Stoops Favors Home And Home With Texas

In his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Bob Stoops said that he would like to see the Red River Rivalry be played in Norman and Austin every once in a while.

Every year at this time the location of the game is a big topic. Most fans on both sides would probably tell you that they prefer to keep it the way it is in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl. However, official from both cities and schools would probably like to see the economic impact that the game would have for the folks back home if they were able to host the game every other year.

Unfortunately for those people they will have to wait a while to see it happen. The two schools have a contract with the Cotton Bowl through the 2015 season.

In my opinion, if the game were to be moved to a home and home rotation, it would be a big blow to the fans of both teams. It would also take away from the uniqueness of the rivalry. I believe that the setting is a big part of what makes the Red River Rivalry the best rivalry in all of football.

Turning Point

Oklahoma’s game with Tulsa this Saturday could be a turning point for Sooner fans. After this game fans will either start to think about winning out and hoping other teams lose in order for Oklahoma to make it back to the BCS championship game or they will start calling for some coach’s heads. In Oklahoma, you either win every game or you start taking some heat. Sooner fans aren’t used to seeing their team lose two games before conference games begin. Bob Stoops will have to get his team to show some real improvement in order to keep that from happening. Especially now that Miami has proven to be a real threat.

If you are wanting to know what to expect from this team, just take a look at the past decade. Since Stoops has been in Norman there have been a few times when things were looking pretty dark for the Sooners early in the year. However, this coaching staff has always found a way to turn things around.

After Oklahoma lost to TCU in 2005 the Sooners may have finished with an 8-4 record, but that was also the last time they won a bowl game. The difference this year is that Stoops and Kevin Wilson can look forward to getting a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback to return to the roster in the next couple of weeks.

The very next year after Rhett Bomar was dismissed from the team before the season started, the Sooners lost to Oregon and Texas. Don’t forget that it didn’t take too long for Adrian Peterson to suffer his injury and fans were wondering how the Sooners would even make it to a descent bowl game. However, Stoops turned things around and won his fourth Big 12 championship.

The bottom line is that the Oklahoma coach’s have proven theirselves over and over. The difference between Oklahoma suffering a few setbacks and a team like Oklahoma State suffering a few setbacks is that the Sooners consistently recruit the best football players in the country and have the talent to cover up a lot of the holes left by injuries. College football is still all about coaching and recruiting and Oklahoma has not slacked off in either of those two areas.

My bet is that the Sooners find a way to shore up the offensive line this week, prove that they can stop a dynamic offense like the one Tulsa will bring, and will get Sam Bradford back during the off week. Therefore, it’s not too much of a stretch to think that the Sooners could find a way to lose no more than 1 or 2 more games this season. They still have to be considered the number 2 favorite in the Big 12 and anything can happen in the game against Texas.

Don’t be surprised if Oklahoma finds a way to win another confernece title or even make it’s way back into the BCS championship. They still have championship caliber talent on the field.

Sorry Sam

As bad as OU fans might feel after watching that pitiful effort on Saturday versus BYU, the person you really have to feel sorry for is Sam Bradford. In a shocking move over the offseason, Bradford showed his team colors by deciding to come back for one more season. It was very clear that the only reason he came back was for a shot at a national championship. That goal lasted all of one half.

Actually, it didn’t even last that long. Even with Bradford in the lineup for the first half, you could already tell that this would be a long year for the offense. Not only did the line fail to block or fail to know the snap count, but the play calling brought back memories of the Chuck Long days. Kevin Wilson’s play calling was more conservative than Rush Limbaugh.

There’s something wrong with an offensive coordinator that won’t throw the ball when you have a quarterback that just won the Heisman Trophy and has recorded possibly the best two seasons as a passer in the history of college football. Running the ball over and over isn’t exactly the way to break in an inexperienced line.

The fact that Jermain Gresham was unable to play also played a big part in the defeat. Oklahoma was just 2 for 11 on 3rd down conversions. That stat alone shows how much the Sooners missed Gresham. The All-American is a go-to receiver on 3rd down that nobody in the country can cover.

If the offensive line doesn’t improve it’s protection of the quarterback, Wilson may have to go to third string quarterback Drew Allen by the second quarter of the Idaho State game. Let’s just say that this edition of the o-line won’t be asked to pull secret service duty any time soon. The biggest question is at what point in time did these linemen forget that you can’t move until the ball is snapped? Hopefully today they are in a class room learning about snap counts.

Bradford could possibly be back for the Miami game. Unfortunately, that could be his death penalty. With the current protection he has, that could possibly be the last time he suits up in a college game. Let’s not even talk about what Texas would do to him.

In all actuality, not all is lost for the Sooners. They have played for a national title with one loss before. Also, this is not the first time that Bob Stoops has had to do damage control after the first game. If the Sooners can get some good news over the next two weeks, all of their goals could still be in place. The good news is that the defense looks like the defense that we are used to seeing at Oklahoma. But, you gotta feel bad for a quarterback that passed up millions just to bring the Sooner Nation another title and gets rewarded with a banged up shoulder.

TOP 5 QUESTIONS FACING ‘09 SOONERS

Every Sooner fan is wondering the same thing. Is this the year Bob Stoops brings another national title to the Sooner Nation? However, there are always a handful of things that must go just right if a team is going to win it all. The 2000 Sooners went the entire season without a single starter missing a game. The ‘08 Texas Longhorns were actully one interception away from playing for the title.

What must happen in order for Oklahoma to satisfy it’s natives by winning the national championship? Here are the Top 5 Questions Sooner fans should have on their mind entering the season.

1. Will the offensive line develop like they seem to every other year since Stoops has been in Norman? The coach’s will tell you that the line could actually be better than last year by the end of the season. Unfortunately, they will need them to be good well before the end of the season. Oklahoma has one of the toughest schedules in the country and will need a strong performance from it’s o-line on October 3rd when they pay a visit to Miami. The biggest test will come October 17th when they begin a tough stretch in which they will play 3 of 4 games against preseason top 25 teams starting with the Red River Rivalry against Texas. Fortunately for the Sooners the one returning starter from last years line, Trent Williams, was considered by many to be the best of that group.

2. Will the special teams be a sore spot once again? It was very surprising to see the special teams perform as badly as they did in ‘08. Mainly because they were coached by Bob Stoops himself. The good news is that Stoops has taken it personally and will do everything possible to improve the special teams. The word from the fall camp is that kicker Jimmy Stevens has added some leg strength and has shown to be much more accurate than a year ago. It has also been said that Stevens has dealt with some issues concerning his nerves during games. Hopefully after a year of playing in some really big games he has gotten over that.

3. Can DeMarco Murray stay healthy and finally play in a bowl game? The talented running back has missed each of the last two bowl games. There are many that believe his absence is what cost the Soonersagainst Florida. As solid as Chris Brown is, Murray adds a big play threat to the offense that they don’t have withBrown. Perhaps his biggest asset is what he brings to the passing game. Defensive coach’s around the country have said that with Murray in the lineup the Sooners are a match-up nightmare. When healthy, Murray is probably one of the top 3 or 4 running backs in the country.

4. Will Oklahoma be able to defeat Texas? This question is on the minds of Sooner fans before every season. However, this years edition of the Red River Rivalry may very well be the most hyped game the two have ever played. The anticipation brings back memories of the old Oklahoma-Nebraska games. There is so much bitterness in the air now that it may be difficult to see the game from the upper levels of the Cotton Bowl. This one is probably the game of the decade and will go a long way towards deciding both the Big Twelve and national championships.

5. Can Bob Stoops and Oklahoma win a BCS Bowl game? Until the Sooners win another BCS game this question will continue to be asked. In fact the futility the Sooners have endured in BCS games is starting to become a major problem. Nobody wants to be considered the Buffalo Bills of the NCAA and you definately don’t want to be know to recruits as the team that can’t win the big games. In defense of Oklahoma, they have won plenty of big games lately. Remember, they beat Texas two years ago and last season they defeated Texas Tech and Missouri in big games when each were ranked in the top 5. Oh yeah, don’t forget they beat OSU on the road to end the regular season to send them to the Big 12 championship. A national championship in ‘09 will put an end to all of that talk and the next thing you know people will be talking about the Sooners as the team of the decade.