I post on a little obscure OU board every once in a while.  We have had a couple of Owl fans post there.  It has all been friendly.  I don't get any kick out of going to an opposing teams message board and getting in a food fight.  I've read a couple of threads on this board about OU and Norman.  Anywhere I went to the trouble of registering in order to post and kind of get the pulse of what Owl fans are thinking about the match-up that is just a couple of weeks away.

I really don't have a clue as to how the game will play out.  I know the issue with Kiffin has never been his ability to coach.  So, I expect to see a team that is in great football shape and that will run solid offensive and defensive schemes.  I don't have a clue as to the talent level of FAU.  I know there is a lot of talent in Florida so I assume there will be some good to great talent on your roster.  How much talent is the question.

OU is a very young team.  There will be only a handful of Seniors on the two deep depth chart.  Regardless of whether Kyler Murray or Austin Kendall win the OU starting QB job we will be starting a new QB.  There is no way we can replace Heisman and 1st NFL pick Baker Mayfield.  Baker was a great college QB who had all the intangibles plus the ability to throw every pass in the game with deadly accuracy.  Murray is the likely starting QB.  He is a RS Junior and one of the highest rated QB coming out of high school in some time.  He is a great talent and looked the part when he got a chance to play last year.  It will be interesting to see how that plays out as the '18 season plays out.  Kendall is a RS Sophomore, with a ton of talent as well.

It is interesting that the possible Owl starting QB is a kid that was a Sooner, but only for a short period of time.  I don't really know the issues, but I think his suspension by Riley that led to Robison to transfer to FAU.  I follow OU recruiting and thought that OU had recruited a very good QB prospect when Chris Robison signed with OU.  His transferring to FAU left us really short on QB depth when he left.  Currently, we have Murray, Kendall and then a true freshman who has been on campus no more than 10 weeks ago Mordechi is a great prospect, but raw as hell.

Anyway, I would really be interested in your thoughts on the upcoming game in Norman.

Welcome! Folks around here are really excited to test our mettle against you guys.

We come into the year with a LOT of hype and plenty of preseason love, which makes me personally nervous but that's because I've spent so much time having my heart broken by this team.

The good:
As for talent, I truly think our 1s will hang with your 1s well. Our defense returns 11 of 12 and there are more than a couple of NFL prospects out there on the field, DE, CB, S, LB all have guys that'll be playing in the league in the next year or two.
At RB, Devin Singletary is a dark horse Heisman candidate, he's really fun to watch and hard to tackle.

The bad:
We are in a similar QB situation. The talent is crazy good back there for us, but it'll be someones first bigtime start in their career on Saturday in Norman, if it's DeAndre Johnson, Robison or a recent transfer Rafe Peavy who is impressing as well. The definition of baptism by fire is getting your first start in week 1 against OU!

We have some questions marks at WR and OL because that's where we are replacing starters, but we have talent in those areas, and it seems to be locked up now who will be starting.

Where I always get nervous in games like these, is in the 4th quarter, your 4* backups are playing against my 2* young guys…

If we were ever going to upset a big boy, it'll likely be in week 1, when they're breaking in a new QB, so the situation couldn't be any better. But many of us recognize how talented OU is and know it'll be a tall task.

I imagine the last thing Lincoln Riley wanted to spend his summer on was planning to play the evil genius that is Lane Kiffin, he'll definitely test Stoops' chops, and if we can get into a shootout with you, we've got a punchers chance.

Teembeer, have you recently [within the past six months] posted on an OU message board?  I think I have seen that username around some where.

Your comments about the Owls 1s against the OU 1s being competitive is probably fairly accurate.  You mentioned your great RB Singletary and depth.  I think the depth is where we will get you.  The RB depth is a good example.  You single out Singletary while I talk about Anderson, Sermon and the other three deep, including a RS Freshman, Brooks, who I think is a future star.

We are going to be very young, but deep, in the secondary and at linebacker.  We have a lot of quality DTs and DEs, that are good, don't know yet if we have any great DTs who can be difference makers.  You are young on offense and we are very young at the secondary spots and linebacker, but are very deep and talented.

The lack of play makers at the interior DL spots is why we lost to Georgia in the Rose Bowl.  That was a weak spot last year and could still be this year.

On offense, we are deep and talented with experience at RB, WR, TE and the OL.  The biggest question is at QB.  My guess is Murray will be the starter.  So, you better have some speed to track down Murray 

Yeah that was me earlier this summer…back when there was a chance that Murray wasn't going to play football this fall. I'm still holding out hope for that!

Singletary's main backup is in the NFL trying to earn a spot with the Dolphins right now, and a couple others have risen up, Kerreth Whyte will be the main #2 who had a punt and ko return for TDs last season, he's pretty electric, and a transfer, Gerald Hearns has shown he can be a downhill back for us.

One to watch is the slot receiver Willie Wright, he is 5 foot nothing and a ton of fun. Half the time I swear the defense just loses him bc of his size and pop, he's open downfield for a long score.

Traditionally, we have struggled week 1, even when we should not.  This year feels different, but w new coordinators, and a new QB, hard to imagine everything sliding right into place week 1.  All I’ve heard is how aggressive our D is, and we do have a few playmakers on that side, so we will be relying on them and motor (really talented jr rb) to carry is in the first game.  For us to win we need to be +5 in the TO battle and Motor will need 200+.  The more likely scenario is we are competitive for the first half and OU catches us off guard in the second half w big plays to pull away.

I think this can be a scary game for OU, but this FAU team has pressure and expectations as well…..it is high…there is talk of making a UCF type run, dominating our conference, etc……

…..I would expect to know what kind of game it'll be after the 1st 5 mins…..yes, we are talented but not top 5 talented…..I think we cover the 21pt spread….maybe a 20-14 halftime score……but then I think your depth takes it's toll…..a 40-24 game covers the spread, but isn't a close game….but you're right, Kiffin is the X factor for sure…..so, anything can happen…

owlmart said

Traditionally, we have struggled week 1, even when we should not.  This year feels different, but w new coordinators, and a new QB, hard to imagine everything sliding right into place week 1.  All I’ve heard is how aggressive our D is, and we do have a few playmakers on that side, so we will be relying on them and motor (really talented jr rb) to carry is in the first game.  For us to win we need to be +5 in the TO battle and Motor will need 200+.  The more likely scenario is we are competitive for the first half and OU catches us off guard in the second half w big plays to pull away.

Posted On: Aug 20th 2018, 11:17 AM #379514

Same here with the starting slow in the first game of a new season.  We lost to Houston in the first game of the 2016 season.  That loss cost us dearly.  Bob Stoops was a great coach, but it wasn't unusual that we started slow most seasons.

Silver_Bullet32 said

I think this can be a scary game for OU, but this FAU team has pressure and expectations as well…..it is high…there is talk of making a UCF type run, dominating our conference, etc……

…..I would expect to know what kind of game it'll be after the 1st 5 mins…..yes, we are talented but not top 5 talented…..I think we cover the 21pt spread….maybe a 20-14 halftime score……but then I think your depth takes it's toll…..a 40-24 game covers the spread, but isn't a close game….but you're right, Kiffin is the X factor for sure…..so, anything can happen…

Posted On: Aug 20th 2018, 11:37 AM #379515

I don't know all that much about Lane Kiffin.  I do know he is a pretty solid offensive coach, but the rest is a mystery to me.  His days with Saban at Bama were pretty good.

What I will say is that I don't think there are many OCs in today's game that are  better than Riley.  I go back to Bud Wilkinson's days.  Bud was an innovator as was Switzer.  I think Riley is the better of them.  Riley is very good at disguising what he is going to do.  

I think both coaches are going to go into the game not really knowing what they are going to see on offense.

What we will see in the FAU opener is a battle of two very creative and innovative offensive coaches.  What I am anxious to see is how Riley works a QB like Kyler Murray into his offense.  Murray is so quick and illusive that he is going to be a problem for DCs to solve.

OU has UCLA the following Saturday.  So, I'm hoping that Riley will have his guys ready for FAU as he can't hold things back for UCLA.

Hey webell! Looking forward to this game. It's been fun to watch Lincoln Riley develop over the last couple of years too.

The other guys know a lot more about football than I do, but I think we'll probably be competitive in the first half, then run out of depth. Our strength and conditioning program right now is the best it's ever been, so we our 1st team probably won't be as gassed as they have been in the past, but our 2nd team is going to be overpowered.

webell said

I post on a little obscure OU board every once in a while.  We have had a couple of Owl fans post there.  It has all been friendly.  I don't get any kick out of going to an opposing teams message board and getting in a food fight.  I've read a couple of threads on this board about OU and Norman.  Anywhere I went to the trouble of registering in order to post and kind of get the pulse of what Owl fans are thinking about the match-up that is just a couple of weeks away.

Posted On: Aug 20th 2018, 10:00 AM #379510

Welcome to the Forum!