Joe Duvall - @Joe_DuVall
It’s almost surreal to imagine Baker Mayfield as a serious Heisman trophy candidate, considering what sources inside the program were saying before the season started. You would hear things like, “He does some great things keeping plays alive, but those are sacks in live games.” Well as it turned out, Mayfield was just as adept in live game situations of eluding tacklers and has really developed as a pocket passer in Lincoln Riley’s system as the season has progressed.
During Oklahoma’s recent five-game winning streak they have lead the country with 55.2 points per game and many highlight this stretch as Mayfield’s Heisman charge. However, I would contend that ‘Shake ‘N Bake’ made his biggest contribution to this team earlier in the season as he carried the offense that couldn’t do anything behind a struggling offensive line. Without him, the Sooners take a loss in Knoxville early in the season and if that happens nobody cares about how well OU is playing right now.
Outside of completion percentage, Mayfield’s production hasn’t even changed all that much:
Last 5 games: 109/146 (74.7%), 1489 (297.8), 19 total TD, 2 INT
First 5 games: 108/163 (66.3%), 1593 (318.6), 18 total TD, 3 INT
The surge in offensive production is clearly reflected in one player’s splits:
Samaje Perine
Last 5 games: 86 att, 608 yards (7.1 ypc)
First 5 games: 82 att, 364 yards (4.4 ypc)
Many criticized Riley, including myself, for not featuring his star sophomore back more early in the season. However, it’s pretty clear now that it wasn’t just the volume of carries that affected Perine’s performance, it was the effectiveness of the offensive line. Nearly identical number of carries in the first half of the season compared to the second, but a 61% improvement in yards per carry.
The extra attention in the box has allowed Sterling Shepard to really break out with lighter coverages - this could also explain the higher completion percentage and Dede Westbrook and Durron Neal being in the top 10 of the Big 12 in receptions.
Sterling Shepard
Last 5 games: 35 rec, 587 yds, 6 TD
First 5 games: 26 rec, 416 yds, 3 TD
Mix in Joe Mixon and Andrews’ 15 combined touchdowns, there’s no doubt the Oklahoma offense hasn’t had this many offensive weapons since 2008. A banged up TCU defense that has allowed 37+ points in four games this year, playing with no confidence after getting trounced by Oklahoma State and almost losing to Kansas, is going to have to hope for Oklahoma and Baker Mayfield to come out unmotivated.
There’s no way a crowd with seven years of meaningless November football (national championship-wise) built up inside of them will not show up for a nationally televised night game amped up and providing energy.
Whether or not Trevone Boykin is able to go, I expect the Horned Frogs offense will be reliant on Aaron Green, who is fifth in the Big 12 in rushing, to slow down the game and control the clock. Green is explosive out of his cuts in a way that reminds me of former Sooner running back Damien Williams, but he lacks the breakaway speed Williams’ possessed. And while Green may have some success, Shock Linwood ran it for 103 yards on 21 carries, eventually Baylor had to abandon the ground game when trailing by two scores late in the game. Something similar may happen to TCU, only earlier, and without Josh Doctson to win one-on-one battles on the outside I just don’t see how Gary Patterson’s squad will keep up outside of the ridiculous Kavontae Turpin breaking loose a few times.
Oklahoma 52
Purple Texas 17
Eddie Radosevich - @Eddie_Rado
I've never been engaged, but I know what it's like to be left at the alter -- okay, well kind of. I am the guy that picked Oklahoma score 70 against the Horns at the State Fair of Texas.
With that dreadful performance in mind -- I picked against the Sooners last weekend.
Though they appeared to have righted the ship in the weeks that followed, last weekend's trip to Waco still was tagged with a number of questions on where exactly this team stood as whole.
Would Mike Stoops defense be able to slow down Shock Linwood? Could Kerry Cooks new look secondary hold-up versus the likes of Corey Coleman and KD Cannon? How would Oklahoma respond if punched in the mouth early?
The answer to those questions: 1.) Yes. 2.) Absolutely. 3.) Resiliently and with attitude.
Not only are the Sooners ready to challenge for a conference title, but it appears Bob Stoops program enters the second to last weekend of the regular season with national championship hopes still within reach.
And that walk-on quarterback from Austin by way of Lubbock? The one 'Coach Bro' sent packing. Uh, yeah, you may want to take a seat for this one.
He's a contender for the Heisman Trophy, responsible for the production of video game numbers in recent weeks comparable to that of Jason White and Sam Bradford -- both of whom have been given lifetime passes to Heisman Park.
The campaign even has it's own hashtag: #Baker4Heisman. Screw Donald Trump, it's Mayfield that is making America great again. And it's contagious. The good kind of contagious, too, infecting an entire fanbase -- without even having to breakout the 'Quan'.
Yet there are still two more hurdles to be cleared before reaching the finish line. A long way to go, and too little time to talk about it all.
This week's opponent? Just a TCU team that enters with a lone loss to Oklahoma State, winners in 21 of its last 23 games. The Horned Frogs head north with question marks of their own. Josh Doctson is out for the rest of the regular season. Trevone Boykin a gametime decision.
What won't be decided late is the margin of victory. I do know that. I like Oklahoma big on a Senior Night to remember for the likes of Charles Tapper, Eric Striker and Sterling Shepard.
OU 57
TCU 17
Josh McCuistion -
Talk about a game whose storyline has changed dramatically in the course of a few weeks - this game has gone from being perhaps the biggest game of the week to a No. 3 that really doesn't even feel that big. It's just a testament to how meaningful the loss, or expected loss, of Trevone Boykin will mean to TCU.
The Horned Frogs all season long have been a team that would have to win a shootout, in fact for me it's been last year's TCU team that this Oklahoma bunch reminds me so much of.
The Horned Frogs just haven't been able to come up with the stops and big plays on defense that made them, to me, the conference's best team in 2014. But now without Boykin and Doctson on the Sooners senior day and a playoff bid in their sight it just feels like a case of the wrong place at the wrong time for Gary Patterson's crew.
I'd love to look into this game but I think all the keys you are looking at are all about Oklahoma - can they come out motivated? Can they handle the emotions of senior day? Can they simply play within themselves and not try to do too much?
If late Saturday night Oklahoma can answer yes to those questions, I think they win comfortably though I think TCU is a team with too much pride for the Sooners to simply run away.
Oklahoma 42
TCU 17
It’s almost surreal to imagine Baker Mayfield as a serious Heisman trophy candidate, considering what sources inside the program were saying before the season started. You would hear things like, “He does some great things keeping plays alive, but those are sacks in live games.” Well as it turned out, Mayfield was just as adept in live game situations of eluding tacklers and has really developed as a pocket passer in Lincoln Riley’s system as the season has progressed.
During Oklahoma’s recent five-game winning streak they have lead the country with 55.2 points per game and many highlight this stretch as Mayfield’s Heisman charge. However, I would contend that ‘Shake ‘N Bake’ made his biggest contribution to this team earlier in the season as he carried the offense that couldn’t do anything behind a struggling offensive line. Without him, the Sooners take a loss in Knoxville early in the season and if that happens nobody cares about how well OU is playing right now.
Outside of completion percentage, Mayfield’s production hasn’t even changed all that much:
Last 5 games: 109/146 (74.7%), 1489 (297.8), 19 total TD, 2 INT
First 5 games: 108/163 (66.3%), 1593 (318.6), 18 total TD, 3 INT
The surge in offensive production is clearly reflected in one player’s splits:
Samaje Perine
Last 5 games: 86 att, 608 yards (7.1 ypc)
First 5 games: 82 att, 364 yards (4.4 ypc)
Many criticized Riley, including myself, for not featuring his star sophomore back more early in the season. However, it’s pretty clear now that it wasn’t just the volume of carries that affected Perine’s performance, it was the effectiveness of the offensive line. Nearly identical number of carries in the first half of the season compared to the second, but a 61% improvement in yards per carry.
The extra attention in the box has allowed Sterling Shepard to really break out with lighter coverages - this could also explain the higher completion percentage and Dede Westbrook and Durron Neal being in the top 10 of the Big 12 in receptions.
Sterling Shepard
Last 5 games: 35 rec, 587 yds, 6 TD
First 5 games: 26 rec, 416 yds, 3 TD
Mix in Joe Mixon and Andrews’ 15 combined touchdowns, there’s no doubt the Oklahoma offense hasn’t had this many offensive weapons since 2008. A banged up TCU defense that has allowed 37+ points in four games this year, playing with no confidence after getting trounced by Oklahoma State and almost losing to Kansas, is going to have to hope for Oklahoma and Baker Mayfield to come out unmotivated.
There’s no way a crowd with seven years of meaningless November football (national championship-wise) built up inside of them will not show up for a nationally televised night game amped up and providing energy.
Whether or not Trevone Boykin is able to go, I expect the Horned Frogs offense will be reliant on Aaron Green, who is fifth in the Big 12 in rushing, to slow down the game and control the clock. Green is explosive out of his cuts in a way that reminds me of former Sooner running back Damien Williams, but he lacks the breakaway speed Williams’ possessed. And while Green may have some success, Shock Linwood ran it for 103 yards on 21 carries, eventually Baylor had to abandon the ground game when trailing by two scores late in the game. Something similar may happen to TCU, only earlier, and without Josh Doctson to win one-on-one battles on the outside I just don’t see how Gary Patterson’s squad will keep up outside of the ridiculous Kavontae Turpin breaking loose a few times.
Oklahoma 52
Purple Texas 17
Eddie Radosevich - @Eddie_Rado
I've never been engaged, but I know what it's like to be left at the alter -- okay, well kind of. I am the guy that picked Oklahoma score 70 against the Horns at the State Fair of Texas.
With that dreadful performance in mind -- I picked against the Sooners last weekend.
Though they appeared to have righted the ship in the weeks that followed, last weekend's trip to Waco still was tagged with a number of questions on where exactly this team stood as whole.
Would Mike Stoops defense be able to slow down Shock Linwood? Could Kerry Cooks new look secondary hold-up versus the likes of Corey Coleman and KD Cannon? How would Oklahoma respond if punched in the mouth early?
The answer to those questions: 1.) Yes. 2.) Absolutely. 3.) Resiliently and with attitude.
Not only are the Sooners ready to challenge for a conference title, but it appears Bob Stoops program enters the second to last weekend of the regular season with national championship hopes still within reach.
And that walk-on quarterback from Austin by way of Lubbock? The one 'Coach Bro' sent packing. Uh, yeah, you may want to take a seat for this one.
He's a contender for the Heisman Trophy, responsible for the production of video game numbers in recent weeks comparable to that of Jason White and Sam Bradford -- both of whom have been given lifetime passes to Heisman Park.
The campaign even has it's own hashtag: #Baker4Heisman. Screw Donald Trump, it's Mayfield that is making America great again. And it's contagious. The good kind of contagious, too, infecting an entire fanbase -- without even having to breakout the 'Quan'.
Yet there are still two more hurdles to be cleared before reaching the finish line. A long way to go, and too little time to talk about it all.
This week's opponent? Just a TCU team that enters with a lone loss to Oklahoma State, winners in 21 of its last 23 games. The Horned Frogs head north with question marks of their own. Josh Doctson is out for the rest of the regular season. Trevone Boykin a gametime decision.
What won't be decided late is the margin of victory. I do know that. I like Oklahoma big on a Senior Night to remember for the likes of Charles Tapper, Eric Striker and Sterling Shepard.
OU 57
TCU 17
Josh McCuistion -
Talk about a game whose storyline has changed dramatically in the course of a few weeks - this game has gone from being perhaps the biggest game of the week to a No. 3 that really doesn't even feel that big. It's just a testament to how meaningful the loss, or expected loss, of Trevone Boykin will mean to TCU.
The Horned Frogs all season long have been a team that would have to win a shootout, in fact for me it's been last year's TCU team that this Oklahoma bunch reminds me so much of.
The Horned Frogs just haven't been able to come up with the stops and big plays on defense that made them, to me, the conference's best team in 2014. But now without Boykin and Doctson on the Sooners senior day and a playoff bid in their sight it just feels like a case of the wrong place at the wrong time for Gary Patterson's crew.
I'd love to look into this game but I think all the keys you are looking at are all about Oklahoma - can they come out motivated? Can they handle the emotions of senior day? Can they simply play within themselves and not try to do too much?
If late Saturday night Oklahoma can answer yes to those questions, I think they win comfortably though I think TCU is a team with too much pride for the Sooners to simply run away.
Oklahoma 42
TCU 17
