It was every bit as bad as we feared it would be. Oklahoma was dominated in every aspect of the game against Texas on Saturday as the Longhorns rolled to an easy 49-0 victory. It’s not just another setback for the Sooners but it’s the second embarrassing setback in as many weeks. OU dropped to 3-3 on the season, 0-3 in Big 12 play, and suddenly bowl eligibility seems like a challenge.
Here are three immediate postgame thoughts.
Nothing Is Better
Nothing improved from last week’s thrashing in Ft. Worth. In fact, they got worse! The Sooners were shutout in the Red River Rivalry since 1965 and even at that there seemed to be more positives on the offensive side of the ball than there were on the defense. The Sooners only mustered 195 total yards of offense (just 39 through the air) and gave up nearly 600 yards on defense. Texas averaged 7.6 yards each time they snapped the football. I don’t think it’s a question of fight and heart (although those are both scarce with this team) but rather an issue of capability. This just isn’t a very good football team right now. In fact, it’s a really, really bad squad.
There Isn’t An Answer At Quarterback
I think we can put the quarterback conversation to bed. Dillon Gabriel is a slightly above average quarterback and behind him there aren’t any answers. Yes, people want to see Nick Evers and General Booty, I really get it, but it won’t matter. You have to believe that there just isn’t an answer without Gabriel. It would be gross neglect by this staff to not have played Evers or Booty if they thought there was even the slightest chance that it would have made a difference. I don’t think I’m ready to go there yet with the coaching staff after just six games. I still trust that the staff knows more than I do about the situation.
It’s Still Premature To Question The Coaching Staff
Admittedly everything is bad right now. The offense is bad. The defense is bad. The coaching is bad. It’s all bad! I would like to see answers and resolve as much as anyone else but I’m not sure that questioning the staff is the right play here. Not yet. We talked about this after last week’s loss to TCU. It’s going to come down to trust. Do you trust Brent Venables or not? The situation is way worse than any of us anticipated but if you believe that he’s the right man for the job then we have to suffer through the growing pains with him. The door to the transfer portal is going to be really busy (both ways) and preserving this current recruiting class is vital.
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It’s The worst version of football I’ve ever seen by a defense. At least the offense had a back up plan, the D was lost in space. No improvement.
I don’t know who was supposed to be teaching the D fundamentals, but they are failing in that effort..
maybe too many players writing lyrics during their position meetings. I don’t know.
These are highly recruited players, that game today was like the varsity again st the JV squad. I saw games today with teams that have zero history of playing worth a damn, but they play better than our guys. There were a few individuals that played their tails off, but not near enough.
I never dreamed we could be this bad.
A big part of the defensive futility against Texas grew out of the lack of any semblance of offensive scoring or consistency. A good defense without any offense is just not going to happen.
Yeah I agree. Offense has to be able to give them a break.
They are in the rebuilding phase this year. Lost 40% of the players due to Riley leaving. Venables will get it done. Just needs time to get it all together.
Yes they are. These last 2 games were hard to watch. I have been recording Clemson too, and I’m glad I did. They may not be running the exact D BV did, but those players are his recruits and they are fun to watch. I know we’ll get there, but I wish they’d hurry