It's that week. Hey, @Mr.Macintosh, a request for your classics series. 2002 OU-Texas. Absolutely nobody would watch it but me, but it will probably always remain my favorite OU-Texas game of all time. Something about being a college freshman that brings back the nostalgia. All those turnovers by Simms and Hybl, ha, and then the 21-point fourth quarter. Ah, memories.
Now, we roll? Indeed. Let's roll.
That's a little more like it
I was torn on the PFF-centric beginning. Either taking a look at defensive line snaps and the "practice" line from Alex Grinch on Saturday about some defensive players not buying into practice. Or flipping it over to offense to give the thumbs up to the H-Back/tight end position mattering for the first time this season.
I'm gonna go with the second one.
For the first time, the trio of Brayden Willis, Jeremiah Hall and Austin Stogner felt like they mattered. Well, at least two of the three, still no real impact being made by Stogner. But in taking a look at Hall and Willis, that's what I'd thought we see and what sounds like it should work.
Willis had four catches; Hall had three catches and two rushes and accounted for two touchdowns.
And PFF liked what the trio did. Spencer Rattler had the best grade at 85.1, but Nos. 2, 3, 6 were Hall, Willis, Stogner, respectively.
Speaking of Hall, I did like his honesty about scoring his first career rushing touchdown Saturday.
"I didn't even think about that. My first rushing touchdown. That's pretty cool. But in terms of contributing, like I've said before, I just wanna be able to make the team better with the ball or without the ball. It just so happens today that I got in the end zone a couple times and I'm happy for it."
But here's the ebb and the flow. If that position is going, then who's missing out? That answer would be Jadon Haselwood and Mario Williams. Although major kudos to Haselwood taking out nearly three guys on the Hall TD run.
That's gonna be the balancing act, right? Getting guys touches and putting them in position to make things happen. OU went another game at under 70 snaps (63), so all numbers feel skewed and jacked up this season. Like there's no chance of anybody producing those 2017-18 numbers when you're missing out like on at least 1/4 of chances the other guys had.
***
Three for October
This is always the high school recruiting portion. But alas, I wasn't at a game last weekend. And even if I could have went, I had to stay home to take care of my family.
So the theme this week is three-for-three. It's time. Lock 'em down. Gabe Dindy. Gentry Williams. Chris McClellan. Check, check and check.
We'll start with Dindy because he has at least giving the date to circle in Oct. 12.
You have to love where OU is sitting, no? The Sooners, really with all three, have done a great job of absorbing the blows from other schools and maintaining their top-notch relationship with the recruit.
I mean the Aggies have been lurking for months and months, and OU just never blinked. That was obviously a great official visit for OU with Dindy last month, and even though it felt odd for A&M to get the last visit, have to feel good.
Don't shoot the messenger here, but Oct. 12 is a really good date. It's a Tuesday, it'll stand out. If OU loses to Texas, that's the big bounce-back you love to see. If OU beats Texas, then you're just continuing the momentum.
Moving on. I guess it's like what more do Williams and McClellan need to see? Not just from OU, but from anybody? That was sorta the gift of the summer visit schedule where these guys went all over and the thought process of that would eliminate long, drawn out December decisions.
OU isn't gonna push either of them, but it's time for them to jump. USC is not a factor anymore for Williams. Buckeyes are out with McClellan. Florida lurks for both, but if OU has done what multiple sources have led us to believe, what are we waiting for?
While the 2023 class has been on fire, the 2022 group has been stuck in neutral for a long time. Go three-for-three and get the ball rolling once again. And do it in a month like October where you can still actually utilize it for 2022 and early signing day. See if it carries any weight.
Three-for-three. Let's go.
***
Moser musings
How about that? A near-dang LOCK for Penn State ends up going OU's way with Otega Oweh. That was some sort of job done by Porter Moser and staff. I had an OU source three weeks ago say Oweh-to-OU was looking good, but NOBODY else was saying that.
Not Penn State sources. Not national sources. Nobody. So chalked it up as irrational confidence in a losing battle. Whoops.
So now you have Oweh, it's time to add one or more two pieces before the early period next month.
I could be wrong, but I see two legitimate guys and that's it (at this point).
This should go down this week, I'd think. Uzan was at Cal over the weekend, his final visit. He's down to four with OU, UNLV, Utah and Cal. Being the Vegas kid, figured the Runnin' Rebs were the main threat. It's Utah. Huh, OK. See if anything changed in the last few days or so.
OU had a great visit with Uzan and a great in-home visit, too. Again, if it's OU, then Jalen Hill deserves all the props in the world for showing Uzan and his family what a Vegas kid can do in a place like Norman.
So we'll definitely be on watch for something from Uzan, even if it's just an announcement date.
Then we go to Griffen, who skipped Midnight Madness at Kansas to be in Norman. Very early reports are saying it went well, but Griffen has been someone who has allowed a lot of schools to still be in the picture.
Going back to less than two weeks ago from a Rivals update:
"During the summer, he made stops at Kansas State and Oklahoma State. This past weekend, he took an official visit to Georgia. On Oct. 1, he heads north to see Kansas. After he sees the Jayhawks, he has three more official visits to use and plans to do just that. Alabama, Arizona State, Auburn, Cal, NC State and Oklahoma remain in the mix."
And of course, hey, that KU visit never happened and an OU one did. None of those schools scream that OU doesn't have a chance. And there's no doubt, even going back to Lon Kruger, how much his mother loves OU.
Plan on trying to catch up Tuesday. Hopefully that doesn't bite me like it did last week, waiting on Brendan Hausen, who then committed to Villanova last Monday night.
***
Bonus
Tell 'em what week this is, Latrell, lol. From an Austin kid, lol.
Now, we roll? Indeed. Let's roll.
That's a little more like it
I was torn on the PFF-centric beginning. Either taking a look at defensive line snaps and the "practice" line from Alex Grinch on Saturday about some defensive players not buying into practice. Or flipping it over to offense to give the thumbs up to the H-Back/tight end position mattering for the first time this season.
I'm gonna go with the second one.
For the first time, the trio of Brayden Willis, Jeremiah Hall and Austin Stogner felt like they mattered. Well, at least two of the three, still no real impact being made by Stogner. But in taking a look at Hall and Willis, that's what I'd thought we see and what sounds like it should work.
Willis had four catches; Hall had three catches and two rushes and accounted for two touchdowns.
And PFF liked what the trio did. Spencer Rattler had the best grade at 85.1, but Nos. 2, 3, 6 were Hall, Willis, Stogner, respectively.
Speaking of Hall, I did like his honesty about scoring his first career rushing touchdown Saturday.
"I didn't even think about that. My first rushing touchdown. That's pretty cool. But in terms of contributing, like I've said before, I just wanna be able to make the team better with the ball or without the ball. It just so happens today that I got in the end zone a couple times and I'm happy for it."
But here's the ebb and the flow. If that position is going, then who's missing out? That answer would be Jadon Haselwood and Mario Williams. Although major kudos to Haselwood taking out nearly three guys on the Hall TD run.
That's gonna be the balancing act, right? Getting guys touches and putting them in position to make things happen. OU went another game at under 70 snaps (63), so all numbers feel skewed and jacked up this season. Like there's no chance of anybody producing those 2017-18 numbers when you're missing out like on at least 1/4 of chances the other guys had.
***
Three for October
This is always the high school recruiting portion. But alas, I wasn't at a game last weekend. And even if I could have went, I had to stay home to take care of my family.
So the theme this week is three-for-three. It's time. Lock 'em down. Gabe Dindy. Gentry Williams. Chris McClellan. Check, check and check.
We'll start with Dindy because he has at least giving the date to circle in Oct. 12.
You have to love where OU is sitting, no? The Sooners, really with all three, have done a great job of absorbing the blows from other schools and maintaining their top-notch relationship with the recruit.
I mean the Aggies have been lurking for months and months, and OU just never blinked. That was obviously a great official visit for OU with Dindy last month, and even though it felt odd for A&M to get the last visit, have to feel good.
Don't shoot the messenger here, but Oct. 12 is a really good date. It's a Tuesday, it'll stand out. If OU loses to Texas, that's the big bounce-back you love to see. If OU beats Texas, then you're just continuing the momentum.
Moving on. I guess it's like what more do Williams and McClellan need to see? Not just from OU, but from anybody? That was sorta the gift of the summer visit schedule where these guys went all over and the thought process of that would eliminate long, drawn out December decisions.
OU isn't gonna push either of them, but it's time for them to jump. USC is not a factor anymore for Williams. Buckeyes are out with McClellan. Florida lurks for both, but if OU has done what multiple sources have led us to believe, what are we waiting for?
While the 2023 class has been on fire, the 2022 group has been stuck in neutral for a long time. Go three-for-three and get the ball rolling once again. And do it in a month like October where you can still actually utilize it for 2022 and early signing day. See if it carries any weight.
Three-for-three. Let's go.
***
Moser musings
How about that? A near-dang LOCK for Penn State ends up going OU's way with Otega Oweh. That was some sort of job done by Porter Moser and staff. I had an OU source three weeks ago say Oweh-to-OU was looking good, but NOBODY else was saying that.
Not Penn State sources. Not national sources. Nobody. So chalked it up as irrational confidence in a losing battle. Whoops.
So now you have Oweh, it's time to add one or more two pieces before the early period next month.
I could be wrong, but I see two legitimate guys and that's it (at this point).
This should go down this week, I'd think. Uzan was at Cal over the weekend, his final visit. He's down to four with OU, UNLV, Utah and Cal. Being the Vegas kid, figured the Runnin' Rebs were the main threat. It's Utah. Huh, OK. See if anything changed in the last few days or so.
OU had a great visit with Uzan and a great in-home visit, too. Again, if it's OU, then Jalen Hill deserves all the props in the world for showing Uzan and his family what a Vegas kid can do in a place like Norman.
So we'll definitely be on watch for something from Uzan, even if it's just an announcement date.
Then we go to Griffen, who skipped Midnight Madness at Kansas to be in Norman. Very early reports are saying it went well, but Griffen has been someone who has allowed a lot of schools to still be in the picture.
Going back to less than two weeks ago from a Rivals update:
"During the summer, he made stops at Kansas State and Oklahoma State. This past weekend, he took an official visit to Georgia. On Oct. 1, he heads north to see Kansas. After he sees the Jayhawks, he has three more official visits to use and plans to do just that. Alabama, Arizona State, Auburn, Cal, NC State and Oklahoma remain in the mix."
And of course, hey, that KU visit never happened and an OU one did. None of those schools scream that OU doesn't have a chance. And there's no doubt, even going back to Lon Kruger, how much his mother loves OU.
Plan on trying to catch up Tuesday. Hopefully that doesn't bite me like it did last week, waiting on Brendan Hausen, who then committed to Villanova last Monday night.
***
Bonus
Tell 'em what week this is, Latrell, lol. From an Austin kid, lol.
