West of Everest: An Oklahoma Football Podcast

The guys gather Sunday morning to recap OU's 50-20 win over Iowa State. What was up with the poor run defense and the two long ISU TDs? Dillon Gabriel played really well and so did the Sooners WRs. OU still isn't running the football well, but the Sooners did enough against ISU. It was great to see the defense play terrific after halftime. | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

In the opening take, Lee points out that Oklahoma has improved a very important statistic drastically through four games. Then Grant joins to talk about teammates celebrating each other, a brief NFL sidebar, and PFF College showing that they're not an outlet that has a whole lot of credibility (3:20). What do we make of Jeff Lebby and Ted Roof not having press conferences anymore? Lincoln Riley recently suspended a reporter, which we obviously have to rip Riley for (9:50). Let's talk about the OU RB situation-- it's still weird. Lee slightly amends his take on Marcus Major from the Cincinnati game (also some Dillon Gabriel zone read talk), and Brent Venables seems uncomfortable answering questions about Barnes and Sawchuk not playing much (17:10). Savion Byrd is good to go, and what's the deal with Reggie Pearson moving forward (30:45)? Grant provides an update on where OU stands in a lot of analytical rankings. The defense is much better, but is it all because of a soft schedule (35:00)? Grant was watching old OU-ISU games recently. We dig into this week's game by talking about the Cyclones truly terrible offense (47:50). Iowa State's defense seems to be very good again, although they haven't faced any good offenses yet. Even though on paper OU should win easily, will the Sooners be looking ahead to Texas (1:06:20)? We read a couple of comments from the WoE Facebook page (1:16:20). Let's take a look at the Big 12, beginning with a weird line in the Cin-BYU game. Texas Tech is in desperation mode. UCF is a double-digit favorite over Baylor and is WVU-TCU a trap (1:19:10)? Finally we make our weekly picks. Games include Utah-Oregon State/USC-Colorado/KU-Texas/LSU-Ole Miss/Notre Dame-Duke (1:27:20). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

The guys discuss OU's 20-6 win at Historic Nippert Stadium. Lee says you can't complain about a win to get to 4-0, especially after last season. The defense looks to be much improved, and is Danny Stutsman a serious contender for the Butkus? OU's defense was terrific on 3rd down as well, and it was good to see them force a couple of turnovers. OU's offense was hit & miss, but did enough. We still don't understand Marcus Major getting the majority of the carries, but I think we just have to accept it at this point. We'd really love to see the wide receivers touch the football more. Plus we read your "3 Word Reviews" from the WoE Facebook page as well as Twitter! | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

No opening take as the guy's jump right into Cincinnati week. This is the time of the year where we can start to form real opinions about this OU team. We got some good news, and possible bad news, for the OU secondary this week. Will we see Justin Harrington anymore this season? Could Cayden Green get the start at LG this week (2:25)? Jeff Lebby didn't have a whole lot of new information this week about Jackson Arnold's usage. Is there a point to any of this (12:20)? This show has been the official Jalil Farooq should get running back touches podcast (20:00). OU travels to Nippert Stadium and the guys will be there to watch Saturday. Cincinnati is coming off a loss and have a QB that OU once faced in the Cotton Bowl years ago. What does Emory Jones bring to the table (22:35)? We take a look at the rest of the Bearcats offense. Grant found a nugget on tape that may give us an early indication Saturday about how this game may go. How good of win was Cincy's victory over Pitt (32:45)? Gavin Sawchuk talked a little about his injured hamstring this week. He says he's "100 percent", so hopefully we see a better version of him moving forward. Plus we take a look at OU's offense against Cincinnati's defense. If OU's the team we've seen the first 3 games, the Sooners should win this game Saturday. Could we be walking into a possible Dillon Gabriel revenge game (47:05)? We've got a ton of thoughts on the Big 12 slate that features a lot of intriguing matchups (1:06:30). OSU and ISU have the lowest total in all of college football this week (1:13:35). Texas at Baylor is interesting. Grant lays out a dream Texas scenario for this weekend and the rest of the season (1:17:45). College football has been terrific so far this year, and K-State vs UCF is intriguing (1:23:35). We both went 3-2 last week in our picks. Fantastic games this week include FSU-Clemson/SMU-TCU/Colorado-Oregon/Ole Miss-Alabama/Ohio State-Notre Dame (1:29:15). We make one final pitch for people to try Skyline Chili (1:49:30). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

The guys gather Sunday morning to talk about OU's dominant 66-17 win over Tulsa. Dillon Gabriel was terrific yet again. OU's wide receivers look excellent, meanwhile the running game leaves a lot to be desired. Peyton Bowen got the start at Cheetah and the defense played awesome aside from 3 Tulsa drives. Lee has the stats comparing last year's defense through 3 games to this year's team, and we finish up the show by reading your "3 Word Reviews", and commenting on the day that was in college football. | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

In the opening take, Lee goes to the WoE Facebook page and highlights a listener who's happy about what he's seen from the Sooners' defense so far. Then Grant joins the show as we give our thoughts on the Art Briles/Jeff Lebby situation (5:10). What's the injury situation surrounding Dasan McCullough and Justin Harrington? Who plays Cheetah if those guys are unable to play? Gentry Williams is available this week. Lee shares some impressive 3rd down defense stats (9:25). Tulsa's offense has been operating without its starting QB. This is a game where OU's defense can have some fun. Will they (21:50)? Jeff Lebby says they want to get Jovantae Barnes and Gavin Sawchuk going this week. We got an answer as to why Jaquaize Pettaway didn't do anything against SMU. Marcus Major is what he is. Does Jeff Lebby know what he wants this OU offense to be (25:30)? Is there any reason to be concerned with OU's offensive line? We read a listener comment about J. Barnes vs. M. Major, and one listener tells us he's going to the Cincinnati game (36:30). We look around the Big 12. Grant thinks Cincinnati may be good. Can BYU score against Arkansas? Lee got a bad number in the Texas-Wyoming game, Houston may be the worst team in the Big 12, and could Kansas be one of the best teams in the Big 12 by season end (45:45)? We each went 3-2 last week making picks. This week's slate includes Penn State-Illinois/K-State-Missouri/Minnesota-UNC/Washington-Michigan St./Tennessee-Florida (56:20). |Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

The guys recap what was an uneven performance by the Sooners in their 28-11 Week 2 win over SMU. Was the offense bad vs. SMU? What's going on with the running backs situation? The explosive passing game was non-existent. We both do not like the Jackson Arnold package. Did we learn anything new about Andrel Anthony? Hey! How about that TD catch by Jalil Farooq (1:00)!? Over to the defense, which played well for the most part. The Sooners held SMU to 4 of 16 on 3rd down and allowed just 4.6 yard/play. Danny Stutsman was all over the field and Kip Lewis continues to emerge. We praise OU for staying disciplined all night. There were some highlights by the secondary including big plays by Kani Walker and Peyton Bowen. Despite sacks and TFLs being down, the defense seems better (20:20). We read your "3 Word Reviews" and finish up with some brief comments about the day in college football (37:30). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

In the opening take, Lee tells you what he'll be watching for Saturday night when OU hosts SMU. Then Grant joins to talk more about how good the Sooners looked against Ark State (4:00). We go over the injury updates provided by Brent Venable, plus good news for Gavin Sawchuk and R Mason Thomas (14:00). SMU's offense will present a nice challenge for OU. Preston Stone is a good player, but the Sooners should have some chances to get him uncomfortable (17:25). SMU's defense had a ton of success against La Tech, but it turns out that La Tech has a horrible offense. This could be a good chance for OU's D-Line to show their stuff, plus Lee hopes the secondary shows out (31:40). We both think OU will win the game, but we're not going to guess a score. We go over more things that we want to see Saturday night (37:50). We go around the Big 12 slate and give our thoughts on a littany of matchups this week. What's Ok State going to be this year (49:15)? Our picks were not very good last week, but we're back at it with 5 more selections including Colorado-Nebraska/Ole Miss-Tulane/Texas A&M-Miami/Texas-Alabama/Oregon-Texas Tech (1:04:45). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

OU opened the season with an impressive 73-0 win over Arkansas State. Lee says he's incredibly pleased with the way the Sooners played. Dillon Gabriel played the best game of his career, and it was nice to see an extended appearance from Jackson Arnold (1:25). The OU pass catchers showed a lot of promise (9:00). Tawee Walker looked like OU's best running back on a day when that group was overall just fine (12:50). Gavin Freeman's punt return TD was fantastic and we hope that leads to more impressive special teams plays (19:40). Grant wants to praise a couple of the young TEs for some nice plays, and Lee has some positive words for Jeff Lebby (22:50). The defense pitched a shutout in what was a steady, albeit non-flashy performance (26:30). We read your "3 Word Reviews" (36:35). We're going to learn a lot more about OU next week against SMU (51:00). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

No opening take as the "Big Season Preview" continues. We start by taking some national negative narratives surrounding OU, but argue the positive side of why that narrative isn't correct. The first topic includes Ted Roof and his history of mediocre, to bad defenses (1:35). CBS Sports can't pick the Sooners to do well because they want to see Brent Venables prove he can coach. Why are these experts wrong (6:30)? Everyone is picking Texas to win the Big 12, but Sark's first two seasons haven't been anything special. Why does Brent Venables have to prove himself, but Sark is not being questioned (10:40)? If OU goes 12-0 in the regular season, how did that happen? Plus we make our official predictions on what we think OU's record is going to be (14:50). We don't talk recruiting much, but obviously getting David Stone is a big deal. Winning will hopefully get more of these types of blue chippers (22:40). We take a quick step away from OU to talk about the gambling stories involving Iowa and Iowa State players. Feel free to skip ahead if you don't care (26:10). Grant's talked himself into Iowa State as a sleeper team in the Big 12 (35:35). Of the new Big 12 teams, UCF could be the most interesting, right? Lee asks why Houston's win total is so low (39:20)? As much as we hate to admit it, Texas seems to be the obvious favorite to win the Big 12 (41:40). Can Texas Tech really threaten to win the conference (45:15)? Lee thinks conference realignment looks interesting beginning in 2024. Grant is worried that college football is changing for the worse (49:00). We take a look at the Week 1 Big 12 slate (56:10). Finally, we make our Week 1 picks. Games include Florida-Utah/Colorado-TCU/UTSA-Houston/North Carolina-South Carolina/LSU-FSU (1:00:30). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets