The Positives

[theprofessor]

We tried. We didn't have half the talent of OU, but we gave it our best shot from start to finish.

If you truly believe that, you didn't watch the same game that I did. We came out unprepared to play and didn't belong on the same field. If that was our "best shot," I am truly afraid for the rest of the season.

[T1]

If you truly believe that, you didn't watch the same game that I did. We came out unprepared to play and didn't belong on the same field. If that was our "best shot," I am truly afraid for the rest of the season.

Yeah, I disagree with you. But we can agree that we don't belong on the same field with OU.

[theprofessor]

AMEN!! Our full coaching staff hasn't been here a full 18 months are are playing with many of the cards dealt by Dykes. Our first game against #2-#3 OU was a huge improvement over last year's games in so very many ways. This staff has coached these young guys up. And Sokol after only 30+ days in Ruston played good and also improved as the game went along. If kept healthy, as well as our OL and WR corp this could be a bowl year. Only 1 sack given up by the OL against OU! But we have to open up some holes and run better for sure. And the defense will continue to improve. It's just a very tough schedule that Skip was dealt by BVD. Stay healthy and we go bowling IMHO.

The revisionist history is one of the worst things about this site. We act like Sonny Dykes didn't win 17 games over his final two seasons and have us in the best position we'd been in over the past 15 years.

[Champ967]

If you truly believe that, you didn't watch the same game that I did. We came out unprepared to play and didn't belong on the same field. If that was our "best shot," I am truly afraid for the rest of the season.

I'm also inclined to respectfully disagree. We did as well against OU as some of their own conference mates will.

Aside from the snap hitting Lee on the first(?) drive, I don't remember seeing any major screw ups or miscues. Penalties were within acceptable norms, as were incomplete passes. The team was still looking lively - not gassed: hands on hips or dragging feet - on the final possessions.

We got outplayed, no question. But it's not like our team played like sh-- either. That alone is a noticeable improvement over last season.

[Built4Speed]

I'm also inclined to respectfully disagree. We did as well against OU as some of their own conference mates will.

Aside from the snap hitting Lee on the first(?) drive, I don't remember seeing any major screw ups or miscues. Penalties were within acceptable norms, as were incomplete passes. The team was still looking lively - not gassed: hands on hips or dragging feet - on the final possessions.

We got outplayed, no question. But it's not like our team played like sh-- either. That alone is a noticeable improvement over last season.

Completely agree. I haven't been able to say this in a while, but we didn't beat ourselves. OU is just flat out better in all 3 phases than us and they played up to their ranking.

We have a lot of work to do, but to me, there's absolutely no reason to think this team won't be a hell of a lot more competitive through the course of the season than last year's team was.

[PawDawg]

Special teams were HORRIBLE. That's as bad as coaching gets.

[BearDawg137]

Jitters from the 85K crowd and playing our first game may have led to that. Apparently, the first kick blocked we only had 10 men on the field, while the 1st punt attempt with OU we had 12. As for the final blocked XP, that was bad. And our punt/kick return coverage weren't too good. But our punter/kicker seemed good when they had the chance.

[T1]

Maddawg's right (occasionally), we need to fix our Special Teams. Cost us 11 points.

[PawDawg]

If I can get 11 six year olds to consistently line up on the field for kicking or punting team, I'd think a guy making $1M with a special teams coach could figure it out.

[RougeDawg]

If I can get 11 six year olds to consistently line up on the field for kicking or punting team, I'd think a guy making $1M with a special teams coach could figure it out.

Counting is hard.

[HogDawg]

I doubt that. He lost to Stephen F Austin and thought a win against Tulsa was a great achievement.

I heard the OU game announcers saying they expected the Sooners to be severely challenged by Tulsa this week in Tulsa. They actually sounded pretty concerned. Just saying.......

[HogDawg]

Not as bad as 28-0

When does squirell season open??

There ya go. Glad you're setting the bar high.

[Docman5]

I heard the OU game announcers saying they expected the Sooners to be severely challenged by Tulsa this week in Tulsa. They actually sounded pretty concerned. Just saying.......

Severely challenged? If OU only beats Tulsa by 30 will that be severely challenged? How about only 25? OU is ranked at 3 for a reason; they have back so much of the team that throttled Alabama. I'm not ready to say our team is horrible. What I saw gave me lots of hope over the bad team of last year.

[HogDawg]

If I can get 11 six year olds to consistently line up on the field for kicking or punting team, I'd think a guy making $1M with a special teams coach could figure it out.

Amen! HAHA! Great post. That's what I dislike about Holtz. He makes the easy things look hard.

[HogDawg]

Severely challenged? If OU only beats Tulsa by 30 will that be severely challenged? How about only 25? OU is ranked at 3 for a reason; they have back so much of the team that throttled Alabama. I'm not ready to say our team is horrible. What I saw gave me lots of hope over the bad team of last year.

What if Tulsa stays within 14 points? Or 10. Or God forbid, BEATS OU?