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OU’s OC – “The line is as talented as any in the country”

Posted by CloseToJumping on August 8th, 2009 under Football

As sure as the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, the Oklahoma coaches are pimping out their question marks as “best of” candidates on the national level. This is standard operating procedure for Stoops and his underlings, but it never stops being somewhat humorous and absolutely absurd.

The last time Kevin Wilson got this bold in regard to his OL, most of the reporters and heavily jorted okie fanbase believed every word. That year was 2005, when they were replacing the majority of their OL starters and had very little depth. I think that was also the season in which Chad Roark quit ahead of the summer drills after S&C Coach Jerry “The Steroid” Schmidt made him eat his own vomit during a workout. I expect similar results from the OL this year. Maybe not 4 losses, but 2-3 won’t surprise me at all. You don’t just reload on OL. It takes time working together for a group to gel, and they need to get that time together in games. It’s hard to get quality reps together when some of the guys are injured, such as potentisl starting Center Ben Habern. Habern is a year removed from a small private school and he’s supposedly not practicing. Somehow, he’s going to be a part of what their own coach says will be the best OL in the country.

“But CTJ, they don’t have to be seasoned if they know how to hold!!!”

Well, it is a decent point, but holding, even flagrant cheating as a strategy such as that that the sooners deploy, also takes reps, time, and seasoning. It isn’t like they can walk out there on day one and fully understand the art of the takedown.

The BYU game will be interesting. BYU returns a seasoned and talented DL. Their OL is in the same spot as OU, but the DL has a lot of talent and experience. Bronco Mendenhall is a good defensive guy and his team will give OU some trouble. Of course, if it’s the best OL in the country, well, no doubt BYU is doomed.

BTW, that link includes video of various OU personnel talking. Trent Williams sounds dumber than farts. Kevin Wilson bragged on Williams’ ability to run a 4.7 this summer. “That’s all. That’s all. That’s a fact.” I guess if Trent Williams is ever given a shot at the fumblerooskie, that 40 speed is going to really pay off. Listening to Kevin Wilson talk is the rough equivalent of listening to pigs getting slaughtered. The man sounds like every stereotypical jock jughead I’ve ever encountered, played with, or played for.

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15 Responses

  1. UTomlinson said:

    August 8th, 2009 at 11:43 am

    As amusing as it would be to see OU lose another opener to the Mountain West… I’d rather they come into the RR shootout unscathed.

  2. TomCollins said:

    August 8th, 2009 at 11:52 am

    The 2005 group was down to 8 scholarship OL’s, 7 of which were first or 2nd year players. One was a converted DT with clubfoot. Their depth chart was amusing to read…. their starting LG was their backup C and backup RG, etc. We so thoroughly abused them we added the new verb To Bomar to the english lexicon.

    You usually pimp talent when the preferred experience factor isn’t present, and by pedigree this group should be a little more talented than the last. Numbers are a little better than 2005 – 9 scholarship guys before 3 more freshmen arrive this month, and we should assume they have a little stronger work ethic than the last group, while hoping Schmidt works the joy out of life again.

    I expect them to be comparable to the 2006 OU line this year…. we neutralized them in the first half, and then took physical control of the game in the 2nd half, forcing turnovers on 5 straight possessions.

    One other element of history repeating itself….. the lone returning starter Chris Messner was outrageously over-hyped as their best OL from 2004 and an all-american candidate for ‘05. In reality he was either the 3rd or 4th best player on their otherwise all-freshman line. Seen that formula anywhere recently?

  3. RansomStoddard said:

    August 8th, 2009 at 1:10 pm

    That picture with the sunglasses is, well, indescribable.

  4. Monahorns said:

    August 8th, 2009 at 4:45 pm

    I say we play along with them. The reactions in October will be that much more amusing.

  5. ed said:

    August 8th, 2009 at 5:24 pm

    OU’s 2005 line was supposed to have 3-4 studs from their ‘03 signing group — and all four were attrition cases (including Roark) before the 2005 season.

    This year’s line is way better than in ‘05, but a couple of issues could be concerns: Other than Williams, these guys played very little in ‘08 cuz Sooners were leaving the first unit out there to run up scores and impress voters; and, should there be an injury to two, the depth is extremely iffy.

  6. 2008 OU Safeties said:

    August 8th, 2009 at 9:56 pm

    Trent’s pretty fast.

  7. SoonerSpy said:

    August 8th, 2009 at 10:08 pm

    Some years back, the late PhoenixHorn raised a question that might be appropriate in this discussion. His point was that a real weakness may not hurt a team unless that weakness can be exploited by the opposing team. Forget about BYU, the vegas line has OU at -21. We will win that game. Nor will BYU be on the field come October 17.

    Assuming your fondest dreams come true and we have some degree of problems along the OL, do you think that will benefit UT? I don’t. Whatever our problems along the OL, UT has worse problems along the DL.

  8. magnus bleuveigner said:

    August 8th, 2009 at 10:25 pm

    Agree to disagree. Problems along the d-line are easier to mask than on o-line. First things first. Last year our front four bought time for the secondary, this year it will be the opposite. Orakpo did your experienced line badly, this year The Predator will do worse to your in-experienced line. Where last year came down to our d-line vs your o-line, this year will be the opposite. Are your fragile monsters going to be up to the task? Cody will get a couple more td’s.

  9. SoonerSpy said:

    August 8th, 2009 at 10:49 pm

    Orakpo and Roy Miller drew the doubles last year not the Predator. Williams is much quicker and more athletic than Loadholt. Load is all about power and should have been at RT last year. The Vikings corrected that error. I think Kindle’s success, if any, will depend upon the alignment and how well he is disguised. He’ll do very little straight up against Williams.

  10. magnus bleuveigner said:

    August 8th, 2009 at 11:43 pm

    Orakpo had two sacks. Got held 5 times, what’s your point? Now Williams is playing 5 spots? Who gets drafted first Kindle or Williams? Shut up it’s rhetorical. This isn’t an X’s and O’s time. We shouldn’t even be on this site. Just read…and agree.

  11. Newy25 said:

    August 9th, 2009 at 8:26 am

    “Whatever our problems along the OL, UT has worse problems along the DL.”

    We only have 5 legitimate blue chip DE’s to go along with our All Conference candidate DT Houston. Sergio Kindle only projects to be a top 10 draft pick next year.

    It is true- We do not know who our backup DT’s are going to be. They might be freshman. I certainly hope WM can mask that weakness.

    Do you even know who is going to play in your starting 5 yet?

  12. EnglishAg said:

    August 10th, 2009 at 5:43 am

    i would be pretty pissed if i was one of the 2 former oklahoma pro-bowlers being rubbished by wilson – to say that williams is on another level to 2 pro bowlers is little disrespectful.

    hope that the oklahoma line is going to be a swinging gate is perhaps a little optimistic though – they may be young but:

    they have been in the program for a while now;

    they should have the system down; and

    its is not as if bradford is going to need hours to make throws in oklahoma’s version of the spread.

  13. Joe Cool said:

    August 10th, 2009 at 6:58 pm

    Talent no talent, who cares? What does any of it matter. Tech sure did out talent the vaunted Texas D-line and all but wrapped up Sackpo with their no name line. OU’s line will be solid this year, and if not, then they will just hold more than usual, so who cares and what does any of this matter?

  14. Woody Bombay said:

    August 10th, 2009 at 8:34 pm

    Joe, the Tech OL *literally* wrapped up Orakpo.

  15. Barking Carnival — Blog — Sooner Tragic said:

    September 8th, 2009 at 11:09 pm

    [...] he wasn’t playing with 4 other experienced OL starters. He looked overweight, slow, and stupid. Kevin Wilson can extol his virtues as a 4.7 40 yard warlock, but “that’s all”. I suppose [...]

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