For too long, we have waited to see how Bob Stoops would handle the disappointing 2014-15 season that Oklahoma football went through. He fired wide receiver coach, Jay Norvell, and replaced offensive coordinator, Josh Heupel, with Eastern Carolina offensive mind, Lincoln Riley. Norvell and Huepel have both gone their respective ways; Jay going to arch-rival, Texas, and Huepel now assisting at Utah State. With all these new faces on the sideline for Stoops and the Sooners, there were already tons of questions that we, as fans, started looking forward to getting answered this season before we even got more big news a little over a week ago, from OU. Trevor Knight is not starting quarterback anymore and had been officially beaten out by walk-on Texas Tech transfer, Baker Mayfield.
 |
OU has had a rude awakening last year, can
the Sooners turn it around in 2015-2016? |
New offensive system, new quarterback, and new position coaches. There's a trend here. Stoops has finally realized that if he doesn't want any 8-5 seasons again, he needs to start with a new approach. Starting with Lincoln Riley, he runs a very fast-paced air raid offensive and likes to put up big numbers in the passing game. This should be no surprise to anyone because he is a disciple of former Texas Tech (and now Washington State) head coach, Mike Leach, who is famous for incorporating the air-raid offense down in Lubbock. Nobody argued with the hire when it first came out, but the big question, was that if he was going to bring the air-raid system to Norman, how would he handle the vast stable of talented, young, running backs that would be at his disposal? In a press conference a few days ago, Bob Stoops stated that the running backs, especially Samaje Perine, would definitely not be ignored in there offensive game plan. If you recall, Perine rushed for over 425 yards in a single game last season against Kansas, and emerged as a key catalyst for the OU offense. He is an early candidate for the Heisman Trophy this upcoming season, and is a pre-season All-Big 12 running back. With all that being said, there is still the unproven "superstar" running back on the roster, Joe Mixon, that has yet to even be seen by the pubic eyes in an actual Oklahoma football game.
Yes, Mixon did get in trouble in the offseason, but there has yet to be any public apology or anything from the young man. Bob Stoops addressed that situation on WWLS The Sports Animal, a local sports radio station, and said that he has thought about letting the young man speak to the media about it. The idea is nothing new to Stoops, because defensive stud, Frank Shannon, who was suspended all of last season, already gave his press conference to clear the air and let the public know he had learned from his mistakes. Most people would agree that Mixon should do the same, but that's besides the point. The point, is that Mixon has been portrayed as this "better than Adrian Peterson" running back. If even a lick of that statement is true, then how will Riley split the carries between him and Perine? Lincoln has spoken about the matter, and hinted that running these backs from the shotgun could prove to be effective, especially if you already have the defense on their heels by completing some passes beforehand. He then went on to say that honestly, it doesn't matter what formation is out on the field because these backs are so talented. It's nice to see the run game not vanish in the new system, and no one really expected Riley to be stubborn enough in his philosophy to ignore the skills of these running backs, but will it translate effectively enough to win the Sooners more than 8 games?
As you can tell by now, we don't know a lot about his Sooner football team at all. This has been an eerily similar situation that fans faced before the 1999-2000 championship season that OU had, and that maybe a good thing! Kirk Herbstreit, an ESPN college football "expert" came out and gave his 4 teams he thought would make it to this year's College Football Playoff (CFP), and had OU on his list. Most OU fans are screaming, "NOOOOOO!" at their computer screen right now, because every time Oklahoma has been expected to have a chance to win it all (including last year), they fall on their face, or get embarrassed when they get there. It has gotten so bad, that "Big Game Bob" is not even a thing anymore. Bob Stoops has lost that title in a lot of people's minds, but this year is different then all those other years, and I'll tell you why. No one else has picked OU to make it into the playoff except for Kirk. That maybe enough for the real superstitious fans to jump ship, but the vast majority are not that type of fan. Sure, Baker Mayfield may have the tendency to force the ball to covered receivers and get picked off more than a few times, but if the running backs are as good as we think they will be, that maybe enough to counter his mistakes. As for Mike Stoops and his defense, that is what hasn't been talked about enough. The defensive line looks good, having Shannon back helps the linebackers tremendously, and Zach Sanchez will have to emerge as a leader for the young defensive backfield that was shredded last year by opponents. The most important aspect that needs to improve, is the defensive backfield. If they can step it up and prevent teams from throwing all over the field, that will improve the team with such an impact, that in the end, Kirk maybe right. Personally, I have OU going 9-3. Baylor will be tough, TCU is no joke, and Oklahoma State maybe a trap game up in Stillwater. As for thier season opener, I don't see any surprises coming to Norman.
Oklahoma takes on a very weak Akron team that might be lead by a Pittsburgh transfer at the quarterback position, on Saturday at 6PM CT. The game will not be televised, so make sure have tickets or the money to pay for the pay-per-view showing of the game. I expect the Sooners to not show a lot on the offensive side of the ball, due to the fact that their second game at Tennessee, will set the tone for their season. Just something to think about, as the mystery of Oklahoma football begins to unravel.
