This Saturday at 6pm OU will open the season against Utah st. in pursuit of win no.800, championship no.8, and victory number 118 of Coach Stoops career, other than that, what can we possibly get out of a game against Utah St?
The obvious answer would be, NOT MUCH. I dont agree with that notion though, sure Utah St. is bad and we should win by 40 but there is alot to be learned from game no. 1 of the 2010 season. First, can our offensive line get a push up front when running the ball? You might think that this is obvious or wouldnt matter against a team like Utah St. but if OU fans remember, we couldnt score from inside the 3 last year against Idaho st, that was an ominous sign of things to come and because of that, I will be thoroughly interested in the way we run the ball this weekend.
Second, I want to see what kind of push our Defensive Tackles get, after losing a guy like Gerald McCoy who required so much attention from the other team, you wonder who will take up that same space this season in order for our Ends to get free. We are young and fairly inexperienced at the Tackle position, especially with Adrian Taylor out or limited if he does play so I want to see if we can wreak havoc against an over matched team from the defensive tackle position.
Third, I want to see if our receivers can consistently catch the ball, a simple request it would seem but for anyone who watched OU play last season you remember distinctly that our receivers outside of Ryan Broyles were wildly inconsistent. I want to see how Kenny Stills looks, if Dejuan Miller steps up and builds off of his good freshman year, and if our group as a whole can catch the ball and make Landry Jones job that much easier.
Finally, I want to see if Demarco Murray has that old burst that he had his freshman year. It is always frustrating as a fan when you watch a player with so much talent be limited by injuries year after year and now Murray is a Senior who has had a good career so far and with a solid final season, he might go down as one of OU's best at the position. He has had a full season of being healthy, getting to work out, and has also done some different things in the offseason to help with the future prevention of injuries such as yoga. As frustrating as it has been for us fans to watch Murrays career falter due to injuries I cant imagine how frustrating it has been for Demarco and I really hope we can see the 'real' Demarco Murray this season.
While many fans have already chalked up the Utah St. game in the win column and are just excited to get the season going I will be extra excited to see how OU handles the above situations. This game may not tell us alot about our team but it can certainly give us a glimpse into what we can expect.
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