Oklahoma Football: What Stood Out Between Weeks One and Two?

The level of performance of Oklahoma football between weeks one and two of the 2016 season were like night and day. But so too were the opponents.

Sep 10, 2016; Norman, OK, USA; Louisiana Monroe Warhawks safety Stephen Amoako (3) tackles Oklahoma Sooners running back Samaje Perine (32) during the first quarter at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

The outcomes were different, as were the teams. Nevertheless, we did learn a few things about this year’s Oklahoma team between the first two games of the season that gives us a better feeling about the Sooners’ chances this weekend against visiting Ohio State.

Oklahoma fans have had the date Sept. 17 circled on the calendar ever since the two-game series with perennial Big Ten powerhouse Ohio State was first announced a couple of years ago.

The Sooners’ loss to Houston put a little different light on next week’s showcase matchup, but it’s still a huge game, and a golden opportunity for a do-over of sorts against a highly ranked team. Instead of two top-five teams doing battle, it now will be the fourth-ranked Buckeyes squaring off with No. 14 Oklahoma.

Had the favored Sooners managed to hold serve in the season opener with Houston, the Ohio State game would likely have been No. 3 OU hosting the No. 4 Buckeyes. Obviously, that dream scenario went out the window a week ago. Instead of two top-five teams – and a likely visit by ESPN’s “College GameDay,” it now will be the fourth-ranked Buckeyes squaring off with No. 14 Oklahoma.

As difficult as that may be for Sooner fans to swallow, had OU not shown marked improvement across the board in a dominating win Saturday night over easily overmatched Louisiana-Monroe, I hate to think what our confidence level might have been with the high-powered Buckeyes rolling into Norman this coming weekend. Certainly it would have been much worse if the OU problems that were exposed in the Houston loss had resurfaced against ULM.

Fortunately there was a lot to like about the Oklahoma performance in Week 2, even if it was against a much-inferior opponent than the Sooners faced in Houston and that they will encounter on Saturday against another very good team in Ohio State.

Here are three things that stood out the most between Oklahoma’s first two games and provide greater optimism looking ahead to Ohio State than would have been the case after the loss to Houston:

Return to the run-first game: The Sooners produced 288 yards rushing in game two against Louisiana-Monroe on 46 running plays. That compares to the 70 yards on the ground on just 26 rushing attempts the week before against Houston.

The key takeaway from this is that 215 of OU’s 288 rushing yards on Saturday night vs. ULM came in the first half, with Joe Mixon delivering 125 yards and 8.5 yards per carry and Samaje Perine contributing 58 more. That is good news, because the Sooners are going to need a heavy dose of “thunder” (Perine) and “lightning” (Mixon) against the Ohio State defense.

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Better decision making and a quicker pass release from quarterback Baker Mayfield: The Sooner quarterback took a heap of criticism after last week’s loss to Houston for holding on to the ball too long and trying to make too many big pass plays rather than taking what defense was giving him. Mayfield was much more disciplined against ULM.

Mayfield passed for 323 yards against Houston, but that was over four quarters, and he was sacked five times. On Saturday, he saw only a half of action, completing 14 of 20 passes for 244 yards and three touchdowns. Mayfield and Austin Kendall, who played the entire second half at quarterback for the Sooners, targeted nearly twice as many receivers at home vs. ULM than OU did the week before against Houston. Twelve different receivers caught passes on Saturday, compared with seven in the Houston game.

Fewer mental mistakes and self-inflicted errors: On Saturday night, the Sooners committed just one turnover and were penalized four times for 40 yards, and that was with a number of new faces seeing extended playing time.

By contrast, the week before against Houston, Oklahoma was flagged for personal foul penalties on a couple of third-down plays that would have otherwise resulted in an exchange of possession. In addition, the Sooners fumbled the ball away on consecutive possessions and had a number of missed assignments on offense and defense that led to big plays by the Houston offense.

Said Bob Stoops in his postgame interview comments on Saturday: “I was pleased with our execution in the first half (vs. ULM), controlling some of the things we can control, and that’s being smart with penalties, playing clean, playing smart, blocking the right people, being in the right positions on defense, taking care of the football…Some of the things we didn’t do so well the week before.”

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