Oklahoma Know-How

With such a big game on Saturday, I had to get behind enemy lines. Instead of heading down to Norman, I traded questions with Dallassooner from Sooner Schooner, one of the best Sooner blogs around. You can click here to see my responses to his questions about Mizzou.

Well, if you look at the situation with Murray on the surface, you have to worry some. Murray has accounted for 824 yards of offense and 15 touchdowns, including 2 on kick returns. You're losing his ability to get into the end-zone. You're losing his ability to come into the game and change the pace of the game. You're losing his ability to come in and rush for 6 yards every time he touches the ball. But when you delve into it, you're losing his ability to change the entire game. I'm not going to say that OU would have lost to Baylor or that Baylor could have made it a lot closer, but Murray's TD return before the half simply changed the entire game from the way it was going. It gave the Sooners a breath of fresh air and gave the crowd something to be excited about. That ability to change the game is what the Sooners will miss.

When you look at the schedule, Bradford has only played in three true away games if you exclude Tulsa and Texas. At Colorado, he never got into a rhythm and only threw the ball 19 times. At Iowa State, he was misfiring early and seemed to get behind mentally. At Tech, you can't really judge his performance because the injury occurred on OU's first play from scrimmage. So you can say that Bradford only had two bad games on the road, but when you narrow it down, he never had a good game on the road. He seems to come out throwing the ball slightly inaccurate, whether it be consistently too high and long or too short and low. Perhaps the inconsistencies at the beginning of his games gets into his head and frustrates him, preventing him from hitting his groove. He is a freshman, so he will have time to mature and avoid frustration.

You had the key word in your question. Contain. That's the idea that Stoops' squad needs to keep in mind when coming into this one. Part of the reason why Missouri's offense is so explosive is Chase Daniel's ability to scramble and make plays happen. He had a few plays in the Kansas game where I just sat in my seat in awe. He has a Romo-like ability to avoid the rush and buy time to pass, but he has the speed and elusiveness of a tailback to hurt you on the ground too. OU's defensive front 7 need to work extra hard to contain Daniel in the pocket. I'm not saying this will change Daniel's abilities to pass, but it will limit his abilities to make the big play. In addition, the defensive secondary and the linebackers need to be aware of Jeremy Maclin's position on the field at times. They cannot allow him to slip by uncovered into routes and need to contain his run threat as much as possible.

Malcolm Kelly is the guy on the field that Bradford can rely on for a big play. Gresham and Finley are there for assurance, but Kelly is there for his explosiveness. He averages 16.6 yards per catch, a huge statistic that shows his ability to stretch the field. But in order for Missouri to limit Kelly's ability to stretch the play, the Tigers defense must pick its poison. If Bradford can't get deep to Kelly, he can hit Gresham or Finley down the middle. Patrick is emerging as a reliable outlet, and Juaquin Iglesias is another incredibly dependable receiver. So the Mizzou defense needs to decide, do they double Kelly and limit the deep ball, or do they cover the flats and eliminate Gresham or Finley's production down the middle and Patrick's reliability? Limiting Kelly means double teaming or zone-matching, which leaves open areas for these other guys to find. The Tigers need to think real hard about what kind of gameplan they want to implement.

It's got to be the injuries. Auston English was a pass-rushing threat on every snap. When you lose a playmaker like him and then some depth behind him, you really change the kind of attack for the line. Different personnel will cause you to have different looks and stunts. Taking out the top players limits your ability to run these stunts and looks that you want to run, and it affects the effectiveness of the defensive line. These injuries can also lead to inconsistencies. The line did a great job against Oklahoma State getting into the backfield and limiting Zac Robinson's ability to pass, but the rushing defense seemed porous at times, giving up 5 yards a rush. Against Texas Tech, the line lacked any kind of pressure to rattle Graham Harrell, and he picked us apart. Like I said before, the key in this one is containment, which starts with outside pressure from the line. DE's are key to create this kind of pressure, and the loss of English and several others severely hampers this. The play of linebackers and back-up DE's will be key in this one.