Let’s talk about that same year. Thanks for mentioning the Colorado game. We were down 21-10 before Gundy finally pulled the plug on Cate. Here comes Weeden going:
10-15, 168 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions
Not too shabby for one half of football. Makes you wonder how Weeden (a future first round draft pick) is sitting third on the depth chart. Anyway, let’s fast forward 9 days later.
Zac Robinson has a busted shoulder and will be playing Bedlam injured. What happens? Gundy loses 27-0. Gundy puts up a big fat goose egg on the scoreboard. So why would you handicap your offense to a point where they can’t get the ball down the field?
He didn’t pull Zac in that game at all. Nope, he decided it was better to lose than to change. Would Weeden had at least gotten us closer in that game? I don’t know. However, it’s hard to tell when the HC refuses to use other options against your biggest rival .
So no, I agree with most on here saying they want Gundy to have nothing to do with the QB decision. He has a history of sucking at it. You would think a guy that’s played the position and had 40+ years of football would figure it out .
LOL you acknowledge that hindsight severely clouds the facts and context when making factual arguments about what someone should have clearly done instead of what they did do at the time invalid and yet you turn around and make arguments against the coaches using that same hindsight you agree makes those arguments invalid. Maybe it is time to move on and focus on the up coming season where you can bash the coaches if we don’t win.
@travis5266@heychamp Ok, im gonna push back on this OU-QB analogy. Trevor Knight started the 2014 season and wasnt very good, Got hurt. Then transferred once Baker Mayfield got to town. The only guy that Knight started over was Cody Thomas, who is in MLB right now. Not a good QB.
Caleb Williams got to OU in the summer of 21’. At that time, Spencer Rattler was entering his 3rd year in the program and was coming off a Freshman All American season and Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Caleb Williams sat behind him for 5 weeks of the 21’ season. He was named the starter the week after OU-TX.
Gabriel is definitely a miss. But again, at the time when Gabriel left OU, Arnold was arguably the best QB recruit in the country. You had to make a decision between keeping Gabriel for 1 year (whom many thought wasnt very good, including SEVERAL on this site) or Arnold for 4. At the time, every program in the country wouldve done that.
If you want to criticize OU in comparison to something that happened in Stillwater….start with making a really bad OC hire. Dunn and Littrell were awful.
I’d argue these are analogous with the so-called mishandlings of Mike Gundy.
If you said Trevor Knight starting was the correct choice, the bill’s and ar’s of the world would say, it’s poor QB recruiting if they didn’t have a better option! A la Bowman two seasons ago.
If you say a solid, entrenched starter shouldn’t be immediately benched for a freshman, like Rattler/Williams, you’ve got Reid/Robinson. As a double standard, no one ever criticizes Robinson getting his job back after Weeden started, but Weeden is a far superior QB. It’s those kind of impossible, nobody-is-going-to-do-that decisions these guys want.
Dropping Gabriel was widely criticized when it happened. I’m not sure anyone would have done it, and OSU didn’t do this when we should’ve let Bowman walk and perhaps started Flores. It’s easy to crap on decisions in hindsight, but no teams are batting 1.000. Until the lights are on, you just don’t know.
Im not arguing anything for or against how Gundy handled the OSU QB’s, as I didnt pay enough attention to it. I just saying that Gabriel, there is absolutely an instance of that being the wrong choice. The others…..not at all. Trevor Knight never started over someone that was better than him. Poor recruiting depth? I can get behind that. If Baker Mayfield didnt just fall into their laps, the Stoops era may have crashed and burned late. I cannot stand Lincoln Riley or Caleb Williams, but I cant argue that he shouldve started any time earlier than he did either. I mean theyre both starting QB’s in the NFL right now, so I have no issue with it and have never heard that as a mishandling of the QB room. “Im not sure anyone wouldve done it” Your choice is pay the 2023 version of Dillon Gabriel for 1 year, who lost in Stillwater. Or pay the stud 5 star who everyone wanted for the next 4. If you think “no one wouldve done it”, then youre definitely using your hindsight is 20-20 glasses. “OSU didnt do this when we shouldve let Bowman walk and perhaps started Flores”. Flores is a 3star that played HS ball in Nebraska who has never taken a live snap yet. Arnold was a 5 star who dominated at the Elite 11 & played HS ball in Texas and had played in the Bowl Game that year for OU. There is not a comparison to be made between those two at that point of their careers. It is ironic that you say OSU “shouldve let Bowman walk” in favor of starting a kid whos never taken a snap. Yet somehow say OU doing the same thing was wrong at that time?
Didnt mean to jump in the middle of the convo here. Carry on
You mean with Gunner as a QB? If yes, then he specifically is not who I’m referring to. It’s guys like Bowman and others he couldn’t seem to develop to exceed Bowman’s “skillset”
Your analysis is correct. OU has been much better in general with QB1 selection. Even when they haven’t, they correct it and don’t let it derail seasons. Part of why they have 7 Natty’s while my Pokes have 0.
With my next point, you will come after me and that’s fine: you’ll never convince me that Baker “fell into their laps”. Same way they didn’t stumble onto Kyler Murray or Jalen Hurts.
@travis5266 Im guessing you feel like OU tampered or reached out to bring Mayfield in? Or something along those lines. If so, youre giving that OU staff far more credit than anyone else should.
11-28-13: Baker Mayfield takes his last snap at Texas Tech. He finishes that season with more INT (9) than TD (5) in Conf play.
12-7-13: OU wins Bedlam to finish 10-2, ranked #10 heading to the Sugar Bowl against Bama.
12-11-13: Mayfield tells ESPN hes leaving Tech due to some miscommunication. He was never deemed worthy of being a scholarship player.
12-23-13: East Carolina wins the Beef O Bradys Bowl. Lincoln Riley was the OC. He stayed at ECU for another year, leaving in Jan of 15’.
1-2-14: OU beats Bama to finish #6 in the country. QB Trevor Knight is named MVP. Josh Heupel is the OC, and is loved by everyone in Norman.
2-7-14: Baker Mayfield enrolls at OU. Lincoln Riley wasnt even on the OU radar because they had Josh Heupel leading the offense. Trevor Knight was coming off an MVP game and expectations had been as high as theyd been in a handful of years. If you think that within the span of about 50 days that someone within the OU offices knew at this time that over the next 2 years Trevor Knight would suck, Heupel would get fired, and Riley would be hired, and the guy that Tech didnt want was actually a superstar…..then you are giving OU waaaay more credit than they deserve.
Murray wanted to play for Riley and so did Hurts. Its pretty simple.
That couldn’t have happened last year as Flores was injured and out for the season before the season even started. Now if OSU did the Gabriel thing and dropped Bowman after the conference title game then things would have been real interesting with Flores out injured. Heck who knows though we might have won a couple of conf games with the remaining QB’s forced to start.
@KetchupSicle I can absolutely buy Murray and Hurts showing up to play for Riley. They saw how well he developed Baker. I agree 100% with you, But I think they reached out to Baker. TK’s Sugar Bowl performance was fool’s gold, and I think privately the coaches knew it. They had seen him play in 8 games and knew he wasn’t the long term solution. They needed somebody. They saw enough of Baker at Tech to know with the right coaching, he’d be a superstar. Bob gave Josh every chance in the world, but it just wasn’t gonna work much longer. He gets Riley. Riley becomes the heir apparent. The rest is history. I could be way off-base. But it’s hard to imagine everything falling just right into place by sheer luck. Not for a blueblood. Good conversation!
I can absolutely get behind them knowing Trevor Knight wasnt the answer. I can see that scenario, even if I dont believe thats what happened. Reason being is IF they knew Knight wasnt the answer….then why in the hell would they bring in a guy in Baker Mayfield that couldnt touch the field for the upcoming season?? Theyre not going to just throw away the 2014 year in hopes that the guy who wasnt good enough to be given the reigns at Tech is good enough in 2015. And Baker Mayfield didnt decide to go to OU and then decide to leave Tech. He chose OU after Tech didnt want him. If Kingsbury put him on scholarship and named him QB1…..Mayfiled very likely wouldve never made it to Norman. Again, youre looking at what Baker Mayfield is now. Or turned into in 2015. You have to look at what he was then….which is a nobody really. OU played Tech earlier that year and the QB that someone wouldve wanted that day was Davis Webb. Not Baker Mayfied. Webb almost beat OU while Mayfield didnt play a snap.
I know tampering goes on at every level, in every sport. OU will cut corners too and I have no doubt that they couldve or wouldve with Mayfield. But man that would be about as brilliant a foresight as one could have. And thinking the same guys that couldnt see what Trevor Knight and Blake Bell were as QB’s….would be wise enough to see what Baker Mayfield could be?? Thats a massive stretch to me
You don’t quite understand. They literally won’t let you criticize the coach for a single thing. We just went 0-9 in a watered down conference while returning the most starters in the conference. They’ll bring up 2023 instead as justification for why Gundy is allowed to do a chitty job . Not actually WINNING the conference, but just happy to be there .
You think OU fans would let something like that slide with Stoops or Riley? I don’t think so. Which is why I keep telling them they’ll make new excuses when Texas and OU are gone. They only praise Gundy when Arkansas wins the game for him. Not because of his actual coaching abilities.
You just keep proving to us you don’t know a dam thing about football. Unlike you, AR and myself actually pay attention to the games and what actually works in the offense. I’ll give you a hint. A QB that primarily sits in the pocket or throws off his Backfoot while running away isn’t the best option for the kind of offense Dunn was running. It was evident Dunn’s offense was more proficient with a QB than can use his feet to get yards. Not a dude that can’t outrun a tortoise.
When you can run the ball for 250 yards. Then yes, it’s going to allow Bowman to look better. So what happens when you can’t? The offense comes to a complete halt. The first half of the BYU game was a perfect example of this. Rangel’s ability to run helped open up the field some for the receivers and also for OG. We had a lead against a P4 opponent for the first time all season at the half. For some reason, you keep choosing to ignore this fact.
if you look closely at the 2022 season Spencer Sanders was our leading rusher until he was sidelined for injury. Why do think that is? You keep bringing up 2023. Okay, so what are you going to do when the HC refuses to fix the OL or adjust his offense the next season? Are you going to keep a tortoise in the game so you can keep punting? Tell me how that’s going to win games when you have the worst P4 defense in the country.
I honestly think that scenario changed the trajectory for OU football & the perception of how people look back at the Stoops era. If Baker doesnt fall into their lap due to Kliffs incompetence, they may not get Lincoln Riley, which wouldve likely kept them from getting Murray, Hurts and so on. At that time, they had no QB. Knight wasnt any good and Blake Bell was a TE.
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. Not actually WINNING the conference, but just happy to be there 
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