As some of you folks know, I missed the game live on Saturday night due to being in a wedding this last weekend, the first Tech game I've missed in 8 years. That being said, I decided to go back and watch the game in its entirety twice between last night and this morning. So, I think I've got a pretty good handle on what all exactly went on in the contest. My thoughts...
*So, offensively, you just simply could not have asked for a better start. The Sooners came out in a three down, drop eight look on the first drive, as they should've done after the success of both West Virginia and Iowa State. It made sense. Tech, for the first time this season, punished an opponent out of the gates for that decision. The O-line moved the light box around, Tre King ran the ball like gangbusters, and Shimonek found open receivers to shred the Sooners on the ground in the opening series. Then, a Coutee shallow route underneath the coverage that he turned into a touchdown. Then, a good start to a drive capped off by Dylan Cantrell blowing the top off the OU secondary down the sideline for Tech's hottest offensive start of the season. The Red Raiders beat the Sooners' defense head in with their 3 down, drop 8 look EXACTLY how they should've to start the game. This forced Oklahoma out of that look. This was the first time that Tech has been able to force a team to change their strategy, and when it's 21-13, you feel GREAT about where things are at. The offense seems to have shaken off its mid-season slumber and is ready to rock.
*Here's the problem: Once OU went into a 4 man front with Okoronkwo as the stand up end, moving to a mostly 6 or 7 man box where a safety was always nearby to help in run support, Tech had a much harder time run blocking, the Sooners got more pressure, and Shimonek missed open throws, didn't see open receivers, or wouldn't risk throws in any kind of smaller window over the middle, and just played too conservatively. I mean, the offense didn't come to a screeching halt or anything. They still moved the ball quite a bit the rest of the contest, but in crucial situations, Tech continued to miss for varying reasons. False starts on third or fourth and short, dropped catches, missed throws, sacks - both on the O-line and on Shimonek -, a missed block in the run game. This offense continues to be maddeningly hot and cold as a result. When they're rolling this season, they're R-O-L-L-I-N-G. When they aren't, it's a complete slogging mess of bad execution.
*I think this comes back to the fact that this offense, by design, will almost always live or die by how well the quarterback is or isn't playing. A physical run game would help that, and there's definitely been more effort to build that, but you still haven't gotten to a point where you can do exactly what Oklahoma did: Pound the opposing front seven when your signal caller isn't at his best. Mayfield had one of his worst games I've seen him play at Oklahoma, but it didn't ultimately matter, as the Sooner O-line and their stable of talented, big backs took care of business.
*I thought Kingsbury should've run it a handful of times more than he did, especially with a fullback or lead blocker of some kind. I say that for two reasons. One, I think this year's offense in particular needs to net 3-4 yards of positive yardage on first down. They just don't seem to be built, whether it's mentally, physically, or both, to ever have much of a chance at a first down when they get behind the chains. Whether that's because Shimonek gets tight when the offense gets off track or something else, I can't put my finger quite on it. I just think this is not a team built to throw it three times per set of chains. Shimonek seems to hold onto the ball too long, refuses to throw into tight windows over the middle to Coutee or other receivers, stares down receivers, misses throws, or rolls out right unnecessarily once he gets into second or third and long situations specifically. Especially early on in drives when the offense isn't humming along. But it's the oddest deal, because when the offense is rolling, he plays with a lot more confidence and really cuts down on mistakes. He plays loose and is decisive when the offense gets running along. He doesn't if they slog down early on in drives. All this to say: I think running it more to string together drives would help the offense get in rhythm more consistently, helping Shimonek out to get in a groove. He's just simply not going to be Mahomes, Harrell, Kingsbury, Symons, or Doege where the run game and rhythm could be out of whack and those guys would still find receivers, even if it meant taking a little risk here and there, to get the offense back in gear.
*All this to say that I just simply think that Shimonek is too risk-averse, too conservative to ever shred opponents consistently in this offense. This has always been a gambler's offense by design. That's not to say that it's fine to throw caution to the wind and play stupid. It's not. But this is an offense where you're just going to have to dig in and make a few throws that might make your hair stand up. Now, in his defense, I thought this OU game was the best one he's played overall since the Kansas/Oklahoma State games. He never seemed to lose his confidence as the game went on, and I really liked how many downfield shots he took. He's got to be more accurate if he's going to do that, though. He's got to be more accurate, and he's got to be willing to throw it over the middle to Coutee and others in tight windows. I counted at least a few times where he had number 2 open over the middle for at least a 7 or 8 yard gain and simply refused to make the throw. This includes on his 4th down pick, as he looked to Coutee first, who had an LB trailing behind him but could've made the catch for sure, before deciding to try and force it to Cantrell on the outside. Were they wide open throws? No, but they certainly were throws that I expect a redshirt senior to make into tighter windows.
*I thought the O-line was up and down in this game, but they certainly weren't awful. I thought they held up in pass pro outside of a few plays, particularly the tackles when Okoronkwo sacked Shimonek after straight up beating Bruffy at least once. But still, these sacks all came in third and long situations where Okoronkwo could pin his ears back. I thought the O-line had more issues run blocking again once OU went to a four man front man. But they weren't ever awful.
*Tre King is a flat out ball player, ladies and gentlemen. I don't know why it took this long for him to become your starting running back, because it's plain as day to me that he's far and away your best running back on the roster. He plays like DeAndre Washington and Eric Stephens played the position: Always falling forward. He wiggles and lowers his shoulder for extra yards regularly, making 3 yard runs into 6 or 8 yard runs regularly. He just has a knack for knowing how to flow in traffic in the run game in the front seven. Maybe he had to get his feet wet in the system and learn the pass protections, get a better grasp on the system, which I'd get if that was the case. But he's simply your best option at running back and is more than worthy of starting for you or a number of Big 12 teams. When Justin Stockton comes back, if he comes back, my hope is he becomes your number two back that can really hone in as a home-run option that gets good one-on-ones in the passing/screen game and outside run game out of two back sets like he did in 2015.
*If you didn't notice, Kingsbury and the staff decided to move Dylan Cantrell over to X this game, replacing the benched/left-at-home Derrick Willies. This was the best move that's happened at Tech for the outside receivers in years. For the first time that I can remember in forever, Tech had a real outside passing game to both sides of the field. Cantrell at X on the left side, Vasher at Z on the right side seemed to move Tech's outside passing game out of the stone age into the future. Yes, Cantrell only had 3 catches, but he was targeted 8 times. Vasher had 9 targets and 5 catches. I couldn't tell you the last time Tech targeted the outside starting receivers a combined 17 times, essentially half your targets. Cantrell dropped a few balls, and Shimonek missed Vasher on a few downfield throws he'd like to have back, but it's clear to me: Cantrell/Vasher as your two starting outside WRs is far and away your best bet to really open up this passing game down the stretch this season. I really, really hope this sticks and the staff doesn't decide to do something questionable like start Willies next week...
*Let's talk briefly about defense, because let's be honest here: There's not much to it. Oklahoma dominated you up front with their offensive line. Plain and simple. The Sooners ran it at-will the whole night, and for the first time this season, I thought Tech's D-line got pushed around quite a bit. In particular, this was the first game this season where Mych Thomas and Broderick Washington were bested for an essentially an entire contest. OU ran it inside all night long. It simply didn't really matter much how good your LBs are when the D-line is getting pushed back and moved around to make room for other lead blockers or big tailbacks running downhill. I think this, again, was mostly due to how good OU's offensive line is, arguably the best in college football. But I also thought that your D-line just didn't live up to their billing, either.
*Justis Parker is going to be a really damn good football player by the time his career is over. His knack for finding turnovers cannot be overstated. You've been looking for a true ballhawk for a while, and he's it. Sure, Jah'Shawn has shown flashes of it, particularly his freshman year, but I think Parker has consistently shown that he's going to make plays if you put him in the game. In fact, with Johnson out the first half this weekend because of his targeting penalty, I'm 100 percent on board with him starting at safety just to see what you get there.
*One thing I didn't agree with gameplan-wise defensively: All the soft zone coverage. Tech's DBs gave OU's WRs huge cushions most of the night, and the OU wide receivers gladly took their 8-12 yards and went on about their drive. I just thought that, on a night where Mayfield is a bit off, why not more man press coverage, dedicate more guys to the run game, and just live with the risk of giving up some one on one downfield throws? I just think that, against this particular offense, which thrives on being balanced and running a jillion RPOs, why not try to disrupt the pass game in press man while loading the box to at least attempt to slow down their run game? I just think that would've been more effective than being cool with giving up a ton of dinks and dunks down the field while the run game pounds away. It may be a catch-22 where you might be damned either way, but I think you might at least get off the field a few more times overall in the long run had you run more man coverage and brought more pressure.
*Here's fingers crossed that Clayton Hatfield is ready to go this weekend. That's it on the kicking game.
*This team continues its hair-pulling pattern we saw all the time in 2015 and 2016. When the offense is rolling right along, the defense can't seem to get a stop. When the defense gets some big stops - as Tech's defense did when the Red Raiders were down 21-20 and 28-20 both - the offense gets stonewalled and suddenly can't do anything except go three and out. Is this as a result of coaching? Is it a mentality issue? Is it bad play-calling in these situations? I think all things are on the table, as this is a clear pattern issue.
*It's also a pattern issue that this team cannot score in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter, right now. This was the third week in a row where the offense scored just 7 points after halftime. The Red Raiders have not scored a fourth quarter point since the Kansas game. The offense is averaging just 6.5 points overall in the fourth quarter this season. This is an issue that isn't limited to 2017, either. For whatever reason, Kingsbury's offenses at Tech have flat out seemed to get worse as contests go in. Is this a matter of failing to adjust at the half? Is it a matter of, as previously stated, mentality of the offense after halftime, tightening up? Is it out-thinking yourself with play-calling? I don't know. It could be a whole lot of different issues. But the single thread remains: Tech can't score late consistently. They have to fix that if they're going to make it through this season and go bowling.
OFFENSIVE co-MVPs: T.J. Vasher and Tre King
OFFENSIVE STANDOUTS: WR TJ Vasher, RB Tre King, LG Madison Akamnonu, RG Jack Anderson, IR Keke Coutee
DEFENSIVE MVP: None
DEFENSIVE STANDOUTS: LB Jordyn Brooks, LB Dakota Allen, RE Kolin Hill, S JahShawn Johnson, NB Justis Parker
*So, offensively, you just simply could not have asked for a better start. The Sooners came out in a three down, drop eight look on the first drive, as they should've done after the success of both West Virginia and Iowa State. It made sense. Tech, for the first time this season, punished an opponent out of the gates for that decision. The O-line moved the light box around, Tre King ran the ball like gangbusters, and Shimonek found open receivers to shred the Sooners on the ground in the opening series. Then, a Coutee shallow route underneath the coverage that he turned into a touchdown. Then, a good start to a drive capped off by Dylan Cantrell blowing the top off the OU secondary down the sideline for Tech's hottest offensive start of the season. The Red Raiders beat the Sooners' defense head in with their 3 down, drop 8 look EXACTLY how they should've to start the game. This forced Oklahoma out of that look. This was the first time that Tech has been able to force a team to change their strategy, and when it's 21-13, you feel GREAT about where things are at. The offense seems to have shaken off its mid-season slumber and is ready to rock.
*Here's the problem: Once OU went into a 4 man front with Okoronkwo as the stand up end, moving to a mostly 6 or 7 man box where a safety was always nearby to help in run support, Tech had a much harder time run blocking, the Sooners got more pressure, and Shimonek missed open throws, didn't see open receivers, or wouldn't risk throws in any kind of smaller window over the middle, and just played too conservatively. I mean, the offense didn't come to a screeching halt or anything. They still moved the ball quite a bit the rest of the contest, but in crucial situations, Tech continued to miss for varying reasons. False starts on third or fourth and short, dropped catches, missed throws, sacks - both on the O-line and on Shimonek -, a missed block in the run game. This offense continues to be maddeningly hot and cold as a result. When they're rolling this season, they're R-O-L-L-I-N-G. When they aren't, it's a complete slogging mess of bad execution.
*I think this comes back to the fact that this offense, by design, will almost always live or die by how well the quarterback is or isn't playing. A physical run game would help that, and there's definitely been more effort to build that, but you still haven't gotten to a point where you can do exactly what Oklahoma did: Pound the opposing front seven when your signal caller isn't at his best. Mayfield had one of his worst games I've seen him play at Oklahoma, but it didn't ultimately matter, as the Sooner O-line and their stable of talented, big backs took care of business.
*I thought Kingsbury should've run it a handful of times more than he did, especially with a fullback or lead blocker of some kind. I say that for two reasons. One, I think this year's offense in particular needs to net 3-4 yards of positive yardage on first down. They just don't seem to be built, whether it's mentally, physically, or both, to ever have much of a chance at a first down when they get behind the chains. Whether that's because Shimonek gets tight when the offense gets off track or something else, I can't put my finger quite on it. I just think this is not a team built to throw it three times per set of chains. Shimonek seems to hold onto the ball too long, refuses to throw into tight windows over the middle to Coutee or other receivers, stares down receivers, misses throws, or rolls out right unnecessarily once he gets into second or third and long situations specifically. Especially early on in drives when the offense isn't humming along. But it's the oddest deal, because when the offense is rolling, he plays with a lot more confidence and really cuts down on mistakes. He plays loose and is decisive when the offense gets running along. He doesn't if they slog down early on in drives. All this to say: I think running it more to string together drives would help the offense get in rhythm more consistently, helping Shimonek out to get in a groove. He's just simply not going to be Mahomes, Harrell, Kingsbury, Symons, or Doege where the run game and rhythm could be out of whack and those guys would still find receivers, even if it meant taking a little risk here and there, to get the offense back in gear.
*All this to say that I just simply think that Shimonek is too risk-averse, too conservative to ever shred opponents consistently in this offense. This has always been a gambler's offense by design. That's not to say that it's fine to throw caution to the wind and play stupid. It's not. But this is an offense where you're just going to have to dig in and make a few throws that might make your hair stand up. Now, in his defense, I thought this OU game was the best one he's played overall since the Kansas/Oklahoma State games. He never seemed to lose his confidence as the game went on, and I really liked how many downfield shots he took. He's got to be more accurate if he's going to do that, though. He's got to be more accurate, and he's got to be willing to throw it over the middle to Coutee and others in tight windows. I counted at least a few times where he had number 2 open over the middle for at least a 7 or 8 yard gain and simply refused to make the throw. This includes on his 4th down pick, as he looked to Coutee first, who had an LB trailing behind him but could've made the catch for sure, before deciding to try and force it to Cantrell on the outside. Were they wide open throws? No, but they certainly were throws that I expect a redshirt senior to make into tighter windows.
*I thought the O-line was up and down in this game, but they certainly weren't awful. I thought they held up in pass pro outside of a few plays, particularly the tackles when Okoronkwo sacked Shimonek after straight up beating Bruffy at least once. But still, these sacks all came in third and long situations where Okoronkwo could pin his ears back. I thought the O-line had more issues run blocking again once OU went to a four man front man. But they weren't ever awful.
*Tre King is a flat out ball player, ladies and gentlemen. I don't know why it took this long for him to become your starting running back, because it's plain as day to me that he's far and away your best running back on the roster. He plays like DeAndre Washington and Eric Stephens played the position: Always falling forward. He wiggles and lowers his shoulder for extra yards regularly, making 3 yard runs into 6 or 8 yard runs regularly. He just has a knack for knowing how to flow in traffic in the run game in the front seven. Maybe he had to get his feet wet in the system and learn the pass protections, get a better grasp on the system, which I'd get if that was the case. But he's simply your best option at running back and is more than worthy of starting for you or a number of Big 12 teams. When Justin Stockton comes back, if he comes back, my hope is he becomes your number two back that can really hone in as a home-run option that gets good one-on-ones in the passing/screen game and outside run game out of two back sets like he did in 2015.
*If you didn't notice, Kingsbury and the staff decided to move Dylan Cantrell over to X this game, replacing the benched/left-at-home Derrick Willies. This was the best move that's happened at Tech for the outside receivers in years. For the first time that I can remember in forever, Tech had a real outside passing game to both sides of the field. Cantrell at X on the left side, Vasher at Z on the right side seemed to move Tech's outside passing game out of the stone age into the future. Yes, Cantrell only had 3 catches, but he was targeted 8 times. Vasher had 9 targets and 5 catches. I couldn't tell you the last time Tech targeted the outside starting receivers a combined 17 times, essentially half your targets. Cantrell dropped a few balls, and Shimonek missed Vasher on a few downfield throws he'd like to have back, but it's clear to me: Cantrell/Vasher as your two starting outside WRs is far and away your best bet to really open up this passing game down the stretch this season. I really, really hope this sticks and the staff doesn't decide to do something questionable like start Willies next week...
*Let's talk briefly about defense, because let's be honest here: There's not much to it. Oklahoma dominated you up front with their offensive line. Plain and simple. The Sooners ran it at-will the whole night, and for the first time this season, I thought Tech's D-line got pushed around quite a bit. In particular, this was the first game this season where Mych Thomas and Broderick Washington were bested for an essentially an entire contest. OU ran it inside all night long. It simply didn't really matter much how good your LBs are when the D-line is getting pushed back and moved around to make room for other lead blockers or big tailbacks running downhill. I think this, again, was mostly due to how good OU's offensive line is, arguably the best in college football. But I also thought that your D-line just didn't live up to their billing, either.
*Justis Parker is going to be a really damn good football player by the time his career is over. His knack for finding turnovers cannot be overstated. You've been looking for a true ballhawk for a while, and he's it. Sure, Jah'Shawn has shown flashes of it, particularly his freshman year, but I think Parker has consistently shown that he's going to make plays if you put him in the game. In fact, with Johnson out the first half this weekend because of his targeting penalty, I'm 100 percent on board with him starting at safety just to see what you get there.
*One thing I didn't agree with gameplan-wise defensively: All the soft zone coverage. Tech's DBs gave OU's WRs huge cushions most of the night, and the OU wide receivers gladly took their 8-12 yards and went on about their drive. I just thought that, on a night where Mayfield is a bit off, why not more man press coverage, dedicate more guys to the run game, and just live with the risk of giving up some one on one downfield throws? I just think that, against this particular offense, which thrives on being balanced and running a jillion RPOs, why not try to disrupt the pass game in press man while loading the box to at least attempt to slow down their run game? I just think that would've been more effective than being cool with giving up a ton of dinks and dunks down the field while the run game pounds away. It may be a catch-22 where you might be damned either way, but I think you might at least get off the field a few more times overall in the long run had you run more man coverage and brought more pressure.
*Here's fingers crossed that Clayton Hatfield is ready to go this weekend. That's it on the kicking game.
*This team continues its hair-pulling pattern we saw all the time in 2015 and 2016. When the offense is rolling right along, the defense can't seem to get a stop. When the defense gets some big stops - as Tech's defense did when the Red Raiders were down 21-20 and 28-20 both - the offense gets stonewalled and suddenly can't do anything except go three and out. Is this as a result of coaching? Is it a mentality issue? Is it bad play-calling in these situations? I think all things are on the table, as this is a clear pattern issue.
*It's also a pattern issue that this team cannot score in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter, right now. This was the third week in a row where the offense scored just 7 points after halftime. The Red Raiders have not scored a fourth quarter point since the Kansas game. The offense is averaging just 6.5 points overall in the fourth quarter this season. This is an issue that isn't limited to 2017, either. For whatever reason, Kingsbury's offenses at Tech have flat out seemed to get worse as contests go in. Is this a matter of failing to adjust at the half? Is it a matter of, as previously stated, mentality of the offense after halftime, tightening up? Is it out-thinking yourself with play-calling? I don't know. It could be a whole lot of different issues. But the single thread remains: Tech can't score late consistently. They have to fix that if they're going to make it through this season and go bowling.
OFFENSIVE co-MVPs: T.J. Vasher and Tre King
OFFENSIVE STANDOUTS: WR TJ Vasher, RB Tre King, LG Madison Akamnonu, RG Jack Anderson, IR Keke Coutee
DEFENSIVE MVP: None
DEFENSIVE STANDOUTS: LB Jordyn Brooks, LB Dakota Allen, RE Kolin Hill, S JahShawn Johnson, NB Justis Parker
