Trying something new. Instant grading of CODS: Coaching, Offense, Defense, Special Teams. Not a lot of honor students tonight.
Coaching: D
This week, Dana emphasized the in-game adjustments but we never saw them til it was too late. He also struggled calling plays for 2.5-3 quarters. Missed the quick-strikes and snappy any sort of innovation. That can all be corrected. The tunnel screen worked in the first half and Dana never really came back to it.
Yes, you were out-talented everywhere on the field which is why it’s a forgivable situation. But this team was out of this game from the opening kick.
Offense: C-
It certainly got better as the night went on. That was partially King becoming more comfortable and the OU defensive players tapping the brakes (and the drive full of Sooner braindead penalties).
D’Eriq King looked frantic for 2.5 quarters. Just skittish, missing throws that you expect him to hit 80% of the time. It was surprising because we’ve never really seen that from him (save the SMU game last year). OU DC Alex Grinch is famous for his presnap shifts from his one-gap DL and the backfield – is that what threw King off? It was evident from his first couple of throws.
Cougars missed Patrick Carr all night – Kyle Porter had a nice catch out of the backfield but, save the 19-yarder, never found a hole running the ball.
Car ran well in the second half after not getting on the field in the first half.
Defense: G
I went to public school in Louisiana and I think that’s the grade worse than F.
Not the start you wanted if you’re Joe Cauthen. Missed tackles, overpursuing, not in the right position, blown coverage. We saw it all. 7 TD drives given up and plenty of other opportunities. The defense forced just one punt and the 686 yards for OU are the second-most given up since the Marshall game in 2013 (worse: Tech 2018).
Jalen finished with 508 yards through 3 quarters with 3 TDs on the ground and 3 through the air.
Otherwise, we totally shut that guy down.
Special teams: D
Witherspoon was fine except for the kick out of bounds. Roy was good but coverages were pretty bad. A case could be made that special teams were worse than last year. Want to review special teams play before I go all-in on that thought, though.
