| 14 February 2010
Once again, OU has a very good OOC schedule with a super competitive home game, a good home game and a very competitive road game. In a college football world where most of the teams plays a collection of the worst Div 1 teams that they can find to accept the money for the honor of being slaughtered, OU along with a few other teams plays a competitive, representative schedule. However, like last year, such a schedule when you have a very young team (massively amplified by injuries) does not give your team time to develop or survive the errors that can occur in month one. OU is going to have to hit the ground running or lose their current home game winning streak (FSU), and give a new coach a signature win for a program proving it can stay on top (Cincinnati). At least this year, OU opens at home in Norman against the worst team on their schedule rather than a packaged TV neutral site game against a top 25 team. So usual first game jitters should not be so lethal. Things get significantly harder after that.
9/4 Utah State:
2009 4-8 Returning Starters - Offense: 9 Defense: 7
Proven Playmakers: QB Diondre Borel, RB Robert Turbin
Utah State previously has been the classic worst team in Div 1 football that you schedule for the guaranteed win. However, under new coach Gary Andersen USU seemed to be making some moves towards respectability. Utah State returns a bunch of starters from an offense that scored 29 points per game. Playmakers include QB Borel who is also a threat to run, and a 1,200 yard rusher in Turbin. They will present a good early test for the Sooner defense. Utah State returns a number of starters on a defense which gave up nearly 34 points per game.
9/11 Florida State:
2009 7-6 Returning Starters - Offense: Defense: 5
Proven Playmakers: QB Christian Ponder, QB EJ Manuel, RB Jermaine Thomas, WR Bert Reed, LB Nigel Bradham,
It's going to be strange not to see Bobby Bowden on the FSU sidelines. Bowden, who last coached in Norman back in 1976, won't be there for this matchup. The Jimbo Fisher era has arrived and so have changes to the Seminole coaching staff. Fisher has been in charge of the offense for the last several years, so there won't be too many changes there. On defense, though, long-time coordinator Mickey Andrews has retired and his replacement is, ironically, Mark Stoops. Usually when playing a time with a new coordinator, the OU coaches are at a disadvantage trying to figure out what the new defense will look like, but in this instance, OU should be fully prepared for the changed FSU defense. FSU's defense was just plain awful last year giving up over 30 points per game. They have to replace starters in the secondary and defense line, including their sack leader, Dekoda Watson. The fact that Watson at 6.5 sacks was the leader pass rusher from LB highlights FSU's biggest weaknesses - pass rush and coverage. Expect Mark Stoops to bring the Stoops brothers' zone scheme to Tallahassee. On offense is where FSU presents the biggest challenge. The Seminoles bring depth at QB, playmakers at RB and WR, and all 5 starters are back at OL. This might be the best offense that OU plays all year. The question of Ponder or Manuel should be resolved during spring practice if Ponder's shoulder is healthy enough. Either way, FSU will bring a mobile QB with an excellent arm. This team is clearly the best OOC home game for OU since Bama in 2002, and that game set a pretty high bar for excitement. Then again, could this could be the 2007 Miami game in Norman, a previous power under a new coach walks into Norman and runs into the brick wall known as the Sooners home field advantage under Bob?
9/18 Air Force:
2009 8-5 Returning Starters - Offense: 5 Defense: 7
Proven Playmakers: QB Tim Jefferson, RB Asher Clark, FB Jared Tew
Before you think that this game will be a cakewalk, a quick reminder that Air Force beat up Houston 47-20 in their bowl game, holding Casey Keenum to under 225 yards picking him off 6 times while rushing for over 4 bills. Air Force returns the all-important option attack troika of QB, FB and HB. However, on the negative side, Air Force loses all five starters on their OL, so their option attack may not be completing humming early in the season. It will be a tough challenge for OU to get ready for Air Force a week after playing a vastly different offense in FSU. Defending an option attack definitely means the young OU LBs will have to be ready. On defense, Air Force returns more starters, but are missing their two leading tacklers at LB. They do return their top DL in Rick Ricketts. Even with Ricketts returning, Air Force has issues rushing the passer. This is the kind of game where Landry Jones and the Sooners' WR core (especially Broyles) could have a huge day.
9/25 at Cincinnati:
2009 12-1 Returning Starters - Offense: 7 Defense: 2
Proven Playmakers: QB Zach Collaros, WR Armon Binns, Ben Guidugli TE, DT Derek Wolfe
When we last saw the Bearcats, they were getting powerslammed by the Gators without their head coach Brian Kelly. The 2010 Bearcats have also lost their best players on offense in Tony Pike and OU-killer, WR Marde Gilyard. Fortunately for them, the offense will be in good hands with Zach Collaros, who started several games for Cincinati during Pike's injury, and Collaros will have a veteran OL to help out. On defense, the Bearcats lose a lot of starters from last year. The defense did a good job early, but really struggled late in the year giving, up 30+ points 4 times in their last 5 games. Rebuilding that defense will be a huge task for the new coaching staff. Cincinnati is hoping that the second time works as well as last time in hiring Kelly's successor from Central Michigan, Butch Jones. Kelly hasn't left Cincinnati completely depleted, but this does seem reminiscent of when Petrino left Louisville and took his offensive acumen with him. This will be a huge road test for OU with Cincinnati's stadium sure to be loaded with as many fans as possible. OU should get a good scouting view of Cincinnati from their early road contests at Fresno State and at NC State. This should be a matchup of two preseason Top 25 teams, but there's a good chance Cincinnati might have two losses by the time OU arrives in the Queen City. OU badly needs a good OOC road win, and good game from Landry here would go a long way to reassuring Sooner fans still scarred from the Nebraska and Tech games last year.
