2nd Best thing about big win at OU

[OrangeTsar]

The worst thing? The season is already 1/3 over and it feels like it just started

 

[Dirtyhairies]

He went conservative because both of our starting tackles were out and Nico was getting bull rushed and strip sacked.

Thank you. Nothing was “dialed back.” Sometimes this fanbase is just stupid. It’s all risk/ reward. If Heupel thought he could safely throw up another 21 points, put the game away in the third quarter and not risk game changing turnovers, guess what…. He would have

 

[DC_Vol]

If we had a healthy o line and a field that wasn’t a slip and slide who knows what Heupel would have done.

But we purposefully held ourselves back on offense. As frustrating as it was as a fan to watch, in the cold light of day it was the best choice

I suppose it’s a little old school, but I loved it during the game. Complete LOS domination and just grind your opponent down for 60 minutes.

That is top tier, elite football. We haven’t had a team capable of doing that in two decades. Got to appreciate it when you see it.

 

[Dirtyhairies]

We coulda hung fiddy but showed mercy

No

 

[marvin616]

My "Best Thing"...was THIS TWEET/X-Post during the game by Grant Ramey
making fun of the Okie's 2002 Scoreboard/*Not So "Jumbo-Tron"...
In their High School sized stadium...

Memorial stadium was definitely not the cathedral that Neyland is.

 

[Nerwen Aldarion]

I suppose it’s a little old school, but I loved it during the game. Complete LOS domination and just grind your opponent down for 60 minutes.

That is top tier, elite football. We haven’t had a team capable of doing that in two decades. Got to appreciate it when you see it.

What frustrated me was knowing we were holding ourselves back and in the heat of the moment I couldn’t figure out why. When the game was over and the cloud of moment was over I could see clearly why Heupel called the game the way he did and agreed it was the right choice.

That’s why he’s the Head Coach and I’m just a fan

 

[WillisWG]

Nope not scaling back

 

[VOLfrombama]

Defensively, OU fits right in with the SEC. They have some dudes.

Their D is Relentless. They are going to be a lot better than I anticipated. Their offense looked totally different when they brought in the other Qb. Wouldn’t be surprised if they win 7-8 games.

 

[RockyTop140]

…
No. We still don’t know.

Heupel dialed it back.

I agree with most of your takes. Unfortunately I disagree with this one. Did you notice anything about our offensive sets? We pretty much were forced to go into max protect. This limited what we could do offensively. With the way our D was playing, the smartest thing to do was to play it conservative. Had we tried to do more, we would’ve likely had more turnovers which would give Oklahoma exactly what they needed. Nico got strip sacked twice. It was only a matter of time before that pressure forced an errant throw or even another strip sack.

 

[RockyTop140]

Their D is Relentless. They are going to be a lot better than I anticipated. Their offense looked totally different when they brought in the other Qb. Wouldn’t be surprised if they win 7-8 games.

I expect them to rip Auburns offense apart next week. They may struggle offensively in Auburns stadium, but after watching Arkansas with their running qb, Oklahomas backup should be a good choice in that one.

 

[Hulavol]

Oklahoma is going to murder auburn.

 

[jasonvol18]

Honestly the best thing to me, is I'm hoping it'll reel in a bunch of the fanbase's expectations.

After 3 easy wins, I swear half the fans were talking smack about rolling the whole conference by 50.

Now we know how we look when matched against peer/near peer level talent.

Its a battle when talent levels are near equal.

Exactly! I told some of our idiot fans last week we weren't putting up 50, nor were we beating them 4+ TD's. Some of these dum dum's you can't tell anything. I would have been happy with a 1 pt win, especially considering we haven't won a road game against a top 15 in 18 yrs. Yet some assumed we would suddenly start winning these type games by blowouts. The overconfidence is mind-blowing. I truly see why people hate some of our fan base, we have some absolute cluessless idiots. Staying humble should be top on the list, we haven't done anything yet to be overconfident and just assume we can win road games against the elite.

Turnovers and stupid ass penalties are eventually going to kill us in one of these games. Especially the undisciplined personal fouls, all the hands to the face and getting chunk plays called back. There's been way too many of those 4 games in, luckily it hasn't hurt us yet. But, I guarantee it will vs Ga and Ala. Some of these personal fouls are just stupid and selfish. One gave OU a TD when we had them stopped on 4th down, a holding call cost us 3 pts or 7.

I can see it now, the same ones will say we blow out Arky at Arkansas. That won't be an easy game either, very few SEC Road games are. They have a QB that can kill you with his legs and are a physical team. Glad we have this week off. Great win, I've not been this excited in a while and this team and also Nico will just keep getting better every game. GBO!

 

[VOLfrombama]

I don't know that we will get to 2022 level of offense. The key to getting anyhting close to it rides on Heard and Campbell both staying healthy and the OL getting better overall. They have been the weakest link of the team so far. We aren't beating UGA or Bama either one with the way they have played to this point. They have plenty of time to get better though.

Agreed. They’re missing a Hyatt that can score on long throws. The OL has been jeckyl and hyde too so far. The good thing is this team shouldn’t have to rely on the O to outscore everyone because the D is so good. So it take the pressure off the O and hopefully will allow them to grow as a unit as the season progresses.

 

[Sudden Impact]

Heupel played ultra conservative because the OU offense couldn't do a thing against our defense. We still haven't seen anything like the 2022 Bama game where we were guns blazing. That's coming though, no doubt!

I bet Heupel has at least 50 plays he has not ran this season but will before it is over if the opposing defense gives us certain formations.

 

[VOLfrombama]

I expect them to rip Auburns offense apart next week. They may struggle offensively in Auburns stadium, but after watching Arkansas with their running qb, Oklahomas backup should be a good choice in that one.

Auburn’s D is not bad. But if their O cant function then they will get run out of the stadium by the 4th Q.

 

[VOLtaism]

OU was getting to the backfield in under 2 seconds on passing situations. He is not going to drop the valuable resource Nico back into the pocket under these conditions unless he is out of options, like being behind in the score. I think he has changed his overall road strategy after last season, more conservative.

 

[Sudden Impact]

He went conservative because both of our starting tackles were out and Nico was getting bull rushed and strip sacked.

He went power football, run, run and short pass. One time OU loaded the line went 8 in for protection 3 WRs out and a completion of 43 yards. It was 3rd and 1. The team and coaches knew what to do. They loaded the box and Nico threw a strike. Coaching, Execution, and Confidence. No one expected that was coming.

 

[Lankykong]

I agree with most of your takes. Unfortunately I disagree with this one. Did you notice anything about our offensive sets? We pretty much were forced to go into max protect. This limited what we could do offensively. With the way our D was playing, the smartest thing to do was to play it conservative. Had we tried to do more, we would’ve likely had more turnovers which would give Oklahoma exactly what they needed. Nico got strip sacked twice. It was only a matter of time before that pressure forced an errant throw or even another strip sack.

I think a lot of that was due to how much we were up. If we were down and/or threatened, I think we would have gone into normal sets and decided to roll the dice.

It felt like most of our passing plays were either TDs, sacks, or throwing it away. Oklahoma was playing a boom or bust type defense, and when you’re up by 3 scores there is no need to play the risky game.

 

[jasonvol18]

I don't know that we will get to 2022 level of offense. The key to getting anyhting close to it rides on Heard and Campbell both staying healthy and the OL getting better overall. They have been the weakest link of the team so far. We aren't beating UGA or Bama either one with the way they have played to this point. They have plenty of time to get better though.

Agreed! And we can't expect Nico to be Hooker this early in his career. He makes some NFL type throws, then other times he holds the ball too long and takes unnecessary sacks. But that's expected and he will learn the more he plays. His potential is through the roof. That's really another reason I think Heupel went conservative. He knew OU couldn't score enough to win and Nico 4 turnovers the last 10 Quarters.And wasn't gonna let OU get any cheap, quick scores. Missing Heard then Campbell hasn't helped either, but OU's D is legit. GBO!

 

[Volfan1000]

Heupel played ultra conservative because the OU offense couldn't do a thing against our defense. We still haven't seen anything like the 2022 Bama game where we were guns blazing. That's coming though, no doubt!

Heupel has a new toy with the smothering defense this season.

 

[sami]

Honestly the best thing to me, is I'm hoping it'll reel in a bunch of the fanbase's expectations.

The fan base's expectations don't even make the list of the best things about any win. There are always going to be ignoramuses who have no clue about the game and whose main concern is bragging rights at work or on X or wherever. How those people react or what they expect couldn't be less important. No offense, of course.

 

[Orangeslide]

We coulda hung fiddy but showed mercy

Don’t think so. Oklahoma D was legit and SEC worthy. We were struggling to pass protect and Nico had 2 fumbles from pressure. We decided to run the ball and work the clock and protect Nico from injury. Their D would strike you and they meant business. Gilbert our placekicker is becoming a reliable kicker so far with field goals. Get healthy with the open week and continue to get better in practice. No easy road games in the SEC and Arkansas will not be easy either. Go Vols!

 

[VAVol85]

We need those OTs healthy.

Although I thought Larry Johnson played okay. He should be ahead of Davis in the OT pecking order.

Agree Johnson should move up…also helps for next year.

 

[hUTch2002]

…
No. We still don’t know.

Heupel dialed it back.

It was similar to what UGA did to us in 2022.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

Their D is Relentless. They are going to be a lot better than I anticipated. Their offense looked totally different when they brought in the other Qb. Wouldn’t be surprised if they win 7-8 games.

8-4 if their offense continues to progress.