BSHOT 44.......
One must agree with your assessment.
This game made me think about the Texas State Game, fortunately the outcome was in our favor this year.
Did our fall camp prep plan cause some of the issues? Less contact to lessen injuries? Was this why we seemed rusty in the 1st half.
We now need the week off to get prepared for Virginia, lot's to do.
I am sure we will learn more about Rourke this week. Was it just performance or something else that caused coach to make a change. It really doesn't matter to me who is the QB as long as we play up to our potential.
I definitely believe that our 4 forced turn overs, and none on us, helped us win this game. Turnover margin was a key point of fall camp. It paid off yesterday.
Howard was definitely pumped up to start this game, and rightfully so, as they were playing against the next level up in talent and they wanted to make a statement. They will have a great year in their league and could win it all.



GO BOBCATS

Rourke was benched, Solich learned from TT that you cannot let a qb rest on his laurels, hence Rourke needs to bring it every week. Secondary woes continue, face guarding is our preferred method. The pass rush was pretty abysmal considering the opponent. We will need to work in more guys and see who can get the job done. Maxwell did not look nervous after the play where he tripped over is own feet on our 17 on third down. He has pretty good arm strength and accuracy when he is calm. Irons is back, he and AJ need to see more holes, the O-line was average. The safety Hampton looked like a player and nobody can check Papi.

If the game were tied or we were somehow still winning early or the defense was getting any stops, I think we are more patient with Rourke there, but his throws were abysmal and we were in danger of getting blown out early. Whether Q takes a seat on the bench the rest of the season or starts every game, it was the right move yesterday. Rourke is better than that. we all know it. Hopefully this humbling opener is just what the doctor ordered for everyone. I'm sure the team feels better than UNLV felt after last season's opener. Howard was not a collection of FBS rejects and if Newton was a few inches taller, he's easily an FBS qb.

That was in no way a designed play. Ball security and maturity of when to eat the ball is the young mans greatest drawback. That decision could have been the difference in a W or L. Physical mistakes you can live with if effort is there, but mental judgement is another animal.

Fire away at what? You nailed it.

TT is prob the most important football player in OU history. Certainly recent history. The TT fall off is almost certainly on coaching of Albin and possibly Solich as well. Solich always does this with QBs, and I can’t see why he thinks it works. I give him the benefit of the doubt on most things, but this blows my mind.

There are many theories as to why TT didn't continue to improve. 123 kid's is one I haven't seen before. Some of the theories:
1. After a hard hit at Marshall in 2012, which forced him to take off the next week, he never was the same. A similar hit did the same for Sprague a few years later.
2. Much of his supporting cast was wiped out by injury in 2012. With a makeshift offensive line and less receivers, he didn't look as good.
3. Fans treated him like a god until the Miami loss in 2012, after which they turned viciously on him, which might have affected his psychology.
4. TT didn't improve under the coaching of Gdowski, but that was common to most QBs under Gdowski.
5. TT was allowed to continue to play regardless of how he did or whether he executed the offense, so he never was forced to do his best.
6. TT was pulled from games when he didn't play well, damaging his psychology. (123kid's theory)

Obviously 5 and 6 can't both be true, but other than that, each of us has our own beliefs as to what, if anything, happened. I would guess that for most of us, it is some combination of the theories above. As far as deciding between 5 and 6, TT played nearly every down in 2011-2, except a few in garbage time when Snyder played in 2011, and Vick played in 2012, except the Norfolk State game in 2012 when TT was out. In the last few games of 2013, there were several times when TT was pulled in favor of Vick.

I'm very unclear as to what, exactly, you are saying that Solich and Albin do, and how that relates to the QB. I presume you are talking about play design, and how often QBs run the ball?

As far as quarterbacks, there is a very distinct difference between the way QBs were used by Gdowski, and how they have been used by Isphording. That may be related to the fact that Isporhding has more depth these days than Gdowski had.

First, let's look at the source of a lot of the problems, QB recruiting:
Freshmen QB recruits under Gdowski
2005 Brandon Jones, Josh Febus (plus transfer Bower)
2006 none
2007 Brian Sweeney (plus JUCO T3)
2008 none (plus JUCO Boo Jackson)
2009 Tyler Tettleton
2010 Kyle Snyder
2011 Ronnie Bell, Darrius Vick
2012 Greg Windham
2013 none

Freshmen QB recruits under Isphording
2014 Joey Duckworth
2015 Quinton Maxwell
2016 none
2017 Drew Keszei (plus JUCO Rourke)
2018 Joe Mischler

Worse, some of these had injury issues that limited their playing time (Jones, Sweeney, Duckworth). Another lost a year to an off-the-field incident (Windham). Still others transferred out (Snyder, Duckworth, Bell).

The result has been a need to rely on transfers (Bower) and JUCO quarterbacks (T3, Boo, and Rourke), plus a walkon (Sprague). Under Gdowski it was rare to have more than one able QB at a time. The two years that happened were 2008 (but then T3 got hurt) and 2009 (but then Boo got hurt). We can't say if it was the result of the lack of any depth, or as a matter of philosophy, but under Gdowski, there was never a QB controversy because there was never any depth. As a percentage of passes thrown, the starter each year threw:
Under Gdowski:
2005 Everson 84%
2006 Everson 77% (missed one game)
2007 Bower 68% (an odd year, split time with T3)
2008 Jackson 79%
2009 Scott 86%
2010 Jackson 91%
2011 Tettleton 97%
2012 Tettleton 92% (missed one game)
2013 Tettleton 87%

However, under Isphording, things suddenly changed. He has been much, much quicker to change QBs, with the result that the playing time gets split. Is it because he has better depth? Or, because of his philosophy?:
2014 Sprague 54%, Vick 43%
2015 Vick 62%, Sprague 29%
2016 Windham 65%, Maxwell 35%
2017 Rourke 91%
2018 To be determined....

There is one other distinct change that I see since Isphording has taken over. QBs improve in passing efficiency from year to year. Here are the pass efficiency ratings for various QBs:
Under Gdowski:
Everson: 108, 88, 102 (first year not under Gdowski)
Bower: 119, 92, 126 (first year not under Gdowski)
Scott: 125, 112, 129
Jackson: 138, 122, 136
Tettleton: 149, 141, 139

Under Isphording:
Vick: 101, 131, 134 (first year was under Gdowski)
Sprague: 100, 137
Windham: 98, 118
Maxwell: 132, 137, ???
Rourke: 133, ???

So, in summary, I see four distinct changes since Isphording arrived. First, QB recruiting seems to be much better. Second, only one QB has transferred out (Duckworth), while (Gdowski lost three, Petruziello, Snyder, and Bell). Third, QBs have tended to improve each year. Fourth, he is much quicker to change QBs.

Offensive line despite their size doesn't impose their will on teams with any consistency. One would have thought it would be no problem against Howard. If I recall they didn't design many option plays for Rourke which could have sparked the offense. Instead they decide to just pull him out which fortunately worked alright.