SBNation.com User Blog: boomsooncf8

BOB STOOP'S CONUNDRUM

boomsooncf8 — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 20:52:13 -0000

Hi yall,

I was just going over some of the highlights/lowlights of this recently ended football season for OU.

I was thinking about few things and thought of expressing them in this thread.

1. First and foremost, I truly believe that a great QB can make a mediocre team great, while a mediocre QB can make a good team just pedestrian. Case in point, our own Landry Jones. Don't get me wrong, I am not bashing the guy, but all I am saying is that he is not a great QB but just a mediocre QB.

In some of the big games he would ever play, rather than taking the game by the scruff, he settled to being average.

So, watching this makes me feel that we could be in for some change of scenario with the next QB in line.

The BellDozer, a markedly different personality, shows lot of passion, emotion and has an added threat of running the ball. This change may be what the fans require after 4 yrs of watching LJ mope in the sidelines.

2. The second thing that jumps out at me is how good the O-line was with few big name recruits. Similarly, the defensive backfield, corner, safety, was stellar too, but few had the gaudy stars associated with their names when they were recruited out of high school (except ofcourse TJ). Now, however, the D-line and D-ends, even though they were 4-5* never were impact players.

So, this begs the question, is it better to recruit 2-3*stars and groom them into great players or recruit 4-5* and hope they pan out. I feel that developing players is this coaching staffs specialty, so, rather than bringing in 4-5* who think they are prima-donas, are not willing to put in the effort or have maxed out their potential, it is best that we get an average class and make them great.

3. The third interesting thing is about our Offensive coord, one Mr Heupel.

Anybody can tell you this from the tape, when the guy is in rhythm calling plays, he is fantastic, but when out of rhythm, it seems to go all wrong with his play call.

Also, as an offensive coordinator, one has to have an attacking mentality. What I mean by that is, he has to make a playcall and make the defense think, Instead, he seems to wait to make his calls based on what defense he sees. This approach seems counter-intuitive to me. What do you guys think?

Coming to the topic, Bob's conundrum, JH seems to be not that good a play-caller. But, on the other hand, we all know that he is one hella of a recruiter. Sam, Landry, we could ve gotten Cam Newton if we wanted, Blake, couldve had Max Browne.... so, what does Bob do? Look for a better play-caller and hope he is as good a recruiter or hope that JH develops as a play-caller and make do with him since he is a great recruiter?

Hi yall,

I was just going over some of the highlights/lowlights of this recently ended football season for OU.

I was thinking about few things and thought of expressing them in this thread.

In some of the big games he would ever play, rather than taking the game by the scruff, he settled to being average.

So, watching this makes me feel that we could be in for some change of scenario with the next QB in line.

3. The third interesting thing is about our Offensive coord, one Mr Heupel.

Anybody can tell you this from the tape, when the guy is in rhythm calling plays, he is fantastic, but when out of rhythm, it seems to go all wrong with his play call.

Similarities to 2000 NC team

boomsooncf8 — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 20:06:57 -0000

Hey Guys,

I was checking on some of the memorable 2000 NC team's games. The current sooner football team has a striking similarity to that team.

Think about it: The O-line that season was mediocre, Heupel was trashed around, threw picks, the running game overall against quality opponents was mediocre. Our current O-line, cant term them mediocre, but lacks the killer 2008's built.

Admittedly the running game this season fares to be far better than that of 2000, where Quentin Griffin was the only back, while this season we have three workhorses (though I feel Whaley when healthy can be a super-star).

The D-line 2000 year was very good, though with not superstars in them, dont you think its similar this year... no superstar but solid.

Ofcourse, the linebackers, Marshall and Calmus were the best ever... Tom Wort and Corey Nelson can never match up to those but overall they are not a let down in any sense... as they both in their elements are very very good players.

The current secondary has all-stars written all over them... provided they are tuned in... the 2000's team secondary was absolutely the best.

The punt return had a star in J.T.Thatcher... Justin Brown seems to be one in the making.

The kicking was brilliant that 2000 season... so is our's this season.

The only question remains as to Landry's composure and play-making ability... can he and Bell combined provide what Heupel did to that team? - remains to be seen

Also there is two major things that dictate if we can bring home the NC... can the defense provide gamebreaking plays... which the 2000 team had a knack to deliver at crucial times?

And the second most important... can they go without anyone getting injured at all.. as the one thing that was remarkable in that magical 2000 season was we never had a single injury that removed a starter from the game.

Let's all keep our fingers crossed and look forward with optimism. Boomer!! Sooner!!