Tag: OU-UTEP

Don’t count out the student section just yet after a blazing hot day Saturday afternoon

Although photos circulating social media don’t look good, don’t count out the OU Student Section just yet.

I enrolled at the University of Oklahoma in 2019. Since then, I have called the student section home to watch Sooners football. As someone who actually watches the games from there, I can say this: yes there is an issue with the student section, and it’s been an issue for awhile.

However, we need to give them a free pass for yesterday. If the student section starts emptying out before halftime against Kansas State in three weeks or even against Kent State next week, we can have this discussion, but for now, hear me out.

The entire east side of the stadium was completely covered with sunlight for the entirety of the game. I came out of that stadium a bit more tan than I was when I entered. It was hot, it was sunny and there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky.

I was there, and I was feeling the heat near the end of the game. “Hydrate or diedrate” as they say. I, however, am a person who enjoys football way too much for his own good. I don’t blame the people who left early.

The heat was just too much. The temperature went over 100 degrees Fahrenheit on the field and the fans could feel every bit of it. Multiple people were reportedley carried out on stretchers and I personally saw someone carried out of the stands to receive medical attention.

Over 83,000 fans showed up. That’s what we should be focusing on. This isn’t a program that struggles to fill it’s building or one that needs to cover seats, unlike a few programs out west.

This is what the student section looked like before people started leaving:

Seems pretty full to me.

Yes, the lack of energy in the student section is a problem, and it has been for years. However, we now live in world with Brent Venables as our head coach. He asked for a packed house for the spring game. He got it. He asked for a nightmare for opponents at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. He will get it.

If the student section is half-empty against Big 12 opponents in late September and October, we can have this discussion again. Until then, let’s hold off.

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Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today. You can also follow Ben on Twitter @BenDackiw.

From the Student Section: It’s clear Brent Venables’ Oklahoma is different

From the Student Section: OU runs all over UTEP for first win of the Brent Venables era

Welcome home, Brent Venables. More than a decade after leaving Oklahoma for Clemson, Venables finally had his first game as a head coach. It was worth the wait. Over 80,000 fans packed the Palace on the Prairie for his long-awaited debut.

I was among the first people in line. We got into the stadium just after they opened the gates. After buying a bag of kettle corn, my roommate and I made our way to the very top of the student section. We had made it.

Yes it was hot. We didn’t care. We were just happy that Sooners football was finally back.

The pessimist in me was worried we would be subjected to a repeat of the Tulane game. I just couldn’t shake this feeling that something was going to go wrong.

Clearly I didn’t drink enough crimson Kool-Aid in the offseason.

The Sooners looked unstoppable their first three offensive possessions. I knew that Jeff Lebby liked his tempo offense, but three touchdowns on 13 plays and 3:32 of possession is just insane.

I’m going to say this now, so I don’t have to say it again: Yes, I know it was UTEP. Can we move on?

While the offense was putting the Sooners up 21-0, the defense showed the early fruits of the Brent Venables era.

Reggie Grimes and Ethan Downs are going to be a very good pass-rushing duo this season. Grimes had 2.5 sacks to Downs’ one against the Miners. The front seven as a whole played very well. The tackling looks much better, and everyone seems a step or two faster.

The one group on defense that left a bit to be desired was the secondary.

That group didn’t have a bad game, it just underwhelmed a little bit. It gave UTEP’s receivers a bit too much space for UTEP quarterback Gavin Hardison.

Hardison stood tall when OU’s pass rush did get to him and did a good job of getting the ball out quickly. A lot of QBs would’ve gotten sacked more than he did on Saturday. Hardison made several good throws on the run and didn’t make it easy for OU’s defense.

Something that does need to be cleaned up on defense is the penalties, and that goes for the offense as well.

On UTEP’s first two scoring drives, both drives were extended by defensive pass interference calls on the Sooners. That’s something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

Now for the offense.

Dillon Gabriel came in as advertised. He looked good in the quick passing game, he can tuck it and run when he needs to and he has the arm talent to win football games. I was much more impressed with his running back.

Eric Gray looked like an RB1 yesterday. His speed and ability to make defenders miss are going to be very valuable to the OU offense this year. While Gray didn’t make it into the end zone, Marcus Major did, twice.

I was impressed with how Gabriel came out in the second half after it looked like UTEP had figured out how to slow the Sooners’ offense. They hadn’t. OU returned to its no-huddle style and got Gabriel back in a groove with a few easy completions.

Don’t let any talking heads fool you this week. This game was never close. The Miners didn’t have the talent to hang with OU and were gifted a score or two from some, in my opinion, soft DPI calls. The Sooners weren’t perfect, but no one was expecting perfection.

The D-line looked like a Brent Venables D-line. The defense had a new fire we haven’t seen in Norman in years. The players are benefiting from this coaching change and can only get better from here.

The Sooners not playing down to a Group of Five opponent feels good. It should be expected, make no mistake, but it does feel good to cover in a game that OU was favored to win by more than 30 points.

The Sooners get one more tuneup game at home against the Kent State Golden Flashes before heading to Lincoln to take on Nebraska. After that, Big 12 play begins for what could be the final time.

As for the student section’s lack of electricity, that’s a story for another article

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Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today. You can also follow Ben on Twitter @BenDackiw.