Defense is the new offense around Oklahoma
Defense is the new offense around Oklahoma
As expected, the Sooners are winning in a different way under Brent Venables.
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Brent Venables’ vision for No. 7 Oklahoma becomes more apparent with each snap.
Oklahoma beat Kent State 33-3 on Saturday, winning a game where one side of the ball wasn’t clicking and that side wasn’t the defense.
The Sooners of the last seven-ish years are gone, and the way those teams primarily won won’t be how this iteration of the program primarily will.
Neither winning a shootout or a defensive slugfest is really right or wrong.
OU had plenty of success being the standard for offenses across the country over the last few years. Venables is trying to build the kind of monster, however, that made even the most optimistic of OU fans anxious come time for the College Football Playoff.If you’re watching the way promising but still mostly unproven players like Danny Stutsman, Billy Bowman and Reggie Grimes are coming along and leading this unit, Venables might get there fast.
But also, this is coming off of a 30-point victory over Kent State, which does boast one of the better Group of 5 offenses but they’re not quite the 2018 Oklahoma Sooners with Kyler Murray.
So, let’s not get too carried away.
This is mostly what happens when you watch a team, like Oklahoma, go years without a consistent defensive identity — or the ability to tackle in the open field.
You could make the argument that OU’s defense was better than the offense last year, and I’d probably agree. But offense has been king in Norman for some time. And while shootouts can make a game between two mismatched opponents more palatable, OU probably prefers how it prevailed on Saturday.
Despite OU’s issues igniting its offense, OU never seemed to lack control over its situation. The Sooners’ offense sputtered time and time again in the first half until finally scoring their first points in the final minute before the break. But the defense didn’t allow any touchdowns or really any broken plays. OU’s defense was just flat-out better and ready to handle all that Kent State threw at it.
Is it all perfect? Far from it.
OU had to battle to get off the field at times with Kent State converting 6 of 16 third-down attempts (OU converted just 3 of 12 third-down attempts). Kent State starting quarterback Collin Schlee frequently made life difficult on OU’s defense, leading his team with 55 yards rushing on 12 carries, including a long gain of 17 yards.
There’s still plenty of inconsistency with a young group trying to fill the shoes of a defense that lost five players to the NFL draft this past year, but Venables’ defensive unit limited Kent State to just 131 passing yards and 3.2 yards per rush. The Sooners also won the turnover battle 2-0 with Billy Bowman picking up a fumble and Justin Harrington intercepting a pass midway through the fourth quarter.
It’s a good start for a team that has its first road game next Saturday and first true test the week after with Kansas State scheduled for a weekend trip to Norman.
But the offense has to be better.
It just has to be.
Oklahoma can’t expect to win a league like the Big 12 with so many talented defensive lines with the way its offensive line played Saturday. I also find it hard to believe OU will win the Big 12 without making Marcus Major its primary running back. Eric Gray was a serviceable option, but through two games, Major is pushing for the starting role in a way we’ve never seen.
Dillon Gabriel wasn’t blameless in the offense’s slow start. He has to get rid of the ball quicker as he was occasionally swallowed up in the backfield. He still managed to throw for 296 yards on 21-of-28 passing to go with three touchdowns. That'll do. The timing of it just wasn't quite there. A program of OU's caliber shouldn't need a 24-point third quarter to put away Kent State.
It did, though, and escaped its first two weeks without a blemish and two final scores that don’t look too bad in passing.
There’s plenty of work to be done for Venables and Co., but the program is quickly leaning into its new identity and looking the part.
Now, let’s see how well it will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, next weekend.
Well, depending on your expectations for your program, there definitely is a right and wrong.
You know, of the Georgia and Alabama variety.
And I bet most OU fans do, too. There are only so many 40-35 wins over Tulane that a fanbase can endure.
Struggling to contain dual-threat quarterbacks was some nice nostalgia from the previous regime.
Let’s all say a prayer for Scott Frost.