2011 Big 12 Champions. Read that again. Feels good, doesn't it? Stoops can hang his Insight Bowl banner up his ass this year, next to the football we left there. I'm going to try and give you some analysis of the game, but mostly I'm probably going to gloat and be classless in victory.
Offense:
I must admit, if someone told me Blackmon wouldn't score and Weeden wouldn't toss a TD pass and we'd win by 30, I'd have probably insulted their penis. However, that's exactly what happened, with both Joesph Randle and Jeremy "Smiff" Smith going for over 100 yards and 2 touchdowns a piece. Blackmon and the receiving corp still managed to combine for 217 yards, including some backbreaking catches (a 53 yarder by Tracey Moore comes to mind) and some great run blocking.
The entire package we ran seemed to confuse the OU defense (or the OU defense was that bad). The three man front they employed against it was not nearly as effective as the 5 man front they ran against us last year. Now, while I'm sure the rational was that we've seen their gameplan from last year, it was so amazingly successful that I have no idea why they didn't try it again. The Cowboy line was unstoppable Saturday night, and the only two times Weeden was touched were on bullshit late hits (but I anticipated as much from the goons).
More on the offense, plus defense, and general shit talking after the jump......
Welcome back, let's go back to the receiver for a second. I mentioned earlier that they run blocked amazingly well in this game, and that can't be understated. I can think of only one time they failed to secure the edge (and that was the worst block Cooper has thrown in his entire life), but at that time the game was out of hand. Besides that, it seemed the OU defense was determined to shut down our passing game which, considering we had less than 300 yards and a fat zero TD's, I'd say they were successful at. Not that any Sooner fan will take any consolation in that, as we ran over, around, and through the heart of their defense at will. With all the effort that OU put into slowing down our passing game, it completely freed up the run game. Also, the goon D failed to secure the middle of the field against the pass, which is where Weeden loves to go. Most of those pass receptions were for first downs, and I'd say 70% were over the middle of the field.
I think, and again this is just my opinion, that the OU coaches saw how the stunts and blitzes that A&M ran against us in the first half of that game confused the line and allowed the Ag's to get pressure on Weeden. Apparently they forgot to watch the second half and see how we adjusted. Want to know the key to slowing down this Cowboy offense? Get pressure on Weeden. Even if you give up a few big plays, eventually it will pay dividends (for reference see Iowa State. Fucking Iowa State). With little to no pressure on TMDMBW all night, we were able to execute any play we wanted with great success. The only thing I didn't see that I really wanted to see was a Blackmon touchdown (after which, I wanted him to cruise past the OU sideline throwing down the shark. Have I mentioned how stupid that is?). I don't think they expected us to establish a run game, and when we did, they were at a loss on how to stop it. We did have one blemish on the night, Jeremy Smith fumbled in the 4th quarter, though the game was so far out of hand I don't think anyone cared (though I did, I wanted to get to 50 on em). It was worth it though, to see Travis Lewis on the sideline afterwards. Down like 41-3, he was strutting around and pointing to the crowd. Hey my man, that shit works better when you're not down 6 scores.
Defense:
All I can say is wow. We normally give up around 450 yards, 200 on the ground, and yet OU could only manage 350 total (only 100 of those on the gound). It looked to me like we copied the gameplan OU used against us last year. We blitzed a ton, got loads of pressure on Jones, and were physical enough with the receivers to keep them off balance all night. Richetti Jones and Jamie Blatnick were man-beasts Saturday, consistently harassing Jones, forcing two fumbles and rushing him into one interception (the other interception occurred when Brodrick Brown punked Jaz Reynolds in the endzone).
The only real success OU found in slowing down our pass rush was holding, which they did all night long. It was amazing the holds not called in that game. Donald Stephenson actually tackles Blatnick on more than one occasion, with the ref staring at him, and nothing is called (though that's legit, it's a half hearted complaint because we spanked that ass) It can't be overstated how detrimental the loss of Ryan Broyles was to this team. What he does, which is crucial when your quarterback is in trouble, is catch any thing thrown his way. His absence is probably 90% of the reason the OU offense has been sputtering the past few weeks. I believe it was Miller who dropped at least 3 balls, all of which would have been first downs. Broyles makes those catches. I think though, even with the interceptions and fumble recoveries, my favorite thing about our defense's performance was that they limited James Hanna to 1 reception for 13 yards (still, fuck that guy).
The end result was the second largest margin of victory in Bedlam, our first Big 12 Championship, our first BCS bowl, and one hell of a hangover (which is why this post is so damn late). I know we wanted more, and we've been fucked harder than a Lubbockian hooker, but in the end it's been a pretty awesome season. And, no matter what, we're all better people than Bama fans, so we have have going for us (Need proof? Read this. And what separates them from any other crazed fanbase is that these fucks actually mean the vile things they say, and then celebrate it. I'll give em credit, I never thought one thread would insult the crash victims, Austin Box, and every Katrina victim. Takes talent to be that big of an asshole.).
Finally, now that he'll for sure never play us again, I'd like to wish Ryan Broyles a speedy recovery. If you read Weeden's of Blackmons twitters (which you should), you'd know they're pretty good friends with Broyles, and he was one of the first to wish them well after the crash. Some Sooners are hard to hate, and to me he's one of them (but luckily for every one Broyles there's 9 Travis Lewis's)