After some brief introductory nonsense the guys jump into Michael Hawkins being named the starting QB for the Auburn game. How are we feeling four days removed from the Tennessee loss (2:05)? What do we make of rumors that Hawkins had been looking better than Arnold at practice for a while now (9:30)? Jacobe Johnson is being moved to WR. Lee thinks this could go somewhere while Grant thinks it's a joke (22:30). OU's injury list is ridiculous. So many key players are hurt (27:00). Lee has a theory about Brent Venables' latest midweek press conference when he spoke for 19 minutes at the start (32:10). Venables wanted to set the record straight on Dillon Gabriel's exit from OU (35:15). OU's slightly favored against Auburn. The Tigers are a good football team that has made way too many mistakes on offense. Lee has a theory on Auburn's offense (43:40). We thank the listeners who've left us 5-star podcast reviews in the past and recently (1:04:05). A brief look at the SEC slate (1:09:50) followed by our picks in Minnesota-Michigan/OSU-K-State/Louisville-Notre Dame/Georgia-Alabama/Illinois-Penn State (1:12:15). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 347 - Will Hawkins Make OU's Offense Look That Much Different?

Join us as we go through OU's improbable win over Auburn. Kip Lewis made the play of the year so far. Michael Hawkins did about as well as you would have hoped given the situation. OU hit some explosive plays finally. OU's kicker was not the one who missed key field goals. J.J. Hester came up big on a couple of plays. OU's tight ends made way too many mistakes. Seth Littrell's offense is still not good, but hey you take any win you can get in 2024! |  Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 348 - Kip's Crazy Pick-6 Sends OU to Improbable Win at Auburn

The guys open the show talking about lunch, feelings about bye weeks, and Grant's plans to attend the USC-Minnesota game this weekend (00:00). Deion Burks and Taylor Tatum have a chance to play against Texas in a couple of weeks (7:40). We dive deeper into several of OU's injured players. Who will play again this season? Who will not be back? We play a stupid game to give our answers. Lee has a theory on Gentry Williams' latest injury and we also talk about how maybe Jacobe Johnson should be moved back to corner (10:35). OU's a large underdog to Texas right now. We give our early thoughts on the matchup (41:30). We go over the things we like and dislike so far about the 2024 OU Football team (53:20). The guys talk about how they got into following OU football and how we got to the point where this podcast is in the midst of its 8th season (1:10:00). We thank those who have left 5-star reviews on Apple Podcasts. We appreciate your support (1:22:50)! There's some interesting SEC matchups this week. Grant really likes the new SEC on ABC theme (1:27:20). We make our weekly picks. The games are Missouri-A&M/Ole Miss-South Carolina/Michigan-Washington/USC-Minnesota/Miami-Cal. Plus some talk about the crazy world that is Big 12 football this season (1:33:45). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 349 - Injury Outlook, Early Texas Thoughts, & Likes/Dislikes So Far

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. 356 - Let's Play the O-Line Blame Game

Opinion and analysis of Oklahoma Sooners football from the viewpoints of a local media member and an OU fan living outside The Sooner State. New episodes every Thursday during football season.

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

West of Everest: An Oklahoma Football Podcast

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