After going back and rewatching some of the game this morning. OU fought hard to make it a game. Even if Bama went conservative on offense, their defense did not and we were able to move the ball on them. There were several plays that I see that could have turned the game around. First, of course was the Bama TD that was a bobble and not a TD, would have been 4th down and a field goal attempt more than likely. 2nd if Holywood Brown makes that catch on the sideline its 1st and goal from around the 5. OU probably scores a TD there not a field goal. So take 4 points off of their score and add 4 points to ours, and its a 3 point game. Last the onside attempt I felt was a little to early with 8 minutes to go in the game and Bama "playing conservative offense" who knows maybe we get a stop or turnover.
Reflection
- Thread starter coeSooner81
- Start date
Good post Coe. I felt the coin toss was the beginning of OU's problems. We would have had one more possession had we not chosen to defer. Instead they gave the ball to Alabama, and Bama scores. And why were we kicking ANY field goals at all? So Seibert could get the record? We converted on 4th down from our own 25, but twice we wouldn't go for it in the red zone. Drove me crazy. That said, I'm proud of our players.
OU played hard. Alabama has much better players. Other than Alabama, Georgia, and Clemson - I think OU is as good as any other team. Gotta recruit the southeast better, since that is where the best athletes live. Luckily the BIG12 is going to be really bad next year, even worse than this year.
One side of me says, "We actually played them pretty close after spotting them 28-0 early in the 2Q. They only racked up 57 more total yards and two more first downs than OU. Also, OU outscored Bama 34-17 for the remaining 3 quarters.
But the other side says, Bama could have easily scored more on us as they had a drive stalled due to two third-and-short situations in our red zone nullified by false starts and they settled for a field goal. They also took a knee at our 6 yard line in the last couple of minutes after gashing our exhausted defense. Finally, they had 12 more minutes of possession and could have put up 11 more points if they'd not settled for the field goal and kept trying to score late in the game.
Finally, I have a love-hate relationship with the Orange Bowl. It is the site of so many of our greatest victories (MNCs in 1975 vs. Michigan, 1985 vs. Penn State and 2001 vs. Florida State) and some of our worst defeats (1978 Arkie whipped OU 31-6, Washington in 1984 took OU down 28-17 and USC in 2003, 55-19).
Last night's game has left me feeling like I did after 55-19. Although not completely embarrassed, just soundly beaten. Ouch.
But the other side says, Bama could have easily scored more on us as they had a drive stalled due to two third-and-short situations in our red zone nullified by false starts and they settled for a field goal. They also took a knee at our 6 yard line in the last couple of minutes after gashing our exhausted defense. Finally, they had 12 more minutes of possession and could have put up 11 more points if they'd not settled for the field goal and kept trying to score late in the game.
Finally, I have a love-hate relationship with the Orange Bowl. It is the site of so many of our greatest victories (MNCs in 1975 vs. Michigan, 1985 vs. Penn State and 2001 vs. Florida State) and some of our worst defeats (1978 Arkie whipped OU 31-6, Washington in 1984 took OU down 28-17 and USC in 2003, 55-19).
Last night's game has left me feeling like I did after 55-19. Although not completely embarrassed, just soundly beaten. Ouch.
You HAD to say it, didn't you, Slick?
Exactly the defense didn’t get conservative ... which makes me laugh at that excuse when Bama fans won.
They were better and most ppl know if we resembled any type of defense we’d win. Even smart Bama fans said that.
Bama could probably say the same thing. I'm sure they thought they left some points on the board, etc. Thats football.
You HAD to say it, didn't you, Slick?
Unfortunately these big game losses are starting to add up again and burn into my memory.
Here is what Riley said after the game.
"We've still got a bunch of Big 12 trophies," Riley said. "We're going to hold that tall skinny one here in a couple years and we're going to hold it in a large part because of the fight from these seniors in this program, all the players, the staff."
We will see I guess.
We went ball control because pounding the football kept Murray off of the field and the clock churning. We didn’t run our wide-open offense the entire second half. We killed ourselves on the OU 1 yard line with 2 false starts. Congrats on a good season, but what-if hypotheticals are nothing more than pissing in the wind.
I didn't "what if" anything. I simply said there were two ways to look at it the outcome of the game, but in the end, we were soundly beaten. Learn to win with some class. I'll be pulling for the Tigers next week.
95% of the Bama fan base is all class, its just the 5% like KD that are dipshits and have no class at all win or lose.
This game showed me, once again, just how far OU is from Alabama's level of excellence.
I think that gap may be widening with each Tide championship.....five over the past 9 seasons with 6 out of ten looming.
What's going to slow Alabama down even after Saban retires ? The same program that hired him will likely make a seamless transition when he steps down.
I think that gap may be widening with each Tide championship.....five over the past 9 seasons with 6 out of ten looming.
What's going to slow Alabama down even after Saban retires ? The same program that hired him will likely make a seamless transition when he steps down.
Well for one, they have 800 staffers. They take advantage of the rules with staff. I dont see Bama winning next week tbh. Yes though I agree that Bama and Clemson are on different levels from anyone else. Although I think both should be investigated, especially Clemson. Any other program would have red flags for black market drugs. On another note it’s pretty simple it’s coaching and recruiting. What held us back is a competent DC and defensive staff. That’s about it. Once we have a guy that’s good and doesn’t just settle... we will be up there too. I mean I want a fiery guy. You notice once the team started showing actual signs of life and getting nasty, Bama didn’t really seem as tough especially defensively. Granted it was down 28-0 but just imagine if the team wasn’t soft from the opening kick. That’s the edge Clemson and Bama have over ppl... coaching and overall nastiness. Lincoln is great but he should’ve been as fired up in the beginning as he was when he was pissed while down 28-0. At least he didn’t fold like Bob or Mike would’ve and we would’ve lost by 40. We are knocking on the doorstep we just need some nasty players (not dirty players) just intimidating ones on the defensive side that’ll knock ppl on their ass. The offense had that on Saturday night, Samia and Lamb knocked ppl on their ass. We need that defensively.
We also need to maintain a high level offense, especially while defensive upgrades happen. Losing the two greatest QB's ever to play at OU won't be easy to overcome, but if the defense can play at a good level, the offense can be good enough with Mordecai and Rattler on board and Kendall being primed and ready.
I agree but I don’t think offense will slow down much over the years. Sure we won’t be number 1 every year but we will be in the top 10. Defense is the number 1 priority in my opinion.
Great season folks. You have an exciting brand to watch.
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