What a difference a month makes…

I remember walking down the ramp following the K-State shocker when one of my football buddies mentioned that we were looking real hard at a possible 1-3 start to the season.  He was right, but he was being kind.  If this team had lost to Texas after the loss to Iowa State, we would have been looking at a loss to TCU and a 1-4 start.   

No one wants to face a Gary Patterson team in a weakened position.  That guy can flat out coach defense and if Spencer Rattler had been on a three game losing streak he would have been puddy in his hands.  I know that Lincoln is good, but managing that sinking ship in today’s “transfer portal” world would be like juggling a live hand grenade.       

As for Lubbock, no one wants to see Lubbock on a good day, but going to the south plains on a four game losing streak would be nasty.  Thankfully, the Sooners righted the ship with the four overtime thriller against Texas.  That game made this team believe in themselves and gave us confidence going forward.    

With a win in Lubbock the Sooners can go into Bedlam with a 5-2 record.  Now, I realize that beating this year’s OSU team may be tougher than normal, but they’re still OSU and we’re still OU.  If we can get past the Red Raiders on the road and OSU at home we can go on a seven game winning streak.  At that point all bets will be off when it comes to the Big 12 Championship game and post season play.   

We will know a lot more about how this situation will pan out in a couple weeks because Kansas State will lose to OSU and then go on to lose two more games.  Iowa State will lose two more games as well and this will leave both of those teams out of the running for Big 12 honors.  This will mean that the Big 12 Championship game will be up for grabs.  

Before we worry about that, let’s enjoy the moment and remind ourselves what a difference a month can make. We’re back………………….

Boomer Sooner…

Social distancing…

I’m totally confused about this whole social distancing thing when it comes to college football games.  On the one hand, we have Texas A&M with their 12^th man student section that resembles a mosh pit at a rock concert.  Then, we have the OU student section that resembled a Sunday morning church service at the K-State game.   Texas A&M upset 4^th ranked Florida while OU was upset by K-State.  Enough said…

I know we have the piped in crowd noise this year that gives the appearance of fan support, but the OU players aren’t stupid.  When they look over at the student section and see a bunch of students spread out over five time zones, they know something’s up.   The students were being punished for not properly social distancing during the Missouri State game.  Seriously, who gives a rip…it was Missouri State and they were bored to tears just like the rest of us.   

When things starting going south in the 2^nd half there was no raucous student section to stem the tide against the Wildcats.  Kansas State scored 24 unanswered points in that game.   I realize that I can’t blame the loss completely on the student section being dismantled, but I think it was certainly a contributing factor. 

I hope OU officials will get over themselves and allow our students to be students once again.  Wearing masks should be punishment enough.   If the same thing happens against OSU we should hold someone accountable.   This will be another test for Joe C.’s leadership style.  I hope for all of us that he passes this one. 

Boomer Sooner…

Hooked Horns…

Tom Herman, the head coach at Texas is in a pickle these days.   Not only did he lose to OU over the weekend, he lost his fan base as well due to activities not directly related to the game.  His donors are incensed that the UT players refused to stand for the “Eyes of Texas” after the OU loss. 

Of course the  Lyrics  to the “Eyes of Texas” have changed over the years.  When the Texas players were told that the tune got its origin from racist beginnings, they were incensed themselves and vowed not be a part of that tradition this season.

Regardless of one’s take on these issues, UT players, particularly black players are not going to back down. Just as resolute will be the UT donors. They love this song more than life itself. Tom Herman’s problem is that he should have taken a page from Lincoln Riley and dealt with these issues last summer.  He chose instead to kick the can down the road and now he’s in a lose-lose situation. 

His donors control his contract, but his players are firmly in control of his coaching future at Texas.   And here’s the kicker…OU fans now find themselves in a pickle as well.   Hating Texas is one of our favorite things to do, but Texas losing to OSU in two weeks will only hasten Tom Herman’s demise.  We need to rethink this situation in order to keep Urban Meyer away from the Texas campus.    

Lincoln Riley and the Sooners are firmly in control of the OU-Texas series and we don’t want to mess up a good thing.   The bad news is that Mike Gundy owns Texas as well.  If this pattern holds and OSU beats Texas in Stillwater in two weeks Tom Herman will likely be fired before the end of that weekend.    

Donors are bellying up to the bar as we speak in anticipation of buying out Herman’s contract and then pursuing Urban Meyer.  As we know money is no concern when it comes to Texas.  I know this is a tough one for OU fans, but seriously would you rather play against Tom Herman or Urban Meyer…sounds like a no-brainer to me.  I’m going with Texas over the Ags.

Boomer Sooner…

2020 miracle…

Right on cue, we have another miracle in the Cotton Bowl.  Many Sooner fans did not think it was possible for us to win and the Sooners kept them guessing right up until the bitter end…then it happened.   Tre Brown intercepts a Sam Ehlinger pass and the game was over and the Sooners had won.   

Granted, the game should never have gone into overtime, but that’s college football in the covid era.  To win that game the way we did in four overtimes was even better.   This win will pay huge dividends for us down the road.  Since going undefeated was not an option, going on a winning streak down the stretch will be just what the doctor ordered. 

The same goes for Spencer Rattler…he needed that game. I know he struggled early on and was benched, but he came back and led the Sooners to a critical win.   Spencer Rattler haters will disagree, but this kid is going to be a really good quarterback for us in time.  Just as importantly, for those who can’t read a roster, he’s all we have.  Tanner Mordecai is a nice quarterback, but there’s a reason he’s the backup. 

It was also nice to see other players like T.J. Pledger, Drake Stoops and numerous defenders have great games.  We’re going to need those guys down the road.  Yes, the naysayers will harp on the fact that we were just a couple plays away from being 1-3 going into TCU, but that never happened.  We’re 2-2 and headed north instead of south. 

We can now finish strong and go win a bowl game for the first time in four years.   We can also spend the off week reminiscing about the greatest OU-Texas win ever…OU 53 – Texas 45…

Boomer Sooner…

The ’96 miracle…

I remember that day like it was yesterday…It was the first year of the John Blake era and we had started the season at 0-4.  Texas came into the game highly ranked and the point spread was just this side of a hundred points.  No one and I mean no one gave the Sooners a chance.  OU fans for the most part had bailed on the season and were now focused on other things.  

And then it happened…out of nowhere the Sooners decided that they wanted to beat Texas.    In a nutshell this is what happened…The Sooners were trailing by 11 points with seven minutes to play in the game.    The defense made a stop and forced a Texas punt.  OU took the punt back for a touchdown cutting the lead to five.  The Sooners then went for two and made it,  cutting the deficit to three. 

Texas gets the ball back with time running out.   The Sooner defense made another stand and forced another punt. The Sooners drove the length of the field and kicked a game tying field goal as time expired.  The game went into overtime and the Sooners found a way to scratch out a win.  Final score…. OU 30 Texas 27. 

In 1996, just like today, the Sooners started an inexperienced freshman quarterback in Justin Fuente.  Our running back was James Allen who had done nothing during his career at OU up to that point.   The players ignored the radio shows and news clippings for that week, as well as constant bickering from OU fans and focused on beating Texas. 

With the season’s goals gone, that team played with reckless abandon and won.  We’re in the same boat today.  We all thought that at this point we’d be sitting at 3-0 and on our way to the playoffs while picking up another Heisman Trophy along the way. 

While those goals are shot, we can still beat Texas which for many of us old guard types will constitute a great season in and of itself.  It happened in the Cotton Bowl in ’96 and it can happen again on Saturday.  I’m not suggesting that you go out and bet the house on a win, but then again miracles do happen.  

Boomer Sooner…

Where do we go from here…

As most of us have surmised we’re still a long way from where we want to be on defense.   Yes, we have a new “speed D” moniker, but our guys are still chasing their guys which is never a good thing.   The last few years we could at least fall back on our offense to keep us in games.  Unfortunately, those guys are now picking up million dollar checks in the NFL.  I would say that it is now official.   2020 is a rebuilding year. 

Of course OU fans don’t want to hear this.  They assumed that Spencer Rattler would have a break out season on his way to picking up his Heisman Trophy.   Nothing short of winning every game would have pleased most OU fans.   What we really have here is a young quarterback playing with young running backs playing behind an inexperienced offensive line.

Allowing oSU to steal our thunder this year may be a by-product of this dredful coronavirus year.  I would suggest that we avoid the local media for the next three months.   Those OU-haters and Aggie lovers are going to have a field day.   That’s okay, losing to a bunch of Aggies once every decade is simply the price of doing business.  OU fans need to focus on the next decade.     

We will lose more games than normal this year, but if we can right the ship and make it to a decent bowl game, we’ll lay the ground work for National Championship seasons in the future.  Regardless of what happens in Dallas this week, we can use the off week between Texas and TCU to ensure a decent season.  

In the meantime, let’s look on the bright side…we will avoid smackdowns from SEC monsters in the playoffs and/or the Sugar Bowl.  Beating up on a Kentucky in the Liberty Bowl looks pretty good at this point.   I know this sounds lame, but winning a bowl game will go a long way in building needed momentum for next year. 

In the meantime, I suggest that we heed the sentiments from Dr. Sydney Freedman of MASH fame.  “Ladies and gentlemen take my advice, pull down your pants and  slide on the ice.”   At this point, we simply need to relax and look to the future.

Boomer Sooner…

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