Ep. 273 - Sawchuk Shines as OU Ends 2022 With Another Close Loss

The guys are back at the mics to discuss OU's close Cheez-It Bowl loss to Florida State. They open the show by briefly discussing the road-like atmosphere for the Sooners in Orlando, while praising the bowl game for making a second-tier bowl feel pretty important (:40). OU should have won despite being 10-point underdogs. The game sure seemed to play out similar to a lot of other OU losses this season. Grant liked the way OU's offensive line played despite missing multiple starters (3:05). Let's talk about the game, beginning with C.J. Coldon's missed opportunity on the game's first series (12:00). Dillon Gabriel was terrific on OU's first offensive series that gave the Sooners an early 7-3 lead (14:30). Kudos to the OU defensive line stopping FSU on 3rd-1 and 4th-1 in the 1st Quarter. Grant says Jeffery Johnson had maybe his best game of the season. The defense played well for the majority of the game, even though FSU WR Johnny Wilson torched the Sooners (18:40). The guys were impressed with FSU QB Jordan Travis. Why didn't they run him more (23:40)? Danny Stutsman looked really good and fast when he chased down Travis for a sack (26:05). Back to discussing the game. OU's offense took a 14-3 after DG scored on a clever zone read design (28:20). We jump ahead to Marvin Mims' first awesome sideline catch, which was followed up by a Gavin Sawchuck TD run called back due to penalty. This was a huge sequence in the game (30:50). Grant's number 1 takeaway from the Cheez-It Bowl is that Sawchuck is a star in the making. Where has he been all year? Lee's not as high on Jovantae Barnes as everybody else (33:45)? Brent Venables told his team to not "play to the scoreboard" against FSU. Lee can't imagine saying that to a team as a coach, while Grant doesn't think it's a big deal (41:50). Grant says the difference in the bowl game was the Sawchuck fumble and the Savion Byrd holding penalty. Grant is ultimately encouraged by what he saw from OU vs. FSU (44:40). Lee's got more criticism for Venables. It was unacceptable to call timeout on defense in the 2nd half of a one-score game. OU cost itself :22 seconds at the end of the game. Poor game management yet again (46:45). Grant reminds us that the current coaching staff looks to be elite at recruiting and Grant doeesn't think people who thought OU would get blown out should be able to criticize Venables today (50:25). Lee lays out the two (maybe three) different types of OU fans that exist right now. Plus more Gavin Sawchuck and Jovantae Barnes talk (54:00). We cover a bunch extra Cheez-It Bowl topics and beyond as we check in on your "3-Word Reviews" from the WoE Facebook page and Twitter (59:20). One listener reminds us that Texas still sucks. Lee gives a brief update on what to expect from the show coming up in the offseason. Grant brings up Trace Ford transferring to OU (1:27:30). We wrap things up by talking about who we think will win the National Championship (1:32:00). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonNews9