Oklahoma

Boomer Bust.

The brothers sat in the shade of their biggest tree in the backyard and waited. Would he do it again? The day was unseasonably hot and sticky for Youngstown in September, and none of the three pre-teens gathered under the tree with sweat dripping off their fingertips believed he would do it again. You see, there was this electric fence that separated their yard from the farm next door, and if you were old enough and truly athletic, you could run full speed and just leap over it without getting shocked, tripped and otherwise humiliated...but sometimes, little brothers are just too stubborn to learn. So, Bob, Ron Jr. and Mike watched as little Mark ran at that dadgum fence again. His tongue was hanging out and his arms were flapping...Up he went and yup, his shoe caught that upper wire and he tumbled - jolted with another cow-scaring shock - in a heap on the other side. After the boys stopped laughing; tears and sweat mixing flying off their young faces, Bobby got up and shared the secret with their sibling victim. 20 feet to the right, there was a stump grown over with years of moss that the older boys used as a catapult. Mark wanted to hit something or someone, but he had been beat by these boys before...so he just hung his head and swore to himself he would never let his older brother embarrass him again. Whoops.

Stubbornness. Sometimes it can work and help men stay the course in the face of adversity, and sometimes... Oklahoma threw 26 passes behind the line of scrimmage. 26. I have got to believe that on pass #14, I would have sensed a trend. There were cataract challenged geriatrics behind me screaming to press cover by the second quarter. Greg Reid was tackling like he was the Black Knight in Monty Python; just banging at the Crimson wideouts with a head and no arms "Come back here, you ruffian I am not done with you yet!". Yes, it was frustrating watching the Sooners score like a Vegas hooker on amphetamines, but it was how they scored that truly drove us all nuts. The defensive line actually played well...well. OU did not have any real success running the football. 41 rushes for 93 yards is pretty effective ground defense and the interior left no real holes. Amp McCloud and Jacobbi McDaniel were stout. Furthermore, it is impossible to swat a fly from across the room, and it is damn tough to sack a QB when the ball is out of his hands on a one step drop, so blaming the D-line for lack of pressure is simply misplaced blame. This defensive disaster was 75% coaching stubborness and 25% inability of Reid, Rhodes and Jenije to tackle anyone in open space. And while we are placing blame, our outside LB star Nigel Bradham if he was on the verge of dehydration apparently would blow by The Wet n' Wild in the Sahara. He overran about 15 plays, two of which were TD's. We will see how much our guys on salary and not scholarship learned this week. For all the complaining about Mickey Andrews early in games, Nole fans knew that the second half, adjustments were coming. The only adjustment we saw in half #2 was that Oklahoma got tired as we plum just wore out their boys on that side of the ball.

Speaking of offense. I know I was not alone in believing after our first drive that we were in for a big day. The line was dominating OU and big gashing runs were supplemented by easy pitch and catch receptions. Then they adjusted. They pressed our young wideouts at the line. I will tell you that Rodney Smith and Willie Haulstead got ragdolled at the LOS. Twice, a line chuck resulted in Willie on the ground. Maybe penalties should have been called, but I would recommend they take off their taffeta underwear and play with some more toughness. We had success throughout the game running the ball, but did not stick with it. Speaking of which, the 3 back rotation is nice if you are an elephant in an egg-stomping factory, but in a close game Jermaine Thomas is your best back and needs to be on the field in every crucial situation until proven otherwise. But even with all this said, something happened to our hero on Saturday that those of us outside the white lines are not aware of. Hell, we heard on the Oklahoma broadcast after the game their guys telling us it was like someone jumped into Christian's jersey midway through the second quarter. I think the big hit he took on the second drive concussed him. Seriously. He was staring at his one and only receiving targets like he was a guest photographer at the Victoria's Secret commercial shoot. Composure...ummm none. He feet were skittish, and he bailed early on his protection all day long. It was surreal. A man that we have seen grow up to a level of excellence unparalleled for a decade looked like a 7th grade boy across the gym when the first slow dance plays. I am telling y'all, something happened to him physically in that first quarter.

Ahhh, if only Dustin Hopkins could play all 22 spots on the field. His sadly limited opportunities to kick off were all unreturnable and he threw in a 52 yard FG to remind us that he can also deliver in his day job. Shawn Powell in his first punt of the season from the back of the end zone delivered a 56 yard bomb, and but for a shank and some ridiculous coaching on the return game (which we had waaaaay too much practice), the special teams did not hurt us. The aforementioned Rodney Smith, whose games of paddy cake with the OU corners resulted in his never being open, also was the defendent in the game changing block-in-the-back call that brought back Greg Reid's 74 yard KO return. We might need Clint Eastwood to come in and take over for Dawsey for a few weeks.

Finally, the Oklahoma fanbase might be the nicest folks outside of Provo we have ever been around. We should return the favor by pasting them next year and kindly thanking them for coming. The Boomer Sooner Schooner is actually run by escaped Lilliputians as it is only about 6 feet tall and pulled by miniature horses (no lie). It is the most un-intimidating stadium environment I have ever been in. No cheers, no traditions, and they pipe in music between plays. We did not hear their band until halftime and their 5 minute show was underwhelming. No wonder Texas makes them play em in Dallas, they were afraid they would fall asleep during the game in Norman.

Bring on the Mormons. Let's hope Mark finds his stump.

Go Noles.