Some initial thoughts on OU from Mandel:
I see Oklahoma in the top five of most ultra-early polls. As we've learned in the past, it's often a mistake to set expectations for the upcoming season based on the bowl game from the previous one. Trevor Knight threw for 350 yards and four touchdowns against Alabama, but shouldn't we consider the rest of his stats from last year? In non-Sugar Bowl games, Knight went 47-of-90 with five scores and four interceptions. Does Oklahoma's top-five status hinge on Knight's ability to consistently play like he did in the Sugar Bowl? If so, how confident are you that he's the Sugar Bowl quarterback and not the regular-season one?
-- Jonathan, San Antonio
Yep, as soon as those first way-too-early polls started coming out in January, it was clear that Oklahoma was getting this year's honorary 2012 West Virginia status as the team with expectations unduly propped up by its bowl performance. When I saw the Sporting News ranked the Sooners as its preseason No. 1, I winced. Recently, when Bob Stoops' team is pumped up as a preseason national-title favorite, it flops. (See '09 and '11, in particular.) On the rare occasion it's overlooked (last season), however, it surprises us.
Of course, the end result is usually the same: The Sooners win between 10 and 12 games, with a Big 12 title about every other year. But those unfulfilled preseason No. 1 rankings give off the perception that Oklahoma is not delivering on its potential when, in fact, the Sooners are doing quite well. I fear that might be the case for Stoops and his team again in '14.
Don't get me wrong: I think Oklahoma will be very good. And the primary reason is not Knight, it's the Sooners' defense. After several seasons of falling well below its previous standard, a largely inexperienced unit delivered some big moments last fall. Those included a defense-driven 35-21 win at Notre Dame on Sept. 28, a deceiving 41-12 loss at Baylor on Nov. 7 -- when Oklahoma limited Bryce Petty and the Bears for much of the night -- and the season-ending 33-24 upset win over Oklahoma State on Dec. 7 that sealed the Sooners' BCS berth. Oklahoma had the Big 12's second-ranked scoring defense (22.1 points per game), which is all the more reason that the 45-31 bowl shootout victory over Alabama was uncharacteristic. Fast forward to this season and the Sooners should be even better on that side of the ball. They have a bunch of guys who can get to the quarterback, most notably linebacker Eric Striker and defensive end Charles Tapper. They also have a budding star in sophomore cornerback Zack Sanchez.
Still, I'm as curious as the rest of you to see which version of Knight takes the field this fall. Anyone capable of putting up those numbers against the Crimson Tide's defense is pretty talented. But that was also a 'Bama group that struggled against the pass all season and was playing in a de facto consolation game. My guess? Knight will perform somewhere between the two extremes. However, he has virtually no proven playmakers around him.
If Oklahoma's defense goes from improved to dominant, then maybe it will live up to its lofty hype. But it takes a pretty big leap of faith in May to predict a team that has not been national-title caliber in six years will be better than Florida State, Auburn and Alabama.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/col...ayoff-mailbag/
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Originally Posted by dawg gone it
