11/05/24
September 29, 2007
For The Love of Sport: Sooners Stake a Claim: Make no mistake the bellwether game for Oklahoma this year is this Texas game.
Honestly I wanted to write a baseball playoff preview but you really can’t do that until a bunch of slightly better than .500 NL teams get around to clinching their playoff spots, c’est la vie. So that left me considering two NCAA football top-10 match-ups. While #4 Florida at #2 LSU is certainly a compelling game, more than anything else I am looking forward to see if #3 Oklahoma is as good as I think that they are. The Sooners travel to Dallas and take on #7 Texas at the Cotton Bowl. Angry fans of LSU, Florida, Texas and the Milwaukee Brewers can reach me via email at kyrilmitch_76@yahoo.com. Let’s get one thing out of the way right now. In preparing to write this column and reviewing all of the BCS standings, Bob Stoops career, the SEC schedules, and all of the little things that I never really appreciated went into writing a 1,000 word article I really had one question above all others. What the hell does Boomer Sooner mean? So I looked it up and I quote from www.soonersports.com where they have a section entitled Sooner Tradition. Boomers were settlers who favored the opening of unassigned lands in the Oklahoma Territory…At high noon on April 22, 1889, legal aspirants would be able to enter the Oklahoma Territory and choose 160 acres of land…One of the few rules to claiming a lot of land was that all participants were to start at the same time. Those who went to soon were called “Sooners”. As time went on, “Sooner” came to be a synonym of progressivism. So now that we have cleared that up I am expecting Oklahoma to manhandle Colt McCoy and the Longhorns and show the nation that they are indeed ready to stake some sort of claim to the BCS title game. While the Boise States of the world wonder that if they go undefeated is their schedule strong enough to carry them to a BCS game the true college football elite just have to survive their schedules. There is always the chance of having the same convoluted mess that the BCS usually provides, however with the schedules being what they are I don’t see a 1-loss SEC team in the title game this year. I know that it is still pretty early in the season to be picking title games but I see USC with two major tests in Oregon and Cal and Oklahoma with two in Texas and a probable Big 12 title game against Nebraska. I expect both Florida and LSU to stumble at some point in their very difficult schedules leaving a wide open path for USC and Oklahoma to go undefeated. Make no mistake the bellwether game for Oklahoma this year is this Texas game. Of course if you are a Longhorn fan this is your big chance to shut up critics and amateur hacks (such as myself) by defeating a legitimate top flight opponent. Be forewarned the Surgeon General has issued a warning that UT Fans should not hold their breath waiting for a win as this could be hazardous to their health. Oklahoma has been abusing opponents in ways that would make Bill Belichick jealous. Let’s talk about defense first because I am a firm believer in the old adage that defense wins championships. Oklahoma is allowing the 5th fewest yards and the 8th fewest points per game in the country. While they haven’t had to face anyone in the top 25 yet they destroyed a 3-1 Miami team that is probably just outside the top 25 (after their win over Texas A&M) and unloaded on a 2-1 Tulsa team. Oklahoma’s defense paints a picture of old school smash mouth football, a time when teams ground you into submission on their way to a 13-7 win. However, their offense is as modern day as they come, leading the nation in points scored and 3rd in yards per game. Oklahoma is averaging 61.5 points per game while putting up 562 yards per game of offense. If 562 yards per game is a little tough to wrap your head around that’s 310 yards passing (a little better than wide open Florida who averages 280 ypg) and 252 yards rushing (which pretty much trails Navy, West Virginia and a couple of other schools who are still unaware of the rules change allowing the forward pass). Bob Stoops has done phenomenal things since he walked on to the Oklahoma campus. He is 86-19 as head coach and is in his ninth season. He has lead them to eight straight bowl games, five BCS bowl game appearances, four Big 12 titles and oh yeah one national title. Not a bad resume for a coach and a program that often seems to be flying under the radar. Also under Stoops tenure an OU player has finished in the top 7 of the Heisman balloting five times. The University of Texas is a very good football team, which I guess, is a polite way of saying that they are not a great football team. Last season Colt McCoy set the NCAA record for TD passes by a freshman and tied the UT record for TD passes in a season. He truly has a chance to develop into one of the great college quarterbacks of our time. For all of the good that you can say about McCoy he does also have 5 interceptions in four games (2 against Arkansas State and another against UCF, two cupcakes that UT beat by a total of 11 points). Next year they may make a run at the BCS title game but I honestly don’t believe that their time has quite arrived.
posted by kyrilmitch_76 to commentary at 07:06 AM - 0 comments