Oklahoma football: Takeaways from WVU for Championship Saturday

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NORMAN, OK – NOVEMBER 25: The Oklahoma Sooners and West Virginia Mountaineers exchange words after a play at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated West Virginia 59-31. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /

Costly, careless penalties will doom the Sooners going forward

Oklahoma is the third most penalized team in the Big 12 this season. The Sooners have averaged almost 65 yards in penalties in every game this season, and too many of those infractions have been of the 15- and 10-yard variety, resulting in an automatic first down.

On Saturday against West Virginia, the Sooners were flagged nine times for 102 yards. That’s unacceptable and unsustainable going forward, when the level of competition ramps up dramatically.

A good number of OU’s problems with penalties this season have occurred on defense. And let’s face it, the Sooner defense is not good enough to give its opponents free passes that end up keeping drives alive, giving opposing offenses additional yardage and, most important, keep OU biggest weapon, the nation’s No. 1 offense, on the sideline.

We’ve harped about this all season long, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

If the Sooners commit as many personal fouls and pass-interference penalties against TCU as they did against West Virginia, Oklahoma’s 2017 championship run will be over.

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