I've been saying it since 2004...

[the_ouskull]

...and I feel like saying it again tonight, regardless of the outcome of this game.

Joe C. needs to sit Bob S. down at the end of this season, and say, verbatim, "What the f*ck, Bob?"

I think in another thread, War Stoops said, "What the Hell goes on in Norman in December?" I'm starting to wonder the same thing. Yes, we're without Kelly, and Smith, and Holmes, and Degranger, and Donner, and Blitzen, and it's about as funny as Maya Rudolph. He is no longer, and hasn't been since the Big 12 Championship Game in 2003, "Big Game Bob," and teams that we play in January do not fear us. We are Oklahoma, and THAT is bullsh*t. Teams need to fear us, and they need to do so with reason. The fact that we spent an entire first half of football letting the other team run at us instead of meeting them at the ball is bullsh*t. We are getting beat to crap by a running team that can't pass. How are we losing to a one-dimensional team? Put Walker on their decent receiver, and our other athletes on their other receivers, and play contain on the outside. Make White pass and we look like a decent defensive team. "It's like a bunch of slow guys trying to corner a fast guy," said Analogy Man.

Stoops has always said "No excuses," and I love that about him, but eventually, after watching it happen so many times, "We just got beat," becomes an excuse too. The reason OU fans don't give a sh*t about the occasional loss to a crap team is because we're playing for the postseason every year. Every single season, sans 1999, and 2005, since Bob Stoops has been at Oklahoma, we've been in the National Championship picture. That's a lot of winning, which is absolutely awesome, and I KNOW that a lot of schools would LOVE to be in our position... but we're Oklahoma! We're about winning, not about getting there. I enjoyed the Bomar Season of 2005 more than any we've had since 2003, until the end, because we WON AT THE END OF IT! I mean, it was also exciting seeing a young team and a young gunslinger QB trying to learn to play together and win games, but winning the bowl made it all worth while. Oklahoma Football Fans don't have a lot to do besides talk football, and hearing them talk about a losing season from January until August is getting really old.

Lots of other fans would love to have enjoyed the success we have enjoyed, and I'm thankful for it, but, we're Oklahoma and "being in the conversation" should be a given, not "enough."

the_ouskull

Post Script -- We've allowed 2 huge plays so far... The white guy's long run, and this touchdown pass that was like 79 yards. Can any of you guys (especially fans of other teams) imagine a Mike Stoops-coached Oklahoma defense giving up TWO plays like that in one game? I can't ... I've said THIS before too, but here it goes again. We haven't been the same, and Bob hasn't had his "mojo" since Mike left. I hate this sh*t.

[SoCalTrjn]

what happened in 2003?

[RevLimiter]

what happened in 2003?

Darren Sproles and LSU.....I'll let SoonerChokerFan fill you in on the details.

[Sky]

Skull,
Good post and good points. I had forgotten that this was 4 in a row. It does make you wonder.

On a side note, why call WR screen, draw, wr screen, draw, etc.... again and again in the 4th qt? I think Bradford can do more than that.

[OUMO]

No excuses here, "we" OU got our ass kicked. I am not a coach, I don't want to get into it right now but that game was a hard thing to watch being an OU fan.

Is there such a thing as a glub glub icon? I could use one

[SoCalTrjn]

what happened in 2003?

Darren Sproles and LSU.....I'll let SoonerChokerFan fill you in on the details.

yes which is why I was wondering why he hasnt been saying it since 2003

[RadioFan]

Props to WVa.

In addition to the injuries, what BtH said. OU came out like the trophy would just be handed to them and got hammered by the Good WVa. team -- the team that should have been in the MNC game.

What's been frustrating for me -- for this game and the entire season -- is OU's conservative play-calling, which pretty much goes like this:

1st down - run up the middle. Little gain.
2nd down - run up the middle. Little gain.
3rd down - pass. Incomplete.
4th down - punt.

OU's playcalling reminds me of the Green Bay Packers of the 1970s when I lived in Wisconsin -- no imagination whatsoever. Maybe that bullshit works against the Iowa States of the world ... maybe OU's schedule is too soft ... I don't know. I do know that the rare times that they did actually pass on first down, on Wednesday night, some big plays were the result.

West Va.'s D played outstanding tonight, especially against the run.

[the_ouskull]

The A&M game in 2002, and the OSU game in the same year were both anomalies at the time. Also, they were rather "Brandon Everage Is Not Smart"-related, I think, moreso than scheme-related.

But yes, point taken, nonetheless.

I honestly feel that Bob delegates responsibility to his other coaches waaaay too often. During the season, this isn't too big a problem seeing as he has eight months to check up on everything that's going on. Sure, occasionally we get bit during the regular season because he allows his coordinators to do their job, but for the most part, we roll along fairly well. Then, come bowl season, we have one month, not eight, to prepare. He doesn't have time to get around to everything the way that he does during the season, and we lose.

But I AM blaming him, and not the coordinators, because his title is HEAD Coach. Not ASSISTANT Coach. I think that Brent V. needs to go, or get demoted, or something. I'm not terribly fond of our offensive line play either. Considering their amazing physical advantage, they're pretty much dumb as f*ck on the field. ESPECIALLY the biggest one of them all, who spent all evening doing his best "Stockar McDougal under "Coach" Blake" impersonation...

I think that we need to make some changes in Soonerland. Start with a new defensive coordinator. (How's about Auburn's...?) Start with a new O-line coach. (How's about ANYBODY?) Until Stoops is ready to let go of the people responsible for us getting our asses kicked in four straight January bowls, his "No excuses" mantra is becoming an excuse itself, and one that I, as a Sooner, am tired of hearing.

the_ouskull

[War Wagon]

OU will win the Big 12 pretty consistently because we're getting guys that can push around the Missouris and Texases of the world enough to make them fold. To beat the LSUs, the Ohio States, the West Virginias....hell, the Boise States...OU is just going to have to get faster.

Ouch.

Where's the 2008 Big XII Championship game being played?

See you there. If you make it, that is.