Next years offense will be run heavy.

[Rockgod]

Landry made some throws look easy. Our current QBS are not ready for 30 passes a game. We are loaded at RB. Can the new OL coach make a difference. I think so. Spring practice reports should be interesting. Less hurry up and more ball control. We will actualy see some old fashioned option football with this group of QBS. In other words,a return to sanity. I think Stoops will coach more like Bill Snyder this year as opposed to Steve Spurrier. A serious running game with some play action will actualy make the WRS more explosive. More deep throws and I hear Bell excells at that.

[greensooner]

I'll believe it when I see it personally. We've heard a lot of things every year in spring ball, I'm tired of believing things and won't until I see it from now on.

[Palmbeachsooner]

Lets hope so

[boomermagic]

Landry made some throws look easy. Our current QBS are not ready for 30 passes a game. We are loaded at RB. Can the new OL coach make a difference. I think so. Spring practice reports should be interesting. Less hurry up and more ball control. We will actualy see some old fashioned option football with this group of QBS. In other words,a return to sanity. I think Stoops will coach more like Bill Snyder this year as opposed to Steve Spurrier. A serious running game with some play action will actualy make the WRS more explosive. More deep throws and I hear Bell excells at that.

Doubt it but I hope..

[HeroOfTheDay]

I support this

[OUrage]

Any smart OC can see the sense of what you say, let's hope Heupel ain't stupid.

[Palmbeachsooner]

Someone should give Josh a Krispy Kreme everytime he runs the ball.

[SoonerLibertarian]

We have no idea where our offense is going at this point. Based on our history since Stoops has been here we will continue to use the p**** the set up the run.

[SilksKS]

Anyone that thinks Bell isn't ready to throw it is an idiot. People were saying the same thing in 2007 when Sam was going to start......heck we didn't even know Sam had the job until mid August.

Landry stepped right in as a redshirt freshman and made some nice throws, but we unfortunately never got rid of bad Landry.

What we need is balance. Let's take what the defense gives us. If they put 8 in the box let Bell burn them. If they respect the p**** lets run it.

But after watching what Bell can do and seeing how he inspires the team it is just stupid to think he is less prepared than Sam and Landry were. I'm not saying he will be better than Sam, but he will be better than Landry.

[Sooner Shemp]

What makes you think Bedenbaugh will teach the run block scheme when he hasn't done very well with it in the past? His scheme in the past has been the spread offense. Doubt he'll improve the run blocking. I think he was a bad choice by Stoops. I hope the hell I am wrong.

[ArmySooner]

OU is gonna spread it out and throw the ball like crazy. I have no problem with that.

[CrimsonHeaven]

Read option ...we can call it the Tommy Gun with Kendall. Or thesingle wing with Knight and call it Clever Trevor. We need a gimmick.

[Rockgod]

Lack of experience at QB is usualy a very big problem. Bell has not run an offense of any kind. He has been a short yardage RB. Sam was one in a thousand as a soph. and had a great OL. Spring ball will tell it all. Those short little passes were just running plays anyway.

[CrimsonHeaven]

Anyone that thinks Bell isn't ready to throw it is an idiot. People were saying the same thing in 2007 when Sam was going to start......heck we didn't even know Sam had the job until mid August.

Landry stepped right in as a redshirt freshman and made some nice throws, but we unfortunately never got rid of bad Landry.

What we need is balance. Let's take what the defense gives us. If they put 8 in the box let Bell burn them. If they respect the p**** lets run it.

But after watching what Bell can do and seeing how he inspires the team it is just stupid to think he is less prepared than Sam and Landry were. I'm not saying he will be better than Sam, but he will be better than Landry.

Bell isn't a one trick pony. He was a hell of a passer in HS and a damn good runner. His paternal family players in the NFL with a mean streak I would bet he inherited.

[willie]

I'd be shocked if we are that good at running the ball but I guess one can hope. If we do let Bell run some it will help.

[44BluesExplosion]

I think we are gonna see something very close to what the 49ers ran this year...

[Houston Sooner]

Will be in trouble if they throw like they did last season. Run run run will be a good thing

[gosooner2]

What makes you think Bedenbaugh will teach the run block scheme when he hasn't done very well with it in the past? His scheme in the past has been the spread offense. Doubt he'll improve the run blocking. I think he was a bad choice by Stoops. I hope the hell I am wrong.

Read his bio he has never ever coached a run offense. All it talks about is the ability to protect the passer. Unfortunately I do not think you are wrong. I doubt any SEC or for that matter BIG or Pac schools were after him just us!

[ArmySooner]

Read his bio he has never ever coached a run offense. All it talks about is the ability to protect the passer. Unfortunately I do not think you are wrong. I doubt any SEC or for that matter BIG or Pac schools were after him just us!

P**** protection is a good thing.

[fdubzou]

Not with Heupel as OC.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Big Pimpin']

Not with Heupel as OC.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

This. Josh Heupel has never shown any indication of being able to coach a running offense.

We had good RB's last year and his short yardage solution was to substitute an entirely new offense to the point everyone knew what was coming.

[OldSooner]

Offense will be fine, way more concerned about the d.

[85sooners]

Pound the muthafuckin rock!!

[Stein7495]

We have the backs and the mobility at quarterback to become more run oriented. The physicality of the offensive line is the key. The rushing attack was way to inconsistent this year. People like to point out the high YPG statistic. Thats because Damien Williams had a bunch of 50+ yard runs. Way too many times I saw a good gain on the ground of about 8 to 9 yards and then the very next play we try to run again and we either get stuffed or lose 2 to 3 yards. 4 yards and a cloud of dust gets you first downs, Josh.

[xunil]

You guys are dreaming a total fantasy if you think we're switching to a run oriented offense. We might have more emphasis on running, hopefully do it better, but we will be a p**** oriented offense.

[SECsooner]

What makes you think Bedenbaugh will teach the run block scheme when he hasn't done very well with it in the past? His scheme in the past has been the spread offense. Doubt he'll improve the run blocking. I think he was a bad choice by Stoops. I hope the hell I am wrong.

should have hired the o-line guy from Vanderbilt.

[TexasSucks]

You guys are dreaming a total fantasy if you think we're switching to a run oriented offense. We might have more emphasis on running, hopefully do it better, but we will be a p**** oriented offense.

My prediction:

With 3 DTs, OU runs the ball all over the defense in the spring (because our front 5-7 is going to suck), the coaches tell us how great we're going to be, and we fail miserably next year to run the ball against any decent defenses we face (more of the same).

[soonercoop1]

We will have to be run heavy and have 14-15 play drives with only 3 D-linemen next season....how do you get paid 5+ million a year and only have 3 DTs at OU?

[EufaulaSooner]

Start Millard and Ripkowski with Bell at QB, and 3 WRs (Shepard, Saunders, Reynolds) and we will have the right personnel for both a physical run game and a high-powered passing offense.

[Stinger_1066]

Landry made some throws look easy. Our current QBS are not ready for 30 passes a game. We are loaded at RB. Can the new OL coach make a difference. I think so. Spring practice reports should be interesting. Less hurry up and more ball control. We will actualy see some old fashioned option football with this group of QBS. In other words,a return to sanity. I think Stoops will coach more like Bill Snyder this year as opposed to Steve Spurrier. A serious running game with some play action will actualy make the WRS more explosive. More deep throws and I hear Bell excells at that.

John Blake, Joe ****inson, Brandon Daniels - return to the glory days of running the Wishbone.

Coach Stoops (doing his best Howard Schnellenberger impersonation) - "We didn't bring Bill Bedenbaugh in here to run the Wishbone."

Obelisks

[Stinger_1066]

Start Millard and Ripkowski with Bell at QB, and 3 WRs (Shepard, Saunders, Reynolds) and we will have the right personnel for both a physical run game and a high-powered passing offense.

So we sit Damien Williams on the bench?

[SoonerLibertarian]

We will have to be run heavy and have 14-15 play drives with only 3 D-linemen next season....how do you get paid 5+ million a year and only have 3 DTs at OU?

As we saw last year our offense doesn't change if our defense has weaknesses. We played without LBs the last half of last season and still ran the same offense.

[tctc33]

I'm not sure that this defense against Big 12 offenses is going to allow our offense the luxury of employing a run-first, ball-control style of play. We're going to have to score a lot of points this year.

[oucub23]

As we saw last year our offense doesn't change if our defense has weaknesses. We played without LBs the last half of last season and still ran the same offense.

Yes. Three hand offs and a punt would have been much more effective.

[srburkhart]

I've been saying this for 3 years. OU will never be a run first team under Bob. He is from the Spurrier school of offense.

[Dr Sleep]

Landry made some throws look easy. Our current QBS are not ready for 30 passes a game. We are loaded at RB. Can the new OL coach make a difference. I think so. Spring practice reports should be interesting. Less hurry up and more ball control. We will actualy see some old fashioned option football with this group of QBS. In other words,a return to sanity. I think Stoops will coach more like Bill Snyder this year as opposed to Steve Spurrier. A serious running game with some play action will actualy make the WRS more explosive. More deep throws and I hear Bell excells at that.

I think we will have some QB run game, but Bill Bedenbough is a Air Raid guy. I don't think we have anyone on staff that has previous experience in an option offense.

[zcaa0g]

I'm not sure that this defense against Big 12 offenses is going to allow our offense the luxury of employing a run-first, ball-control style of play. We're going to have to score a lot of points this year.

It will help a lot that McFarland, McGee and Walker are gone.

[gosooner2]

It will help a lot that McFarland, McGee and Walker are gone.

Sure will now we have only three that are worse than they were.

[greensooner]

Sure will now we have only three that are worse than they were.

don't think they could be worse with the new group...it will be about the same or better depending on who coaches them and if we get Russell to come in I think we will be in better shape than we were with that trio the last few years

Phillips, Wade, and Russell should be better at DT than what we had last year at least

[soonerfan15]

We should be studying a lot of Nevada film from when Kaepernick was there. We are built for that offense. Give Bell lots of opportunities to have run/p**** option where he doesn't unnecessarily get exposed to a lot of hits. Retain some of the Air Raid concepts we've been using for the last decade in our passing game by staying in a relatively spread out "shotgun" based offense. Can still run 4 verticals and the TE/slot option route that we love out of that.

It would allow us to get back to the original principles that inspired Wilson taking us no-huddle because we won't have to sub to change from power run to spread passing. With the skill guys being Bell, Millard, 2 pure receivers (like Metoyer) and 2 utility guys who can do a lot of different things (like Finch, Clay, Neal, Sheppard, Williams, Ross and Saunders), we can easily switch back and forth.

Want the fullback as a lead blocker? Put Millard next to the QB and put the back behind him. Want to run jet motion with the threat of an inside run on the table and a QB roll out for p****/run? Put someone like Finch in motion and put Millard at the tailback spot. Nevada was deadly with that because they used that motion man as a blocker for Kaepernick and then would run a little 2 man option with the tailback. You had a guy running full tilt with an angle to cut the LB or safety that is usually sent to fill the gap vacated by the DE when he chases down the line. Finch was great at that block when we were running the diamond a lot in 2010. Want to spread it out and throw it all over the field? All those guys have shown the ability to run routes and catch the ball and run after the catch. Millard can play TE/FB/RB, and several of those guys can play both slot and RB.

It would put a strain on the opposing defense, which should take a lot of pressure off Bell in the passing game. Plus, we can be multiple enough that you could remove the read plays from the playbook entirely and still strain the defense, so if he is struggling with handling all the reads in the running game, he doesn't have to.

Finally, it takes a lot of pressure off the O line because you don't have to be exceptional to protect the QB or run the ball in that scheme. Plus, the ability to mask whether we are running or throwing (something we haven't been doing very well for the past 2 seasons) really makes it a lot easier on the line.

[Dr Sleep]

We should be studying a lot of Nevada film from when Kaepernick was there. We are built for that offense. Give Bell lots of opportunities to have run/p**** option where he doesn't unnecessarily get exposed to a lot of hits. Retain some of the Air Raid concepts we've been using for the last decade in our passing game by staying in a relatively spread out "shotgun" based offense. Can still run 4 verticals and the TE/slot option route that we love out of that.

It would allow us to get back to the original principles that inspired Wilson taking us no-huddle because we won't have to sub to change from power run to spread passing. With the skill guys being Bell, Millard, 2 pure receivers (like Metoyer) and 2 utility guys who can do a lot of different things (like Finch, Clay, Neal, Sheppard, Williams, Ross and Saunders), we can easily switch back and forth.

Want the fullback as a lead blocker? Put Millard next to the QB and put the back behind him. Want to run jet motion with the threat of an inside run on the table and a QB roll out for p****/run? Put someone like Finch in motion and put Millard at the tailback spot. Nevada was deadly with that because they used that motion man as a blocker for Kaepernick and then would run a little 2 man option with the tailback. You had a guy running full tilt with an angle to cut the LB or safety that is usually sent to fill the gap vacated by the DE when he chases down the line. Finch was great at that block when we were running the diamond a lot in 2010. Want to spread it out and throw it all over the field? All those guys have shown the ability to run routes and catch the ball and run after the catch. Millard can play TE/FB/RB, and several of those guys can play both slot and RB.

It would put a strain on the opposing defense, which should take a lot of pressure off Bell in the passing game. Plus, we can be multiple enough that you could remove the read plays from the playbook entirely and still strain the defense, so if he is struggling with handling all the reads in the running game, he doesn't have to.

Finally, it takes a lot of pressure off the O line because you don't have to be exceptional to protect the QB or run the ball in that scheme. Plus, the ability to mask whether we are running or throwing (something we haven't been doing very well for the past 2 seasons) really makes it a lot easier on the line.

This times infinity.

[barrister]

Generally Stoops has played to his strength, or whatever the situation dictates. I still remember when we went to A&M with Paul Thompson. The wind was blowing and on the first drive we ran the ball on 12 to 15 consecutive plays on the first drive. If we can run the ball consistently I think we will rely heavily on the run. That will alleviate all of the pressure being on the young qb's early. It would also benefit the defense to have some more ball control on offense.

[EufaulaSooner]

So we sit Damien Williams on the bench?

Tough call but yes, I would, while still giving Williams the most carries of anybody. But I say start the big guys first to establish a physical presence, then bring him in. We'd still have plenty of rushing ability with Millard and Bell.

BTW Bell is already 40% of the way toward breaking the FBS record for career rushing TDs by a QB, even though he has only played for one-and-a-half seasons and only as a situational player.

[boomermagic]

Read his bio he has never ever coached a run offense. All it talks about is the ability to protect the passer. Unfortunately I do not think you are wrong. I doubt any SEC or for that matter BIG or Pac schools were after him just us!

He will do what Bob requires. P****, P****, P****..

[BoomSoon]

I'll believe it when I see it personally. We've heard a lot of things every year in spring ball, I'm tired of believing things and won't until I see it from now on.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Let's wait until 4/13 to see what we have. Remember last year after the spring game we thought Metoyer was going to have a MONSTER year?

Turns out -- our defense just sucked. Go figure....

In all seriousness -- I want another crack at the Texas aTm ****gies---but I'm not sure if we'll get it anytime soon. Especially with their cupcake schedule.

[mightysooner]

When have we ever had a new QB take the reigns and not let him throw the ball? We don't recruit QB's who can't throw and no matter who wins the job next year, he'll throw the ball a lot, and he'll throw it well. I don't know why people persist with worries about QB play and thinking they won't be ready come game time. When has that ever happened? We're absolutely loaded at QB and they can ALL throw the football. It's a strength, not a weakness.

[EufaulaSooner]

When have we ever had a new QB take the reigns and not let him throw the ball? We don't recruit QB's who can't throw and no matter who wins the job next year, he'll throw the ball a lot, and he'll throw it well. I don't know why people persist with worries about QB play and thinking they won't be ready come game time. When has that ever happened? We're absolutely loaded at QB and they can ALL throw the football. It's a strength, not a weakness.

I agree with all that but still think we need to run the ball more, and better, than we have been. And we have the opportunity to be better at it with Bell. He - and the formation, with Millard, Ripkowski and a guard all leading him into the hole - have shown they can give us the best physical run game we've ever had. I think we should and will still be a p****-first team, but that doesn't mean we have to p**** 50 times a game. So hopefully we'll run the ball a little more and more effectively.

[boomermagic]

When have we ever had a new QB take the reigns and not let him throw the ball? We don't recruit QB's who can't throw and no matter who wins the job next year, he'll throw the ball a lot, and he'll throw it well. I don't know why people persist with worries about QB play and thinking they won't be ready come game time. When has that ever happened? We're absolutely loaded at QB and they can ALL throw the football. It's a strength, not a weakness.

Being able to throw the ball well is a strength. Not being able to do anything except throw is a weakness.

[ResidentEvil]

I've been saying this for 3 years. OU will never be a run first team under Bob. He is from the Spurrier school of offense.

2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

all had more run attempts than passes. several of those years had nearly 200 more rushing attempts than passes.

[Stein7495]

2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

all had more run attempts than passes. several of those years had nearly 200 more rushing attempts than passes.

2001 and 2002: Quentin Griffin
2003: Good combo of Renaldo Works and Kejuan Jones
2004-2006: AD
2007: Loaded stable of running backs with Demarco Murrray, Chris Brown, and Allen Patrick
2008: Demarco Murray, Allen Patrick and one of the best offensive lines in OU history.

We don't quite have "stud" running backs right now. There is freshman potential right now with
the incoming cl**** but it needs to be shown. Right now with Williams and Clay we have serviceable backs
but not superstars. 2003 may be an exception with not having standout running backs but the offensive line
on that team was physical and dominant just like 2008.