The State of Oklahoma: It's a Dusty, Undeveloped Wasteland, In Case You're Wondering
by TheElusiveShadow on Oct 20, 2009 7:55 PM CDT
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PrintLast Spring Break, some of my friends wanted to go camping, and they wanted to go to a place relatively remote from civilization. Naturally, they picked Oklahoma, and I tagged along to experience the State of Suck for the very first time. I actually don't have bad events to report from that trip: The camp site was okay and the people there were mostly polite despite the fact that I was proudly wearing my burnt orange attire (hat, pants, and shirt), but that was probably because we seemed run into more people wearing OSU orange than crimson and cream. However, when we went to a nearby Wal-Mart to get supplies, the town felt lifeless and forsaken, a sort of sad place that has nary a hope for better things. It felt like a wasteland, to be honest, which is saying something since I hail from Abilene, TX. There was this dusty, grimey, uneducated, dirty aura about the area. I was glad to leave the place and return to the Lone Star State. As much as I find the prospect of Oklahoma traveling to DKR interesting, I wouldn't want to go north. The game should stay in Dallas.
What a fitting image for Oklahoma's season. The Sooners, with such high national title aspirations before the season, now sit at 3-3. It's almost time to hibernate until next year, because there's not much left to recover after the Horns finally took the Sooners' season off life support. Bye bye.
I, of course, exaggerate a bit. Oklahoma is not yet finished; all it would take is another meltdown from the Horns, as we saw in 2006, for Oklahoma to squeeze into the Big 12 title game. As small a chance as that is, Oklahoma has a decent shot at winning the rest of their games, especially if they continue to play strong defense they played on Saturday.
The Game
First of all, kudos to Scipio Tex and PB for predicting a relatively low-scoring, SEC type of game. I know many Horns fans are hesitant about giving too much credit to Venables and his Sooner defense, considering how painfully woeful Greg Davis' performance was, but the Sooner defense showed that they can be a force. As Scipio Tex noted in their podcast, Oklahoma is coached well to tendency, which makes them susceptible to misdirection but also allows them to obliterate predictable offenses... which, unfortunately, was ours much of Saturday morning, at least in the passing game. Still, it takes good players to execute like that, and Oklahoma made our offense pay for our terrible gameplan.
The Sooners were pretty good to great on all three levels. The D-line had the upper hand on our boys up front all game, although we thankfully began to turn the tide in the second half. Gerald McCoy was difficult for our interior guys to handle, and both Beal and English were good in passing situations. Travis Lewis had a strong game at linebacker and even Reynolds had his moments. I don't think we tested their safeties much at all, but corner Brian Jackson had a pretty good game himself handling Jordan Shipley, although I'm sure he is still receiving flak for allowing Colt McCoy to catch him on his interception. Basically, we had an athletic defense that was drilled to tendency facing a very predictable offense. Fail.
On the other side, their offense wasn't nearly as predictable as ours but pretty much saw similar results due to the mismatches all over the field. Their receivers and their offensive line were the weak points we thought they would be, minus Ryan Broyles' touchdown. Because of that, I do not think Bradford going out was the issue; the issue was that OU couldn't run the ball and couldn't protect their quarterback or give him options. This is just not a very good offense right now. Looking forward to the rest of the season, the defense will keep Oklahoma in games but it will be up to their offense to make sure they keep up with the likes of OSU and Texas Tech (and even KU, which is coming up next).
Random Bits
-Both Cory Brandon and Sam Bradford will be out next week, but there is no word on Bradford's ultimate fate. It is clear he was not ready to play, and it is unfortunate that this may be the end of the road for the guy.
-The refs were bad on both sides during the game. Phantom facemask, phantom pass interference, 30000 reviews... come on now.
-Don't take the DART to the game. Not only does it take too long to get there, it takes too long just to get the heck out of the fair. It's cheap, but if you value time, just drive to the fair and fork over extra cash for parking. Sheesh, that sucked.
Up Next
With the OU game finished, it is time to focus on Oklahoma State. Depending on what happens, I might continue to update the goings-on about Oklahoma, but there's virtually no chance for some three-way tie craziness whatsoever. It is in some ways no longer our concern what happens to OU after this, although we will probably take a special delight if their season completely spirals out of control (unlikely). It is relieving in a sense to get past this part of the schedule unscathed, but part of the fun is the buildup to this great rivalry. For the Sooners, it's "Wait till next year." For us, we have some business to take care of before we look that far ahead. Until then, we bid the Sooners goodbye, and pleasant dreams in your wasteland home and university.
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We took the DART down to the game and left around 9:30 AM from a station at the end of the red line
We seriously got to the game at 12:00 and missed nearly the entire first half. It was terrible.
Luckily, we didn’t miss any UT scores.
That really sucks...
DART is taking quite a beating for claiming they were ready to handle the RRR when they most certainly were not.
Disciplina Praesidium Civitatis.
Wow, 2.5hrs. to get to the stadium? Was it a DART bus or DART light rail? Either way, it’s another example of why people don’t ride traffic-dependent transit.
We had hoped to not have to rent a car if we can make it to next year’s RRS, but it sounds like that would only be realistic if we were to get a room within walking distance of the Cotton Bowl, which I hear is still a pretty sketchy area. Shame, that.
by burntorangehorn on Oct 20, 2009 9:17 PM CDT up reply actions
the train just stopped several times
And not at an actual stop. I didn’t miss much of the game, but really, why is the train stopping in a tunnel?
by TheElusiveShadow on Oct 21, 2009 12:15 PM CDT up reply actions
train ahead isn’t ready, comes from poor timing of the rails
by Displaced Longhorn on Oct 21, 2009 2:30 PM CDT up reply actions
Isn't Mizzu up next?
Stoops suffers from homo un-erectus. That's where his wang is hugeified not by a woman, but by a man.
Noted...My doh!!!
Missouri-Oklahoma… Kinda like two cousins kissing.
Stoops suffers from homo un-erectus. That's where his wang is hugeified not by a woman, but by a man.
Article request
TES – if you are looking for any article ideas to wrap up OU 2009, it would be interesting to see who you think OU loses after this year from running out of eligibility and from early NFL defections.
what about next years game?
our o-line may or may not suck, we will have a new QB who could potentially be great, our d-line will hopefully reload, with Sam Acho, Alex Okafor, Ben Alexander, and Calvin Howell. Our secondary will be great providing Earl Thomas stays and our linebackers should be solid, especially if Muckleroy and Norton get medical redshirts.
What do yall think?
Alexander will be gone as he is a Senior.
D Line would look like this:
DE: Acho – Jones – Okafor – Mims
DT: Randall – Howell – Dorsey – Cotton – Higgins – Johnson
Get off your knees Greg, you're blowin' the game.
Among others...
There should be some other fellas on there, but yeah, the upshot is that only Kindle, Alexander, and Houston should be gone from this year’s rotation. I’m really expecting a great emergence from Eddie Jones, whose career has been somewhat analogous to that of Orakpo in terms of having to overcome lots of time spent injured earlier, and he’s just starting to show some of what the coaches know he can do.
Randall’s the guy who is making me think the interior line will actually be in terrific shape. Despite the roughing penalties, he’s been great. It’s going to be an extremely young group, but the extensive experience for the ends and Randall means the other interior lineman should be set. I guess the other option is to have Jones or Acho move in there full-time, considering the wealth of talent at the ends, but it doesn’t seem like it’d be necessary. I guess Kriegel’s an unknown quantity at this point, but the potential is there for him to be a big-timer in the middle.
by burntorangehorn on Oct 21, 2009 11:21 AM CDT up reply actions
Too early to really project
I have serious doubts about our OL. As much as I think alot of people want to see it will be addition by subtraction at at least 2 of the spots, based on the development we’ve seen from Huey, Hix, Snow and Allen, our OL could actually be worse next year. A scary thought, especially with a first year starter at QB.
Like this year, RB production will depend on Fozzy’s health and Cody’s weight.
WR will take a big hit with Shipley leaving, but everyone else returns (hopefully including Collins) with another year under their belt so hopefully their won’t be too much of a drop off.
TE. Who knows at this point. A pre-injury Irby could be huge for Gilbert and the offense overall.
DL almost has to take a step back with losing 3 starters for the second year in a row (and for the second year in a row losing one of the best DE’s and DT’s in the conference). Should be ok at DE, but desperately need Howell and the freshmen to step up. I’m assuming S. Acho stays for his senior year.
LB takes a big hit with Muckleroy, but should be ok with Norton, Robinson and Acho returning. Could actually be better next year if Roberson keeps on coming on and we get some decent snaps out of the freshman (with Jackson or maybe Hicks contributing early, ala E. Acho in 2008).
CB should be a major strength. Assuming no one leaves early, which I think is a safe assumption.
S could be a huge swing. Ideally Thomas comes back, Scott becomes eligible again and Vacarro gets his off the field stuff straightend out. I’m beginning to think there is a very good chance Thomas leaves early. Some of the draft “gurus” have started listing him on their big boards. If neither of Thomas or Scott are back next year, this position could be a pretty significant weakness. Sucks losing out on Loston, Brent and Dixon.
I don’t see him being a top 3 S, which probably means he’s second round at best.
He is a RS Soph right now, correct? Meaning he will almost definitely not play 4 years here. That sucks.
True, he might not play all four seasons of his eligibility, but I think one could say that he’s already a year ahead of the curve in terms of how much of a contribution he’s already made on the field.
by burntorangehorn on Oct 21, 2009 11:27 AM CDT up reply actions
Are we sure Shipley is leaving?
Mack said a while back, when they applied for and got this year’s eligibility for Shipley, that they could’ve gotten a second additional year for him. How much would the other Big XII teams hate it if that guy came back for, what, his seventh year?
Really? Does my signature suck?
Shipley is in his late 40's
with his son Jaxon Shipley coming up in 2011. I think he’ll finally try and get a job.
Get off your knees Greg, you're blowin' the game.
Brent’s the one I most wish UT had, but he has chosen his fate. Loston…well, I think the team’s better off without him. I’m actually happy for Dixon, in a way. Don’t expect to see me cheering for him when we’re watching him against UT, but I think he handled his switch responsibly and without making any kind of negatie deal out of it.
I guess you could say there are three DL starters to be lost if you count Alexander as a starter over Randall, sure, but I would consider them equal-timers.
Also, remember that Muck could get a medical redshirt.
by burntorangehorn on Oct 21, 2009 11:25 AM CDT up reply actions
I haven't read anything from him or the UT staff about it.
Based on the way he is playing this year, which is all-conference level at least IMO, I sincerely doubt he even considers coming back another year. Especially given the injuries he had early in his career and what has happened with Gresham and Bradford this year.
I agree to an extent
But it’s not like he’s a guy zeroing in on top money, either. My guess is he puts off the decision until word comes back from survey on his potential draft stock.
by burntorangehorn on Oct 21, 2009 4:46 PM CDT up reply actions
My guess is he's referring to the facemask off the ball on one of UT's kick returns.
It was clearly a facemask, the announcers (esp. mushbooger) just took forever to see it.
That's what I was thinking.
It was clearly a facemask by one of the gunners for OU off the ball and then you here all the OU fans booing.
My fault then
The replay on the crappy Cotton Bowl screen was all I had to look at.
by TheElusiveShadow on Oct 21, 2009 12:12 PM CDT up reply actions
That opening
was hilarious! As you were describing the town I instantly pictured Abilene as well having spent 18 years just north of Abilene in Anson.
The "Big Bang" was actually a Will Muschamp chestbump......with the Earth!
"Oklahoma has a decent shot at winning the rest of their games"
I disagree. I think Oklahoma State and Tech both would be favored in their games with the Land Thieves.
Hell, OU might even be underdogs in Lawrence and Lincoln if it weren’t for the meltdowns this past weekend. The only gimme’s are KSU and aTm.
Gooner fans should be happy with ending up 6-6 and still bowl eligible at this point.
Still a Blaine Irby fan
by patienthornsfan on Oct 21, 2009 8:12 AM CDT reply actions
The fact that Nebraska and KU each lost shouldn’t indicate much about how they’ll do against OU. Obviously OU’s defense can take away a lot of what Reesing does, much like Colorado did to KU and both OU and CU did to UT, but I don’t know that one could count on the OU kids’ being as up for the KU game as for UT. I honestly don’t know what to think of Nebraska’s matchup, though.
by burntorangehorn on Oct 21, 2009 11:30 AM CDT up reply actions
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