Well, things are starting to move around a bit back at OU. Everyone's still talking about last Tuesday's embarrassment...we Sooners have certainly taken this one pretty hard, haven't we? Just another indicator of how unexpected and unprecedented it was...but it's time to move on.
I read today that Josh Heupel, one of the greatest, smartest quarterbacks in OU's history, has been hired as a full-time assistant at U. of Arizona by Mike Stoops. That's a great move, both for Josh and for Mike and UofA. That program is only going up from here. I'm just hoping that Mike didn't take most of the mojo with him when he left OU...despite an undefeated regular season and Big XII Championship in 2004, did anyone else get the feeling of an unsettled program the way I did? It really came up after Mike announced his acceptance of the Arizona job right before the 2003 Big XII title game, and we ALL remember how that went, don't we?
The fact is, the defense hasn't been as sharp, the team as a whole hasn't seemed as focused, since Stoops made his announcement. Forget that "Finish" garbage...if they were as focused on "finishing" as they said all year, we wouldn't have had the kind of embarrassment we had last Tuesday. For that matter, I don't think we'd have been torched by Kansas State in 2003, and I fully believe we'd have been celebrating OU's 8th National Championship (with no split with USC) last year, and the 9th this year. The team is missing something now, and I don't know what that something is. (If I did, I sure wouldn't be living and working HERE.) Everyone has felt this, despite all the optimism of this past regular season. Something just felt WRONG. Well, here's one Sooner fan who hopes Bob Stoops finds whatever it is, and fixes it in a big freakin' hurry. I'd prefer not to have my heart and guts torn out EVERY year.
In other news, it looks like Dusty Dvoracek is all but back on the team. Stoops hasn't made the official announcement, but I'd say it's probably 90% done. You never know with Coach Stoops, though...he's a really classy guy and a real straight-shooter. But he will do what he feels is best for the team. In any case, ol' Dusty better realize and fully appreciate Stoops' largesse, should he be permitted to return to the team. If he even glances over the line that he'll be toeing now, he'll be done, and this time, there will be no pardon, no parole.
Finally, Tashard Choice has transferred to Georgia Tech. Good for him, I wish him the best. Considering he's a running back (and we know who the future is at the running back position for OU now), this isn't too surprising. Tashard is a good running back...he got some touches in a few games at OU, and he certainly showed promise. I lament his departure because we could really use the depth at running back in a year or two, after Kejaun Jones graduates. To be honest, I don't know if Donta Hickson will stick around much longer, either...the guy's been left out in the cold, considering he showed some great stuff in mop-up duty in 2003.
In any case, we all know Stoops will be rebuilding a bit this coming season, but here's my prediction. Even with a depleted offensive line in front of him, Adrian Peterson will roar out of the gate in 2005 and storm easily to a Heisman Trophy, and storm the Sooners to at least another Big XII Championship.
No comments:
Post a Comment