West of Everest: An Oklahoma Football Podcast

Ep. 359 - It’s Over. We Just Don’t Know When it Will Be Made Official.

OU's loss to Missouri was more of the same as the Brent Venables era looks to be coming to a close. The only question is, "When?" | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 358 - Elevated Expectations for Night Game at Missouri

In the opening take, Lee talks about something very serious that impacts everybody who listens to this show. Please listen to this critical message. Then Grant joins to talk about getting after it a little too much bending the elbow and how to combat a hangover (4:30). Grant gives his thoughts on the OU-Maine game. Jovantae Barnes and Xavier Robinson are discussed. Jackson Arnold's play and the defense as a whole (7:30). Will Jalil Farooq and/or Deion Burks play against Missouri? Grant's got the SEC Availability report hot off the press. Jovantae Barnes is questionable. The O-Line is back to being injured (20:15). What's the most intriguing storyline for OU-Missouri? Missouri may start a backup QB in the game, which should be a chance for OU's defense to have a good time. Are both fanbases not expecting their team to win (32:10)? Is it a problem that people are asking if this is the most important game for Brent Venables since he's been at OU (44:10)? The CFP Rankings are out. Let's assess the projected matchups (53:15). Looking at the SEC slate. If Florida's QB was healthy, it may be interesting vs. Texas. SC-Vandy is a tough handicap, and would Josh Heupel run it up on Jeff Lebby (59:00)? We make our picks coming off a good week for Grant. The games are Georgia-Ole Miss/ISU-Kansas/Michigan-Indiana/Colorado-Texas Tech/Alabama-LSU (1:05:30). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 357 - Barnes Continues Hot Play as OU Gets Back in Win Column

Oklahoma picked up its 5th win of the season beating Maine 59-14 Saturday. Lee talks about the offensive explosion, this new version of Jovantae Barnes, Jackson Arnold continued his solid play, and a big picture look at OU's defense that doesn't bode well for Brent Venables. Plus we read your "3-Word Reviews". | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 356 - Let’s Play the O-Line Blame Game

In the opening take, Lee tries to find out the correct degrees of blame for OU's offensive line being terrible. Then Grant joins to give his thoughts on the offensive line and push back on some of the points Lee made. As much as we didn't want to do this, we do a long segment on the offensive line, previous recruiting classes, Bill Bedenbaugh's coaching ability, and how much blame Lincoln Riley deserves (8:00). Grant says OU being bad is boring. Brent Venables had a long press conference this week that didn't amount to much. We got some injury updates at least, Lee brings up his injury conspiracy theory again, and Grant takes another victory lap over his Jacobe Johnson take from weeks ago (37:15). We do a thought exercise involving OU losing to Maine. No, we don't want OU to lose to Maine. I'm sorry but we really like Curt Cignetti (46:00). What's the most boring result in the OU-Maine game? Grant tells us what he wants to see in this game and he goes all the way in on DeMarco Murray so get your popcorn (55:10). We thank listeners for their 5-star podcast reviews (59:00). SEC talk focuses on Grant laying out why Hugh Freeze should be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (1:03:50). We make our picks against the spread. Games include Ohio State-Penn State/Ole Miss-Arkansas/Minnesota-Illinois/Oregon-Michigan/Texas A&M-South Carolina (1:10:00). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 355 - OU Shows Surprising Life, but Comes Back to Earth in Loss

Definitely a tale of two halves in Oxford this weekend. OU went into halftime enjoying a 14-10 lead over one of the better teams in college football, but the Sooners came back down to earth in the final 30 minutes. What went right? What went wrong? Jovantae Barnes had his best game as a Sooner. Jackson Arnold played solid and does seem to have a lot of potential. This OU's best game running the ball this season. The offensive line can't pass block, but somehow they were able to run block pretty well. As always we read your "3-Word Reviews". | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 354 - Sooners Face Daunting Task Following OC Shake-Up

Lee strikes a negative tone to start the show, which Grant calls him on. Early thoughts on what to expect when OU plays Ole Miss this Saturday (0:00). Brent Venables talked for the first time about firing Seth Littrell. How is OU going to deal with recruiting offensive players during this time (8:00)? What will Venables be looking for in his next OC? Lee has a bit of a problem with what Venables said. We look back to what we were thinking when Seth Littrell was hired (19:50). Early look at who could be candidates for OU's OC job (30:20). Venables wanted a new voice, new perspective, new strategy and game planning when it comes to offense. Will we notice? What can Kevin Johns bring to the table now that he's an assistant coach (36:00)? We found out Gavin Sawchuk is injured. Why can't OU just totally change their offense moving forward? It can't get any worse right? The running back room is still not good (43:10). Grant's got a lot of good stuff on Ole Miss. The Rebels are a damn good team (49:40). What's the blueprint for an improbable OU victory (1:00:30)? Thanking listeners for their 5-star reviews (1:08:10). A brief look at the SEC slate (1:11:40) followed by our picks against the spread. We pick Boise State-UNLV/Notre Dame-Navy/BYU-UCF/Missouri-Alabama/LSU-Texas A&M (1:13:40). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 353 - Seth Littrell is Gone. Should Venables be Next?

Lot to talk about today. Grant wants people to stop saying "is this rock bottom?" (0:00). What does it mean for the future of the program now that Seth Littrell has been fired? Do you have any confidence that Brent Venables can find the right offensive coordinator? (6:00). The rest of the episode is essentially us talking about why it's over for Brent Venables (16:00). We go to the WoE Facebook page and X to read listener "3-word reviews" and comments before wrapping up the show with final thoughts (58:45). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 352 - We’re Just Hoping For the Best at This Point

OU had a players-only meeting after the loss to Texas, so that must mean everything is fixed. Brent Venables had some puzzling thoughts about OU's running game against Texas when it comes to efficient successful plays and explosive plays. Is OU's offense too complicated? Grant gets going early with a rant about the state of the program (2:25). We're not interested in how Lincoln Riley left the program. It's Year 3 for Brent Venables (22:40). Let's say some nice things about Eli Bowen. Before we talk about OU's confusing cornerback usage against Texas (29:10). Lee says it's getting harder and harder to take this season one game at a time. Also, the running back room is not good and it's very frustrating. Yes Tawee Walker comes up (35:15). Deion Burks is questionable to play against South Carolina. What about the QBs? What's Venables' plan for Hawkins and Jackson Arnold the rest of the season (45:50)? What's there to say about this upcoming game against SC? Hoping for the best (51:20). Highlighting some past 5-star West of Everest reviews on Apple Podcasts (55:40). A quick look at the SEC slate before we make our picks against the spread. Games include Nebraska-Indiana/Alabama-Tennessee/Michigan-Illinois/LSU-Arkansas/Georgia-Texas (57:30). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 351 - OU Dismantled by Texas for the 2nd Time in Last 3 Years

One host is a little more fired up than expected, while the other host is apathetic towards OU's latest beatdown at the hands of Texas. One thing we can all agree on is the offense being awful. The Sooners are officially the worst offense in P4 football. The one thing we can't agree upon is the state of the defense and how well (or not well) it played Saturday at the Cotton Bowl. How is it possible at this point to defend anybody on the offensive staff? We read your "3-Word Reviews" and briefly look ahead to next week's game against South Carolina. | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 350 - Sooners in Unfamiliar Territory as Big Underdog vs. Texas

Grant briefly describes being at the Minnesota-USC game and storming the field after the Gophers' win (1:10). We jump into what we learned from the Brent Venables news conference. Should OU use Texas as a measuring stick? OU's been the better team several years over the last generation and we wish the Sooners would have won more of them (3:00). Lee was proven wrong following last week's injury-related game. Dasan McCullough seems to be on track to play this week. What will his role be? Will Deion Burks be available? If there's no Burks, will Jacobe Johnson have a role on offense (11:50)? Quinn Ewers seems likely to start for Texas. Talking about Ewers and Arch Manning (22:00). Did Trace Ford give Texas some bulletin board material (27:00)? Lee's got some bye-related OU-Texas facts and figures. It's been more than 50 years since the Sooners beat Texas coming off a bye. Could that win in 1972 be a blueprint for OU beating Texas Saturday (31:45)? The guys don't see much of a point to dive deep into the matchups of this game because OU's offense is just so poor and Texas is really good on both sides of the ball. Something unexpected is going to have to happen in order for OU to win. Grant is curious to see if OU's offense will pull back the tempo (40:50). If OU had just a "good" offense Lee would be very confident in OU winning (49:20). The SEC Availability Report is hot off the press. This may mean good news for one OU running back. We also praise Luke Elzinga for being good at punting (55:00). Michael Hawkins should not be intimidated by the moment. Random thoughts on Auburn's offense, Grant has a prop on Gavin Sawchuk, and we wrap up the OU-Texas preview talk (1:01:40). Thoughts on the 2:30 kickoff time, Lee's going to a lot of State Fairs this year, and the guys talk about their first OU-Texas experience which was the 2008 game (1:07:30). We thank listeners for your 5-star reviews on Apple Podcasts (1:15:20). Thoughts on Vanderbilt's win over Alabama and we go over the SEC slate for Week 7. Also, Texas has a surprisingly difficult road schedule the rest of the season (1:18:30). Lee has one other thought about the QBs Texas has played this season and then we make weekly picks on Washington-Iowa/Penn State-USC/Ohio State-Oregon/Ole Miss-LSU/Kansas State-Colorado (1:27:15). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets