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Oklahoma-West Virginia GameDay: X-Factors

The Friendly Confines After two weeks in hostile territory, Oklahoma is back home. The Sooners will get just their third night game of the season, but their
John E. Hoover|
Oklahoma-West Virginia GameDay: X-Factors
Oklahoma-West Virginia GameDay: X-Factors

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Oklahoma Sooners

The Friendly Confines

After two weeks in hostile territory, Oklahoma is back home. The Sooners will get just their third night game of the season, but their first in more than a month. The fans — many of whom are openly disillusioned with the two straight losses and may decide to stay home for this one — need to get involved and stay loud. The music, the promotions, the LED lights, the smoke show, it all comes together at night. And don't forget, this time next year, the Sooners will be embroiled in a daunting SEC schedule. Brent Venables says all the time how you do anything is how you do everything. Consider it a warm-up for next year and beyond: Sooner Nation needs to step up its game and will this team to victory.

— John Hoover

Keep It Simple

Since the bye week, Oklahoma’s offense has struggled to get into any kind of rhythm for four quarters. The Sooners lacked a downfield passing game against UCF, become enamored with the jet sweep against Kansas, and couldn’t build on any success against Oklahoma State. There have been self-inflicted turnovers and procedural penalties aplenty that have slowed down the OU offense, which could all be avoided if offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby would pull back and condense the playbook to simple concepts that Oklahoma can master. The Sooners have playmakers, which is why OU still ranks so high nationally in a number of categories, but if drives keep getting derailed by false starts and miscommunications, Oklahoma could be in for another long day on Saturday.

— Ryan Chapman

Discipline

While Sooners' fans have mostly pointed the finger at Jeff Lebby after the team's two consecutive losses, the players on the field have to do a better job of executing as well. False start penalties, coaches getting flagged, costly turnovers and dropped passes have plagued Oklahoma over the past two weeks, giving the OU defense almost no margin for error. If the Sooners are able to avoid false start penalties, not fumble the snap and catch the ball when streaking wide open down the field, Oklahoma should be just fine against the Mountaineers. If the team is once again undisciplined, however, it will be a long night for Brent Venables and company.

— Randall Sweet

Motivation

The Sooners have sputtered down the stretch. It’s no secret that Oklahoma has fallen off a cliff after going from playoff hopeful to losing two straight, and the loss to Oklahoma State was deflating. It was the last game in the Bedlam series and the Sooners desperately wanted to come out on top. With championship hopes out the window and the conference championship game on life support, Oklahoma will have to muster up some form of motivation for Saturday. A 10-win season and a chance to finish strong headed to the SEC is just enough to scrape by.

— Ross Lovelace 

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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