The jury is in on the first game of the 2010 season, but before we get to the verdict, let’s start by acknowledging a few things.

First, this was the 800th win in program history. Only six other teams have 800 wins or more: Michigan, Texas, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Penn State, and Ohio State. Before the year is up, Alabama will join the group as well. If you want your definition of who’s sitting at the grown ups table in college football, that’s your list. Regardless of how irritating the game was, this is a win to be proud of in at least one sense.

This was a very vanilla game plan. We ran about 10 plays and variations thereof on offense, and our blitz packages were plays we’ve run for years. We spent 95% of our defensive snaps limiting pressure to just our front four against a QB whose mobility is his biggest asset. We’ve got Florida State coming in next week, and a road trip to Cincinnati after that. There is no justifiable reason to show anything we don’t have to show.

Speaking of which, it’s not hard to imagine OU got caught looking forward to the titanic matchup coming with FSU. Boys and girls, FSU will probably be a top 20 team, maybe top 15, when they arrive in Norman. If you’re not already fired up for that game, you don’t have a pulse.

In addition, Utah State’s coach was on the Utah defensive staff that stymied ‘Bama in the Sugar Bowl, and when he figured out what those plays and blitzes were that OU limited itself to, he made great adjustments. For example, after USU got gashed on the right side offtackle play for a big gain, they had their MLB (#43) dive head long at the gap every time it opened to great effect. He knew OU was going to play with a hand tied behind its back, and he got his team motivated to kick ass. OU already had thousands 800th win T-shirts printed up before kickoff. Think Utah State wasn’t reminding every single player of that?

Finally, mobile QB’s have always been a weakness of the Stoops/Venables defensive zone scheme. Eric Crouch, Reggie McNeal, Ell Roberson, etc. Then again, that’s true of MOST defensive schemes. But Borel bought his receivers a ton of time downfield.

All that being said, there is legit reason for serious concern, and we have some immediate issues to address on both sides of the ball. I’m going to go back to what I pointed out earlier this week.

1) The ability of the offensive line to get the hard yard
They can’t do it consistently, period. It’s telling that when we most needed one yard, Kevin Wilson sent Murray on a sweep and that Murray had to dive and reach to get a half a yard. We’ve got a ton of work to do this week if we’re going to keep our home winning streak alive.
Stephenson is talented as advertised. His footwork and handwork were both impressive. But his mental composure was poor at best. He was struggling with assignments and it showed in his hesitancy on a number of plays. Ben Habern was shockingly poor. He blew a number of assignments on blitz pickup where he doubled down on a well blocked DT, and a LB or S ran by him untouched. Good and Evans were decent, if not impressive. And Eric Mensik clearly has a lot to learn, despite being adequate. The final verdict is that they’re not ready to be a good run blocking line, and they won’t be able to get us 3rd and 4th and short when it counts.

2) Gap control and containment by the defensive line.

Adrian Taylor was a huge liability for us. He has no faith in his leg whatsoever. He got his ass absolutely whipped more than once, and he rarely if ever got any sort of penetration. It’ll be conference play before he can even be a positive contributor. Casey Walker is a run stopper, not a pass rusher. And his broken hand hurt his performance more than the coaches let on. Stacy McGee is a substitute, not a starter. He’s not the kind of DT who’s a liability, but he’s not a strength. He’s the guy who gives healthy Adrian Taylor a break 15 plays each game. Jeremy Beal was the only bright spot, and USU neutralized him when they realized they didn’t have to worry about anyone else. Losing Frank Alexander to a high ankle sprain hurt our pass rush. Ronnell Lewis needs to be a pin his ears back and rush guy, and we used him like a traditional DE more than once. This line was utterly unable to contain Borel, and a number of long completions were on the DL. They also broke more than a few runs on us. We should’ve been able to control the line, if not dominate it, and we did neither. The final verdict here is that our DL is no longer a strength of the team, and it may be a liability until Adrian Taylor is 100% again. Florida State is bringing the best OL in the country to Norman. Don’t be surprised if Christian Ponder gets all day to throw more than once. Also, I’ll go ahead and mark Baylor as a potential landmine. Diondre Borel is a poor man’s Robert Griffin III.

3) Performances by the freshmen

Tony Jefferson and Kenny Stills acquitted themselves fairly well. Jefferson made a few small errors, and Stills broke off his routes early. But Stills made some great catches, too, and Jefferson brought the lumber more than once. Neither was a liability. Trey Millard was outstanding, and he gives us a new wrinkle in having a FB big and strong enough to pick up Sam Acho and Von Miller, but fast enough to hit a hole and pick up 10 yards. Franks looked scared on his kick return, and Clay looked fast but not 100% comfortable. This game was way too close until the very end, so a lot of the freshmen we hoped to see couldn’t get on the field. The final verdict is that this group is going to get MUCH better and be huge contributors in conference play.

4) Stupid mistakes by the new CBs

Oh Sweet Christ on a Crutch. We are in a world of hurt. For every great play, there was a huge bust. I fear that Willie Martinez has figured out how much damage Bobby Jack Wright did to these guys, and he’s having to start from scratch on teaching technique. As I expected Hurst was more reliable on the whole with only one or two busts, but Fleming got abused frequently. He wasn’t looking for the ball, didn’t know when to look for it, and he was very usually out of position. The one great pick he did make wasn’t a good read, it was a great athletic play. As I said earlier, find me where the coaches praised Fleming’s mammoth football intellect. Florida State coming to Norman should scare the hell out of you. Ponder will connect on those passes Borel overthrew, and FSU will score on those drives that USU stalled. The final verdict is that this group is a liability against any good group of WRs. A&M, Mizzou, and FSU are absolutely licking their chops.

5) WR’s catching well thrown passes and no dropped passes

Catching the ball wasn’t the problem. Cam Kenney showed reliable hands for once, Kenny Stills made a couple of impressive catches even if he was still suffering obvious lingering pain from the groin injury, and Ryan Broyles is the shit. DeJuan Miller still catches the ball with his body, but he catches it at least. The problem with this group was poor route running. They’d break off a hitch route at 7 yards on 3rd and 8. The final verdict is that the tennis ball drill seemed to do its job. The focus on catching the ball and seeing it in was there. But this still isn’t a group that can make up for Rico Jones’s inconsistent play.

Final Verdict:
There are too many holes to be a national championship contender, but we can push for an at-large BCS berth and a Big 12 title if we rally hard this week in practice and use this to learn from the rest of the year. The players seemed to be very pissed off about their performances, as did the coaches, and this OU coaching staff does its best work when they’ve got the team pissed off. Hopefully, that will translate into much better play against FSU.
The D-line needs to stop overrunning plays. Jamell Fleming has got to get his head in the game, and Hurst needs to be more consistent. The offensive line has to get on the same page right now. The WR’s issues are more easily corrected as coaching on the field recognition of down and distance is easier than correcting the dropsies. Finally, Landry Jones needs to either grow a pair of balls, or have them otherwise taped to his Ken-doll thorax. Otherwise, the home win streak ends September 11, 2010.