Happy Game Day Eve! Are injuries really to blame for OU's offensive swoon? And how does OSU make all these comebacks?
Getting you ready for Saturday on Friday.
Happy Game Day Eve to all who celebrate!
As we've settled into the routine of college football season, I've realized something — I have too many stories to tell each week.
Maybe that's because I am following a couple of really intriguing teams. It's anyone's guess right now where this season will go for OU or OSU, and it seems there aren't enough days in the week to share all the interesting content that I have about the Cowboys and Sooners.
Then again, maybe this is just how it is when you're a one-woman band.
Whatever the case, I've decided to launch a weekly Happy Game Day Eve piece on Fridays. We might get to the point where it doesn't feel necessary anymore, but for now, I feel like my notebook is overflowing with tidbits that need to be shared with you.
Let's get to 'em.
Why the OU offense has taken such a nose dive
Earlier this week at Brent Venables’ weekly press conference, my good buddy Berry Tramel asked the Sooner coach a simple question that undoubtedly has a complex answer.
Aside from injuries, how did the offense fall so far so fast?
“Aside from the injuries?” Venables asked.
Yes.
“I mean, so you’re saying that your best players aren’t available," Venables pressed.
If the injuries are the issue, that’s fine.
“I don’t really know how to answer the question," Venables said. "Other than the obvious, there’s the reason the ones are the ones, and the twos are the twos, and the threes are the threes. Then again, there’s a thing called chemistry, cohesion and timing, working together when you don’t have — your best ability’s your availability. When you don’t have guys available, you’ve got to get the next guys ready."
No doubt injuries have beset the offensive line and the receiver corps. Offensive linemen Troy Everett, Branson Hickman, Geirean Hatchett and Jake Taylor have all been sidelined to varying degrees. Same goes for receivers Andrel Anthony, Jayden Gibson, Nic Anderson and Jalil Farooq.
That's no small thing.
But should those absences have so seriously hampered the OU offense against Temple and Houston?
Since the opening few minutes of the first quarter against Temple, the Sooners have managed only five touchdowns in 23 possessions. And only two of those touchdown drives engineered by Jackson Arnold and Co. have been longer than 10 yards.
A 44-yard touchdown drive against Temple.
An 81-yard touchdown drive against Houston.
That's it.
Against a team picked to finish last in the American Athletic Conference and a team picked to finish next-to-last in the Big 12, the OU offense should have been much, much better.
Even with the injuries.
But the truth is, even if the Sooners were a hundred percent healthy, they just don't have the offensive talent of days gone by. Look up and down the roster, and you won't see a ton of offensive players with obvious NFL talent. Some might develop into those kinds of players. Arnold could. Some of the receivers and tailbacks. Heck, the way Bill Bedenbaugh develops offensive linemen, there could be future pros there, too.
But right now, the big-time talent is lacking.
And that would be the case even if everyone was healthy.
How the Cardiac Cowboys are able to come back
Going back to last season, Oklahoma State is 5-1 over its last six games — and in three of them, the Cowboys have come back from at least a 14-point deficit.
The Cardiac Cowboys are alive.
Mike Gundy would prefer his team not fall into such holes in the first place, but considering how good OSU has been at rallying, I asked the Cowboy coach after his weekly press conference specifically what happens at halftime to enable those comebacks. He was willing to pull back the curtain, which lots of college football coaches aren't willing to do.
I was fascinated to learn more about how the sausage is made.
Hope you are, too.
"We've been together a long time," Gundy said first, referring to a coaching staff that has had seven of its top 10 assistants together since 2018. "One of the things that I tell them all the time is that nobody can panic and nobody can flinch, and I think that's a big part of it. Because coaches panic a lot, and then the players see them panicking and then they don't think. They can't absorb information. They're in a panic mode."
Staying calm might be the top priority for the coaching staff, but then it has to actually implement changes in the locker room. That’s a process that starts well before halftime.
Around the midway point of the second quarter, Gundy begins going through his checklist of problems he wants solved.
"We got an issue with this," Gundy will say on the headset. "Y'all aware of it?"
"No," someone might respond.
"Yeah, we do have an issue," Gundy will say. "I'm just telling you. I'm watching shit. You got an issue. We need to fix it. When I come down at halftime, I want to know what the answer is."
When the team hits the locker room, there's no dilly, no dally.
"We come in fast at halftime," Gundy said. "We spend time as a defensive and offensive staff for 12 minutes or 14 minutes (with the defense and the offense meeting separately), and then we break out and give them quick information.
"I mean, we're moving fast, we're not wasting time. … We wait till the last second that TV says, 'You have to be out here. Get out here,' so we can coach as much as possible," Gundy said.
The second-half comebacks make it seem like the Cowboys are regularly working wizardry in the locker room at halftime. But Gundy insists it's more about facing reality than making magic.
"And you've got to be willing to say, 'You know what? This was not good,'" Gundy said. "I tell them all the time, 'Guys, I don't care how we got to this point; I just need an answer. We got two quarters to figure it out. You screwed it up; figure it out.'"
Stat of the week
OU's third-down conversion rate: 19.2%.
National rank: 132nd nationally.
In case you've forgotten how many teams are playing FBS football this season, that number is 134. That means only two other teams have been worse than the Sooners on third down, Kent State and Jacksonville State.
Egad.
Watch this space
Collin Oliver's injury creates a big hole in the OSU defense, and as well as backup Obi Ezeigbo played in his absence against Arkansas, don't be surprised if you see Kendal Daniels step into that linebacker spot.
The one-time safety has been playing more of a hybrid role this season anyway, but considering how Daniels stuffed the run against Arkansas — he made the last two tackles of the game — I asked Gundy if Daniels could play closer to the line of scrimmage even more.
"He'll be down there now," Gundy said.
Full-time?
"Pretty much, I would think. ... Until we feel comfortable from an experience standpoint, he's a guy that we can move down and spend more time there because we have depth at safety."
Quote of the week
"Try to be the trainer that comes in, and he’s Dr. Death giving us the report every day. He gets challenged pretty good. 'What does that mean? Is he going today? Is he going to be available this week?' They don’t know. If anybody else is frustrated as far as who is going to be available this week, you have to get in line." — Venables on his team's injury situation.