OU Sooner's Post Game Analysis - TCU

 OKLAHOMA SOONERS:20


TCU HORNED FROGS: 17




The Sooners defeated TCU 23-20 last Saturday in what looked like it was going to be a shutout for the Sooners. Oklahoma lead 13-0 at the end of the first half. The Sooners did not give up a single first down until the third quarter. TCU clearly proved to be a second half team as they came out and put up 17 points in the second half. Before we get upset about only beating the Horned Frogs by 3, lets remember this team almost beat LSU a few weeks ago. TCU is a solid team, and will be moving up in the Big 12. Having one of the best secondaries in the Nation, and a great quarterback in Trevone Boykin, the Horned Frogs are far from a pushover team.

Lets take a look at the defense: A

The Sooner defense was looking outstanding in the first half. As I stated earlier, TCU did not get a first down until the third quarter. The defense gave up only 210 total yards. Run defense proved to be the stronghold last weekend as the Sooners only gave up 44 total yards rushing. They say defense wins championships, and with the lack of offense this year it is going to have to do just that.

*Injury: Corey Nelson out for season with torn pectoral muscle.

Offense: B

The offense was not what anyone expected it to be last Saturday. I don't think anyone expected an outstanding performance, but scoring only one touchdown in the second half just ins't what this offense is about. Lets keep in mind that TCU has one of the best secondaries in the Nation, and definitely the best in the Big 12. Blake Bell did not play horrible, TCU just simply shut down our receivers. The Sooners will not play a defense that good in the Big 12 again this season. So look out for Bell to come out slinging against Texas this weekend.

Special Teams: A+

The kick off team again looked spectacular last weekend. TCU came in the game averaging over 30 yards per return. The Sooners held the Horned Frogs to just 18 yards. Jed Barnett averaged a low 37 yards on four punts against TCU. Michael Hunnicutt again proved to be one of the best kickers in the nation going 2-2 with a long of 39 yards.

Overall the Sooners played a great game in my opinion. They came out and took care of business to stay at a perfect record of 5-0. Now it is time to focus on the Longhorns.

CMan's Big 12 Power Rankings - Week 6

POWER RANKINGS

#1. Oklahoma Sooners (5-0, 2-0)

Last Week - Beat TCU 20-17

The Sooners defeated TCU Saturday in a game that reminded fans of the Pre Big 12 Horned Frogs. The defense that was the Horned Frogs identity in the late half of the 2000's returned to Owen Field. However, The Sooners made enough plays, when they needed them, to win the game. The OU defense was stout all game but especially in the first half allowing only 16 yards to TCU including zero first downs and negative rushing yards. As for the offense, it sputtered most of the day under the TCU pressure and stingy secondary but Blake Bell proved again that he is a gamer using his feet to secure two first downs late and secure victory for OU.

Up next: Texas

#2. Baylor Bears (4-0, 1-0)

Last Week - Defeated WVU 73-42

Baylor is good. The Bears finally played a team that, on paper, should give them a game. West Virginia gave them a game of sorts scoring 42 points, but Baylor still scored 73 on them and gained over 850 total yards. Baylor's offense is scary good and scary fast. In the first quarter alone last night they had scoring drives of 32, 4 and 8 seconds. The bears had identical 28-7 scores in the first and second quarters to lead 56-14 at half. If that's not enough, Baylor has given up 65 total points in four games, albeit most of them yesterday. Giving up points matters little when you can score 70 per game.

Up next: At Kansas State

#3. Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-0, 2-0)

Last Week - Defeated Kansas 54-16

Reality looked as if it was going to rear its ugly head for the Red Raiders on Saturday. They were on the road in Lawrence and the Jayhawks had just ended the first quartet with a 10 - 0 lead. As it turns out, Texas Tech was just not awake yet. Kansas would not score again till late in the 4th and the Red Raiders would score 56 in between. Texas Tech may not be a premier team but they are a good team. They play good enough offense to score and their defense is much better than it was during the Leach era. The more I watch this team, the more convinced I am that their first challenge will come in three weeks when they face OU in Norman.

Up next: At Iowa State

#4. Oklahoma State Cowboys (4-1, 1-1)

Last Week - Defeated Kansas State 33-29

The Pokes are falling fast. The loss at West Virginia seemed to most, a fluke. Most were convinced that the Cowboys would bounce back big at home against the average Wildcats. The only bounces came in the form of KSU turnovers. The Pokes needed the 5 turnovers and the fourth quarter to put away the Wildcats in Stillwater. KSU was in position to win the game and effectively gave the game to OSU. The Cowboys played well enough defensively but the stout, quick strike offense that has been the standard at OSU for the last few years apparently graduated. Had this game been in Manhattan, the Pokes might be 0-2 in conference. The loss to West Virginia looks worse considering what Baylor did to the Mountaineers last night. TCU looms in two weeks. The Cowboys better get some things figured out in a hurry.

Up Next: Bye week

#5. TCU Horned Frogs (2-3, 0-2)

Last week - Lost to Oklahoma 20-17

TCU played about as well as anyone has in Norman Saturday. The old Horned Frog defense showed up again and Gary Patterson pulled a couple of trick plays on the Sooners that changed the flow of the game in the second half. Still, a loss is a loss. I doubt the Horned Frogs are celebrating any moral victories this morning. The good news is that, despite the 0-2 conference start, TCU will probably finish with a winning conference record. If the Horned Frogs can figure out how to play the first half with the same intensity as they do the second half, they will be hard to beat. However, as long as they play in the Big 12, the 12-1 seasons they used to enjoy aren't likely to return.

Up next: Kansas

#6. Texas Longhorns (3-2, 2-0)

Last Week - Defeated Iowa State 31-30

The Longhorns needed a hail Mary at the end of the first half and the referees in the fourth quarter to pull out a 1 point victory in Ames Iowa Thursday night. The Longhorns 2-0 conference record is built on the backs of two bottom tier Big 12 teams that, frankly, they were lucky to beat. Texas is an average football team at best and really lacks any identity or energy. Texas and Oklahoma enter the Red River Rivalry with wins. However, OU is not happy with the level of play in their win against TCU at home, Texas was just glad to get out of Iowa with a win. The Longhorns look like a .500 team. I'd be surprised if they didn't finish the season with a .500 record.

Up next: Oklahoma

#7. West Virginia Mountaineers (3-3, 1-2)

Last Week: Lost to Baylor 73-42

I don't know what is worse, the WVU loss to Baylor giving up 73 points or the fact that Maryland, who beat WVU 30-0,  lost to Florida State 63-0. Either way, the Mountaineers have got to be one of the most inconsistent teams in college football. The only positive that WVU can take out of the loss to Baylor is that they scored 42 points which will win most games, just not against Baylor. The Mountaineers are tough to figure out. They play good teams tough but falter against average teams. The good news for the Mountaineers is they don't have to play next week. West Virginia will likely end the season with a losing record, and without Dana Holgerson. They, like TCU, probably regret joining the Big 12.

Up next: Bye week

#8. Kansas State Wildcats (2-3, 0-2)

Last Week - Lost to Oklahoma State 33-29

The Wildcats are not a good team but they could easily be 2-0 in the conference. The losses to Texas and Oklahoma State, both on the road, were winnable. In fact, they led late in both games. unfortunately this probably says more about the state of Texas and OSU. The Wildcats will likely have problems against better teams. The game against Baylor will tell us a lot. This Wildcats squad is lacking the discipline and key skill players that they have had in the past. They likely belong in the lower half of the Big 12 and will probably spend the rest of the season there.

Up next: Baylor

#9. Iowa State Cyclones (1-3, 0-1)

Last Week - Lost to Texas 31-30

Iowa State played hard on Thursday night in Ames and, by all rights, deserved a victory over Texas. The Cyclones led late in the fourth and though they had stopped the Longhorns with a goal lie fumble. The only people that didn't see the fumble were the referees. The Cyclones have played hard during Paul Rhodes tenure and will win more than one game this year. This team has the ability and the energy to upset teams. They have done it the last few years and should again this year. This coming Saturday might be their chance.

Up next: at Texas Tech

#10. Kansas Jayhawks (2-2, 0-1)

Last Week - Lost to Texas Tech 56-16

The Jayhawks played real college football Saturday for about 1 quarter. Kansas jumped out to a 10-0 lead over Tech in the first quarter and then realized who they were. The subsequently gave up 56 points before they got back on the board by then, the game was over. On a positive note, the Jayhawks scheduled the game at 11:00 Am so that their fans could get some rest so they could attend the Kansas Jayhawks annual midnight start to the Basketball season. Kansas will play the remainder of the football schedule, very few will notice.

Up next: at TCU

CMan's OU Pregame - Week 6

 OKLAHOMA SOONERS (4-0, 1-0)


TCU HORNED FROGS (2-2, 0-1)



The Oklahoma Sooners take on the TCU Horned Frogs this Saturday in Norman. OU returns home after a decisive victory in South Bend  last week over nationally ranked Notre Dame 35-21. The Horned frogs returned to the win column last week beating SMU, 48-17 in Ft. Worth.

The Sooners have returned to national prominence with their 4-0 record, and a quality win on the road at Notre Dame. TCU has been up and down this season with wins against woeful SMU and SELA while losing to LSU to start the season and suffering a road loss at conference foe Texas Tech.

On paper, this should be a relatively easy Sooner victory. The renewed strength of the OU defense and the emergence of Blake Bell at quarterback make the Sooners solid on both sides of the ball. Throw in the consistent play on special teams and OU could be a dominant team again. The Frogs have been inconsistent at best. They played LSU tough in their opener and losing to the highly ranked SEC power, in Baton Rouge, is nothing to be ashamed about. Few teams beat the Tigers at home. the wins against SE Louisiana and SMU were expected, the loss to Texas Tech was not. Not many expected the Frogs to be 4-0. No one, outside of Lubbock, expected them to be 2-2.

TCU and OU have a little history outside the Big 12. In 2005 TCU handed the Sooners the first non-conference home loss of Bob Stoops career. Stoops doesn't lose at home very often, in fact he is 84-5 at home in his career. TCU was considered a national power program prior to joining the Big 12 last year. Frogs head coach Gary Patterson is 116-36 in 13 years at TCU including a perfect 13-0 in 2010. However, after an 11-2 season in 2011, the Frogs went 7-6 in their first Big 12 season including a 4-5 conference record.

Despite the lack of conference success last season, TCU was projected to finish on top of the Big 12 this season. They brought experience at quarterback and the strength of Patterson's resume. The Frogs lost senior QB Casey Pachall to injury early and have depended on inconsistent sophomore back up Trevone Boykin since game 2. The TCU defense, once one of the most feared in college football, has given up 25.5 points per game this season. The offense simply has not been able to score more than the defense has given up in their two losses. The Frogs have scored 86  points in two wins and only 37 in two losses. OU, with Blake under center, has scored 86 points and given up 41. In all games the Sooners have averaged 46.5 points scored and have only given up and average of 12.

All that being said, the Sooners are on a high and TCU is trying to figure out how to win in the Big 12. The Horned Frogs are a proud program that has a winning tradition. They are not used to losing more than two game per season and are faced with the prospect of another 5 or 6 loss season in 2013. This game has all the ingredients for a trap game. TCU knows it can win in Norman and Gary Patterson knows how to win. In addition, the Sooners travel to Dallas next week to take on a weak Texas team. A win in the Cotton Bowl and Bob Stoops will have a 10-5 record against UT and Mack Brown. The Red River Rivalry is the standard by which OU and it's head coaches are judged. It would be easy for the Sooners to look past TCU and set their sights on the Longhorns. Can Stoops keep the team focused on the task at hand? We'll know tonight.

I anticipate a quick start by TCU and perhaps even catching the Sooners off guard by taking an early lead. However, the Sooners have shown the ability to handle adversity much better this season than the past few years. They have a dominant attitude on defense and are gaining comfort on offense under Bell. A slow start by OU will likely end in an attitude adjustment and the result will be dominance. Sooners win 45-24.