Hoover's Theory of General Bomartivity
Published: 10/6/2006 7:00 PM
Last Modified: 10/6/2006 7:00 PM
DALLAS -- I have a theory why Oklahoma's defense smelled like fuzzy cheese during its first three games: it's Rhett Bomar's fault.
(The Tulsa World is not responsible for damage to your computer from the mouthful of liquid you just laughed onto it.)
Here's how it works: when Bomar filled his saddlebags with nickels and rode away in shame, the defense freaked out.
This is a unit full of really good and really proud athletes. They probably believed the preseason hype about how they were going to be one of Bob Stoops' best defenses. They probably took it on themselves – individually so; it certainly didn't come from the coaches – to have to step up mentally and make plays more with Bomar gone.
"Our offense ain't going nowhere," they'd say. "We're going to have to get three-and-outs on every drive. We're going to have to intercept every pass. We're going to have to strip every carry. We're going to have to score touchdowns ourselves."
Coaches, believing the defense was going to be pretty good, unwittingly deemphasized fundamentals in two-a-days. Techniques slacked. Guys got themselves out of position here and there, but in practice it didn't show up much.
Then came the games.
UAB's option exposed how bad things had gotten, but players – seeing four turnovers by the offense in a 24-17 win – didn't buy it and decided they needed to keep pressing.
The first play of the Washington game – a 54-yard touchdown run – woke some people up, but by then it was too late. Each guy was still trying to lay kill-shots on every tackle, make every play, win his team the game. Meanwhile, the offense hummed in a 37-20 win.
Then came Oregon. Bad timing. The defense by now knew something was wrong, but against the mighty Ducks there was little they could do. Things got immediately better after an insecure effort on the second play of the game (a 67-yard screen pass), but an otherwise good product was wasted with two Oregon drives, some unbelievably bad pass coverage and what somehow passed as an officiating crew.
Middle Tennessee was the perfect medicine, though, for what ailed the Sooner defense. A week spent retraining on just fundamentals was enough to frighten Miss Middle away in a 59-0 win. Another couple of days polishing those fundamentals, followed by a couple of days game planning for Texas, followed by a week of game planning for Texas, has the Sooners in the right frame of mind tor Saturday's Red River somethingorother.
Sooners 21, Longhorns 10.
Keep in mind, this is only a theory.
– John E. Hoover
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
