Author Archives: bcssportsprofessor

5-1…

Okay OU fans, it’s time for a truth serum…going into this season, we would have been more than happy with a 5-1 record at this point of the season. We never really thought we would beat Ohio State and we never for a moment thought we would get beat by Iowa State.

There you have it…the OU season so far has been awash from a win-loss perspective. Avoiding the inevitable over simplification by OU fans that OU should never lose a game or that OU simply played lights out against Ohio State and stunk up the place against Iowa State, there may be other reasons for the unpredictable nature of OU football these days. As we know, OU tends to lose a game every year that they shouldn’t lose only to battle back for a flaming finish.

The average OU fan also has a hard time understanding how college football has changed since the Barry days.  Parity has become a way of life as college scholarship limits and the NFL draft have leveled the playing field. Ohio State losing ten players to the NFL after last season and Iowa State being allowed to sign the same number of recruits as OU played a much bigger role in the current 5-1 record than either Baker Mayfield or Mike Stoops.

The parity factor should also make OU fans appreciate Saturday’s Texas’ win. Yes, I know Texas is still in a rebuilding mode, but those guys have a ton of talent. They also have a quarterback who can use his feet to avoid a bunch of tired tacklers at the end of a game. Possibly most importantly Texas always plays its best game of the year against the Sooners in the Cotton Bowl. It would not surprise me to see Texas lay an egg against OSU having played their career game against us in the Cotton Bowl.

OU’s ability to survive on Saturday should not be over looked by anyone. Yes, we blew a 20-point league and once again we got beat on the outside, but we still left the Cotton Bowl with a win. A win in the Cotton Bowl is always a big win.

Trust me…OU’s win on Saturday was not just about Texas; it was also about the possibility of beating OSU in three weeks. A loss last Saturday would have guaranteed a loss to the Gags in three weeks.

Baker-haters and you know who you are should kiss his ring today. Baker played hurt after a massive cheap shot he absorbed late in the game, but rallied to save Sooner Nation with his touchdown throw to Mark Andrews.

For those of us who have left the Cotton Bowl far too many times on the losing side, winning by five was like winning by fifty.    I just hope that those OU fans that trashed Baker and abandoned the Sooners after the Iowa State loss sold their tickets too more deserving OU fans.

Beating Texas, particularly in the Cotton Bowl will always be a big deal…Sooner fans, we need to enjoy the moment. Beating Texas anytime is priceless.

Boomer Sooner…

 

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Section 108… 

From my upper deck Section 108 seats I have a bird’s eye view of the field. Normally, this is a good thing, but on Saturday it was a bad thing for several reasons.

First, we were the first ones to realize that Mike Stoops had no clue about how to defense a less than average Iowa State offense. Adding to our pain was his inexplicable inability to make adjustments.

Adding to all our pain was the fact that we knew that we would be stuck with Mike Stoops for the rest of this year. After the season Lincoln can hire his own coach for this critical position. In the meantime, I have a temporary solution to this dilemma. Lincoln needs to give Bob Stoops a call and ask him to help his brother Mike pull his head out of his rectum.   This will be a two-man job, but I think the Stoops boys are up to the challenge.

While in the area, Bob can also help brother Mike with his X’s and O’s for the Texas game. After all, Bob was once the defensive guru at Florida.

Next, Section 108 needs to give Baker a break. This is the same guy that has beaten Tennessee, Ohio State and Auburn in the last two years. Section 108 fans wanted Baker indicted on Saturday for being the worst human on earth.   Of course these are the same folks that were worshiping the ground he walked on last month.

If we can get our CeeDee Lamb and Abdul Adams back, Baker can make this offense a well-oiled machine again. It’s looks like we are going to be back to having outscore people and as we know Baker is the only one that can make this happen.

Okay, here is the thing for those of you who still care. I will be the first one to say that losing to a 30 dog at home is inexcusable. I will also say that it took a perfect storm for this to happen.

  1. Games played within few weeks of a monumental win.
  2. A bye week where everyone loses focus.
  3. A game the week before OU-Texas.
  4. A rooster kickoff…
  5. Playing a team with an extra two days to prepare a game-plan.
  6. An Iowa State team whose young coach had this game marked on his calendar.
  7. Changing quarterbacks on the flight to Norman. Seriously, you can bet that this quarterback switch was made the day after the Iowa State-Texas game, but OU had no clue.
  8. The only four star receiver recruit (Allan Lizard) to ever land at Iowa State.
  9. Mike Stoops still living in Norman.

Finally, what choices to we have in the matter…either we get back on the horse or we can pull a KU and look forward to basketball season.

OU must simply take care of its own business and hope that TCU can do the same. Beat the Frogs twice and we will have a glimmer of championship series hope at the end of the season.  Of course, first we have to…

Beat Texas…

 

 

 

Lack of institutional control…

Did the Gags have a bad week or what? First, OSU loses a home game to TCU, a game they were favored to win by two touchdowns and a game that effectively ended their final-four and Heisman watch. Not to be outdone the basketball team has its associate head coach arrested by the FBI on bribery charges…

Whoa Nelly, it don’t get much worse than that.

Fifteen years ago OSU turned its athletic program over to T. Boone Pickens and in doing so became the poster child for that hated NCAA phrase “lack of institutional control”. These are the words that will always lead to NCAA sanctions.

The good news is that the FBI is involved in this one. Unlike OSU’s dirty game scandal that the NCAA screwed up, the FBI will have its blinders on and will not care about school colors or donors.   Expect the FBI to do the heavy lifting in this matter with the NCAA using their findings to bring the hammer down on predators.

As we know the NCAA will take its sweet time in assessing penalties which is a good thing.  This will allow a dark cloud to hang over the OSU program for years to come.   Along with the mushroom cloud will come scholarship cuts and a ban on post season appearances.

Even T. Boone’s millions won’t buy the Pokes out of this one. As a perfect example of what goes around comes around, T. Boone agreed to make Lamont Evans the associate head coach and pay him the highest salary of any assistant coach in America.

Please explain to me why an assistant coach making $600,000 a year of T. Boone’s money would take a paltry $22,000 bribe? One, is the pressure of justifying his exorbitant salary by producing five star recruits and secondly because he developed a bad case of Aggie mentality.

The basketball gods are not going to be happy with programs that turn their backs on their beloved game.  In addition to NCAA sanctions that most certainly will happen, look for certain current players to be ruled ineligible and for future players to avoid Stillwater like the plague.

Finally, all of this will have as its backdrop, an OU basketball program that will be on the rebound this year with freshman phenom Trae Young.  Additionally, the OU basketball program will also feel a momentum bump with its planned state of the art basketball facility on north base.

By the way I disagree with those who say that OSU has no real traditions.   OSU is the most penalized athletic program in NCAA history.   OSU fans should be really proud of that one…

 

 

Be careful what you ask for… 

Back when the original Big 12 imploded, the new Big 12 was looking for new teams. TCU and West Virginia made the cut. Who knows why West Virginia made it in, but we know for sure about TCU. For some unknown reason, T. Boone Pickens insisted that the Big 12 take the Horned Frogs.

As they say, be careful what you ask for, you may just get it…

It can only be assumed that T. Boone believed that his Cowboys would reap huge recruiting benefits by playing in the talent rich Dallas area every other year. He may have also assumed that the lowly Horned Frogs would never pose an on-field threat to his boys.

TCU used its Big 12 invite to build a new state of the art on-campus football stadium. I have seen this facility first hand and let me tell you, it is pretty special.   Recruits love new facilities; TCU’s recruiting has taken off as a result.

At the same time, the biggest mistake made by T. Boone was overlooking TCU head coach Gary Patterson. A Bill Snyder protégé, this guy can flat out coach.

The cream de crème in all of this is the fact that T. Boone overruled OSU A.D. Mike Holder as Holder hoped to step up OSU’s non-conference schedule. Gundy insisted on playing cream puffs while Holder wanted the schedule to include legitimate Power Five opponents.

Playing a physical Power Five team after playing three high school teams will bite you in the butt every time. And of course this happened on Saturday.

All of this came to life on Saturday as TCU spanked the Ags. Gary Patterson schooled Mike Gundy as the Horned Frogs used man-football against OSU.

Additional pleasure can be taken by those of us that believe that whatever goes around comes around.   A Big 12 team should not be beating up on the likes of South Alabama.

A blind man could have seen this one coming. OSU was forced to play a physical, athletic, well-coached team and paid the price. In one felled swoop the dreams of Cowboy fans came crashing down. They can kiss their thoughts of a National Championship and a Heisman Trophy away.

As for T. Boone, this could not have happened to a better guy. Is it possible that OSU’s elder statesman is not as smart as he or his fans had been led to believe?

Regardless, life as we know it can now return to normal.

Boomer Sooner…

 

 

Baker…taking another look…

As you may have expected my last blog created differing opinions.  Of course, this is exactly what blogging is meant to do…

Some felt that the Baker’s planting of the OU flag at midfield was totally classless.   Others took a middle of the road approach and appreciated Baker’s apology.  Other fans ate it up…and believed that the move will allow OU to regain its swagger.

I suspect that many of the first group are “the color orange” people who will hate OU no matter what they do. For these guys I refer them to the fact that their fans rush the field or the court everytime their Cowpatties win a game….give me a break…act like you’ve been there before.

The apologist group means well and I appreciate a heartfelt apology myself when merited.  As a coach, I never rubbed it in and never wanted to show up the other guy.

I also suggest that Baker would never have apologized, heart-felt or otherwise, for his move had it not been for David Boren.  Boren is the ultimate nice guy and politician who always sees the bigger picture for his University.   Boren would love for OU to be part of the Big Ten someday and he believes that keeping the Buckeye brass happy can’t hurt.

Ultimately, as an OU football fan, it comes down to our desire to return OU football to its former glory.   This will not happen without swagger.  Bob Stoops was the ultimate nice guy and during the last ten years of his regime OU had lost its swagger.  OU also lost its place at the final-four table.   

Two things jump out at me at this point.  Swaggar may put us perilously close to the edge at times, but without that swagger winning in Dallas and Stillwater this year becomes a lot harder.

Move forward to a scene on November 4 as the orange hoard rushes the field after a win over the Sooners in Stillwater.  That is a scene I do not want to see.  If this means allowing Baker to plant the OU flag at Ohio State to restore OU’s swagger, so be it.

Boomer Sooner…

 

 

 

 

 

Baker…

You gotta love this guy…Not only does he go out and beat The OSU, he follows his Heisman-like performance by sticking the OU flag in the heart of the OSU logo at midfield.

For the most part I’m pretty much a laid back kind of guy who believes in letting old dogs lay. However in this case, I thought this move was pretty cool.  Last year’s Ohio State embarrassment of the Sooners had been eating at all of us for a whole year.  For that matter, when was the last time OU fans were treated to this kind of emotional signature win.   It’s been a while.

You’ve got to love a guy who plays with his emotions on his sleeve.   Without those emotions that win in Columbus does not happen.

Just like all OU fans I adore Sam Bradford, but let’s get real…as talented as Sam was as an OU quarterback, he could not have pulled off a win over the Buckeyes at the Shoe.   Sam would have ably led his team, but when pure emotions were needed to fire up the Sooners, it would not have happened.  And of course, Sam would never have staked the OU flag at midfield.

Possibly after several years we would tire of Baker’s antics, but for the here and now, this is exactly what the doctor ordered.

For this year, I like OU’s chances any time we go on the road for a big game. Baker eats this stuff up and he makes sure his fellow players do the same.  Going into Saturday’s game I was simply hoping the Sooners could hang with Ohio State.  I discounted the value of Baker Mayfield’s grit and his love for the Sooners.

Now…all bets are off.

Boomer Sooner…

 

 

Week one…

…OU is pretty good…If the running game improves this offense will be lethal.  Does this mean that we will beat Ohio State… Probably not…after all we are talking The OSU and we are talking playing at the Horse-shoe?  The key for next Saturday night will be for the Sooners to hang with the Buckeyes. A road loss to a team the caliber of Ohio State will not hurt the Sooners down the road.

I was encouraged by OU’s defense, I was very encouraged about backup quarterback Kyler Murray and Trey Sermon and the tight end game.  We knew that Murray could run, but on several occasions on Saturday, he really threaded the needle.  This year we will have tight end game with two guys with great hands. Trey Sermon will be the next great OU running back.

…Once again, the Oklahoma media has crowned the other OSU as its 2017 Big 12 and National Champion.  Granted, OSU’s offense will be pretty good this year. The problem for Aggoot fans is that they have the same defense.    You can only do so much with a bunch of three star athletes.

The other problem for the other OSU is that they are an ankle sprain to Rudolph from being very average.  Their backup quarterback is a walk-on.  At the same time give the Pokes credit, I have them as the third best team in Big 12…

Speaking of the 2nd best team…West Virginia will be pretty good on both sides of the ball this year.  Thank God we play these guys at home this year.  As for the northern Ags, they catch the Mountaineers on the road the week between their Texas and OU games.  Bad timing.

…While TCU beat up on a lowly Jackson State 62-0 on Saturday night, it is hard to score that many points against air.   Gary Patterson is like a ghost buster; he will be on a mission from God this year.

Look for the Horned Frogs to possibly throw a wrench into OSU’s National Championship plans on 9/23.  The Ags will have waltzed through three cupcakes at this point.  Going up against a physical college team after playing three high school teams can be mentally tough.

…Texas sucks…Maryland is better than some may think, but there is no excuse for losing to a bunch of turtles at home.  As we have said before Texas is at least a year away.

The good news is that Texas lost, the bad news is that the Big 12 Conference keeps losing to teams in the eastern time zone.   Texas to Maryland, West Virginia to Va. Tech and Baylor to Liberty College.  For a conference that was on life support going to the season this is not good news.

…Oh by the way, we saw the first nail hammered into Kevin Sumlin’s coffin Sunday night.  How can you give up 34 unanswered points in a quarter and a half?  That is probably the question being asked by rich A&M alums this morning…

…Finally, the Baptist Bowl was played in Waco on Saturday.  The game was won by Liberty College.  The Athletic Director at Liberty (Jerry Falwell’s old school) is the same guy that was deaf, dumb and blind as Baylor’s A.D. back during Baylor’s war on women.

I can say this as a guy that grew up Baptist.  Only a Baptist school like Liberty would hire this grease-ball to run its athletic program.  I was never a fan of Jerry Falwell or his Moral Majority crap so I am not surprised by the move.  Baptists should know and do better…

Okay, back to football.  It is now just five days until the game we have been waiting for some 365 days.  Of course as some will say, be careful what you ask for…at the same time I will be surprised if the Sooners don’t play better this year. This year we have athletes on defense instead of a bunch of guys masquerading as football players…

Boomer Sooner…