What, for being 12-2 in a "rebuilding" year where you lose a handful of starters (admittely, losing Andre Smith will be tough to replace)? Yeah, the lost to Utah, but they still played an amazing season.
As bad as Tenn was this season they should be well off next season with Monte Kiffin and son. He will get some great defensive recruits this month. They should have a great defense, and our third game of the year should be much more competitive. I think Auburn is 1 or 2 years away, and Tenn and Arkansas could be very good in '09 already. The SEC west is going to be the strongest with Bama, Ole' Miss, LSU, Arkansas being contenders for the west.
Is Sam Bradford really dumb enough to give up a top ten (maybe 5) draft pick and come back to ~2 returning starters on offense? What is he thinking? It can't be not wanting to go to the Lions, he won't go that high. Besides, it doesn't look like Stoops will be winning NCs any time soon.
Just 2? Yes three of our O-line are gone. We still have Chris Brown, Demarco Murray (huge), and probably the biggest suprise....Jermaine Gresham decided to stay. If you remember, he scored a couple TD's on the Gators. Gerald McCoy is coming back too. Many say he will be the best defensive player in the country next year. We'll be just fine.
I hope their defense is sick, because their O sure as hell won't be! Apparently 'Monte Kiffin' hates scholarship quarterbacks. Starting a walk-on is not a road to success; this tip coming from a Rich Rodriguez-starting-walk-on-Nick-Sheridan-vs.-Utah fan.
This is probably going to mean that Bradford will be back for two years. He is going to get his ass whipped next year. If there is one thing that Bradford does not do well, it is throw on the move. He is going to be moving A LOT next year. I don't really care if he does come back. We are going to beat their ass again. This just means that OU will have less excuses when it happens. That is fine with me. In all honesty though, this was a stupid decision. Bradford just cost himself millions of dollars. With the rookie salary cap that is sure to be a part of the next NFL CBA, AND playing another year for free, there is no way that he ever recovers that money. It's just plain stupid. Please. Is anyone outside of the state of Oklahoma saying that? Or do you mean that he will be the best player in Norman COUNTY? I know that you are trying really hard to forget OU's last game, but there are 7-8 players that will be returning from Florida's defense that I would pick to be on my team before I got to McCoy.
Bradford's O-line has been rotated throughout the season. These won't be green true freshmen coming out. OU has a pretty good track record of protecting the quarterback. They consistently produce top quality linemen so I don't know why this next year would be any different. Every year one of our superstars leave..we always get the "Well you are screwed next year." Adrian Peterson, Jason White, Jamal Brown etc etc... Next year guys, you head it here first, remember the names Dejuan Miller and Jameel Owens. This will be an even better WR corps than years past. Brown/Murray in the back field ...Murray in the slot along with Gresham out at TE. Watch out Texas.
Bevo: Bradford made a mistake, and I really can't imagine what he was thinking. He did cost himself millions, but the new rookie salary caps will not take affect until 2011, so that won't effect him or others if they decide to go next season. Gerald McCoy is the best defensive player? Haha, he isn't even the best DT/NG. I agree completely with Bevo on this, and by the way UF has Brandon Spikes coming back! OUSooner: Is Gresham definitely coming back? Murray and Brown are pretty good, but they will also be playing under a basically new OLine and they play the same position so they count as one returning starter. Your OLine will probably be good, but not as good (wonder if they can hold half as much? ). OU should be good next year, probably the 2nd best Big12 team, but if they couldn't get it done this year I don't see them being real title contenders next season. My early prediction for next season's NCG opponents would be UF (almost a lock... I know but it's true: UF returns its ENTIRE defense and 7-8 offensive starters including Tebow) and Texas. USC could take Texas' spot if they keep Sanchez (does anyone know yet?) and beat the teams they are actually suposed to beat.
Didn't Wells and declare for the draft today along with your top WR and DB? Both programs will be in a rebuilding mode. Is there any chance that Pryor will learn about the "forward pass" during the off-season?
USC doesn't rebuild, they reload (cliche'); yet they always seem to lose one that makes people think WTF happened there! Haha, so true. Great kid, great runner, but absolutely a terrible passer. Probably the worst passer I've seen at this level.
It was. And after losing our top two tight ends before the 3rd game of the season was over, it looked even more grim. The kids stepped up. Colt was amazing, and we played a lot better on defense than we had in the past couple of years. Actually having the same defensive coordinator for two consecutive seasons will improve that unit even more next year. Our on field leadership was much better than it had been since 2005, and that's something that does not show up in box scores. USC is losing their QB, almost their entire defense, and their coaching staff is being raided. The Trojans will have talent, they always do. Being able to put it all together will be a challenge for PC. Florida will have to replace Harvin, and their defense will be freakish. OU's defense was not good this year, so I guess they could improve next year. They will still be looking for some decent linebackers. Texas only loses 3 starters from both sides of the ball. Quan Cosby at WR, Brian Orakpo at DE and Roy Miller at DT. Each of those players were the best we had at the position, but have good talent coming in to replace them. Sergio Kindle is going to become a full time DE, and he is a beast of a pass rusher. He is pretty familiar with Sam Bradford. Sam is his bitch. We will be undersized at DT, but also fast and athletic. That's what we need in our pass happy league. I can't wait for the College Football 2009 Thread.
And this had to hurt... Preseason Poll prediction: 1. UF (this is a lock) 2. Texas 3. Oklahoma 4. Ohio State 5. USC (should be lower with what they lost, but it won't be any lower than 5th)
^^I think the only reason we will crack the top 5 is because we have USC at home early in the season and that we play in the Big 10. We lose a lot of people. But, when does OSU have a bad defense? We always have so much talent on that side of the ball that I am confident they will be just as good as every other year. We will miss Beanie though.
With college football 8 months away, this dude has to pass the time...... Script Ohio!!!! I actually made Script Ohio in our lawn for the football season.
