Oklahoma Sooners
Big 12
Bob Stoops and company need to hire a better public relations firm. Somehow Oklahoma has been trashed this year even though their record is superb, their season has been very good and the numbers are as good as always. The two losses to Kansas State and Notre Dame left Oklahoma on the outside of the National Championship conversation but losing to two of the best half dozen or so teams in the country is nothing to be ashamed of. The Sooners crushed Texas again this year, an outcome fans are always concerned with. It isn’t quite at the level of some of Stoops’ other OU teams, which is where the disappointment stems from; expectations are egregiously high. But still, Oklahoma was good this year and the media shouldn’t pretend like they weren’t.
2012 Record: 10-2, 8-1
Coach: Bob Stoops
Coach Bowl Record: 7-6
Big Wins: 10/13 Texas (63-21), 11/24 Oklahoma State (51-48)
Bad Losses: 9/22 Kansas State (19-24), 10/27 Notre Dame (13-30)
Strengths:
The Heisman Trophy is for the best collegiate player. If there was an award for the most consistently solid but underwhelming player, Landry Jones would be a four-time winner. For the fourth consecutive seasons, Jones threw for 3,989 yards and 29 touchdowns. He is solid to the point of boredom. No one even mentions his name anymore among the elite college QBs because it is obvious his production belongs there but equally as obvious his stature does not. Throw in Blake Bell and the Sooners have one of the most odd but productive quarterback crews in the nation. Bell, for the second straight season, ran for double digit touchdowns and rarely, if ever, threw a pass. Combined along with Kenny Stills at wide out and some other weapons, Oklahoma put together one of the better offensive units in the country, ranking highly in scoring, passing and overall production. Along with elite punt and kickoff return units, it is easy to see why Oklahoma was able to take down so many opponents by wide margins. Factoring into margin of victory, Stoops’ captained a fantastic pass defense this season as well. The OU pass defense based on efficiency was actually top ten in the nation and the very best in the Big 12 conference.
Weaknesses:
If Oklahoma could rely on so many parts of their team; scoring and total offense, return games, passing defense, and they were not quite good enough to be in the running for a title game berth, everything else must be a point of weakness or else they would have run roughshod through their schedule. And that is pretty much the truth. While the offense tallied passing yards and points, the rushing attack was weak. Damien Williams had a nice year but was not on the level of past OU backs like DeMarco Murray or Adrian Peterson. He was not good enough to lift an entire unit. Similarly, the rushing defense was the weak point of that unit as well. In those first two losses, the ones that knocked Oklahoma from the national conversation, they allowed 219 and 221 yards on the ground respectively. The Sooners defense also failed to do the little things that change ball games. They were not particularly good at getting to the quarterback or making tackles in the backfield. Without much pressure on opponents, they were also not able to force many turnovers. Each of these things can be overcome but all of them together led to Oklahoma falling when they faced an elite opponent.
Statistical Leaders:
Rushing: Damien Williams, RB, 905 yards
Passing: Landry Jones, QB, 3,989 yards
Receiving: Kenny Stills, WR, 892 yards
Tackles: Tony Jefferson, S, S, 113
Sacks: Chuka Ndulue, DE, 5.0
Interceptions: Javon Harris, S, 5
2012 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 163.45 (62nd in nation, 7th in conference)
Passing Offense: 350.18 (5, 3)
Total Offense: 513.64 (9, 3)
Scoring Offense: 41.73 (7, 3)
Rushing Defense: 186.73 (86, 7)
Pass Defense: 194.64 (21, 1)
Total Defense: 381.36 (44, 4)
Scoring Defense: 24.82 (48, 4)
Turnover Margin: -0.27 (76, 7)
Sacks: 2.00 (60, 4)
Sacks Allowed: 1.27 (26, 5)
Recent Bowl Appearances:
2011 Insight Bowl Iowa (31-14)
2010 Fiesta Bowl Connecticut (48-20)
2009 Sun Bowl Stanford (31-27)
2008 BCS Championship Florida (14-24)
2007 Fiesta Bowl West Virginia (28-48)
*all team stats through 11/24
