Oklahoma football: Will OU’s Air Raid become more land-locked in 2018?

With Baker Mayfield at quarterback the past three seasons, Oklahoma football has been among the nation leaders in passing yards, passing efficiency and touchdowns through the air.

Without a complementary run game, however, the Sooners ability to shock-and-awe its opponents with high doses of short- and long-range air power as the lethal component in their prolific Air Raid offense is greatly diminished.

Mayfield is gone, to the delight of every other Big 12 team, but the potent Air Raid offense remains as Oklahoma’s primary operating system.

There is a changing of the guard at the quarterback spot, but both redshirt junior Kyler Murray and sophomore Austin Kendall are talented, highly capable and good fits in the Air Raid system although they bring different attributes.

Murray is a dual-threat QB who can beat you with both his arm and his legs. The Sooners have had QBs through the years who could do one or the other extremely well, but never both at the same time. Kendall is more of a pro-style quarterback, similar in style to former OU quarterback Landry Jones, the Sooner career leader in passing yards.

To put the minds of Sooner fans at ease, quarterback should be one of the least of the OU football concerns in 2018. The Sooners are going to be fine at the QB spot. The Air Raid should be in full bloom, and why not with a loaded arsenal of sure-handed, fleet-of-foot receivers who relish making big plays. OU suffered some significant losses in the pass-receiving department (Mark Andrews, Dimitri Flowers and Jeff Badet), but the end result actually could be even better this year.

Oklahoma Sooners Football

Collegefootballnews.com this week published its 2018 college football preview and rankings: 1-130. CFN ranks Oklahoma No. 10 and lists the Sooners strengths as the running game and the offensive system. I was a little disappointed at the No. 10 ranking (Michigan, Miami, Michigan State, Washington and Wisconsin are listed ahead of the Sooners, and I seriously question if all those teams are better than Oklahoma in 2018), but I am in complete agreement with the strength assessment.

For the past three seasons, or during the time Lincoln Riley has been at Oklahoma (first as offensive coordinator for two years and now as head coach), it can be said that the Sooners utilized the running game to set up and even more dangerous, wide-open passing attack. I think we may see the reverse of strategy in 2018, or at least a little different offensive emphasis.

With the running back talent the Sooners have returning this season, including Rodney Anderson, the team’s rushing leader last season and No. 4 in the Big 12, and the infusion of several promising new faces (Kennedy Brooks and T.J. Pledger, to name two), I believe there will be even greater emphasis on the ground game. Oklahoma had the No. 1 rushing offense in the Big 12 last season (217.8 yards per game), and I would be shocked if that is not the case in 2018, and by an even wider margin.

This year it wouldn’t surprise me to Lincoln Riley playing to the Sooners’ strength and leveraging the pass game and one of the best offensive line units in the country to keep defenses honest and respectful of OU’s big-play capability. This should open up the running lanes for the Sooners’ slashing and speedy running backs to do what they do best: gain positive yardage and move the sticks.

It won’t be like a return to the run-dominated Oklahoma offensive juggernauts of days long gone by, but the Sooners have too many weapons in their ground forces — speedy running backs who also catch passes — not to take full advantage of it.