RJ says the bye week

The toughest remaining game on OU’s schedule this season is the one they are not playing this weekend.

Coach Bob Stoops and his staff will have to accomplish a feat this week. It’s one they have only done twice since 2006: Keep their team focused, hungry and disciplined.

The Sooners are 2-2 coming off bye weeks over the last four seasons. They suffered losses to the Miami Hurricanes in 2009 (21-20) and the Texas Longhorns in 2006 (28-10). In the games before those bye weeks, OU shelled its opponents — 45-0 vs. Tulsa in 2009 and 59-0 vs. Middle Tennessee in 2006 — proving they had the talent to win after a bye week but lacked the resolve.

In the 2009 and 2006 seasons, the Sooners were a top-10 team in preseason polls. They also were a betting favorite to earn BCS bowl berths and a win a second BCS national championship.

In 2006, the Sooners’ lost to Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl in an overtime thriller, 43-42, and ended the season 11-3. In 2009, the Sooners ended the season 8-5 and did not win the Big 12 South for the first time since 2005.

The Sooners have seven games and a bye week gorilla to contend with for the rest of the season. On paper, the road to the Big 12 Championship seems to be on a downhill slope for the Sooners, but Stoops and his staff know that for OU, the journey to a Big 12 Championship and a national title berth has only just begun.

—RJ Young, journalism grad student

MJ says Oklahoma State

Every season wherever Bedlam football takes place, regardless of rankings, the talent gap between OU and OSU shrinks quicker than a naked man in a winter storm.

And even though the only requirements to get into OSU are being able to spell “ACT” and possessing a hunting license, home field advantage can completely alter a game at any stadium. So with the previous history of close games in Stillwater, there’s no way this won’t be the toughest game left.

First and foremost, this OSU team is the most loaded I’ve seen in the last decade. The Cowboys can win multiple ways, starting with their offensive, which boasts the second-most points per game in the nation with a 52.3 average.

The biggest threat is senior running back Kendall Hunter, who is eighth in the nation in rushing yards. But don’t leave out the passing attack lead by Brandon Weeden, who has the eighth-highest passer ratings in the nation (169.7).

Weeden and Co. lead the third-best passing attack in the nation and average about 365 yards per game in the air.

Still, OSU has a few challenges it must overcome before the season finale against OU, and it won’t be easy. But if OSU can win three of four against Texas Tech, Nebraska, Kansas State and Texas — which I think they can — this showdown can be a potential top-10 matchup come Nov. 27.

— M.J. Casiano, journalism senior