Texas-OU Game Thread

[BevoJoe]

Agreed. Which is why you can’t suddenly put the coach on the hot seat or throw it all away. It will be up to Sarks staff to develop who they have now and who they bring in. Our glaring lack of 1st day draft picks over the past 10 years is 70% development and 30% recruiting (IMHO). Herman notoriously didn’t develop guys or get the most out of them. This loss really hurts and probably took a year off my life and there’s going to be a lot of emotion flying about it

Yep, I'm right there with you, brother!

 

[BevoJoe]

If we had lost a hard fought game of, say, 35-28 I don't believe there would be such wailing and gnashing of teeth.
It was the early lead that makes it hard to accept.

Agree. That's a good reason why we have to build experienced depth at all positions.

 

[aUTfan]

Oh, Hey Mackovic! I thought you had retired from sports commentary.

Hey, what can I say?? No one can tell who I am on here. Now help me find some girl defensive tackles and cornerbacks will ya?

 

[old65horn]

Refs didn't beat us. But I do think they missed the call on the receiver going out of bounds, although the guy on TV said that part of the play wasn't reviewable. Although he seemed to back pedal after saying it. So I don't know.

The one play that sticks in my craw was on that same OU possession. We're up 14-0 and they throw a little swing pass to the RB and it's incomplete. I reran it several times and it MIGHT have been a lateral. Foster picked it up and scored. No comment from anyone. That should have been reviewed and if I had been Sark I would have challenged it. If you can do that in college football.

But crying about the refs after blowing a 28-7 lead is too aggyish. We lost. End of story.

I am not saying the refs were the reason we lost. The refs were a factor. The main reason was the OL. You can throw in the defense snd coaching. No doubt OU’s staff
Out coached us.

 

[BevoJoe]

Well look at it this way. We get to play them for the conference championship and ruin their undefeated season.

That would be hilarious if it happens!

 

[bystander]

Nobody is blaming the refs for the loss

I am... I know we had lapses and breakdowns but so did OU. All I ask is for a level playing field. All three major major questionable non-calls (1) receiver out of bounds 2) Caleb fumble that was ruled incomplete 3) TD bomb on 3-19 that was a clear push-off) led to touchdowns. They were catastrophic events so to speak. In a game that goes down to the gun, they were major F'ups. Both teams deserved better.

That's my opinion.

OU dominated the line of scrimmage. They also pulled more circus plays out of their *ss than I could believe. But they apparently recruit amazing athletes who would dominate anyone in street ball. The breakdown plays killed us. Lack of tackling killed us.

But I'm happy with Sark overall. I think he is a good hire. OU was ranked #6 and Lincoln Riley is their coach. We should not feel anything except extreme disappointment and for me, outrage at the non-calls.

 

[dukesteer]

The main reason was the OL.

Have to disagree. I believe that the O-Line’s relative effectiveness in the first half had quite a bit to do with the creative play calling. OU’s defense was disoriented because they didn’t know what was coming. We abandoned that strategy in the second half and went conservative. It’s not that the OL was much better in the first half but that our strategy in the second half was different, exposing the OL.

I think we lost the game because the defense couldn’t stop the run, and was gouged by at least three very long plays. If you can’t take away the run and you can’t take away the pass, you can’t stop the opposition. Also, when you score 48 points and can’t win the game, that tends to suggest of the defense didn’t get the job done.

 

[old65horn]

Have to disagree. I believe that the O-Line’s relative effectiveness in the first half had quite a bit to do with the creative play calling. OU’s defense was disoriented because they didn’t know what was coming. We abandoned that strategy in the second half and went conservative. It’s not that the OL was much better in the first half but that our strategy in the second half was different, exposing the OL.

I think we lost the game because the defense couldn’t stop the run, and was gouged by at least three very long plays. If you can’t take away the run and you can’t take away the pass, you can’t stop the opposition. Also, when you score 48 points and can’t win the game, that tends to suggest of the defense didn’t get the job done.

Respectively, the OL just got whipped, especially in the 2nd half. Casey had 2 OU players in his face as soon as he got the ball. Robinson also was met in our backfield as soon as he got the ball.
The ROT could not even slow his man.
Like I posted, he has wind burns for his man running past him at full speed.

The defense got tired. The also had a good 1st half holding OU to mostly FGs

 

[BevoJoe]

Someone remind me of these coaching geniuses we have.

I'll take a shot. We have good coaches, but the majority of players are guys recruited by and were under the tutelage of Herman. New coach means new philosophy, goals, expectations and playbook. Our guys played hard. They didn't hit the brakes, but did run out of gas as we saw in the second half. On the other side, okie had the luxury of subing in backups with little or no fall off in level of play. Seems the issue is we don't have the backups (yet) to sub in and see the overall level of play remain at 100% each play. We have few subs that can play at the same level of output, while okie had very little or no fall off when their backups hit the field. That's all I've got, not a great explanation, but rather just an observation.

 

[dukesteer]

Respectively, the OL just got whipped, especially in the 2nd half. Casey had 2 OU players in his face as soon as he got the ball. Robinson also was met in our backfield as soon as he got the ball.
The ROT could not even slow his man.
Like I posted, he has wind burns for his man running past him at full speed.

The defense got tired. The also had a good 2st half holding OU to mostly FGs

65, I’ll bet that we have never lost to OU — in regulation — when scoring 48 points, until today. Additionally, I’ll bet that we have never beaten OU (in regulation) when allowing 55 points.

The OL was not good, but we scored enough points to win, and didn’t.

 

[jmac11234]

The game seemed to turn when Casey Thompson injured his finger.

 

[Run Pincher]

I'll take a shot. We have good coaches, but the majority of players are guys recruited by and were under the tutelage of Herman. New coach means new philosophy, goals, expectations and playbook. Our guys played hard. They didn't hit the brakes, but did run out of gas as we saw in the second half. On the other side, okie had the luxury of subing in backups with little or no fall off in level of play. Seems the issue is we don't have the backups (yet) to sub in and see the overall level of play remain at 100% each play. We have few subs that can play at the same level of output, while okie had very little or no fall off when their backups hit the field. That's all I've got, not a great explanation, but rather just an observation.

Those things are true, but they aren't the things that piss me off. Why don't you tell both your return men before the kick, absolutely, under no circumstances on this planet do you run a kick out of the end zone. And if you're the guy that doesn't get the kick get your butt overt there and get in front off your teammate and make damn sure he doesn't run a kick out of the end zone. That's coaching 101 when you have the lead.

 

[BevoJoe]

Why don't you tell both your return men before the kick, absolutely, under no circumstances on this planet do you run a kick out of the end zone. And if you're the guy that doesn't get the kick get your butt overt there and get in front off your teammate and make damn sure he doesn't run a kick out of the end zone. That's coaching 101 when you have the lead.

Well, I'll be more than happy to tell them, but when I do they will probably look at me and say, "Who the hell are you, and how did you get in here??" shortly before the cops come to tote my *** off, but it's worth a shot.

 

[hornde68]

We don’t win every game. Never will. The calls did seem a little dodgy. The receiver definitely stepped out on his own. The incomplete fumble was total BS. Xavier looked to be down to me. But,,,,his return was an ill advised error of commission. I’ll take that. He will learn he doesn’t have to take the team on his back and hero out. But, without him, where would we have been. DKR said you lose one game per year for every freshman starting. Give the rocket kid a break. He will learn and we will win this after season rematch. Seems like a complete repeat of the last time we beat OU and lost the championship game. In reverse. We have to focus week to week. We now know we have a very good football team in the making. Stud coaches, whom the kids admire and respect and can create opportunities by play calling and defensive sets. Week to week, focus, plan and play hard and we’ll be fine. On the recruiting front, any kid we lose because we didn’t win today, we don’t want. We played with heart and good training. That is obvious. Hook ‘em, Sark and ‘Horns!

 

[Chinstrap]

Our offensive play calling really turtled up in the second half. Just handed it off to Robinson on every first down and most second downs. And they, OU, were waiting for it and stuffing it.

Frustrating.
But we are a good team. We can beat them in the B12 championship.

It is hard for me to be critical of this staff because I know that the football knowledge gap between them and me is enormous. But I found the offensive play calling in the second half confusing. Too much running on first and second down and two many deep balls to the corner of the end zone. A difficult throw and Casey was not hitting on it. And with their D teeing off on Casey I wondered if we should of rolled him out some. The failure to produce on offense put too much pressure on a less than powerful defense and they wete on the field too much.

All Texas fans are frustrated, and rightly so. We have had our nose rubbed in it for too long and it does not help that the key ingredients of that team used be Texans. One even from UT’s backyard. But the worm will turn. It always does, and with some good recruiting, we will start beating the good teams, to include those arrogant a - -hats from Norman.

 

[HalRex]

Ojomo’s interview was telling. Straight from the horses mouth “we couldn’t handle the counter”.

 

[BevoJoe]

And with their D teeing off on Casey I wondered if we should of rolled him out some.

For many if not most plays, it appeared that the DE's were securing the edges with penetration and he would have had to retreat further to make a throw. After he injured the wrist/thumb of his throwing arm, the timing of his release seemed a bit late which can be the difference between a complete/incomplete pass. His throws were not as crisp after the injury. That's just my take on it.

 

[BevoJoe]

And, damn, you definitely don't run a kick out of the end zone with the lead. Nothing good happens after midnight and rarely anything good happens running kicks out of the end zone.

Agree. I saw him come out and I wouldn't be surprised if most of my neighborhood heard me scream out "NOOOOOOOOOOO! GOT DAMNIT!!" So far, nobody has said anything. They all may have been down the street at the UofA game watching them lose again for the 19th or 20th time in a row, but I think they play tonight.

 

[OUBubba]

Absolutely correct. That should have been called an incomplete pass. Zero U would have punted, and the Horns definitely had the momentum at that point.
But it wasn't reviewed, and the score of 55-48 goes into the books.

It was reviewed.

 

[horninchicago]

It was reviewed.

Congrats, once again y'all outcoached and out hustled Texas for the win.

 

[Statalyzer]

blindly Pooping my comments while touting the sunshine pumper flag

Huh? I'm hardly being anything resembling a sunshine pumper right now. I'm just tired of how 4 different threads got transformed into your personal vendetta with everyone who disagrees with you (or even just those who disagree with the unyielding vitriol towards the players, even if they agree with you that we choked that game).

 

[Statalyzer]

It was reviewed.

I don't think it was. They went back and announced they had confirmed it was a catch, but never even addressed the (100% conclusive) part where he stepped out of bounds a few seconds earlier of his own accord and became ineligible.

Either that part isn't reviewable, it's reviewable but they somehow forgot to review it, or they did review it but somehow both got it wrong and forgot to announce that they had reviewed it. Not sure which is the case.

You certainly don't run a play at the end of the 3rd with the lead.

That was dumb and might have meant OU was kicking a 50 yard FG at the end instead of running one more play. Brkic is really good and maybe he makes it anyway but that's still a long kick.

Even that last TD to Worthy was a little odd. I'd have rather used the middle of the field (for only the 3rd or 4th time all day) and thrown 15-20 yards. I know you can't always time exactly when you score, but when your defense is almost guaranteed to give up at least some sort of shot at points, you don't throw into the endzone from 30 yards out with over a minute left.

And then at the end of the first half we never even tried for 7 and just settled for 3. That was the point where the flow of the game really started to shift. Even if we pushed it aggressively and failed and still got 3, it's a different story from the mentality of the team. It was like Mack kneeling from midfield in 2002 even though Chris had the arm to reach the endzone from there. It set the sage for the second half.

 

[horninchicago]

Huh? I'm hardly being anything resembling a sunshine pumper right now. I'm just tired of how 4 different threads got transformed into your personal vendetta with everyone who disagrees with you (or even just those who disagree with the unyielding vitriol towards the players, even if they agree with you that we choked that game).

I think this is quoting me. One guy called me a loser and told me to **** off in a PM. Several others made snide remarks at me. Am I not able to give my opinion of the game without people resorting to that, and when they do, I'm supposed to sit by like a ***** and say nothing?

F that and f them.

I don't recall lumping you in with sunshine pumpers. I don't think you are.

 

[OUBubba]

So I watched the game and drove home. I scrolled through this thread. Over the course of the game it appears that OU was better on both lines.

hang in there. Worthy is amazing. Thompson will be very good. Bijan is VERY good. Sark is a good one. Most Sooners are not happy he’s in the conference now.

 

[OUBubba]

Statalyzer: it was reviewed. They mentioned that refs liberally interpret being “pushed” out of bounds. And, even a touch can count. He did touch him. Lightly, but it was a touch. Hell, it may have been a sleeve but it was a touch and the ref threw his hat on the ground.

 

[nashhorn]

Agree with you Bubba (reluctantly) that end the end OU looked better on both lines. Pressure of Thompson and none on Caden. Crap!

 

[caryhorn]

Agree with you Bubba (reluctantly) that end the end OU looked better on both lines. Pressure of Thompson and none on Caden. Crap!

Ou was bringing 5 or 6 to harass Casey frequently. For some reason our D refused to bring pressure with extra guys to harass ou’s fresman QB.
Left unmolested he looked good. He didn’t look that good when pressured.

 

[nashhorn]

Uhh, he made some nice passes after escaping an early pressure, just wasn’t a lot of it.

 

[BevoJoe]

I’ll bet that we have never lost to OU — in regulation — when scoring 48 points, until today.

Congratulations! You are correct. Today was the first. Go collect your money from everybody who made a bet with you.

 

[BevoJoe]

For some reason our D refused to bring pressure with extra guys to harass ou’s fresman QB.

Looked like we tried to, but couldn't get off the blocks. Not so much they refused to as being unable to, at least consistently.