So only 2 weeks away… let’s talk football… the big game…
I have been watching last year’s Oklahoma team on Youtube. Thank goodness Shepherd is in the pros now. Mayfield is the real, real deal. He only needs a second to make something happen. If we played a typical defense he would carve us up like Thanksgiving. Fortunately, our aggressive defense and dozens of blitzes give us a better chance. Quick slants may kill us.
As we know, the Air Raid is not infallible and can get in long unproductive ruts for stretches during games. Fortunately we know the system well. Riley runs a true Leach Air Raid (Not the Holgersen variety). Not a lot of motion. Doesn’t run much.
I suspect we will try to run as much as we can to set up the pass, in order to eat clock. Oklahoma struggled mightily against running QBs, and Deshaun Watson had a literal field day against them. Greg Ward presents the same dilemma to them.
We will give up some big plays, but I hope that our penchant for turning over opponents will win the day for us. I also hope we can wear them down and just get them out of sync. Once the Air Raid gets rattled, it can turn into ugly ball quickly. I hope that happens.
My hope is that this game is Catalon’s coming out party and we just run all over OU. I think the combo of Ward and Catalon and our big physical receivers should allow us to run.
But this is a top 5 program we are facing and it is not gonna be easy by any stretch. I am glad we got them first game. Lots of time to prepare, and maybe we can catch them not quite ready for the season yet.
OU started off well against Clemson but fell apart once Clemson started getting pressure on the QB and forcing bad throws. Hopefully our defense can do the same. I think Orlando will live with giving up a few big plays if he can rattle the quarterback and force them into some three and outs, much like A&M’s defense used to do against the run-n-shoot years ago. It’s a gamble but I think Orlando will test the accuracy of Mayfield’s arm on deep throws while playing tight coverage against the short routes and staying home against the run.
I completely agree with you about Houston’s offensive game plan. I think we will rely on Ward and Catalon to run as often as possible to chew up clock and keep their offense off the field.
I think this year’s DL is going to put even more pressure on the QB than last year’s DL did. I can’t imagine the returning starters have gotten worse and Ed Oliver is an absolute beast. Orlando is a genius when it comes to disguising blitzes and getting guys in the backfield fast. And I don’t think OU will have any better luck running against us than FSU did. Just need the newly reconstituted secondary to feast off a pass-happy offense.
Watching OU from last year, I saw this in several games where their DBs played pattycake with receivers and they ended up staying in bounds getting more yards or TDs. I hope they still have that tendency.
“In the meantime, Houston and SMU have been sleeping giants for some time at their level of football and the time might be coming when they wake up, shake things up, and shape the future of the region.”