Oklahoma Falls to Houston: What’s Next for the Sooners?
By Sixto Ortiz
Oklahoma has much to think about and address in order to get the train uprighted and back on the rails following a devastating season-opening loss to a very good Houston Cougar team.
Why on earth did Bob Stoops and the coaching staff decide to attempt a 53-yard field goal, a distance that pushes the envelope even by NFL standards?? And why in blazes wasn’t the Sooner return team prepared for a possible return once the inevitable result – a short kick – transpired??
This boneheaded move will live in infamy amongst Sooner lore. Yep, decades from now, our grandchildren will be arguing over this one. It was that bad. But other coaching decisions during this game were just as vexing. For example…
Riley Panics
Why did Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon, arguably the best running-back tandem in the country, only have twelve carries combined between them? Perine’s lack of carries is understandable, considering he left the game for an entire quarter after dinging his shoulder. But Mixon is a five-star talent; why not feed him and Daniel Brooks the ball and keep the Cougar offense off the field? Oklahoma’s coaching staff abandoned the running game way too soon.
Did Lincoln Riley have the first clue what to do with his players?? Baker Mayfield spent the afternoon running around like he was playing sandlot flag football. And the Oklahoma wide receivers had all kinds of problems getting open at all, leading to five sacks on Mayfield.
Not to mention that Mayfield held on to the ball way too long on more than a few plays instead of being willing to take what the defense was giving him.
If the Sooner coaching staff had a game plan, it got jettisoned pretty quickly once Riley and the offense hit the panic button. And that’s no way to win any kind of championship.
Defensive Woes
As for the defense…Oklahoma must figure out a way to get off the field on third down. Too many times, the Cougars converted third-and-long situations into first downs. Greg Ward Jr. bought just enough time with his quick feet to prolong plays and make something out of nothing. A number of boneheaded Sooner penalties also didn’t help the defense.
The bottom line for the defense is simple: Mike Stoops must figure out – and quickly – how to get Sooner defenders to play more disciplined football.
The Look Ahead
The calculus for the Sooners right now is pretty simple: win out. Whatever margin for error Oklahoma had in store is now gone. If the Sooners get the train back on the tracks and headed in the right direction by the time Ohio State comes calling and emerge with a victory, the outlook gets considerably brighter.
Fall to Ohio State – or TCU, or Texas – in the coming weeks and any hopes for a playoff berth are gone. Beat Ohio State and take the Big 12 title and that loss to Houston becomes a “quality loss” against a good team, provided the Cougars keep winning from here on out.
And if that scenario transpires, let the arguments begin. Even if Oklahoma wins out, that loss to Houston will loom huge if the Playoff committee has to decide between Houston and OU for a playoff spot. But to be in the conversation at all come the end of November, the Sooners must win out.
The Doubts Return
No one said beating Houston would be easy. Tom Herman’s Cougars have now beaten Florida State and Oklahoma in consecutive games, so there is no doubt that Houston is for real. And Texas’ rousing win over Notre Dame in Austin served notice that Strong’s Longhorns may be back and ready to compete for a Big 12 title.
Add an Ohio State team to the mix that just eviscerated Bowling Green to the tune of 77-10, and it’s easy to see how the Sooners’ early schedule is laden with land mines.
Unfortunately, the doubts and questions that appeared to be laid to rest last season are out of the grave and haunting the Sooners once again. If the Sooners continue to falter and limp to a marginal or – gasp! – losing record, those doubts and questions will become a deafening crescendo too hard to ignore.
But this team was also given up for dead last season after the loss to Texas and managed to win out and make the Playoff. That took considerable moxie; now it looks like the Sooners will have to conjure up more magic if they hope to run the table and return to the College Football Playoff.