Because of the length of the college football season, it seems that every team has at least one bye week in the schedule. For 2015 OU football, that time in the schedule comes this week.
There are two ways of looking at having the week off in a 12-game regular-season schedule. The extra time clearly gives you more time before the next game to fix problems that surfaced in previous contests and helps with the extra time afforded to injured players. But by the same token, the extended time between games can also have unintended consequences by interrupting the rhythm and flow of the regular weekly practice schedule and/or impacting the timing and precision of play execution that teams build upon from game to game during the season.
You could argue that a week off later in the season, when injuries are more prevalent and say before having to play Baylor or TCU, would benefit OU more than a having a week off after just the third game, but I am of the opinion that the bye week is coming at a very good time for the Sooners for all the aforementioned reasons.
Sep 19, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; Tulsa Golden Hurricane wide receiver Keyarris Garrett (1) catches a pass while covered by Oklahoma Sooners cornerback Zack Sanchez (15) during the second quarter at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Too often I observe teams coming back from having a week off between games start off their return to action appearing a little lethargic and less sharp in their offensive execution than might have been the case had they played a game the week before. This may not always be the case, but the concern is there nonetheless.
While the Sooner offense looked particularly good against Tulsa last weekend and exerted its will for all four quarters in putting 52 points on the scoreboard, the defense appeared to overmatched in defending Tulsa’s spread offense. OU yielded an average of 106 passing yards in its first two game with Akron and Tennessee, but allowed the Tulsa receivers to run rampant in giving up 427 passing yards and over 100 yards receiving to two different Golden Hurricane wide receivers.
That is an issue of immediate concern with so many Big 12 teams running similar big-play offenses similar to the one the Sooners faced in Tulsa. And OU has another team that likes to throw the ball around a lot in West Virginia (averaging 336 passing yards per game) coming up a week from now. And then Texas, which finally seems to have found a quarterback who has demonstrated he can throw the football with better than average efficiency.
Sep 19, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; Tulsa Golden Hurricane wide receiver Bishop Louie (7) runs the ball against Oklahoma Sooners safety Steven Parker (10) during the third quarter at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
The Sooners cannot afford a repeat performance of the poor pass defense that was on display against the Tulsa wide receivers. One explanation for some of the breakdowns at the back end of the Oklahoma defense last weekend was the absence of starting cornerback Jordan Thomas because of a disciplinary matter. But even if Thomas would have been in there, it probably wouldn’t have been enough to overcome the difficulties the OU secondary was having in trying to cover and defend against the talented Tulsa receivers, who most always appeared to be right where they needed to be when Golden Hurricane quarterback Dane Evans delivered the football.
The Sooners need to get their back-end problems fixed and fixed quickly if they want to remain in the title hunt for this season’s Big 12 football crown. Oklahoma can bank on seeing a heavy dose of what Tulsa threw at them until the Sooners can demonstrate that they are able to stop it and swing the competitive advantage in OU’s favor.
This is why having the extra time now to work on and rectify these defensive issues before they are allowed to perpetuate and perhaps get worse before they get better is much preferable to having to wait until later to get to the real source and not the symptoms of the problem, when by that time it may be too late and the residual damage irreversible.
The Oklahoma coaches will put the extra week of practice to good use, and it won’t surprise me to see a Sooner defensive effort against West Virginia next Saturday that is closer to what the second half looked like at Tennessee and not the leaky, weepy display of pass defense that we witnessed from OU the second through the fourth quarters last Saturday in trying to hold off the Tulsa aerial show.
If not, then we’ve got bigger problems on defense than can be addressed in two week’s time, and that will spawn a whole different conversation.