5055567475852000, Euless (10/28/2008 6:32:09 AM)

Count me in as one who feel that the coaches are at fault here; the worst stretch of D that I have ever seen OU play. We likely lose to osu and taco tech, and end up in the Holiday Bowl (which we could also easliy lose with that defense).

cs, (10/28/2008 7:16:13 AM)

Why cannot Mike Stoops lose more gains at Arizona, get fired, and return to OU?
Mike Stoops can shut down USC at Arizona, but Venables can't stop K-State with all of OU's talent?

Spikey, (10/28/2008 8:01:58 AM)

The Stoops (both of them) defensive philosophy/scheme is flawed, as proven by OU's propensity to give up big plays. This has been the case every year. Yes, they do have some games where everything comes together for a whole game, ie Missouri in last year's Big 12 title game. But they almost always give up big plays and then blame it on missed assignments. Two problems; first, everyone knows what OU's reads are and the good teams with smart offensive coordinators and talented players know how to manipulate those reads. Matt Lienert said so when he humiliated the Sooners in the Orange Bowl for the National championship. Second, OU has the softest zone pass coverage IN THE WORLD. The Sooners let receivers go wide open and instead of breaking on the route and covering the player, they wait for the ball to be thrown. It requires a QB to make a bad read or a receiver to make a mistake for OU to stop a 6 to 12 yard pass play.

JDW, (10/28/2008 8:40:47 AM)

Problem solved!!! Just hire Spikey!!! He has it all figured out.

Matt in BA, Broken Arrow (10/28/2008 9:03:02 AM)

Maybe the defensive scheme of Mike Leach has caught on at OU, just score more points than your opponents.

pat, Kiefer (10/28/2008 9:31:06 AM)

Bob Stoops needs to step up and make some hard decisions instead of waiting to see what Wilson and Venables will do!

sierrajoe, Langley (10/28/2008 10:54:10 AM)

Despite what Sittler says, Venables is a nice guy but an average coach. Look at how many of the 500 plus games have happened while he was coach or associate. I am not an obscenity spewing fan as Sittler would say but someone who truly believes that this fellow has had an adequate chance and can't cut it. OSU changed defensive coordinators and look how far they have come this year. It is time we did the same!

definedego, (10/28/2008 4:24:03 PM)

Boo OU! I love to see them fall down!

kma, (10/29/2008 10:35:39 AM)

It would be interesting to see several stats, like time of possession (each team), yd per play (each team), and total number of plays (each team). With OU's hurry up offense, is it possible that the other team's offense is on the field for more plays. Is the defense giving up more yards per play as the last several years? Are they allowing fewer yards per play?

While there have been gaffs and big plays against the defense, could OU's offense be part of the equation?