Clay Horning, Sports Editor
Hell hath no fury like an OUfan scorned … and directing his venom at the offensive coordinator.
Isn’t that the old saying?
Never mind if it’s true or not. Never mind that an offensive coordinator’s job is so much more about preparing an offense to execute with excellence each and every play than it is to call those plays.
That’s not to say seat-of-the-pants or mad-science brilliance is ever a bad thing, of course. But not everybody can be Mike Leach. And even while I could listen to the attorney and Geronimo enthusiast of a Texas Tech coach wax ineloquent into the wee hours, it does not make his way the best way. Indeed, it is only the most fun to watch.
Which brings us to Chuck Long.
The Sooner offensive coordinator, in the space of about 31/2 hours last Saturday became the whipping boy of the message boards, that Internet haven for maniacal fans that is at once unseemly, yet perpetually entertaining and good for a rumor, occasionally one that even proves true.
Best “message” I saw: Somebody cleverly opined Bob Dole as having a better right arm than Paul Thompson. You have to appreciate the sense of history.
Long need not defend himself.
Two years ago, the Sooners became the greatest team not to win it all since that undefeated UNLV basketball team with Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony and Stacy Augmon fell to Duke. The Sooners did that on the strength of an offense led by Jason White and coordinated by Long.
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops spoke nothing but the truth when he came out swinging for Long during the lead-up to today’s game.
“We’ve done it with a quarterback. We’ve done it with a shotgun tailback, we’ve done it with an I-tailback and we’ve done it with some great receivers that caught a lot of balls and scored a lot of points,” he said. “It’s easy to jump on any one guy when something goes wrong. Hey, that’s fine, we deserve the criticism. But track records over a period of time also stand for something.”
So ends the first section of today’s column.
It’s not Long’s fault.
Now to the second part.
Though not Long’s fault, and perhaps not even Kevin Wilson’s, even as it was the offensive line that proved most inept against the Horned Frogs, both will be in the spotlight today.
Long may actually be setting himself up for more criticism, as while explaining what might happen today, he said, “You might not see an expanded game plan, you might see less.”
It would have been better if he’d said he was resolved only to call plays in which he had full confidence. That’s a responsible position. Instead, he’s threatened to take what was vanilla and make it downright ivory. And should it not work, can’t you hear the naysayers in advance?
He kept the offense in the bag against TCU and now this?
Ditto for Wilson, who as line coach, tends to be safe in the shadows. Well, if the line falls down today like it against TCU, there will be snipers in the shadows.
Wilson doesn’t have the depth. He lost plenty to the draft after last season, not to mention Akim Millington and Brandon Keith, who defected during the week. And yet it doesn’t matter, for this is the “No Excuses” Sooner football regime.
And really, how great a crime would it be to watch the best running back in college football go for less than a thousand yards.
Or less than 800?
If the line doesn’t get any better, it’s not just a possibility, but a probability.
It can’t be allowed to happen. All of this talent cannot be taken down by a line that can’t block.
In the end, whatever they come up with, Long and Wilson, there is a very definite bottom line.
It has to work. It just has to work.
Clay Horning366-3526cfhorning@normantranscript.com
