After the tornadoes on Friday, I questioned making the trek to Norman for Saturday’s Annual Red/White game. After staring at the radar for a couple hours, I decided to risk it, and I’m glad I did. It was hard not to notice some the damage on the way in towards the stadium. There was downed power lines, trees uprooted everywhere, roofs missing. But if one thing can bring a city together, it’s Oklahoma football.

More people showed up than I originally thought would be there, considering the predicted tornadogeddon by the National Weather Service on Saturday. They did end up closing the East side of the stadium, so everyone sat on the home side. The game was moved up to 1:30 from a 2:00 start time for a preventative measure, because the bad weather was scheduled to hit the Oklahoma City area around 5:00 PM.

As always, the Spring Game is a chance for the guys who aren’t your usual suspects get their time to impress. And the one person everyone wanted to see proved all the rumors true: Trey Metoyer. Metoyer has unprecedented speed, great hands and was quite impressive on Saturday. Hopefully his presence will give Kenny Stills the boost he needs to get his head back in it. Stills dropped some easy balls yesterday, one of which was set up perfectly and he would have been endzone bound had he held on to it. The offense did run a play that had Stills and Metoyer lining up on the same side, with Stills moving into the slot a la Ryan Broyles. With tweaking and perfection, this could be deadly.

Another thing most Sooners were looking forward to was seeing if Blake Bell’s passing game had improved any. We all know the “Belldozer” is effective, but the Sooners need for a backup QB to be multi-dimensional is a must. He threw a couple dangerous balls, which against a full-speed defense, would have been ended up in a possible pick-six. The improvement was there, but still a LOT to work on over the Summer. Drew Allen got some reps in along with Kendal Thompson. Thompson has some wheels on him, he found his way out of trouble more than once. Granted it was against second and third team defenses, but his speed is something that stuck out.

Brennan Clay had quite a few carries yesterday at running back. He had the most rushing yards out of the RB corps. Danzel Williams also had a decent showing, and Roy Finch had a nice sideline run, where the sideline was the only defender left that he hadn’t got passed; the sideline won. It also helped that improvements on the offensive line in blocking were helping the backs find the holes.

» Continue reading “Sooner Spring Game: The Calm After The Storm(s)”

On a cold, rainy and windy day in Norman, we got to see the Sooner Seniors out with a win.

After a horrible Sooner first quarter and trailing Iowa State, Iowa State was held scoreless for the rest of the game. The Cyclones didn’t have a drive longer than 35 yards after their first touchdown (missed PAT) the entire game.

Looking at the numbers, the Sooners should have completely wiped the field with the Cyclones. Red Zone Sooner inconsistency played havoc and was held to field goals on more than one occasion. QB Blake Bell had another great game, though his attempt at throwing the ball instead of running resulted in an interception and the Cyclones were ready for the Bell Dozer. Landry Jones on the other hand ended up not throwing a touchdown for the second consecutive game and also had two INT’s.

We got to see more from Freshman RB Brandon Williams today, who is going to be a huge threat in seasons to come. That kid is fast. Trey Franks also had a great game, with only 2 carries, but 88 yards. He longest run being 45.

Senior Travis Lewis' Last Home Game As a Sooner

The Sooner defense looked much improved from last week against Baylor. Travis Lewis should have had a pick six, but was called back by a questionable block in the back penalty. Still have yet to see it. Lewis also passed Rocky Calmus for the 4th all time tackles in Sooner history, with 431 tackles.

Tom Wort also had a great game leading the team today 11 tackles. We finally got to see Tony Jefferson stand out again today, too. The Sooner D held the Cyclones to their lowest offensive yardage game for 2011, at 183 yards.

Injuries have plagued the Sooners this season, and have yet to hear if Frank Alexander is ok. He seems to have a shoulder injury, which hopefully is nothing serious.

Jaz Reynolds was live tweeting the game from home, who was out with a shoulder injury. Was also told he was suspended for today, that’s the reason he was not on the sidelines and at home. As tight-lipped as the Sooner staff is about suspensions, no word yet on the reasoning.

Stats from SoonerSports.com

The Sooners offense really needs to make some changes and tighten up their play for next weeks Bedlam match-up. Even though the chase for 8 is over, a Big XII championship is not out of the picture.

All of Sooner Nation thanks the Seniors who have given their all for the last four years. Congrats on going out of Norman with the win. Let’s continue this onto next week in Stillwater. You’ve never lost to Oklahoma State, let’s not ruin that streak.

BOOMER

Now that everyone had a day to gorge on Turkey, family and fun, it’s now time to get back to business.

The Sooners will host Iowa State on Saturday for the last home game of the year. The Sooners under Bob Stoops have never lost 2 Big XII games in a row, and are looking for a big comeback win for the last time this season in Norman. They are also looking for some momentum going into Bedlam on December 3rd.

It is also Senior day in Norman, the Sooners will be saying goodbye to a Senior class which includes: Ryan Broyles, Travis Lewis, Frank Alexander, Jemell Flemming, Trent Ratterree, Stephen Good, Jimmy Stephens, Sam Proctor, Dejuan Miller and James Hanna to name a few.

The Cyclones are coming off the biggest win in their school’s history, but for the last 3 years in a row, Iowa State has had a pretty big upset under their belt each season. Starting in 2009 when they beat Nebraska, 2010 their upset over Texas and 2011′s No. 2 Oklahoma State shocker, the Cyclones have gone nowhere but up under head coach Paul Rhodes.

There has been a storm brewing under Sooner players this week, with lots of finger pointing and disagreements in the locker room (so we hear) and hopefully that lights a fire under some of the players butts who are supposed to be leaders on this team. This Cyclone team is not one ANYONE needs to take lightly, aka Oklahoma State.

Sooner QB Blake Bell

The Cyclone’s defense has been stepping up their game and the Sooner offense will have to figure out a way to run the ball. The Sooners have the talent at the RB position and Roy Finch has made an impression since the loss of Dom Whaley, but Finch can’t do it all. Wide Receivers also need to step up and fill in. Ryan Broyles was the leader of this Sooner offensive unit and it really shows without him on the field.

The use of the Bell Dozer and QB Blake Bell has added a major plus to the play book and hopefully we will see more of this Saturday.

Landry Jones has also been doing a great job of getting the Sooners down the field to make the Bell Dozer effective when needed. With Bell’s size, it’s hard to stop the Bell Dozer.

Iowa State players to watch out for are QB Jared Barnett. Barnett, a Freshman, has been filling ever since QB Steele Jantz got hurt. He has been doing a fairly decent job at it. He is 80-158 passing, 4 touchdowns and 900 yards on the season so far. He also has 388 rushing yards. Also on offense is RB James White and WR Darius Reynolds. White has  671 Yards and averages 4.8 per carry with 8 touchdowns. Reynolds has 33 Catches with 588 yards and 7 touchdowns. Oklahoma’s secondary can’t play like they did against Baylor if they want to contain the Iowa State offensive unit.

When looking at the quality of players between the two schools, of course Oklahoma is going to win out. But you have to take into account that quality of players doesn’t mean anything when you believe you can do it. This is exactly what this Iowa State team is capable of. Their coaching staff and players believe every Saturday they are just as equal as the team across the field from them, and the way they have been playing, they are.

I do believe the Sooners win this game, and go out with bang at home, but the heart of this Iowa State team can’t be dismissed. The Sooners have to recognize this and respect it, or they may regret it.

The game is set to kickoff Saturday at 11:00 CST on FX Network.

Friday night was the kickoff to this wild weekend in college football.

No. 2 Oklahoma State fell to Iowa State, ESPN’s Lee Corso drops the F bomb on National television, Clemson gets beat, Oregon gets beat and Oklahoma got knocked down.

The BCS computers worked overtime last night.

Oklahoma rolled into Waco last night and got to see exactly why Baylor QB Robert Griffin III is WORTH all the hype he has been getting for years. The kid is just phenomenal. He threw for 479 yards and 4 touchdowns and the game winning 34 yarder to Terrance Williams with 8 seconds left in the game to give Baylor the W against the Sooners.

What went wrong? Baylor killed us over the top and throwing deep. The Oklahoma safeties seemed to be playing soft and the defensive line was giving RG3 all the time in the world to get the ball out. The Sooners also killed themselves with unnecessary penalties and turnovers, having a ridiculous 9 for 90 yards.

One penalty that really stands out was the movement in the offensive line after Blake Bell’s TD when the Sooners were going for 2. The two-point conversion would have put the Sooners ahead and quite possibly changed the momentum of the game.

The offense really missed Ryan Broyles; receivers were dropping catch-able balls and the speed was not there. There was shining moments though with the offense, which came in the form of Blake Bell. Anytime the Sooners run the “Belldozer”, Oklahoma’s form of the wildcat formation, it works.

Looking at the stats, it was a pretty evenly matched game. But in the end, Oklahoma got out coached and out preformed.

Stats from SoonerSports.com

Baylor QB Griffin said after the game, “We needed a signature win.” Well, they got it and deserved it. This is the highest ranked team Baylor has beaten in school history, going back to the 1985 Bear team who beat the third-ranked USC, 20-13.

As always after a Sooner loss, there seems to be a lot of finger pointing from the fan base. Unfortunately for the Sooners, we are spoiled and don’t take losses in the best fashion. Sooners fans, there is no need to jump off the bandwagon and take your upset feelings out on the players, which happened last night again on twitter. They are boys, and just as upset as you are. Being a part of Sooner Nation means you take the good with the bad. I’ve said it once this year, but I will repeat it: Do the members of the current Sooner Nation not remember the John Blake era? It isn’t always pretty, but they are still your school, be proud no matter what.

Not all is lost this season, the Sooners still have 2 games left and the chance to win the Big XII.

But unfortunately, the Chase for 8 is over for 2011.

Next up is Iowa State in Norman next Saturday.

The Sooners gave the Aggies a conference departing gift Saturday afternoon, beating them 41-25. The first half sluggish play continued for Oklahoma until the flood gates opened up early at the start of the second half. Unfortunately, some bad news follows a big win.

Ryan Broyles Will Go Down As A Sooner Legend

Sooners may have won the game Saturday against Texas A&M, but they lost a team leader. Sooners leading receiver, Senior Ryan Broyles, tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the left knee, and will miss the rest of this season.

Broyles left the field last night in tears, knowing before he got to the locker room that this would be his last appearance at Owen Field in front of an always sold out Sooner crowd.

Coach Stoops was very emotional when talking about Broyles with press after the game:

He’s such a special, special player. It’s deflating for him and for all of us. Your heart drops when you first hear it.

It is a huge blow coming off last weeks loss of RB Dom Whaley. The Sooners are now missing two of their biggest offensive weapons for the rest of the year. The silver-lining is that we are lucky to be very deep in both positions and are very heavy on talent outside and on the ground.

After a slow start and a only a three point lead going in to the half, the Sooners turned it on in the third quarter. And in typical second half Aggies fashion, they rolled over and let it happen. Oklahoma scored 28 unanswered points in the third quarter. The Aggies tried to pull together a rally late in the 4th, scoring 2 touchdowns and scoring on a two point conversion to try and make a comeback run. They attempted this though with less then 4 minutes left on the clock. I salute the try, but it was too little, too late. Even Aggie head coach Mike Sherman should have known that.

Game Stats from SoonerSports.com

Oklahoma’s defense was still playing with that same passion they had during the Kansas State game. Another thing we got to see that we saw during the Kansas State game was the edition of the Bell package on the offense. QB Blake Bell is being brought in to convert on third down conversions and running Oklahoma’s version of the wildcat, being dubbed the Bell Dozer by the media.

Bell converted six third downs and a touchdown and was the player of the game according to the speaker system at Owen Field. It was well deserved. When Bell came out on the field, the fans went nuts. The Bell Dozer has quickly caught on has been successful over the last two games. No knock on Landry Jones, but it is a great change of pace to put a QB in on third downs that can move. Landry isn’t the quickest on his feet.

In what started off as a somber post-game presser with Stoops talking about Broyles, had a little light of laughter when Blake Bell came out to answer questions. Bell was asked by media what he thought of his new moniker, the Bell Dozer and was asked how much he weighed now. Bell answered with 255. Stoops immediately jumped in and said, “255? You are about a cheeseburger away from 260.” See, Stoops DOES have a personality. He’s not a robot.

It is one of those wins that we are excited to have, it’s always a good day when someone beats the Aggies. But on the other side of that, we lost a player that has been a role model and a key component on this Sooner team for four years. Ryan Broyles will go in the record books as one of the best wide-receivers that the Sooners and the nation has ever seen.

There is Only One Oklahoma, and there will be Only One Ryan Broyles. Sooner Nation will greatly miss him. Get well Ryan.

Coach Bob Stoops and Former Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez at Spring Practice

It was football day in Norman yesterday. Beautiful weather, wonderful scenery and of course the Sooners playing football.

There are still a lot of questions to be answered about who will rightfully own which position come Fall, but there were quite a few stand-outs.

I don’t know if it was the picture perfect Spring weather or not, but the crowd yesterday was somewhat lethargic. That is until a surprise breakout run from a walk-on running back.

Yes a walk on. Dom Whaley wowed the crowd with a 40 yard run yesterday. I know I was asking myself who the heck this kid was. Whaley had 10 carries and a total of 65 yards. More than any of the other running backs I was anxious to see. The RB spot is wide open at this point, though I still feel it will fall into the hands of Roy Finch, who did well behind DeMarco Murray last season.

» Continue reading “Spring Game, the Aftermath”

The Sooners have announced the rosters for this Saturday’s Annual Spring Game. Which Team do you want to see the most?

Red Team

Quarterbacks

Drew Allen, Cayden Cochran, Ben Sherrad, Kendal Thompson

Running Backs

Brennan Clay, Roy Finch, Brandon Williams

Fullbacks

David Driskell, David Welchert

Receivers

Ryan Caro, Sheldon McClain, Dejuan Miller, Jaz Reynolds, Kenny Stills

Tight Ends

Austin Haywood

Offensive Tackles

Jake Reed, Donald Stephenson, Tyrus Thompson

Guards/Centers

Tyler Evans, Ben Habern, Drew Serruto, Adam Shead

Defensive Tackles

Eric Humphrey, Torrea Peterson, Casey Walker

Defensive Ends

David King, Chuka Ndulue, R.J. Washington

Linebackers

Jaydan Bird, Austin Box, Aaron Franklin,Donald Franklin, Erik Lee, Travis Lewis,Corey Nelson

Defensive Backs

Jesse Bell, Beau Davis, Quentin Hayes, James Haynes, Demontre Hurst, Tony Jefferson, Gabe Lynn, Zach Montana, Sam Proctor, Dillon Schooley, Elijah Sigler , Julian Winters

Kickers/Punters

Patrick O’Hara, Jimmy Stevens

Deep Snapper

Kelton Miller

» Continue reading “Is it the Red or the White? Spring Game Roster Announced”