Ah, so wishful thinking. Sure, I mean, anything is possible but you'd be the one guy out there expecting that offense to be shut down by anybody. I bet you think tx is poised to win the conference 4 times in a row, and your qb is a legit heisman candidate who will be the all big 12 1st team qb too, eh? I think I've heard this before, the texas defense is too good for OU and they will be eaten alive. How often does that actually happen though? Tx offense has a bigger history of being shut down in this rivalry. It's been a long time since a Riley offense was shut down, but, sure, i guess if you blitz every play Riley will just have throw in the towel, because everyone knows you cant counter those!
Regarding Hurts- is he an elite passer? He's a good one, but not elite. However, he has been a better passer than ehlinger and you guys praise him so I think we'll be doing really well behind him and the God like OC he has calling his plays. For his career Hurts has a higher completion percentage, 12 more touchdowns to the same number of interceptions, and a higher qb rating. He is also a better and more accomplished runner and a huge factor being he has the better OC. Ou's only issue will be on Oline as they have little experience.
Firstly i said "big time talent" which isnt always interchangeable with 'elite'. I dont know how well you follow OU recruiting so i'm not just going to name all the big ones over the last couple classes, but i will say that some of the biggest commits Riley has gotten on D have held offers from bama, ohio state, texas, georgia, michigan, usc etc. Whereas just a few years ago those guy wouldnt even talk to OU, they had to fight iowa state, arkansas state, and the likes of middle tennessee for defensive recruits. Now theyre getting commits from guys like Criddell, Washington, Manning, Watts, and Winfrey and taking kids out of texas who held texas offers, despite having a really terrible 2018 and 2017. Theyr'e in on Ransom and other elite kids as well, in fact most of the big time names on D are looking at Ou and putting them in their top 5 and being very relevant. You can think what you will about those guys but looking at their offer lists, they are held in high regard.
I dont care what methods Grinch uses, the kids like him and his style is resonating with them. You know how hard it is to get any decent player on defense to even pretend OU exists? And Riley is getting these guys on campus to see him and Grinch. Just imagine if the D actually shows improvement this year, it will be a hell of a lot easier to get commits. Man its' gonna suck for you to watch your team lose to a team without a defense, again. Oh well. And i cant blame any defensive players who want to be a part of the resurgence of that D. Much the same with how disgusting texas has been over the years, how bad and ugly they have been, but they still got players to buy into the rebuild. Dont act like that mentality cant exist in Norman and why that wouldnt appeal to hard working talented players who have something to prove.
I know its fun to try to decredit the value of an Ou commit on D, but washington was texas' backup plan? Do they often make offers to kids they only kinda want as a backup plan? And why did he hold offers from alabama, clemson, georgia, florida, lsu, ohio state etc? I guess he was their plan B too! It's a big stretch to look at his offer list and just be meh about it, shows that bias of yours. You do realize Watts held an offer from texas too right? I guess he was just another backup Plan B option as well? How about Winfrey? He picked OU over texas and ever major program in the country, i guess he's not smart enough to make it at texas despite his texas offer. Come on lets be real for a minute. Stoops wasnt getting these guys. Riley is though. He's an offensive genius and defensive kids are saying they want to go and play for him. you can bury your head in the sand if you want but things are changing.