CCmachine from the Sooner SB Nation blog Crimson and Cream Machine was nice enough to answer some of my questions about the matchup this weekend. And as you would expect after that lead in sentence... here are those questions and answers:
1) So far no one has been able to stop the Oklahoma State offense this season. Is there anything about the OU defense that makes you think this will change this week? Or are we looking at a shootout like everyone predicts?
I don't think there's any way that the Sooners stop O-State from scoring. Oklahoma needs to build a defense around limiting the big plays. If they can do that then they've got something to work with. If not its going to be a long, long night for OU fans. The big plays are going to be there for the Cowboys but its Oklahoma's job to limit them. In order to do that they'll need to pick their poison and play to stop the run or the pass because they aren't stopping both.
2) On the other side of the ball... from what I have watched it seems like the Sooner offense employs a lot of short passes, misdirection runs, and the occasional pass downfield to keep the defense honest. First off, is that a correct broad assessment... and secondly, do you think this will be effective against this OSU defense that covers the underneath stuff much better than the deep routes?
Oklahoma has tons of speed on the edges and usually does a good job at attacking a defenses weakness. I would expect them to hit the edges on short stuff expecting the safeties to move up. If Bill Young decides to keep the safeties deep then I'm pretty sure that they'll be satisfied at taking four to six yards at a time and chewing up clock along the way that would also put a linebacker on Ryan Broyles and I like that very much.
3) Do you believe that the win in Waco righted the ship in terms of the problems this Sooner team has been having on the road, or is the Sooner fanbase still holding their breath that they don't come out flat in Stillwater?
That was more of a home game than people realize for the Sooners. Waco is a long way from being an intimidating venue and while OU was finally dominant on the road this season there's still a lot of skepticism out there as to how they'll perform in a true road test. There were a ton of Sooner fans in the crowd at Baylor. Saturday won't be a sellout crowd in Stillwater but still a lot more intimidating than Waco was.
On a side note: You guys have priced yourselves out of a sellout crowd for Bedlam but the athletic department also accomplished its mission of keeping OU fans from buying up tickets. For that price we can see the OU/Texas game while enjoying the state fair and the city of Dallas.
4) There seems to be mixed feelings about Landry Jones in Norman. Is this just a product of following a superstar, or do you feel like he may not be the right QB for OU for the next two years?
From day one I've said that Landry's biggest problem is that he's not Sam Bradford. He's already had several record setting games and most people forget that he's only a sophomore. He's made steady improvement from last season and I think that he'll continue to do so over the next two years. Almost 3,500 passing yards with 30 touchdowns to 7 interceptions this year is pretty good (Texas would take that, right?). It just doesn't make sense for some of the fanbase to call to replace him with a guy who has never taken a snap in college football before.
5) How about a prediction?
Not ready to make a prediction just yet. I'll do that on our Sooner Nation broadcast Wednesday night. I will say that I think it is going to be a high scoring game that most likely will be decided by turnovers.