Oklahoma 24, TCU 17: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
A 10-2 record and co-champions of the Big 12. Don't blame Bob Stoops or the players; blame the Big 12 for sending the Trophy.
In yet another cardiac win, OU showed how much it hates prosperity at times. All year, the Sooners have been unable to combine offensive and defensive success to separate from teams and win games by a comfortable margin.
Still, a win is a win, and this team hit a nice mark despite all kinds of gaps on defense.
The Good
*OU's defensive effort in the first half was superb. It should have been a shutout, and TCU could not do anything on the ground or through the air. It was the best defense played by the Sooners since the Texas game. All levels of the Sooner D were making plays. Good individual and gang tackling – it all was on display.
*Damien Williams had a very good bounce-back game. He made big plays in the passing game and ran up a very stout 115 yards in the rushing game, aided by his home run in the third quarter. It was nice to see the burst and moves that have been missing since the ankle injury he suffered against Kansas.
*The Sooners' two-/four-minute offense has been a thing of beauty this season, and the TCU game was no exception. Landry Jones shook off a horrible INT and led OU down the field late in the first half, going 6-of-8 on a drive finished with a dart to Jalen Saunders for a touchdown. (In retrospect, a very important TD.)
*Coverage teams again were just excellent. Cannot overlook this factor in close victories.
The Bad
*The vaunted corps of wide receivers had a bad game, save for Saunders (who had a horrible postgame). The drops were bad, the routes being run too shallow on third down were bad, etc.. Maybe playing a functioning secondary threw OU off.
*Landry's pick and any other pass thrown to Justin Brown when he was lined upon the right side of the formation. Landry threw one pick into double coverage, hit a DE in the face mask on another and nearly threw a third pick as well. Meanwhile, RBs in the flat on the left side were there all day. The quick pass to Brown should have been culled from the playbook.
The Ugly
*Justin Brown's days of handling punts instead of Jalen Saunders need to end. It was a terrible coaching decision to send Brown out there for the final punt. Brown had been tentative all day handling punts. He cost OU yardage on almost every punt. The one before the fumble, he looked like he might fumble the ball.
*OU's coverage on deep passing plays. All year long Mike Stoops has focused on the safeties keeping plays
in front of them. The big pass play to Brandon Carter brought TCU back in the game when OU was ready to put
the Horned Frogs away.
*Finally, the big pass play in TCU's final drive added unneeded drama. You are up by 7, how does a WR get behind the secondary? Busts more reminiscent of the Brent Venables secondary.
The Unexplained
*What the hell happened to Michael Hunnicutt's field goal attempt in the fourth quarter? It was good for about 30 yards of it's flight then took a radical turn left. It was crazy. And not Hunnicutt's fault.