Did a bit of research on this subject, and since 2009, our record following a bye week is not good...
5-6
(opposing team's record that year in parenthesis)
Wins:
2010 Iowa State (5-7)
2011 Florida State (9-4)... pretty much our only high quality win - and it was a REALLY good one at the time...
2012 Texas Tech (8-5)
2013 Notre Dame (9-4)... the other one that looked really good at the time.
2014 Iowa State (2-10)
Losses:
2009 Miami (9-4)
2011 Baylor (10-3)
2012 Kansas State (11-2)
2013 Baylor (11-2)
2014 TCU (12-1)
2014 OSU (7-6)
So as you can see, part of our problem is that we have been playing some REALLY good teams following a bye week. Miami was in the top 10 at the time, 2011 Baylor had RG3's Heisman year, 2012 K-State was in the running for the National Championship toward the end of the season and won the Big 12, 2013 Baylor was in the top 10, and of course TCU was a helluva team last year. OSU was the only mediocre team on that list of the losses.
But this is Oklahoma - losing to teams and programs that are inferior to us that OFTEN is inexcusable. I could handle a loss to a team we shouldn't lose to every other year or so... but there has been a pattern of poor play following a bye week since 2009. We just can't seem to beat the really good teams following a bye week. Bowl games, which usually have at least 3-4 weeks of prep, haven't been that great either...
Wins:
2009 Stanford (8-5)
2010 UConn (8-5)
2011 Iowa (7-6)
2013 Alabama (11-2) ... our lone quality win.
Losses:
2012 Texas A&M (11-2)
2014 Clemson (10-3)
I won't even bother posting the scores for those 2 bowl losses... everyone remembers how embarrassing they were.
The good news for this week if history is doomed to repeat itself? WVU looks like an 8-4 or 9-3 team right now - we usually do well against the decent teams following a bye. If we lose, it wouldn't shock me one bit to see WVU go 10-2 or 11-1. But either way, our bye week prep has been abysmal since 2009. 5-6 following a bye week (only 3 of those wins came against teams with a winning record at the end of the year) is completely unacceptable, and I don't care who we're playing.
If Bob wants to prove to us that he truly still has fire and a passion for this program - it starts by showing it this week and with a change in mentality during the bye week prep. I hope like crazy that we didn't just sleep walk through this last week, that we actually took advantage of the extra time to prepare against WVU... otherwise, we'll be looking at our first "L" of the season.
5-6
(opposing team's record that year in parenthesis)
Wins:
2010 Iowa State (5-7)
2011 Florida State (9-4)... pretty much our only high quality win - and it was a REALLY good one at the time...
2012 Texas Tech (8-5)
2013 Notre Dame (9-4)... the other one that looked really good at the time.
2014 Iowa State (2-10)
Losses:
2009 Miami (9-4)
2011 Baylor (10-3)
2012 Kansas State (11-2)
2013 Baylor (11-2)
2014 TCU (12-1)
2014 OSU (7-6)
So as you can see, part of our problem is that we have been playing some REALLY good teams following a bye week. Miami was in the top 10 at the time, 2011 Baylor had RG3's Heisman year, 2012 K-State was in the running for the National Championship toward the end of the season and won the Big 12, 2013 Baylor was in the top 10, and of course TCU was a helluva team last year. OSU was the only mediocre team on that list of the losses.
But this is Oklahoma - losing to teams and programs that are inferior to us that OFTEN is inexcusable. I could handle a loss to a team we shouldn't lose to every other year or so... but there has been a pattern of poor play following a bye week since 2009. We just can't seem to beat the really good teams following a bye week. Bowl games, which usually have at least 3-4 weeks of prep, haven't been that great either...
Wins:
2009 Stanford (8-5)
2010 UConn (8-5)
2011 Iowa (7-6)
2013 Alabama (11-2) ... our lone quality win.
Losses:
2012 Texas A&M (11-2)
2014 Clemson (10-3)
I won't even bother posting the scores for those 2 bowl losses... everyone remembers how embarrassing they were.
The good news for this week if history is doomed to repeat itself? WVU looks like an 8-4 or 9-3 team right now - we usually do well against the decent teams following a bye. If we lose, it wouldn't shock me one bit to see WVU go 10-2 or 11-1. But either way, our bye week prep has been abysmal since 2009. 5-6 following a bye week (only 3 of those wins came against teams with a winning record at the end of the year) is completely unacceptable, and I don't care who we're playing.
If Bob wants to prove to us that he truly still has fire and a passion for this program - it starts by showing it this week and with a change in mentality during the bye week prep. I hope like crazy that we didn't just sleep walk through this last week, that we actually took advantage of the extra time to prepare against WVU... otherwise, we'll be looking at our first "L" of the season.
