✌🏽Happy Wednesday, friends. Let’s ride.

🤔 Trivia: In OU's 2018 trip to West Virginia, who had more receiving yards: Marquise Brown or Gary Jennings? [Answer in footnotes]

🏈 What’s with the offense?

Of the ways you can describe Oklahoma’s typically vaunted offense, “explosive” doesn’t fit this season. At least, not yet.

Against Tulane and Nebraska, all of OU's touchdowns came on plays of six-or-less yards. OU managed to score 40 against Tulane but its 23 points against Nebraska is the program’s lowest single-game scoring output since Lincoln Riley took over the program in 2017.

Riley was OK with OU’s 23 points, considering the team had fewer possessions than normal.

OU offense yards per play

Season: First three games … end of year

2017: 8.6 … 8.3

2018: 8.3 ... 8.7

2019: 10.5 … 8.0

2020: 7.1 … 7.0

2021: 6.8 … --

What it means: It’s more clear than ever how special Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray were in 2017 and ‘18. OU can still finish with a high-end yards-per-play average by season’s end, though, if the Sooners are as close to a breakthrough as Riley predicted in his Tuesday presser.

Quotable

Lincoln Riley on progress of 2021 squad: "We feel like we've got the makings of a really good group. I think there's a pretty general consensus around our program that we feel like we're pretty close, and probably a little bit closer than a lot of people think, to really playing good 'ball.”

Riley on lack of deep passes: “We’ve had a couple of things dialed up that we just haven’t quite been able to get to or we just missed or bad timing by me on the [play] calls. ... Our big deal offensively, we’ve got to play with all 11 more often.”

Riley on QB Spencer Rattler: “He can play better. He can play cleaner. He's missed a couple throws in games that you typically expect him to make. He's played good and been right on the verge of playing very, very well.”

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🔒 Quarterly report

Somehow OU’s regular-season schedule is already 25% complete.

So, with every three games, we’ll do a quarterly progress report, providing superlatives and general thoughts about the program.

My selection for this team’s most valuable player so far shouldn’t shock anyone (Spoiler alert: it’s Nik Bonitto). But I also had some thoughts on who the best newcomer and most improved player is on this roster.

👉🏽 For paying subscribers, click here to read now.

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🏟 Under the lights

Oklahoma and West Virginia will kick off at 6:30 p.m. on ABC this Saturday in Norman.

Lincoln Riley on the prime-time kick: "I wanna say, for our fan base last weekend, just how phenomenal the atmosphere was and expecting the same thing under the lights here this week. ... [The] team's looking forward to going out, performing well and I know it will be a great atmosphere in there Saturday night for the entire nation to see."

A few nuggets:

• OU has won its last four home night games featured on ABC. The Sooners' wins include triumphs over Oklahoma State in 2020, Texas Tech in 2017, TCU in 2015 and Tennessee in 2014.

• Lincoln Riley is 20-2 as OU's head coach when the Sooners kick off at 6 p.m. or later.

• Since West Virginia joined the Big 12 in 2012, the Sooners and Mountaineers have met at night five times. Only one of those games has come in Norman.

• Chris Fowler (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit. (color) and Holly Rowe (sideline) will be on the call Saturday.

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🤕 Injury report

• OU freshman defensive back Billy Bowman is expected to return to the field Saturday. The Sooners starting nickelback has been out since he was injured early in OU’s game against Western Carolina.

• Cornerback Woodi Washington remains out and will miss “significant time,” according to Lincoln Riley, due to an injury he sustained against Western Carolina.

• What this means: Bowman could be limited but is likely the preferred starter at nickelback after Justin Broiles mostly filled in for him last weekend. … Jeremiah Criddell could also take a few snaps at nickelback as he works to get back to full strength. … Washington’s absence leaves open more opportunities for DJ Graham, Jaden Davis, Latrell McCutchin, Justin Harrington and Joshua Eaton to play. Considering their collective lack of inexperience, this can only benefit a raw Oklahoma secondary.

📖 Read options

• The Oklahoman: Why Lincoln Riley thinks OU's offensive line will get better

• OU Daily: Isaiah Coe emerging alongside former JUCO teammate Perrion Winfrey after blocked kick vs Nebraska

• Norman Transcript: Sooners' run defense helping overcome struggling secondary

• KFOR: OU concession troubles leave fans frustrated

• ESPN: Former OU QB Kyler Murray accidentally channels inner Baby Yoda during Week 2 comeback win

⏰ On this day

Three years ago today, Oklahoma beat Army 28-21 in overtime. 🎥 Click here to watch the highlights from that chaotic game.

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Some perspective:

Cayden McFarland @caydenmc

The #Sooners scoring 23 in an 8 possession game is roughly equivalent to 35 or 38 points in a more typical 12, 13 possession game. The offense isn’t what I thought it’d be at this point, but the sky isn’t falling either.

5:51 PM ∙ Sep 20, 2021

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