Baylor QB, Nick Florence

What the Oklahoma Sooners defense set out to do before the game, they accomplished: completely shut-down Baylor’s QB Nick Florence. Instead of throwing his normal 300+ yards per game, he was shutout to 172 on Saturday night.

While the Sooners accomplished shutting down the No. 1 offense in the country, the rush defense allowed an astounding 252 yards. The Sooners players and coaches are fully aware of what they need to do to in order to keep the momentum going for the last stretch of the season, which was evident in their post game press conference. They were happy about the win, and how they were able to stop the pass, but knew the way they defended the rush was unacceptable. The biggest issue was no turnovers and lack of wrapping up on the tackle.

Baylor running back, Lache Seastrunk had a phenomenal game Saturday, with 3 touchdowns and 91 yards. Seastrunk was the Bears leading rusher, followed by QB Florence, who had a rushing TD and 83 yards to go with his 172 he had through the air. The Sooners’ defense main focus Saturday night was to stop the air attack, they did by spreading the defense out, using more defensive backs to shut down Florence’s weapons. While this was effective, the Sooners left holes in the rush defense. Florence had nowhere to throw the ball, what’s the next best thing? Put it on the ground go with it. And it worked.

Mike Stoops has only been back in Norman for 9 games, but the improvement on defense has been shining through. The way the players react to bad play; taking accountability for mistakes, is a vast change from this time last season. The motivation for the them to improve is there and from the outside, it looks like that’s what they are wanting.

With West Virginia, TCU and Oklahoma State left on the schedule, all with different styles of offense, the Sooners will need to continue to adjust each week. They have a shot to finish out strong, as long as the wheels don’t fall off.

The Spring football session has come and gone already and will officially be closed until Summer workouts after Saturday’s Spring game. The Spring game will give the not-so-usual suspects their chance to shine and impress the coaching staff.  Hopefully, the weather will hold out long enough for the Sooners to get some work in.

R.J. Washington

A couple things most people, myself included, are looking forward to seeing are:

Trey Metoyer. We have all heard the rumors coming out of practice about the amazing catches, the natural ability and talent; it’s time to see what he will bring to the offense. We know Metoyer brings speed and size to the receiving corp that will just give Landry Jones another target on the outside.

As Coach Stoops has mentioned several times during interviews and pressers throughout the Spring, he is really impressed with R.J. Washington and his stepping up to take on the leadership roll. Washington, now a Senior, has big shoes to fill replacing Frank Alexander on defense and has been showing signs of doing that and much more so far. He finally gets to prove why he was one of the country’s top defensive end recruits.

Continuing on defense, JUCO transfer Chaz Nelson will be interesting to watch. R.J. Washington and David King will most likely be in the starting positions but I would expect Nelson to at least be in heavy rotation in 2012. His speed and size will be an instant impact for the Sooners at defensive end.

On the offensive line, Derek Farniok is one I’d like to see in action. The redshirt freshman may not get a lot of playing time in 2012, but from has been coming out of Norman, his effort this Spring has been unmatched. The 6’9′ Farinok has been called by his fellow teammates, “one of the hardest workers on the field.”

Mike Stoops. Doesn’t really need much more of an explanation.

The game is scheduled to start at 2:00 on Saturday with a lot of stuff going on before hand. This year, Oklahoma is the first annual Boomer BBQ. Details for the Boomer BBQ from SoonerSports.com:

To celebrate the kickoff of a new football season and to say “Thank You” to Sooner fans, Oklahoma Athletics will host the family-friendly Big Boomer Barbecue prior to the OU Spring Football Game from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The event will be held immediately north of Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Fans can enjoy local barbecue from Earl’s Rib Palace, Head Country Barbecue, Sooner Legends and Homeland/Cargill (cooked by Kingfisher Kookers) for just $10, while also enjoying the Free Autograph Zone, live music from Banana Seat and kids’ amusement rides.

The Big Boomer Barbecue will feature four zones of fun: the Barbecue Zone with main stage, the Sooner Jr. Kids Zone, the annual OU Spring Merchandise Sale and the Free Autograph Zone. The Big Boomer Barbecue will cover the McCasland Field House parking lot (A10), Jenkins Street (between Page and Boyd Streets) and the Brooks Street parking lot (C8).

The Barbecue Zone and main stage will be located in the Brooks Street parking lot. A limited number of punch cards for the Barbecue Zone will be available on-site for $10 cash, with the first 1,000 fans guaranteed a chance to sample the best meat selections from five local barbeque purveyors from 11 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. Drinks and sides will be sold separately.

You can see the full list of Sooner events this weekend here.

Sooner Nation needs to get to Memorial Stadium this weekend and show the football team we are ready for the Chase for 8 to begin, again.
 

So the weekend has come and gone and DC Brent Venables still has not made a decision on whether or not he will stay or go. Venables has officially shot down West Virginia, but going to Clemson is still out there.

Venables was with Dabo Swinney the entire weekend, interviewing for the DC position at Clemson, and rumor has it, they have upped their offer to a rate that Venables would be silly to turn down. It was reported (rumored) that Venables did indeed take the position, but once he arrived back to Norman, late Sunday night, was very vague on if he was offered the position.

Another rumor circulating is that Clemson is still trying to interview former Miami coach, Randy Shannon for the same position.

Venables would be splitting his DC duties with Mike Stoops, who unless you have been under a rock, was hired back last week. Before flying to Clemson for the weekend long interview with Dabo, Venables was on a recruiting trip with Mike. For Venables to stay, which as of right now, seems to be what the general consensus wants, he has to be the most loyal assistant’s in the history of coaches. He has interviewed for two different DC positions in the past week, which is something he has never done his entire time with the Sooners. He has interviewed for actual head coaching positions though.

More on this when information breaks.

What Sooner fan doesn't remember the Superman play by Williams?

Surprise, surprise, Mike was FINALLY announced as the new co-defensive coordinator at Oklahoma. Possible hold-up? The Brent Venables news that he is being looked at for DC positions at several different programs, most notably, West Virginia. But Oklahoma was sure to state that Mike’s position is CO-DEFENSIVE coordinator. Shooting down any rumors of departure.

In other coaching news…

Roy “Superman” Williams caused a stir last night on twitter by saying there is possibly a surprise coach that will be hired along with the return on Mike. Now everyone is speculating that it is, in fact, Roy. Roy would be coaching the linebackers/secondary is the new rumor. A position he knows all too well.

A position that high up in the chain isn’t likely to have a never-before coach take over as the head guy, but who knows at this point.

The lack of news has everyone basically stalking the Sooner outlets scouring anyone of any information that has leaked. We all know Mike is coming back, just waiting on what Venables has decided to do, officially. As for Willie Martinez, with the announcement of Mike returning, the school also announced his departure, stated as a resignation.

During the release of news, Oklahoma made sure to mention that Coach Venables and Mike were both out on recruiting trips, together. Hopefully the situation has been resolved and Venables has decided to give the Sooners another year or two.

So far, it has been an interesting off-season, and the Spring ball hasn’t even started yet.

As I reported on Monday that the news would break this week that Mike Stoops was going to be making his way back to Norman, sometime this week.

Flashback, Bob and Mike sharing a sideline before Mike heading to Arizona

Well, Mike went on TV last night in Tuscon, AZ and was talking freely of his return to the Sooner coaching staff and even made the comment that he would be coming back to the exact same staff he left. Mike will be coming on as the co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach. The weirdness about his announcement is that the coach he will be replacing is still listed as part of the coaching staff, Willie Martinez. As of this morning, Martinez is still listed on SoonerSports.com as the Assistant Coach, defensive backs.

Mike’s brother Bob, confirmed to the media this morning via text message that the announcement of Mike will be made today. No word yet on what will be happening with Willie.

A lot of questions and concerns are coming out over Mike’s impending return. Whether or not it will have any impact or if he, in-fact, was an issue himself in Arizona. A point point of concern was the DB letting the the opposing receivers get behind them. This happened a couple times a Sooner DC and was a major problem when he was at Arizona.

I think the younger Stoops will bring a back to basics approach to the Oklahoma defense. He brings discipline, is very technical and is not afraid to get in these kids faces, which after this season, needs to be done on day 1.

A couple quick Mike Stoops facts:

Mike’s last season at Oklahoma, the pass defense was ranked No. 2 in the Nation, last year? 79th.

Oklahoma had 5 All-American Defensive backs under Mike Stoops lead, since he has been gone? 1.

That doesn’t mean Mike was the reason, it could have been the players want and will to be outstanding, but this is what I think Mike will bring to the table. The spark back that has been missing. The current defensive roster is one of the most talented the Sooners have had in a long time, it needs to be unleashed.

Former Sooners who played under Mike while  at Oklahoma are excited to see him back on the staff, stating that he is one of those coaches you love to hate, and completely respect every aspect about him.

If it already hasn’t happened by the time I hit publish, look for the announcement sometime this afternoon on the return of the Stoops Bros.

Rumors started rolling the minute after Mike Stoops was fired from Arizona earlier this year that he would be working his brother, Bob, by the end of the year.

Back in Sooner gear later this week?

Well, the beginning of the year has come and gone, but the rumor mill is still churning and this time it seems to have actually produced a winner: Mike will be rejoining the Sooners coaching staff sometime this week.

According to News9.com in OKC, Mike will be named the secondary coach and co-defensive coordinator, sharing the title with Brent Venables. It is being said the Venables is willing to share the title to get Stoops back into the Sooner coaching staff.

Where does that leave Willie Martinez? Martinez’ name has been linked with several schools that have coordinator positions open, including Illinois and Kansas, both who just hired new head coaches.

Word on the street is that Martinez and Venables have had several blow ups and butt heads constantly. Martinez has been instrumental in getting top recruits to Norman and with the ‘rumor’ of his departure, lost De’Vante Harris this weekend. The longtime commit and always vocal Harris tweeted out that he had just decommitted from the University of Oklahoma.

Harris has been on the Sooner bandwagon since day one and has been active in trying to lure other commits. Martinez is the one who heavily recruited Harris, so the Mike Stoops news is not coming as a surprise. The only way Harris would decommit is if Martinez was going elsewhere.

Harris was OU’s top defensive prospect for 2012.

Casualty of coaching war, I guess.

We will see how long it takes the week for them to announce the return of Mike and the reuniting of the Stoops Bros on the field together.

The Stoops brothers are back together again, if only for a couple days.

Bob Stoops announced Monday after practice his brother Mike will be in Norman this week. Mike will arrive Thursday and stay through the weekend, and yes he will be attending the game Saturday night against the Red Raiders.

Mike Stoops already has the visor and blood pressure face to fit right back in the groove of things in Norman

Before everyone gets overly excited, Bob made sure to mention this is a family trip. Mike wouldn’t be able to assist with coaching duties due to the NCAA regulation on the number of coaches present for the time being.

I will predict he will see some sideline action though, maybe down towards the end zone, next to WWE super announcer, Jim Ross. Or with former Kansas Jayhawks coach Mark Mangino, who has been on the sidelines of almost every home game this season. It’s in a Stoops brother’s blood to be on the sideline.

Bob also isn’t worried about his brother trying to step in and give him advice, he told media yesterday, “I know my team better then he knows my team.”

For those of you who don’t remember, Mike was Bob’s defensive coordinator at Oklahoma before taking the head coach position at Arizona. Arizona got the seven-year itch last week, and fired Mike mid-season for his lack of production, aka winning. He ended his Wildcat coaching record at 41-49.

So Mike arriving in Norman less then a week after his firing, with his ENTIRE family seems a little suspect. Possibly house hunting? Mike is a great defensive coordinator, just not head coach materiel. My guess is we will see Mike back in the Crimson and Cream sooner, rather then later.