After watching OU’s meltdown to Kansas State, ESPN analyst Jesse Palmer insisted that nothing had changed in Norman. Same old OU defense…they can’t tackle and they can’t cover. This team is going nowhere again this year.
At first I was right there with him as I was still stewing about OU’s latest early season meltdown. Then after picking up the dog that I had kicked across the room, I began my rehabilation by reflecting on how OU had played for the first 40 minutes of Saturday’s game.
Spencer Rattler made some freshman-type mistakes but he was still on his way to a four hundred yard and four touchdown passing day. The running game was crisp and the defense had held K-State to 28 yards into the 2nd quarter. Even late in the third quarter the defense looked much improved from last year’s bunch.
It wasn’t until late in the third quarter that the wheels came off the Sooner Schooner. I won’t rehash the crash and burn details, but some of this was self imposed and some of it was just bad luck. As for those of us who had seen this stuff before, we have only ourselves to blame. There’s a reason they call this kid football.
This may or may not make you feel better, but Jalen Hurts and Baker Mayfield had similar breakdowns during their final years in Norman. In 2018 it was against Iowa State and last year it was Kansas State. Spencer Rattler was just in the wrong place at the wrong time this year. This kid can flat out play so let’s cut him some slack.
As OU fans, we love a challenge and now we have one. The Sooners get a do-over next Saturday in Ames on our way to the Cotton Bowl. OU beat Texas in Arlington in ’18 and in Dallas in ’19 after a similar miscues. We’ll be okay…
Boomer Sooner…