The 2014 Oklahoma Sooners football team promises to be one of the most hyped Sooner squads since Sam Bradford was under center. After an impressive offensive performance from Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl, that should come as no surprise. But with nine returning starters, it’s the defense that is poised to be the more dominant side of the ball for the Sooners this season. Eric Striker, Charles Tapper and Zach Sanchez are all returning, and have all been pegged as pre-season candidates for national awards.
Barring injuries, Oklahoma’s defense seems to be about as close of a sure thing as there is in the Big 12. But on offense, there are many more questions to be answered.
QB Trevor Knight still has to prove that he can consistently run Oklahoma’s offense as well as he did in the Sugar Bowl, and there are plenty of pieces around him that need to develop into true playmakers.
Quite possibly the biggest question about the Sooner offense headed into 2014 has to do with its architect, Josh Heupel. Through the first 10 games of the season, Heupel had done nothing to prove that he deserved to continue on as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator. Close wins against West Virginia and Kansas and bad losses to Texas and Baylor had fans calling for a new OC in Norman.
But then, right when it mattered most, Heupel found a rhythm during the last three games of the regular season. His play calling was brilliant in a shootout victory over Kansas State in Manhattan and he was surgical in his efforts at Oklahoma State two weeks later.
So what can Sooner fans expect from an offense that looked challenged at certain parts of 2013 but then excelled in others?
First, it’s important to look at the personnel that will likely be featured in 2013. Knight will enter the year as the undisputed starter, but no one really knows what he will bring to the table for a full season. But Knight did prove that he had the ability to do one thing very well: capitalize on the mistakes of defensive backs of the Big 12.
Many credit the Sugar Bowl as the breakout game for Knight, and it was on the national stage. But the redshirt sophomore started showing signs of significant improvement weeks earlier against Kansas State.
Oklahoma’s victory over the Wildcats was aided by 301 yards on the ground and terrific game managing by Knight. He threw for just 171 yards, but he led the Sooners to 9 of 15 on third down. That high conversion rate was greatly due to plays like this:
And this:
And this:
Despite Oklahoma’s high predictability in 3rd down play calling, the Wildcats failed to adjust the position of their defensive backs. By playing soft coverage, they allowed Oklahoma to simply run a short curl or slant route under the coverage to easily gain enough yardage to move the chains.
This is something that Oklahoma will likely use a lot more of in 2014. The best way to effectively stop this scheme is to play your defensive backs in press coverage, but most (if not all) Big 12 teams lack the talent to contain Oklahoma’s receivers with that strategy on a play-by-play basis. The only team talented enough to do that a year ago was Oklahoma State, and they lost those players to graduation. If teams do adjust by playing their corners in press coverage, Knight will look to burn them down field.
If Dorial Green-Beckham is granted eligibility, he would make this scheme nearly unstoppable with his combination of size and strength. But even if he can’t suit up in 2014, there might be another serviceable backup waiting in the wings: Jordan Smallwood.
The redshirt freshman has been gaining notoriety throughout the spring and summer, and he has the skill set that could be ideal for these types of plays. Smallwood is listed at 6’2″, 212 lbs, meaning that he can easily win position against opposing defenders. Smallwood doesn’t have elite quickness or breakaway speed, but he could see a lot of time this season as one of the best possession receivers on the roster.
Aside from WR Sterling Shepard, who is returning for his junior season, the rest of the Sooners receiver corps is unknown. Austin Bennett and Derrick Woods will both be back as sophomores in 2014 after playing sparingly as freshman, while Smallwood and K.J. Young enter their redshirt freshman seasons.
Oklahoma also recruited very well this past season, and will have Dallas Todd, Mark Andrews and Jeffery Mead in the fold. Conventional wisdom would say that at least two of those players will redshirt, but their size (all are listed at 6’5 or higher) could play a factor at some point in 2014.
Another WR weapon that figures to play into the offense is true freshman Michiah Quick, who was ranked as the No. 4 athlete in the nation by Rivals in the 2014 class. Quick could be poised to return punts or kicks at some point this season, but is more likely to be used as a second option in the slot behind Shepard.
Oklahoma’s offense has been electric at times even since the departure of Sam Bradford, but there is one position group that the Sooners have failed to produce at: tight end.
Many fans are still waiting on the replacement for Jermaine Gresham, who hasn’t played at Oklahoma since 2008. Whether it be a lack of play calling or personnel over the last five seasons, it appears as though the wait may finally be over.
Taylor McNamara should see plenty of targets this season if the spring game is any indication. McNamara caught three passes for 16 yards and two touchdowns in the annual red/white game back in April. While it is an exhibition and it might not mean much, it’s something that Heupel and the Sooners will at least explore through the early part of the season.
This play comes after a long run from Daniel Brooks that is shown later on in this column. McNamara lines up on the outside and gets the ball after a quick play action. It’s enough to keep the defender guessing so that McNamara can get the separation that he needs to score. It’s a simple play, but it’s one that OU has abandoned in the past.
Here’s another red zone play in which Oklahoma goes to a TE. On McNamara’s second TD grab of the day, he runs a simple streak route just to the inside of his man. He looks to be covered, but the QB (who appears to be Baker Mayfield) was able to put it in a place where only his guy could get it. In the past, you would have seen OU throw the underneath route (in this case, to #8 Austin Bennett) to see if he can make a couple guys miss.
In addition to McNamara, Blake Bell and incoming JuCo transfer Isaac Ijalana could see some reps at the position as well. True freshman Carson Meier stands to be the most likely long-term solution at TE, as he stands at 6’6 and boasts great hands. Whether or not Meier redshirts will say a lot about how much confidence the coaches have in the rest of the TE’s to make plays this season.
Out of the backfield for Oklahoma, a quartet of running backs (and hopefully one more) could give the Sooners one of the most dynamic rushing attacks in the country.
Leading the way is true sophomore Keith Ford, who has the most career rushes of any returning Sooner. He looked powerful and explosive last season as a freshman, punishing would-be-tacklers with runs like this:
And this:
Competing for the No. 1 running back spot with Ford will be redshirt sophomore Alex Ross, who has all the physical tools to dominate the conference this season. He owns a lethal combination of speed, size, quickness and strength that Norman hasn’t seen since Adrian Peterson left campus. It’s always been about the mental game with Ross, who actually beat Ford out of camp last season before losing his spot after a senseless personal foul call following his first career rush. All indications are that Ross has finally matured, but only time will tell for sure.
Behind those two will be true freshman running back Samaje Perine and full back Dimitri Flowers. Perine has reportedly been overwhelming for defenders so far through summer practice as he tries to avoid being redshirted. Flowers has received favorable comparisons to Trey Millard, which is not something that should go unnoticed.
Again in the spring game, Heupel showed a couple ways that they could utilize Flowers this season. In addition to taking over the reigns from Millard in the blocking game, he appears to be a threat at receiver as well.
Watching this play live, it was easy to see that this would be a wrinkle that Heupel would take advantage of this season. That’s Flowers to the QB’s left and TE/FB Aaron Ripkowski to his right with Keith Ford in the backfield. This sets up as a power running formation, with Ripkowski and Flowers set to block for Ford. But Flowers releases for a huge gain over the middle of the field after the play action. It’s an electric formation that has boundless possibilities given the personnel that Oklahoma has in the backfield.
Seeing these sorts of sets with Knight, Ford and Flowers is hopefully a sign of creativity to come for Oklahoma’s offense. Here is the play that was alluded to earlier, with Brooks setting up TD pass to McNamara with a big gain:
It’s yet another formation for Oklahoma to exploit with a seemingly unlimited amount of athletes to play with. Brooks doesn’t figure to get many carries this season, but it’s fun to think about what Ford or Ross could do with set ups like this one.
Obviously the wild card here is Joe Mixon, who is a suspect in a domestic violence case that occurred in Norman late last week. If it is found that Mixon did nothing wrong, he too could be a valuable asset for Oklahoma this season, especially in passing situations. If charged and found guilty, the Sooners will still be just fine at running back moving forward.
There are still many questions surrounding this unit, but nearly all of them will be answered if Trevor Knight proves that he can be the guy for 13 games. The combination of Knight, better play calling and explosive offensive options should give the Sooners a very formidable offense in 2014.
Editor’s Note: In his debut post, I’d like to welcome Spenser Davis to the team. He is a student at the University of Oklahoma, and a talented young writer and GIF slinger. We look forward to his contributions and his insight to Sooner athletics.
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