1. Hurts has to be top three in the Heisman race, and he just keeps on taking care of business at the highest level. OU has a great chance to have the best season finish of the playoff era. But I would love to see him throw a little more and run maybe a lot less. He is such a great threat, that his running yardage hard to defend. But we need him healthy for 15 games. This offense is great and it looks different than the last four seasons. In many ways, his threat is every bit equal to the last two Heisman winners.
2. This is a new defense. There are so many encouraging factors. But I still want to see OU against somebody who plays big boy football. And will the safeties hold up? Nobody has safeties that are great tacklers in the box, but also able to cover an elite slot receiver. The Big XII is full of guys in the slot who can make a safety look slow footed. Love the improvement, but on the overall defense, there is still a lot of proving to do. UCLA isn't a great football team, especially with a substandard quarterback. We have a half dozen games left on the schedule, against quality quarterbacks.
3. We heard some grumbling from OU fans about the quality of opponent in game two with South Dakota. But all those second and third team guys who played last week produced some overall team enhancement, especially on defense. The D against UCLA looked different. Those second unit guys showed a quality of play against a P5 opponent that we're not used to seeing. Last week, LR talked about the advantage of all those guys getting to play, especially with the year old redshirt rules. It showed last night.
4. How about those place kickers!! It wasn't just the made field goals and XP's. It's that with may one or two exceptions, the eight placements kicks from scrimmage were close to dead center. That was a big improvement. Loved that. And the kickoffs were darn close to as good as we got on grass from Seibert. And the punting continues to be solid.
5. I think a lot of us see a little drop in the performance of Kennedy Brooks. But he is still very productive. You wonder if his missed time in the summer has a little to do with it. And he still makes more than he looks like he's making. Overall, the production of the running back group of Sermon, Stevenson and KB looks as good as anybody's. There is a lot of chatter that Stevenson is OUr best running back. Suspect that the coaches want just a little more confidence in his ball protection before his carries go up. But he is a load.
6. Fan consensus is that Kaden Davis is OUr best corner. He still likely has some mental stuff to master, but fan consensus and coach consensus may be coming together soon. If he's going to start in the Cotton Bowl, better get him some more experience in the two games prior to Dallas.
7. Jalen Redmond is the most talented looking young defensive lineman at any position I've seen since Gerald McCoy. And his interviews show a thoughtful, bright guy with poise. If he stays healthy, he will be a multi-millionaire in two or three years. Given the move inside, I'm not sure he's quite as good as Perkins just yet.
8. All the hand wringing about Swenson (especially mine) might have been a little premature as well as the line play overall. We still had three or four OLine holding penalties, but against the most athletic defensive front we've played so far, they played their best game. As we've all heard after every game, there is still a lot of improving to do, but everybody has confidence that Bedenbaugh will get it taken care of. P.S. Creed, what's the deal with the high snaps?
9. Did anybody else think that the linesman in stripes on the OU sideline seemed to see ball spots about six times that were close to a yard short of what the Sooner runner seemed to gain, especially in the 1st half?
10. I can't remember hearing this much positive about OU football from national media, as in the last month. Obviously the offense has earned it. The defense seems to be getting there. Brock Huard sounded last night like he was working for OU's P.R. Department.
2. This is a new defense. There are so many encouraging factors. But I still want to see OU against somebody who plays big boy football. And will the safeties hold up? Nobody has safeties that are great tacklers in the box, but also able to cover an elite slot receiver. The Big XII is full of guys in the slot who can make a safety look slow footed. Love the improvement, but on the overall defense, there is still a lot of proving to do. UCLA isn't a great football team, especially with a substandard quarterback. We have a half dozen games left on the schedule, against quality quarterbacks.
3. We heard some grumbling from OU fans about the quality of opponent in game two with South Dakota. But all those second and third team guys who played last week produced some overall team enhancement, especially on defense. The D against UCLA looked different. Those second unit guys showed a quality of play against a P5 opponent that we're not used to seeing. Last week, LR talked about the advantage of all those guys getting to play, especially with the year old redshirt rules. It showed last night.
4. How about those place kickers!! It wasn't just the made field goals and XP's. It's that with may one or two exceptions, the eight placements kicks from scrimmage were close to dead center. That was a big improvement. Loved that. And the kickoffs were darn close to as good as we got on grass from Seibert. And the punting continues to be solid.
5. I think a lot of us see a little drop in the performance of Kennedy Brooks. But he is still very productive. You wonder if his missed time in the summer has a little to do with it. And he still makes more than he looks like he's making. Overall, the production of the running back group of Sermon, Stevenson and KB looks as good as anybody's. There is a lot of chatter that Stevenson is OUr best running back. Suspect that the coaches want just a little more confidence in his ball protection before his carries go up. But he is a load.
6. Fan consensus is that Kaden Davis is OUr best corner. He still likely has some mental stuff to master, but fan consensus and coach consensus may be coming together soon. If he's going to start in the Cotton Bowl, better get him some more experience in the two games prior to Dallas.
7. Jalen Redmond is the most talented looking young defensive lineman at any position I've seen since Gerald McCoy. And his interviews show a thoughtful, bright guy with poise. If he stays healthy, he will be a multi-millionaire in two or three years. Given the move inside, I'm not sure he's quite as good as Perkins just yet.
8. All the hand wringing about Swenson (especially mine) might have been a little premature as well as the line play overall. We still had three or four OLine holding penalties, but against the most athletic defensive front we've played so far, they played their best game. As we've all heard after every game, there is still a lot of improving to do, but everybody has confidence that Bedenbaugh will get it taken care of. P.S. Creed, what's the deal with the high snaps?
9. Did anybody else think that the linesman in stripes on the OU sideline seemed to see ball spots about six times that were close to a yard short of what the Sooner runner seemed to gain, especially in the 1st half?
10. I can't remember hearing this much positive about OU football from national media, as in the last month. Obviously the offense has earned it. The defense seems to be getting there. Brock Huard sounded last night like he was working for OU's P.R. Department.
