It's brutally ugly at times... and there are two primary reasons.
1. Recruiting
2. Recruiting
When examining the recruiting classes, OU seriously dropped the ball in the recruiting class of 2015 of the defensive side of the ball. They only signed 2 LBs. DeBerry & McGinnis. Both were 4 stars by Rivals. And both are complete busts. I mean failures to the football program. This is why we saw a freshman LB play start last Sat. The cupboard is dry. Nothing. Both of these players were recruited by Kish. Dig a bit deeper and you'll see that OU signed only 3 DEs. Two of the three do not contribute and the third barely does. More major busts. The current front 7 is a result of ground plowed in 2013 & 2014.
My point is, recruiting is everything. And I do mean everything. Quality players make coaches look great. Poor recruiting makes coaches look bad. Real bad. Talent & skill can, does, and always will over ride game planning. Georgia showed us this. In the first half, their defense played containment, forcing Baker to stay in the pocket. As a result he picked them apart. In the 2nd half they change their schemes of defense & played the game by blitzing & stunting. Two different defenses, same players. But their players are/were much better players to start with. OU doesn't have that luxury. OU can't flip, switch, and change defense or style/type of play. We don't have the talent, skill set, and players do even think to do these things.
Going forward, it isn't going to change w/ the current defensive staff. They simply do not recruit well. They'll get lazy on you fast. They'll take another's highly ranked leftovers and call it a day. It's my belief that eventually Riley will grow tired of this and make changes. But as of today, he rode Bob's OU team to the playoffs and as a result he's answering for Bob's OU team. When the team becomes all his players recruited and collected under his watch and he begins to answer for his recruiting pitfalls... things will change. By this time Boren will be gone. Bob will have more distance to the program. Riley's honeymoon will be completely over.
Sucks. But it is what it is. OU will be playing basketball on turf as long as Mike Stoops is around. We can only hope that LR keeps the team full of point guards & 3 point shooters or the mantra of TT North will stick for awhile.
1. Recruiting
2. Recruiting
When examining the recruiting classes, OU seriously dropped the ball in the recruiting class of 2015 of the defensive side of the ball. They only signed 2 LBs. DeBerry & McGinnis. Both were 4 stars by Rivals. And both are complete busts. I mean failures to the football program. This is why we saw a freshman LB play start last Sat. The cupboard is dry. Nothing. Both of these players were recruited by Kish. Dig a bit deeper and you'll see that OU signed only 3 DEs. Two of the three do not contribute and the third barely does. More major busts. The current front 7 is a result of ground plowed in 2013 & 2014.
My point is, recruiting is everything. And I do mean everything. Quality players make coaches look great. Poor recruiting makes coaches look bad. Real bad. Talent & skill can, does, and always will over ride game planning. Georgia showed us this. In the first half, their defense played containment, forcing Baker to stay in the pocket. As a result he picked them apart. In the 2nd half they change their schemes of defense & played the game by blitzing & stunting. Two different defenses, same players. But their players are/were much better players to start with. OU doesn't have that luxury. OU can't flip, switch, and change defense or style/type of play. We don't have the talent, skill set, and players do even think to do these things.
Going forward, it isn't going to change w/ the current defensive staff. They simply do not recruit well. They'll get lazy on you fast. They'll take another's highly ranked leftovers and call it a day. It's my belief that eventually Riley will grow tired of this and make changes. But as of today, he rode Bob's OU team to the playoffs and as a result he's answering for Bob's OU team. When the team becomes all his players recruited and collected under his watch and he begins to answer for his recruiting pitfalls... things will change. By this time Boren will be gone. Bob will have more distance to the program. Riley's honeymoon will be completely over.
Sucks. But it is what it is. OU will be playing basketball on turf as long as Mike Stoops is around. We can only hope that LR keeps the team full of point guards & 3 point shooters or the mantra of TT North will stick for awhile.
