cure for any new coach as it was for Sarkisian at Texas last year, who limped home with only 5 wins (after starting the season at 4-1), despite a talented roster that could have won at least 4 more games. Sound familiar?
Medic007
Sooner starter
I wouldn't be sad if Jeff Lebby went elsewhere. It appears he's in over his head. The "go fast" bullcrap causes the defense to be on the field all game, especially when the offense can't move the ball.
Don't believe me? The TOP stat for this season is beyond bad.
I doubt there are any staff changes after one season unless someone leaves on their own. Lebby and Roof have not shown me anything, wasn't expecting much from Roof but had hoped Lebby would do a good job. I guess what I was hearing was right, the Ole Miss offense was mostly Kiffin last year and not Lebby. But as I stated above I doubt there are any changes after one season.
How would Lebby have done with the offenses of Mayfield, Murray, Hurts, or Caleb Willims?
The receiving corps is thin and not nearly up to OU's standards, the offensive line is still recovering from the losses of three starters and remains a work-in-progress even after ten games, and there seems to be a single back that OU wants to hang its hat on for one reason or another.
In addition, as Plaino stated weeks ago, Gabriel seems to have been an oversold commodity after playing very little the year before due to injury.
Meanwhile, even after being shut out by Texas, the offense is averaging 32 points per game, which is made irrelevant to OU's chronic defensive issues.
These are tangible REASONS that can't be interpreted as "excuses" or "blame" by people who have watched this team over the years.
I believe now that Jackson Arnold's recruitment is more important than ever.
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