SB Nation - DeMarco Murray

Sooners Deliver A Bedlam Beat Down!

ccmachine — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 06:58:43 -0000

23 days ago: Oklahoma running back DeMarco Murray, left, dives into the end zone for a touchdown in the second quarter of an NCAA college football game in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009. Oklahoma wide receiver Jaz Reynolds is at center. Oklahoma State safety Markelle Martin is at right. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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Coming into Saturday's Bedlam football game the Oklahoma State Cowboys were fielding one of their best teams ever while the Sooners had the worst team Oklahoma fans had seen in the last ten years. When the two teams left the field you would have thought that the roles had been reversed after a 27-0 pounding of the 11^th ranked Cowboys.

Oklahoma was simply faster, stronger and more aggressive than the Cowboys were on Saturday and it eventually took its toll on Oklahoma State. With many Sooner fans "protesting" Oklahoma's miserable season by not attending (Band Waggoners) several thousand OSU fans took their places by purchasing their tickets only to see their BCS dreams dashed by the complete dismantling of their team. The cocky OSU fan mentality of, "this is the year we finally stick it to them" had faded to the "crap, I can't believe this is happening to us again" mindset by the time the fourth quarter of play had began. Once boisterous, they had nothing to cheer for all day and most of them left early.

Oklahoma's game plan was just this side of genius and the stars aligned for the perfect crimson storm to arise and blow the Cowboys away. On defense they wanted to stuff the run and force Zac Robinson to beat them and that's exactly what they did. Keith Toston entered the game as the Big 12's second leading rusher but was held to just 46 yards. As a team the Cowboys rushed for 62 yards on 29 carries for a very humbling average of 2.1 yards per rush. Unable to move the ball on the ground the Cowboys had to turn to senior quarterback Zac Robinson who failed miserably. Unable to shake the pressure from Oklahoma's defense Robinson produced one of the worst performances by a quarterback in the history of the OSU football program. Before getting yanked in the fourth quarter he completed 9 of 21 passes for 44 yards and a pick.

Oklahoma's defense dominated the line of scrimmage by sacking Robinson twice and recorded 6 tackles for loss. The linebackers aggressively attacked O-State's running backs by heading down hill and meeting them at or near the line of scrimmage. OU's linebackers recorded 19 total tackles. The Sooner secondary blanketed OSU receivers leaving Robinson no targets to throw to resulting in him either trying to force a pass, throw the ball away or tuck and run. None of these options worked exceptionally well as Robinson carried the ball 9 times for -6 yards and the Cowboys didn't move the chains once in the second half and never crossed Oklahoma's 45 yard-line the entire afternoon.

On offense the Sooners wanted to be patient and protect the football. They struggled with both of these in the first quarter but eventually got things rolling and never looked back. DeMarco Murray averaged 5.5 yards per carry and scored twice while Landry Jones completed 54% of his passes for 224 yards. Boosted by exceptional punting (59.3 average) and punt returns (26 yards per return) Oklahoma was patient in playing the field position game until it set them up for scores. At the end of the day the Sooners had run 84 plays and accumulated 367 offensive yards.

This will go down as Oklahoma's signature win of the 2009 season and is a good way to close out what has been a disappointing year. Now with the nation's longest home winning streak at 30 games we wait for a bowl destination and hope that this team can somehow figure out how to produce this type of game away from Norman.

Bedlam Post-Game Quotes

ccmachine — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:57:21 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

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"You have to compliment the defense. I thought coach (Brent) Venables and the staff did an excellent job. But still, in the end it's the players that have to tackle, be where they need to be, make plays and they were great." - Bob Stoops

"They (Offensive Line) played hard and battled well. For Eric (Mensik), as a tight end, we did a lot of max and zone blocking, so it wasn't mentally that tough. He is used to playing against ends. We had that ready and he is a fourth-year guy. Brian Lepak was a scholarship player at Colorado State and he wasn't like a un-recruited player and he is from an Oklahoma family. So he came back and everything was good for him. I was proud of those guys. - Kevin Wilson

"Our guys came out basic and simple and they lined up right. They played very physical and man-to-man played very strongly. They played a really clean game, we tackled well, covered well and got great pressure. I thought that our guys created a new line of scrimmage from the outset. I thought they responded to a lot of challenges in a lot of different ways. It has been a tough and difficult year but our guys have never made excuses." - Brent Venables

"We had a lot to prove today, especially for the seniors. We've had a difficult year and we just wanted to come out on top with a great win. I'm proud of our team today. We played extremely hard and the score proved it." - Jeremy Beal

"It's a good way to go out. We still have one more game, but to win this Bedlam game, definitely ends us on a high note." - Ryan Broyles

"We knew that we couldn't come out and play the way we played last week and win this game. We've played well at home all year but if we came out and played like we did last week we wouldn't have had a chance. You have to give it to the defense in this game. They held OSU to around 109 yards on offense which makes our job easier and gives us less pressure." - Landry Jones

"Regardless of what happens, life is going to throw all types of different things at you. A lot of different hurdles, but you have to hurdle. A lot of ups and downs. But in the end, you have to find a way to bounce back, pick yourself up and keep on fighting. I think we went out there and proved that today." - Gerald McCoy

"Coach Wilson told us at halftime, we needed to start running the ball more and we knew as an O-line that we needed to start punching it harder and step it up and go ahead and go after it." - Eric Mensik

"It was a big rival, and I think we played together for the first time as a team. Special teams, defensively, and offensively, we were one unit. I thought it was a great victory today for us." - DeMarco Murray

"It's just a great feeling coming out against your rival, on your home field, and doing it for the seniors this year, and letting them go out on a winning note. Just for us to shut them out is even [better]." - Jazz Reynolds

"He was healthy. Zac's health is not an excuse for what happened. Zac wasn't 100 percent, but that certainly isn't an excuse for what happened." - Mike Gundy

"It was very disappointing. We came out thinking we would leave here with a victory and go on to a BCS bowl for the first time and it just didn't work the way we planned it." - Perrish Cox

"They were just the most dominating force on the field. You can see the results of that right now." - Russell Okung

Breaking Down Bedlam

ccmachine — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:16:33 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

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There are so many things that could go right or wrong for Oklahoma in today's Bedlam football game that I really have no idea what to expect. On one hand you consider how well the Sooners play at home and you think that they have an outstanding chance to win. Then you consider how bad they've played in their five losses and add the fact that the competition at home hasn't been that great and suddenly there's a huge knot in your stomach because you realize the realistic possibility that the nation's longest home winning steak very well could come to an end.

The roles are already reversed coming into the game. O-State is the ranked team with a shot at going to a BCS Bowl. Regardless of what the final score is the Cowboys are going to finish ahead of the Sooners in the Big 12 standings and will get a better bowl invitation. The only thing left to happen is for OSU to actually win the game and they come in as a legitimate favorite and for OU to avoid losing their sixth game of the season they must win one of the game match-ups that they're not supposed to.

Quarterbacks

Landry Jones is completing 58% of his passes this year and has 23 touchdowns to 13 interceptions. At times he's look exceptional and then at other moments he's look completely out of his element. The knocks against him are that he's not stable in the pocket and doesn't read through his progressions.

Zac Robinson has completed 63% of his passes with a touchdown to interception ration of 15 to 7. Robinson is a dual-threat quarterback who has rushed for 302 yards this year but has also been known for turning the ball over on a big hit when he runs.

Robinson's experience and leadership give him a clear advantage over Jones but there's the chance that he may not play due to injury or that he'll be playing at less than 100%.

Advantage: OSU

Running Backs

Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray are averaging 4.3 and 4.4 yards respectfully with 12 touchdowns between them but they are a far cry from the dynamic duo that we saw them become last season. After rushing for over 1,000 each last season the two have a combined 1,251 yards this year. The problem has been getting them in space to make plays and clearing holes for them to run in between the tackles. That's on the line and not necessarily the running backs.

Keith Toston is the Big 12's second leading rusher with 1,130 yards. He's averaging 5.5 yards per carry and has crossed the goal line rushing the football 11 times. He's a powerful runner with good speed and is one of only two players (KSU's Daniel Thomas) to average over 100 yards rushing per game.

Toston has clearly had the better season of these three backs and despite Murray having the added dimension of being Oklahoma's second leading receiver the Sooners don't have a rushing threat like Toston has been this season.

Advantage: OSU

Receivers/Tight Ends

Ryan Broyles is one of the most electrifying receivers in the country. He's averaging 12.9 yards per reception and has 861 yards with 12 touchdowns. He's on target to break 1,000 receiving yards this season and it would go a long way for the Sooners if he surpassed that mark today. Behind Broyles is a massive drop off as Brandon Caleb has almost 40 fewer receptions and only 2 touchdowns. Dejuan Miller is coming on and is has pretty much inserted himself as Oklahoma's #2 receiver.

O-State was dealt a huge blow when the NCAA took Dez Bryant away from them. Since then Hubert Anyiam has become the Pokes' top receiver. He's caught 39 passes for 482 yards and 3 touchdowns.

After Anyiam the Cowboys don't have another receiver playing in this game with more than 15 receptions. Conversely the Sooners have four receivers with more than 20 receptions. What's a tight end?

Advantage: OU

Offensive Line

I don't have the words to describe how disappointing Oklahoma's offensive line has been this season. Now this unit has become decimated with injuries and literally a walking triage unit. The latest victim is Trent Williams who may have to sit out today's Bedlam game due to a head injury. Oklahoma has given up 12 sacks this season.

Oklahoma State has only given up 7 sacks this year and is much stronger in both run and pass blocking than the Sooners are. The have a future NFL All-Pro in Russell Okung as their anchor.

Advantage: OSU

Defensive Line

Oklahoma's defensive line against OSU's offensive line is the match-up that could determine the game. Jeremy Beal is third in the conference in sacks with 11 and third in tackles for loss with 16. Gerald McCoy is fifth in the Big 12 in tackles for loss with 14.5.

Ugo Chinasa has 4 sacks for the Pokes and 6.5 tackles for loss. However, you have to go all the way down to 11^th O-States leader board for tackles to find Chinasa, a defensive lineman, listed.

Advantage: OU

Linebackers

Travis Lewis is third in the Big 12 in total tackles with 99 and Keenan Clayton is 39^th with 58. Oklahoma will be without Ryan Reynolds who is a field general for the Sooners defense and that may hurt the Sooners more than missing his 67 tackles. In his place Austin Box will step in and try to get a head start on taking over the middle linebacker position full time next season.

Donald Booker leads the Cowboys in sacks with 5 and tackles for loss with 7. He and Patrick Lavine lead the team in tackles with 80 and 67 tackles respectively. Lavine also leads the team in interceptions with 5.

Both team's linebacker units attack down hill and are solid run stuffers. O-State is second in the conference against the rush (82.6 yards per game) and the Sooners are third (91 yards per game)

Advantage: Even

Secondary

Oklahoma is second in the conference against the pass by holding opponents to just 197.5 yards per game. The OU secondary has a combined 11 interceptions led by Brian Jackson's 4. Jackson and Dominique Franks are one of the best corner duos in the conference and safety Quinton Carter is a hard hitter who's second on the team in tackles with 76.

Perrish Cox is not only the best athlete in Oklahoma State's secondary he's most likely the best athlete on the team. He has 32 tackles and 4 interceptions but as a whole the Cowboys are 9^th in the conference in pass defense.

Advantage: OU

Special Teams

Oklahoma State is last in the Big 12 in kickoff return average (18.6 yards per return) and while the Sooners aren't sitting pretty at #10 (21.2 yards per return) at least they're not last. Punt returns are a different issue for the Sooners where their 14.3 yards per return average are tops in the Big 12. OSU isn't too far behind at 13.9 yards per return which places them 3^rd in the Big 12.

In punting average the Sooners have a 39.6 (Best in the Big 12) to 37.5 advantage. Oklahoma's place kickers have missed seven field goal attempts this season while the Cowboys have missed five.

If this game becomes a field goal kicking contest then I'm not sure that I like Oklahoma's chances. However, in the battle for field position OU's special teams units are outperforming O-State's in just about every category.

Advantage: OU

Home-Road Splits For Football Team Pretty Significant

dishingoutdimes — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:14:49 -0000

Home: Mr. Hyde; Away: Dr. Jekyll

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With a 1-5 record away from home thus far this year, and a 5-0 record within the friendly confines of Gaylor Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, one wouldn't be terribly surprised to learn that the Sooners have some pretty severe home-road splits.

It's been very difficult to explain exactly why that is. The offense is under the guidance of redshirt freshman Landry Jones, who just isn't accustomed to playing in a hostile environment yet. He seems to get flustered more easily on the road. At home, though, Jones has even set some school records through the air.

However, even the defense has fallen victim to the road woes. One only has to look to the last game where Texas Tech had the ball for over 37 minutes and shredded the Sooners for 549 yards.

Thus, the splits provided to the left shouldn't be too surprising, but they really are. The Sooners outgain opponents by 321 yards at home, but then get outgained on the road!

At home, OU outscores opponents by about 40 points on average, but on the road they lose by about 3 points on average. In virtually every statistical category, there is a dramatic difference between their home statistics and their road statistics.

There are even some dramatic splits with players. Landry Jones has a 175.37 passing efficiency at home, but only 102.13 away from home. DeMarco Murray rushes for 77 yards per game at home, but only 39 yards per game away from home.

Luckily, the Sooners don't need to worry about road woes this week as they host the Cowboys from Oklahoma State. This will only be OSU's fourth game on the road all season. Their previous games - against Iowa State, Baylor, and Texas A&M - were not exactly "tests". The average ranking of those three teams, using Football Outsider's rankings was 83rd (out of 120 FBS teams). The toughest game was probably against #54 Texas A&M.

I don't know if any other top team has had such an easy schedule away from home. As a matter of fact, Oklahoma State fares poorly in the FO rankings because of their poor strength-of-schedule (92nd nationally, or 29th easiest).

The last time a ranked OSU team visited Norman was in 1997, when they beat the Sooners 30-7. The last time the Sooners were unranked in a Bedlam game was in 1999, Bob Stoops' first year. The Sooners won in Norman 44-7.

West Texas Massacre, Red Raiders Put Sooners In Unfamiliar Spot

ccmachine — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:30:51 -0000

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Mike Leach became Texas Tech's all-time winningest football coach in convincing fashion with a 41-13 drubbing of Oklahoma. While there's certainly no joy in losses at least we could have hung our hats on the fact that in the previous losses Oklahoma was only a play or two away from actually winning. That most definitely wasn't the case Saturday morning in Lubbock.

The Red Raiders had their way with the Sooners on both sides of the ball in what could end up being the most embarrassing loss of the Bob Stoops era. The Red Raiders abused Oklahoma's defense to the tune of 41 points and 549 yards of offense. What had been an excellent defense all season was picked apart and run over. Taylor Potts had plenty of time to find open receivers as Tech's offensive line held Sooner defenders at bay. Taylor Potts threw for 388 yards and 2 touchdowns against the OU defense but that wasn't the most demoralizing thing that happened to the defense. No, that part came in the form of rushing yards. Tech ran for 161 yards on 35 carries with Stephens and Batch averaging 5.8 and 5.4 yards per carry respectively.

We knew that the OU offense would likely struggle but who would have thought that the rushing game would be non-existent and that the kicking game would have been the only part of the offense that would have worked properly. Landry Jones wasn't necessarily bad but he certainly wasn't great. He completed 51.4 percent of his passes for 262 yards with a touchdown and a pick. I don't really fault him much for the completion percentage because drops were once again in abundance and protection was once again poor. I still can't figure out why DeMarco Murray only had 11 touches for the game but maybe his 2.0 yards per carry and 3.5 yards per reception averages had something to do with it.

You have to go back to the John Blake years to find an Oklahoma team getting worked like that by an unranked opponent. There isn't much more that we can add in commentary that hasn't already been said other than we need to give Tech some credit. We may not like the fact that the Sooners haven't won there since 2003, or how they've lost, but you have to appreciate the dominance the Red Raiders have shown over OU on their home field. It just won't take away the embarrassment and disappointment of a completely abysmal performance.

What the Red Raiders are saying.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 11.21.09

Seth C — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:20:20 -0000

Let's hope this happens. ~~I'd love to give credit to whoever did this, if you know, leave a comment.~~ Texas Tech alum Brian Crowell gets credit for the photoshop skills. Thanks to Brian for the foreshadowing.

Senior Day: LAJ's Don Williams writes that on previous senior days, the Red Raiders have made it count. The first 2 paragraphs were pretty good:

Texas Tech tackle Marlon Winn started the week reminding teammates the added significance of today’s regular-season home finale against Oklahoma. It’ll be the last trip down the tunnel at Jones AT&T Stadium for 19 Red Raiders seniors.

"He said it (Sunday) night: ‘How would you want to be sent out when you’re a senior?’’’ Tech linebacker Bront Bird said. "’We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores playing right now. Think about whenever it’s your time, how you want your legacy to be left in the Jones.’ So I think the team’s going to rally around that.’’

Injuries Hurt Red Raiders and Sooners: LAJ's Don Williams runs down the injury situation for both teams and reminds me that the only significant injuries that Texas Tech suffered that year was DT Rajon Henley for 3 games and G Louis Vasquez and CB L.A. Reed for 2 games. I could spend quite a bit of time going over the injury situation this year, but it's certainly been significant.

Howard Has No Limits: FWST's Dwain Price features DE Daniel Howard, who fellow teammate LB Bront Bird feels that Howard isn't as known and opposing linemen should know about him:

"Maybe he’s not as tall as the other guys, or as strong, or maybe not even as fast, but he makes up for that in effort, that’s for sure," Red Raiders linebacker Bront Bird said.

"I’m not sure what [opposing offensive linemen] think of him, but I know they better respect him. He causes havoc off the edge, I know that much."

Here's Howard on coming to Texas Tech:

"I got recruited by the rest of the schools around here to play linebacker, and Tech was the one that came in and told me, 'You’re going to play defensive end.’ I said, 'OK,’ because everybody else told me I was too small [to play defensive end], I wasn’t fast enough and I wasn’t tall enough, and I think as a defense we’re making statements because we’re all those guys."

Go read the whole thing, it's worth your time.

Oklahoma Sooner and Big 12 Links: Crimson and Cream Machine with 5 keys to beating Texas Tech . . . NewsOK's David Ubben with the weekly blitz package . . . NewsOK's Jake Trotter writes that the Sooners might need some magic today . . . NewsOK's Berry Tramel writes that the Sooners have struggled on the road . . . the Tulsa World with 3 storylines for today's game . . . FWST's Mike Jones with a look at RB DeMarco Murray and WR Ryan Broyles are playmakers . . . LAJ's Adam Zuvanich wirtes that the OU defense is one of the best in the Stoops era . . .

Game Tonight: Lamar Cardinals vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Time: 7:00 p.m. :: Location: United Spirit Arena, Lubbock, Texas
Preview and Game Day Thread: Scheduled for 6:00 p.m. post

Stressing Defense: LAJ's Courtney Linehan writes that head coach Pat Knight is stressing defense:

Skeletons dance across the backs of the Texas Tech men’s basketball players. The frightful figures are printed on their T-shirts, but they carry a message coach Pat Knight hopes rattles his team this season: Play to the bone.

"It’s a fighting term: it means you have to fight to the end, until that final bell goes off," Knight said after the Raiders’ 94-75 win against Northwestern State on Thursday. "Look at boxing, how many guys lose it in the 12th round, get knocked out because they’re playing it safe or just think they have the fight won."

And Knight was not happy with the first the first half of the game against Northwestern St.:

"It was going back to the same old BS as last year: not guarding people, trying to out-gun the other team. You might be able to do that against some teams in the preseason, but you’re not going to be able to out-gun Texas and Kansas."

Five Keys To Beating Texas Tech

ccmachine — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:32:40 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

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Last season the OU/Texas Tech game was crucial towards determining the Big 12 conference champion. Had the Red Raiders been able to pull the upset in Norman then it would have been them putting a spanking on Missouri instead of Oklahoma. Instead the Sooners used the 65-21 thumping of Tech as a springboard into the conference championship and on to the BCS title game.

The game plan for beating Texas Tech hasn't changed from last season but the location of the game has and that may prove to be the biggest factor. The Sooners are averaging 49.8 points at Memorial Stadium but just 16.8 away from home. Even worse the Sooners are 1-4 this season away from Norman. Some of that has to do with opponents (OU has played 3 ranked opponents away from home) and yet even more with their ability to just function properly away from home. The Sooners proved last season that the game plan for beating Tech isn't complicated and hey, if Texas A&M can do it then the Sooners should be able to follow these five simple steps.

5. Force Turnovers - Last year Tech gave up two fumbles and had a pick which greatly hampered their offensive effort. This year Taylor Potts has thrown 10 interceptions and Steven Sheffield 4. Oklahoma has to get as many scoring opportunities as possible against the Red Raiders and conversely take as many as they possibly can away from them.

4. Pressure The Quarterback - Oklahoma registered four quarterback sacks in last years contest. This year OU's defensive front is better and Tech's offensive line is much worse. Texas Tech has given up 27 quarterback sacks so far this season so there's no reason to believe that Oklahoma can't get the pressure on. With Texas Tech's spread attack they are going to have receivers running everywhere making it extremely difficult to keep everyone accounted for all the time. The best thing to do is make the quarterback run for his life and put him on his back as much as possible. It's hard to find the open receiver when you're laid out on your back.

3. Avoid The Jitters - The Jekyll and Hyde routine is getting old and frankly its time that this team grow out of it. Tech is a hostile environment which means that the crowd will be rowdy, the team will be jacked and mistakes will only feed the frenzy. Know the snap count, beat your man and dominate.

2. Protect The Quarterback - Basically take everything from point two and apply it here with a focus on the Sooners. Sam Bradford is gone because they couldn't protect him and the depth chart at the quarterback position isn't that deep. Oklahoma has given up 9 sacks this season and it should go without saying that the offense runs a lot smoother when Landry is upright.

1. Run The Football - This offense isn't anywhere near as explosive as the one that ran Texas Tech out of the stadium last year so the last thing we want to see is a shootout. Oklahoma needs to control the tempo and the time of possession. They need to keep the Red Raiders offense off the field and to do that they must run the football.

It will be a bit of a challenge for the Sooners because running the ball hasn't really been Oklahoma's bread and butter this season. However, DeMarco Murray is averaging 4.5 yards per carry and Chris Brown 4.4 and they'll be going up against a Tech defense that ranks 8^th against the rush so were not necessarily talking about mission impossible here.

Q & A with Crimson and Cream Machine

Seth C — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:04:23 -0000

Much thanks to ccmachine at Crimson and Cream Machine for taking the time to answer a few questions for DTN. Updates on the OU injury front, how to get to QB Landry Jones, why the offense struggles to run, etc.

The Sooners have been severely bitten by the injury bug this year, can you give us a quick run down of the injured starters we can expect to see out against Texas Tech and how have their replacements fared thus far?

QB Sam Bradford – Landry Jones has been solid but not spectacular in replacing Bradford. To be honest he looks a bit like Bradford did in `07 with the exception of not reading through his progressions as well as he should. Every young quarterback makes mistakes and bad throws it’s just that Jones has made some really, really bad ones. A lot of Sooner fans aren’t over the 5 interceptions he threw against Nebraska yet. A good performance on the road could help out a lot with that.
TE Jermaine Gresham – Oklahoma still hasn’t found a replacement for him which is natural when you lose the best tight end in the nation. However, you’d think that they would have someone at capable of getting regular reps. Walk on Trent Ratterree leads all tight ends with 6 catches for 51 yards. It should go without saying that we (the fans) expected a lot more from that position than anyone else.

OL Brody Eldridge – Brody is quite possibly the best player on Oklahoma’s roster. He’s started at center, tight end and right guard. He regularly graded out as Oklahoma’s best offensive lineman and wasn’t too shabby at the tight end position either.

OL Brian Simmons – Simmons actually returned to practice this week and while its unclear if he’ll play or not it certainly is clear that the Sooners need him.

OL Jarvis Jones – He’s out for the remainder of the season with a foot injury.

Oklahoma’s offensive line has been a hodge-podge of personnel this season anyway but now depth is a real concern. There have been so many different lineups on the line that I’ve really lost count. The one silver lining in the lack of depth is that the guys who are in there now have the ability to build some continuity.

DE Auston English – At one time in his career English was the Big 12 sack leader but he’s been hampered by injuries every since. The good news here is that Oklahoma is very deep in talent at the defensive end spot and Frank Alexander was able to fill the role very well last week.

More after the jump.

Is QB Landry Jones still trying to find his way as a quarterback and if so, what does he do well and what still needs work?

I think that it’s still a learning process for Landry. He had to battle freshman Drew Allen for the backup position but in reality this was supposed to be Sam Bradford’s farewell tour as a Sooner and Jones had to be thrust into battle in game one. He’s getting a better grasp on the offense but still struggles under pressure, gets rattled easy, doesn’t go through his progressions and looks very uncomfortable in the pocket. Basically all the things that make us OU fans very uncomfortable just about on every pass play.

The OU defense, especially the pass rush has been outstanding this year. I haven't seen a ton of Sooner football this year, how have the Sooners been getting to the quarterback? Simple 4-man rush, blitzes, stunts, etc.?

Oklahoma’s front four have been extremely successful at getting to the quarterback without the need for blitzing but their success as also made blitzing that much more difficult to pick up. Brent Venables has done an outstanding job most of the season at bringing a linebacker or defensive back on the blitz and even dropping defensive ends back into coverage. It’s a variety of schemes that are used to pressure the backfield but it all starts with the success of the tackles and ends.

The rushing offense has been tremendous in wins for the Sooners, but relatively poor in losses. Is it the opponents that were causing those tough rushing efforts or was it a symptom of the beat-up offensive line?

I think that it’s a little bit of both but mostly the offensive line. DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown were both 1,000 yard backs last season and they have 592 and 608 yards respectfully this season through 10 games. This line is doing an okay job at pass blocking but I’d still give them a big FAIL when it comes to run blocking. I’d even go so far as to say that the success in running the ball this year has come more on the talent of Murray and Brown than the blocking of the line.

Complete the following: "The Sooners will win if __________ happens and the Sooners will lose if __________ happens."

The Sooners will win if they can run their offense. Defensively this is one of the best teams of the Bob Stoops era but offensively its one of the worst. In Oklahoma’s four losses they’ve only averaged 12.25 points which we both know won’t be enough to beat Tech this Saturday.

They’ll lose if something crazy happens again. Seriously, going to Lubbock is like entering the Twilight Zone for the Sooners, something strange always happens. In 2005 it was the phantom first down and the iffy touchdown that gave the Red Raiders a win. I know, I know, you say he was in and I say he wasn’t so let’s just leave it at that. In 2007 Sam Bradford gets a concussion and Joey Halzle gets pressed into service but is unable to pull off a comeback. If none of those type things happen and Oklahoma is able to run their offense then I like their chances.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 11.20.09

Seth C — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:58:47 -0000

Too Early: LAJ's Don Williams asks if the 11:30 a.m. kickoff is too early, but IR coach Lincoln Riley says that early or not, the start of the game is not an excuse:

"I think it’s just kind of a copout if you use it,’’ Tech inside receivers coach Lincoln Riley said. "I can think of several good night home games we’ve had, but I can think of us going to Kansas last year, playing an early game, and playing well.’’

Riley said early kickoffs can be a benefit in the sense that players have no down time to kill the way they do for a night game, when they have all day to think about it. But he also acknowledges that there’s a body-clock adjustment since the Raiders’ normal practice time is late afternoon.

"I think all of a sudden, when you’ve got to do something early in the morning, there’s an adjustment,’’ he said. "It’s just those guys being mature and handling it, understanding they have to get their mind right and get everything going before an early kickoff.’’

More news, notes and links after the jump (and I'm doing this in order to keep NM99's Keys to the Game near the top of the page).

Third Straight in Lubbock: DT's Alex Ybarra writes that the Red Raiders are looking to win their third straight against OU in Lubbock. OU RB DeMarco Murray knows it can get crazy in Lubbock:

"We know the past two times we’ve been down there we’ve lost," said OU running back DeMarco Murray. "Last year we beat them here at home, but it’s always a crazy time when playing down in Lubbock. Their fans are pretty crazy. I think we need to be immune to it and settle down."

Football Notebook: LAJ's Don Williams notebook has a few more updates on a couple of players. RB Aaron Crawford is out with an undisclosed injury and WR Jacoby Franks is not on the dress roster for a variety of reasons:

Wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons said Tuesday that Franks was in the doghouse for what he termed "a variety of reasons.’’ The sophomore receiver isn’t a starter but has been Alex Torres’ backup all year, catching 24 passes. Simmons planned ahead by working Lyle Leong at both outside receiver spots this week.

Freshman Focus on Bullitt and Cobb: LAJ's Don Williams weekly feature of players who have redshirted this year or not on the two deep continues with safeties Terrance Bullitt and Daniel Cobb. Here's safeties coach Carlos Mainord:

"I think they’re both really dedicated football guys," Mainord said this week. "I know Cobb was when he came out of high school and being from a military family, he’s really a great young man. And Bullitt, coming from his background, with his dad playing ball (at Texas A&M) and his brother playing ball (at Texas A&M and in the NFL), they’re both special in those ways, and that’ll really help them as they come along."

Snip

"Bullitt will have to put on a little more weight, be a little stronger (in the upper body)," Mainord said. "Cobb will have to continue to work on his speed. But I think they both can be good players. They’re both smart guys, and I think they can be good players."

Oklahoma Sooner and Big 12 Links: Genius. Black Heart Gold Pants - Ivan Maisel Is An Ungrateful Little Twit . . . Rock M Nations Bill C with the Beyond the Box Score week 12 picks (Texas Tech beats the spread but not the Sooners! OMG!) . . . NewsOK's David Ubben writes that OU's DeMarco Murray is getting quite a few more touches as the season progresses and Ubben has a notebook full of good information . . . Rivals.com's Olin Buchanan with a preview of the Big 12's games . . .

Northwestern St.: 75, Texas Tech 94
SBN Boxscore

Raiders Whip Demons: I forgot that this game was on ESPN360 and so I only caught a good part of the 2nd half. This was my first opportunity to watch the team and I'll say that this team is significantly more athletic than previous versions of our Red Raiders. I was fairly impressed by the length and athletic of ability of SF Theron Jenkins and SF Brad Reese, which in turned lent itself to just about every Texas Tech defender on the perimeter to switch and do a fairly decent job of either recovering or keeping their man in front of them.

I'll try to post this chart after each game, again from StatSheet, regarding the 4 factors of the game:

NCAA Basketball Stats

Again, another solid shooting effort from the team and another good defensive effort, although you would prefer to see the opponent eFG% to be lower than 50%. Also, a dominating performance on the boards, including 13 offensive rebounds. The player of the game was SF Mike Singletary who scored 25 points on 8 for 11 from the field, 9 for 9 from the free throw line, 5 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals and 3 turnovers. I should also mention the play of D`Walyn Roberts who had a double-double for the night, grabbing 11 boards and scoring 11 points for the evening.

Game Recaps: LAJ's Courtney Linehan (and notebook) and DT's Mike Graham. Pulling a few quotes after last night's game, all from Linehan's articles.

Pat Knight on PG John Roberson (2-9 FG, 4 points; 6 assists; 1 turnover):

"In the past when his shot wasn’t falling, he tended to mope a little bit," Knight said. "(Thursday) he just kept playing. I thought he was great. It wasn’t like he was taking bad shots. There’s going to be nights, I don’t care how good of a scorer you are, it’s going to go in and out. But if you play defense I’ll keep you in the game."

SF Mike Singletary on the flow of the game:

"We started off slow, real, real slow," Singletary said. "We weren’t attacking the bucket; we were just playing lazy. That’s the reason the game was close like that. Then with about 6 minuted left, Coach (Pat Knight) brought us in, we were in the huddle, and said we got to get it going. There’s no way they should be in the game with us."

Head coach Pat Knight wants the team to focus on defense:

"I was not pleased with our defense the first half, but the kids had a great weekend," Knight said. "Everybody’s been sitting around telling them what a great start. We were a little full of ourselves to start the game, so you have to battle that. I think they thought it was going to be easy for us."

"I like where we are offensively but I don’t pay much attention to it because I want to establish us as a defensive team," he said. "There aren’t going to be nights where you score points like this in the Big 12, so you better be able to guard somebody."

Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Win ::Oklahoma Sooners Edition

Seth C — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:00:21 -0000

This weekly feature considers five reasons why Texas Tech will win and five reasons Texas Tech will lose to each opponent. Related: Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Lose ::Oklahoma Sooners Edition.

Reason #1 :: Desperation: I try hard not to claim that a particular team is any more desperate than the other, but I do believe, or perhaps I hope to believe that the Red Raiders realize the road in front of them. Win on Saturday and your team has quieted quite a few critics, your team becomes bowl eligible and you go into the last game of the season not playing desperate football. I would guess that the Sooners are playing desperate football too, but there's this hopeful thought that the fact that it's the seniors last game, that this team will make it happen.

Reason #2 :: Stopping the Run: I pointed out the other day that the Sooners are highly successful when they run the ball, but when they cannot get the ground game going, the Sooners tend to lose. I'm sure that Jones has the potential to be Texas Tech, but if it were me, I'd make him win the game. If the Red Raiders can stack to stop the run, limiting DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown to the type of yardage that they get in losses, which is about 100 yards a game, then consider that a success. In fact, the stats tell the same story for the Red Raiders. In wins, the defense only gives up 84 yards a game, but in losses, it's 210 yards on the ground. If there was ever a clear statistic to a Texas Tech victory, this might be it.

Reason #3 :: Despite the Offense: Despite all of the issues with the offense, whether it be inconsistent quarterback play, receivers dropping passes, the offensive line ushering defenders to the quarterback or running backs that may not run as hard as we'd like, but you're still talking about the #2 passing offense in the country and the #6 offense overall. I'll certainly grant you that the offense would be significantly better if the quarterbacks cut down all of the turnovers, but that's the key here. Despite certain parts of the offense, it's still getting done. The lowest point total for the year was last week against Oklahoma St. with 17 points. I'd be willing to be quit a bit of money that there's no way that the Sooners could or would really want to pull off the same type of gut-punching drives that the Cowboys did last week. Leach hardly cares about time of possession, but when your down close to 15 minutes to the opponent, you tend to think that if the Red Raiders had the ball more, Texas Tech would have scored.

Reason #4 :: Pressuring Jones: Sometimes when the Red Raiders do well in a certain category, I tend to discount that success and consider it an anomaly. I somewhat feel that way about the fact that the Red Raiders are 2nd in the nation in sacks. Perhaps I discounted the importance of having Brandon Sharpe, who if you recall wasn't available for the Texas game and was a shadow of himself during the Texas A&M game. That's 2 losses that you would think would have been closer had the Red Raiders had Sharpe's contributions. That's not to say that the workman-like effort produced by Daniel Howard isn't wholly appreciated and the pressure by Rajon Henley (1 sack last week) should create some true match-up problems for the Oklahoma offensive line. It's one thing to plan for just one defensive play-maker, but there should be plenty of contributions for Howard, Henley, Colby Whitlock, Richard Jones and possibly Bront Bird on Saturday.

Reason #5 :: Thank You: Edward Britton :: Austin Burns :: Shawn Byrnes :: Brandon Carter :: Ryan Hale :: Rajon Henley :: Daniel Howard :: Victor Hunter :: Richard Jones :: Jake Myatt :: Brent Nickerson :: Sandy Riley :: De'Shon Sanders :: Brandon Sharpe :: Jamar Wall :: Chris Wallace :: Marlon Williams :: Marlon Winn.