West Virginia has kicked our tail every which way in the first half, taking a 20-6 lead -- and, boy, does it feel like Boise State all over again.

I'll hand it to Brent Venables though. We're playing aggressively, and I won't complain as long as we play balls out. In fact, we've played so aggressively that we've been burned a couple times in situations where we overpursued.

Fact is, we're undermanned right now. Smith. Holmes. Granger.

The last of that lot really has some soul searching to do. According to folks who know what happened at that Burlington Coat Factory last week, DeMarcus took the security tag off a coat and put the tag in his pocket.

Unbelievable. He's not even good at stealing.

He has let his team, his university and his state down. The single biggest forecaster of winning is preparedness and focus -- 'having your head right with ball' as the guys on The Ticket in Dallas would say.

And it's clear this kid, our best run-stopper nonetheless, didn't have his head anywhere right with ball.

If it were me ... If it were me, the only way I let DeMarcus Granger back on this Sooners team is if he publicly apologizes for letting his team down in front of all 82,000 fans at Owen Field at halftime of the first home game in 2008.

He would not play the first half. He would come out by himself before the band plays. He would take the mic, and he would state what he did, acknowledge how it cost his team and apologize.

Believe it or not, I'm stupid enough to think we can make up this 20-6 deficit in the second half. I'm not at all displeased with the defensive strategy. Being aggressive will get you burned sometimes, particularly when we're depleted. I'd much rather we approach the game the way we have than play some ridiculous soft zone.

On the other hand, offensively, Oklahoma simply must get more creative running the ball. This handoff-up-the-middle nonsense on every running down is mind-boggingly lazy play calling.

How about an end-around to Juaquin or Manuel? How about a tight end reverse to Jermaine? How about giving our resident bowling ball Jacob Gutierrez a chance. How about utilizing a fullback? How about a quick quarterback keeper, perhaps from Keith Nichol -- a QB who can run and who has already used his redshirt?

That would be my only complaint. Well, and that we're getting our asses kicked.

Let's see what the second half brings.