Personal Transformation After the Game

[soonerguru]

Immediately after the game, while returning to the car, I had that familiar sick feeling that I've had after the home losses I've attended: OSU in 2001, TCU in 2005, K-State this year, etc.

I was mad at the refs.

I thought our linemen on both sides of the ball got pushed around.

I was mad at Josh Heupel.

I was mad at Mike because the defense again wilted in the fourth.

I thought Stoops coached a tight, conservative ballgame, unlike the whooping we put on Texas a couple of weeks ago.

Then, amazingly, I decided to watch the recording of the game when I got home. Weird how different it looked the second time. In reality:

The refs did make a couple of mistakes but not the ones I thought they made in the stadium.

Our linemen did get pushed around a bit, but not by a big measure. Our o-line kept Landry's jersey pretty clean and our d-line was not the problem on defense.

Heupel called a decent game. Not great by any standards, but a decent game nonetheless. We moved the ball all over the field and had nearly 400 yards of offense against a very talented defense. We couldn't run the ball, but that is a credit to Notre Dame.

Our defense did a very solid job. We did far better against their running game than it looked to me in the stadium. They did wilt in the fourth when we needed a stop the most but for the most part they played a very good game.

As for Bob Stoops, I don't think he can be blamed for this loss per se. He did get very upset at that ref for taking Bell's TD off the board, and I agree with him. Why, for example, didn't the ref even say who the holding penalty was called on? The whole thing was mystifying. One key difference I noted was how calm and composed Kelly seemed while Stoops seemed agitated and angry, even berating Undule at one point.

Takeaway: it was a great football game. If I were a casual football fan with no allegiances it would have been fun to watch. As a Sooner fan it sucked to lose, but we lost to a very good team.

We also have a very good team. We are very physical and hit just as hard as Notre Dame. Losing a couple of key players on our offensive line before the season started (and losing Kasitati during the season) may have made a difference in our o-line's overall strength.

As a fan of college football, I was thrilled to have gone to the game. The Sooner fans were outstanding and the atmosphere was electric. Wish we would have come out on the other side.

[Nuked]

Your well thought out arguments based on maturity and level-headedness have no place on the internet.

[McRib]

So great.

[Spade1000]

Ban the OP
close thread

[Yuck Fu]

Your well thought out arguments based on maturity and level-headedness have no place on the internet.

Guru is one of the biggest sunshine pumpers on the board. What else would you expect from him? Sounds like he DID let his inner Gloomer Doomer out for a little while. So there may still hope for him.

[TittiezBeerNSoonerFB]

So, I probably SHOULD watch the recording.

[soonerguru]

Guru is one of the biggest sunshine pumpers on the board. What else would you expect from him? Sounds like he DID let his inner Gloomer Doomer out for a little while. So there may still hope for him.

Not really a sunshine pumper. My 'tude changes with the seasons. I generally don't start screaming for coaches to be fired after close losses to undefeated, top-five teams, though, so there is that.

[soonerguru]

So, I probably SHOULD watch the recording.

Yes. You should. It was a big-time football game. It looked great on the Teevee. OU and Notre Dame are going to win a ****pile of games the rest of the season. It was a "classic" as it featured two top-notch teams in an amazing environment going after each other. Sucks to lose.

[Yuck Fu]

Not really a sunshine pumper. My 'tude changes with the seasons. I generally don't start screaming for coaches to be fired after close losses to undefeated, top-five teams, though, so there is that.

Well maybe we can lose to somebody outside the top 5 and get you turned.

In all seriousness, ND did to us basically the same thing they did to all their other opponents...........which makes us about like BYU, Stanford and the Michigans.............

[bJ0]

I disagree with this being called a classic. the fact that it was two storied programs doesnt make it a classic.

any trogolodyte would simply look at the numbers... ZERO or negative rushing yards and a **** ton of passing yards yet for some reason OU keeps trying to run the ball... seriously? me just simple caveman but know ****ty play calling when me see it.

[Soonerfan84]

It was a very good game. I'm glad to have gone. Notre Dame is a very good football team this year and this was a once in a generation opportunity to witness this matchup. But...

Alabama wouldn't have lost to that team. We aren't Alabama. Why can't we be Alabama? We should be Alabama. Why? Because Alabama is about winning championships.

And Stoops said it himself: Oklahoma is about winning championships. That's what Alabama is doing right now. That's what Alabama has been doing for 4+ years now. Why is it every year OU has some flaw and we can never truly rise above it when it matters most, but Alabama can have a flaw and it does not matter to them at all? They just win, which is what we should be doing.

Big Game Bob is no more. 1-2 vs. ranked teams this year with the one victory coming against a team that squeaked out a 4-point victory vs. Kansas yesterday. We've lost at home 3 times in 2 seasons even with a supposedly big time head coach (who lost only twice in twelve seasons at home) and an experienced quarterback. He just does not have the heart of a national champion anymore.

[soonerUthenMe]

Don't fool yourself this was more then just a game. It was about "national respect, Tradition!, protecting home field, They stoled our ****ing sign ( play like champions today ) and we didn't have the balls to get it back" Anytime a team and fan base has the attitude of. Hey we gave it our best shot then thats weak ****.

[PokeJ]

As a nonfan of either school this was a great game to watch. Not very many teams sign up to play other big time programs out of conference. Kudos to OU and ND for making this game happen.


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[OU48A]

We are not as physical and we do not hit just as hard as Notre Dame!
But if we want to be Stoop and staff had better start recruit better players.
That doesn’t mean we are a bad program, but clearly we don’t have what it takes right now to play at the elite level.

[OkieforOU]

It was a good game. I expected Notre Dame to be well coached and to play hard.
Notre Dame's strength is a consistent plodding, mistake free run game with play action p****, QB run game and a great defense.
OU's thing is the hurry up, quick strike, big play offense.
Notre Dame gave OU the short p**** and stiffened in the red zone. They gave up 0 big plays. They made zero mistakes. They had ONE penalty for 5 yards and only allowed OU 15 yds on the ground.
OU gave up 215 yards rushing and made two very costly errors on defense that gave Notre Dame 2 TDs.
Landry Jones missed on all of his deep passes, the last one hitting the defender in the back. (not blaming Landry, --- well maybe a little).
To win this game OU needed to be as error free as ND was, but they weren't. They needed to stop the run, they gave up over 200 yds. They needed to hit a couple of big plays which they didn't. Notre Dame executed their gameplan nearly perfectly and they beat OU in every area that they needed to beat us. ND's front seven was very good, but you have to give it up to their secondary as well for not ever giving up a deep p****.

The holding call was holding. However that same thing probably happened 50 more times in the game and wasn't called.

[soonerguru]

It was a good game. I expected Notre Dame to be well coached and to play hard.
Notre Dame's strength is a consistent plodding, mistake free run game with play action p****, QB run game and a great defense.
OU's thing is the hurry up, quick strike, big play offense.
Notre Dame gave OU the short p**** and stiffened in the red zone. They gave up 0 big plays. They made zero mistakes. They had ONE penalty for 5 yards and only allowed OU 15 yds on the ground.
OU gave up 215 yards rushing and made two very costly errors on defense that gave Notre Dame 2 TDs.
Landry Jones missed on all of his deep passes, the last one hitting the defender in the back. (not blaming Landry, --- well maybe a little).
To win this game OU needed to be as error free as ND was, but they weren't. They needed to stop the run, they gave up over 200 yds. They needed to hit a couple of big plays which they didn't. Notre Dame executed their gameplan nearly perfectly and they beat OU in every area that they needed to beat us. ND's front seven was very good, but you have to give it up to their secondary as well for not ever giving up a deep p****.

The holding call was holding. However that same thing probably happened 50 more times in the game and wasn't called.

Nice comments. I thought Landry played a very good game. ND was determined to not give us any deep passes. They backed the safeties up to ensure we couldn't beat them deep. Landry did a great job of finding receivers behind the LBs and in front of the safeties. Needed our receivers to get more YAC, but credit ND for tackling extremely well. I think we all knew we wouldn't be able to run on them, and we were right.

[OU48A]

ND was determined to not give us any deep passes. They backed the safeties up to ensure we couldn't beat them deep. Landry did a great job of finding receivers behind the LBs and in front of the safeties. Needed our receivers to get more YAC, but credit ND for tackling extremely well. I think we all knew we wouldn't be able to run on them, and we were right.

This will be the recipe to defend OU the rest of the year…
If we can’t counter with a run game it will be tough.
This is why we need much better linemen.

[sooners2win]

So, I probably SHOULD watch the recording.

I did this morning, and he is pretty on the money. 20-13 with 4 minutes left and then the int killed us.
Got to establish some running game though, only thing I wish we done different was tried the belldozer
early in the game when 2nd and 3 and situations similar. It was obvious that our RB were not going to
be able to run.

[soonerguru]

We are not as physical and we do not hit just as hard as Notre Dame!
But if we want to be Stoop and staff had better start recruit better players.
That doesn’t mean we are a bad program, but clearly we don’t have what it takes right now to play at the elite level.

We're not elite this year. Remember -- and I'm sure you do -- that for once we had DEPTH on the offensive line! Remember the collective ****s on this board about how it would feel to have DEPTH on the offensive line? Well, by August, our depth was gone, baby, gone.

It's a difficult thing to put all of the pieces together. When the King was here, there were no scholarship limits and teams like OU could load the **** up on talent. In today's game, three injuries can mean the difference between having depth and having none. We're closer to none at this point.

Alabama and LSU have been loading up on interior linemen. But how do we know they aren't cheating? Both schools have a very checkered past in that department. As for Notre Dame, they've put several pieces together this year. Hats off to them. I seriously doubt, however, that they will be able to hang with Alabama or even Oregon in a title game.

It takes great recruiting, great player development, and flat-out luck in the injury department to put it all together for a title run. You have to be great in all three phases (particularly defense). The last title run we had in '08 featured a less-than-stellar defensive unit. That's what makes years like 2000 all the more special.

One of these years we'll have it all: great offensive and defensive lines, great linebackers, great secondary, great QB, great special teams, and NO INJURY LUCK. That's what it takes to win it all (short of cheating and buying players).

This year's strengths: QB, receivers, running backs, secondary, special teams. Also, the defensive line is better than average although not championship caliber.

This year's weaknesses: Tight ends (do we even have any?), run blocking (although this is good at times), offensive line depth, linebackers (worst at OU in a while).

[soonerguru]

This will be the recipe to defend OU the rest of the year…
If we can’t counter with a run game it will be tough.
This is why we need much better linemen.

I think we'll be able to run on just about everyone else we play. ND's strength is run defense.

[Spade1000]

Run defense used to be our strength. Conversely , those great run stopping D-lines we had used that same penetration to disrupt and hurry passing games...which allowed us to cap and umbrella the Db's and backers to force everything in front of us. We went away from that philosophy , either because of recruiting issues , or I pray this isn't the case: we put a premium on tweeners who could rush the passer and or allegedly play in space. I think almost the exact same is true with the Offense as well, with just a few minor differences. We suddenly went to a "out gimmick you" philosophy... i really wonder WHY exactly we did it.

[OU48A]

We're not elite this year. Remember -- and I'm sure you do -- that for once we had DEPTH on the offensive line! Remember the collective ****s on this board about how it would feel to have DEPTH on the offensive line? Well, by August, our depth was gone, baby, gone.

It's a difficult thing to put all of the pieces together. When the King was here, there were no scholarship limits and teams like OU could load the **** up on talent. In today's game, three injuries can mean the difference between having depth and having none. We're closer to none at this point.

Alabama and LSU have been loading up on interior linemen. But how do we know they aren't cheating? Both schools have a very checkered past in that department. As for Notre Dame, they've put several pieces together this year. Hats off to them. I seriously doubt, however, that they will be able to hang with Alabama or even Oregon in a title game.

It takes great recruiting, great player development, and flat-out luck in the injury department to put it all together for a title run. You have to be great in all three phases (particularly defense). The last title run we had in '08 featured a less-than-stellar defensive unit. That's what makes years like 2000 all the more special.

One of these years we'll have it all: great offensive and defensive lines, great linebackers, great secondary, great QB, great special teams, and NO INJURY LUCK. That's what it takes to win it all (short of cheating and buying players).

This year's strengths: QB, receivers, running backs, secondary, special teams. Also, the defensive line is better than average although not championship caliber.

This year's weaknesses: Tight ends (do we even have any?), run blocking (although this is good at times), offensive line depth, linebackers (worst at OU in a while).

This has been an issue in more years than not under Stoops and partly because he just doesn’t sign enough O linemen. An OL takes more time to develop than any other position.
Most of all we need better player evaluations done when recruiting O linemen and DT’s

It’s time to finally do whatever is necessary to fix this situation because we are pretty much a 10 win team at best until we do.

[soonerguru]

This has been an issue in more years than not under Stoops and partly because he just doesn’t sign enough O linemen. An OL takes more time to develop than any other position.
Most of all we need better player evaluations done when recruiting O linemen and DT’s

It’s time to finally do whatever is necessary to fix this situation because we are pretty much a 10 win team at best until we do.

I agree it's been a problem. Under Mangino, we had a lot of defections and quitters. This happened under Wilson, too. This year, we simply got bit by the injury bug. We had a preseason All-Big 12 lineman quit football; two others are out for the season. I would argue that our recruiting of o-linemen has increased, and been fairly good, lately, but injuries simply happen. So we went from having the most depth we've had in years to that vanishing for the most part by August (followed by Kasitati's injury in September).

[Jasooner]

A "classic" game would've been both teams doing what they both did well.

We didnt do what we did well. We didnt p**** the ball well, other than to Saunders...we didnt run he ball at all. We had like 5 yards.

Defensively we were great on 1st and nd down....but 3rd down we couldnt get them off the field enough.

They did what they did well which is why they won handily

[PeytonManning]

OU fans are quickly becoming more like OSU fans. Losing is becoming more familiar the more often it happens and it's becoming ok. Handling it well has nothing to do with maturity and more with accepting it for what it is. OSU fans can relate.. Before long we will gloat and hang our hat on one big win a year(Oh wait, we already do that)

We may suck but at least Texas is worse. Meanwhile Bama is claiming another N.C.

[OU48A]

OU fans are quickly becoming more like OSU fans. Losing is becoming more familiar the more often it happens and it's becoming ok. Handling it well has nothing to do with maturity and more with accepting it for what it is. OSU fans can relate.. Before long we will gloat and hang our hat on one big win a year(Oh wait, we already do that)

We may suck but at least Texas is worse. Meanwhile Bama is claiming another N.C.

With a certain segment of our fan base this is true….. I call it apathy.
Apathy can spread like a cancer and is a sure path to mediocrity.
It should be confronted by fans even if it’s coming from within the program.

[soonerguru]

OU fans are quickly becoming more like OSU fans. Losing is becoming more familiar the more often it happens and it's becoming ok. Handling it well has nothing to do with maturity and more with accepting it for what it is. OSU fans can relate.. Before long we will gloat and hang our hat on one big win a year(Oh wait, we already do that)

We may suck but at least Texas is worse. Meanwhile Bama is claiming another N.C.

Bull****. I'm still sick to my stomach about the loss. My wife was concerned about my mental health after the game. Just because some people choose not to make a spectacle of themselves and scream that everyone should be fired and / or benched doesn't make them lOSUr fans.

Should OU fans burn couches or burn replicas of Josh Heupel in effigy in order to not be OSU fans?

Sometimes you get beat fair and square, like last night. Other time, you **** yourself and lose, like K-State.

It seems to me that lOSUr fans are delusional, and often falsely optimistically view their team's standing. Acknowledging reality is not the same, and certainly not a trait of lOSUr.

[PeytonManning]

Bull****. I'm still sick to my stomach about the loss. My wife was concerned about my mental health after the game. Just because some people choose not to make a spectacle of themselves and scream that everyone should be fired and / or benched doesn't make them lOSUr fans.

Should OU fans burn couches or burn replicas of Josh Heupel in effigy in order to not be OSU fans?

Sometimes you get beat fair and square, like last night. Other time, you **** yourself and lose, like K-State.

It seems to me that lOSUr fans are delusional, and often falsely optimistically view their team's standing. Acknowledging reality is not the same, and certainly not a trait of lOSUr.

aggie!

[MOJO_ERASER]

I was drunk and went to bed..... Was pissed woke up alittle better knowing atleast now i wont be down on myself when OU loses because we got nothing to lose now............well of course if we dont lose all our games .

[soonerUthenMe]

I think a lot of people probably got drunk after the game last night. I stop doing that yrs ago because it makes the hang overs feel worse. Its better to just throw your women in bed and take it out on her. Happy ending win or lose and she learns to appreciate football a little more. H****

[PokeJ]

I think a lot of people probably got drunk after the game last night. I stop doing that yrs ago because it makes the hang overs feel worse. Its better to just throw your women in bed and take it out on her. Happy ending win or lose and she learns to appreciate football a little more. Ha

So she gets 3-4 minutes of pleasure out of an OU loss?

[byrk75]

Bull****. I'm still sick to my stomach about the loss. My wife was concerned about my mental health after the game. Just because some people choose not to make a spectacle of themselves and scream that everyone should be fired and / or benched doesn't make them lOSUr fans.

Should OU fans burn couches or burn replicas of Josh Heupel in effigy in order to not be OSU fans?

Sometimes you get beat fair and square, like last night. Other time, you **** yourself and lose, like K-State.

It seems to me that lOSUr fans are delusional, and often falsely optimistically view their team's standing. Acknowledging reality is not the same, and certainly not a trait of lOSUr.

I don't see that in you.. I see more of an oorah or soonerlife approach

[caseyou1]

Nice comments. I thought Landry played a very good game. ND was determined to not give us any deep passes. They backed the safeties up to ensure we couldn't beat them deep. Landry did a great job of finding receivers behind the LBs and in front of the safeties. Needed our receivers to get more YAC, but credit ND for tackling extremely well. I think we all knew we wouldn't be able to run on them, and we were right.

This is exactly right. For years the philosophy of our D playing the likes of Tech, Baylor of the world is keep them in front of you and don't give up the big play. The difference with OU has been a receiver or running backs that made them pay. Now the table was turned on OU and it worked to perfection. ND imposed they're will upon OU rather than us imposing ours on them. Getting field goals instead of tds was a victory for ND. KSU said it"sit back and let them make the mistakes" and although OU played a ok game mistakes did cost them, ala the 62 yrd run and the "hold" the the killer "int" but if OU would have scored tds instead of field goals it probably would have been OU imposing the will on ND. So unless OU Does impose it looks like we have to pray for Sooner Magic but that's been a while ago.

[100%sooner]

OU is not the OU I grew up with. Still a huge fan and always will be. Apathy and loss of passion for being the best and NOT losing is no longer part of the team's make up. I won't blame players, it is primarily coaching. Stoops is my guy, would not trade him for anyone, however, he needs to change a bit and get a little nasty internally regarding anything average or below in the program.

[heff]

Apathy and loss of passion for being the best and NOT losing is no longer part of the team's make up.

Based on what?

[soonerguru]

I don't see that in you.. I see more of an oorah or soonerlife approach

Well, I cannot speak for how much effort you spend trying to divine my feelings and / or thoughts, so I won't try. But you're dead wrong about my disappointment.

It's Monday morning and I'm still bummed. Still reliving that nightmare of having Bell's TD taken off the board. Still pissed that our receiver was wearing a ND DB on his back when the ball bounced off of him into the hands (ground?) of another ND player. Still upset we didn't try the Belldozer on third and three on the first drive that netted a field goal.

Yes, I'm absolutely sick about the loss. This one hurts far more than the K-State loss to me.