Oklahoma holds on to beat Texas in the Red River Rivalry game, 28-20

DeMarco Murray reigns supreme in Oklahoma's win over Texas

My Thoughts:

• Oklahoma’s defense is not that bad; I love the linebacker play. You cannot run laterally on this defense, too fast.

• The Sooners hurry-up offense tires defenses and keeps them on their heels.

• Texas is struggling to find consistency on offense. The running game is non-existent; they could use South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore.

• Texas wideouts are not spectacular like year’s past.

• Garrett Gilbert will be good but this year -without a good supporting cast- he will struggle. Let’s see what next year’s recruiting class brings.

• Oklahoma’s defensive coordinator Brent Venables deserves credit; he is sorely underrated as a coordinator.

• I like Landry Jones a lot and Todd McShay thinks he will never be a great quarterback. The same McShay that is in love with Jake Locker (4-20, 71 yards against Nebraska), go figure.

• Oklahoma’s offensive line is a good unit and allows running backs Mossis Madu and DeMarco Murray holes to sprint through.

• DeMarco Murray is stronger than ever, after dealing with nagging injuries throughout his career in Norman. He is clearly special and integral part of this offense.

• Oklahoma wide receiver Kenny Stills is going to be special; he has great hands. And he is only a freshman.

• Junior wide receiver Ryan Broyles is dynamic and is one fast player and catches everything thrown his way.

• The Sooners are on track to meet Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship game on Dec. 4th and a lot of questions will be answered. But you never know, some questions could be answered before that matchup.

• This was not the most exciting Red River Rivalry game like the ’08 version.

• Texas defense is good but they are not the ’05 version.

• The Sooners are going to need to slow down the offense (after they jump out to an enormous lead) and focus on running the ball to hold on to leads if they expect to get to the national title game.

• I believe Oklahoma will play in the title game but games against Missouri, Texas Tech, Baylor and Oklahoma State, are worrisome if the defense has trouble holding teams.

Oklahoma outclasses the Seminoles, 44-17

Oklahoma’s performance, Week one, against Utah State was an aberration. There I said it. Landry Jones was a poised, veteran-like quarterback yesterday against the Jimbo Fisher-led Florida State Seminoles, throwing for 380 yards with four touchdowns sprinkled in for emphasis. He is poised for big things but does he need time to make it work, meaning good O-line play is the key. It’s hard to say how he will look going forward in the upcoming weeks. But I really do not see a threat on their schedule, except for the perennial game against Texas in the Red Rivalry game on October 2nd. There will be another game where Bob Stoops’ team will stub their toe and look subpar. There has to be high hopes in Norman for the performance yesterday; the defense looked especially stout against the run, and the pass defense flooded the zones and played good coverage. I doubt this team will be the 2008 Oklahoma team that hung 50 points or more on their opponents but they can be just as good, keeping the offense simple with swing passes and letting their skill players take advantage of mismatches and using their speed. It looked too easy for Jones yesterday, finding wide receiver Ryan Broyles for 124 yards and 1 TD. Running back Demarco Murray did his part gaining 51 yards on the ground (2 TDs) and 52 yards through the air; the key is to keep him healthy, he has struggled throughout his career to remain healthy. Putting Murray in space allows another dimension to the offense since he catches the ball well out of the backfield. We will see down the road how good a win this was, and that is all based on the production of the Seminoles. Obviously if they stumble to the finish line with six or seven wins then this win does not look good. My gut tells me that the Sooners should look out for away games @Baylor and @Oklahoma State to finish the season. I don’t think anyone will be surprised if they go undefeated but the nation is waiting to see if Stoops can win the big one, and if their Week 2 performance continues then punch their ticket for Glendale and the crystal trophy envelop by Stoops and his players.