Thanks to Oklahoma State University, I have found that this problem is an oak gall midge. It's rare and no species name has been assigned to this creature! Apparently, nothing to worry about, although they look terrible. Here is a link that might be useful: More on Oak Gall Midge

I am a little cooler than you in zone 7 but even though everything else is leafing out here, the tiny buds on my shumard are just starting to increase is size. If I hadn't been checking daily, it would not even be noticeable. Was it late enough in fall that it was normal defoliation? Leafed out at my house- Post Oak, Southern Red Oak, Blackjack Oak, Willow Oak, Cottonwood, Red and Silver Maples, Mockernut Hickory, Winged Elm, Slippery/American Elm (I can't tell them apart), White and Green Ash, Tulip Poplar, crabapples, dogwoods, Live Oak is putting out leaves as of Saturday. Yet to leaf out is my Sycamore, Shumard Oak, Swamp White Oak, and Nuttall Oak but all have been in the ground less than a year with the last two planted about 3 weeks ago.

DO NOT TRIM, the leaves might be dead but the branches are not, they appear to be fine. The branches, including the leader will send out new leaves. Just plant in ground and watch during spring. If a tree big or small gets too little water or in your case probably overheated (because you watered) it will protect itself and lose its leaves kinda like it's fall. My guess is the soil and pot got too hot, and you might have even scorched it by watering it when it was so hot, instead of allowing the pot to cool down first. Just plant in ground in fall first, then wait till spring to see what branches leaf out, then if you like trim the ones that didn't. If you want, you could mist the branches that have brown leaves on them just to keep them moist till the first frost.

This oak was growing on the grounds of a rest area on a high bluff very close to the Appalachicola River - the soil appeared to be dry and very well drained. I know what you mean about those orange acorns, jqpublic - the ones I pick up from what I've assumed are red oaks on my property are orange inside, orangy brown on the outside. The acorns under this oak were small and mostly plain brown with only a few of them showing orange on the cap side. I went outside and picked up leaves on my property from what I've assumed were southern red oaks and post oaks. I don't know if my red oaks are q. falcata or q. pagodifolia - the red oak leaves are on the left. The leaves on the Appalachicola oak didn't look the same, they were still green combined with some red, whereas my red oaks never have pretty color, just green or brown. Of course, this may have to do with the growing conditions. I'm beginning to think there are more hybrids out there than I realized, which is logical, since these oaks were all growing near other, different type oaks. I'll be planting up the acorns today - I'll probably be even more confused when they come up, so I'll just pick the most vigorous and/or interesting looking to plant. Sherry