OU football: Balancing out encouragement, causes for concern for Sooners’ defense
Oklahoma football fans found themselves in an all-too familiar position last week in Ames, Iowa. Their Sooners’ defense surrendered an early double-digit lead and found itself in a shootout.
The Sooners’ defense triggered some fans’ PTSD with missed tackles as Iowa State backup quarterback Zeb Noland threw for 360 yards and a pair of touchdowns and standout wide receiver Hakeem Butler caught five passes for 174 yards and two scores.
A week after the Sooners’ defense recorded seven sacks against UCLA, the pass rush was scaled back with only middle linebacker Kenneth Murray getting through the line and getting to the quarterback.
Some fans jumped right back on the fire Mike Stoops bandwagon, while others are still holding out hope the Sooners are going to be good enough on defense to push the team to a championship level. The truth is, it’s still much too early to tell.
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Here are four reasons we should be optimistic about the Sooners’ defense and three causes for concern after three games.
Encouragement: The coverage wasn’t terrible against Iowa State
The Sooners have struggled with letting receivers run free down the middle of the field in the past thanks to confusion in alignment and scheme. That was not the case against Iowa State. Both of Butler’s touchdown grabs were in heavy coverage.
Concern: The coverage wasn’t terrible, but the tackling was
Missed tackles in the secondary were a large reason Oklahoma doesn’t have an eighth national championship trophy in the Switzer Center from last year. It’s hard to deny that the problem reared it’s ugly head again last Saturday. Lincoln Riley went on record saying this past week saying that if players don’t tackle, they won’t play. The question becomes, how long is the leash for some of these guys in the back?
Encouragement: Hakeem Butler is a future NFL wide receiver who made some incredible plays
Butler is on NFL scouts’ radars thanks to his size, speed and ability to run through tackles. Oklahoma got to see all of those things up close and personal. Barring a rematch in the conference championship game, OU won’t have to see that guy again for the rest of the season.
Concern: There still quite a few future NFL wide receivers left on the Sooners’ schedule
Unfortunately the Sooners aren’t done seeing great wide outs. Not by a long shot. Baylor’s Denzel Mims caught 11 passes for 192 yards and three scores against Oklahoma last year. West Virginia has a pair of terrors in David Sills and Gary Jennings. Texas’ Collin Johnson has even better measurables than Butler. The Sooners’ defensive backs will have to make competitive plays when the ball is in the air against elite competition to be successful in Big 12 play.
Encouragement: The front seven continued to look good
Iowa State had an experienced offensive line and a 1,000-yard rusher in David Montgomery, but other than a couple of decent runs the Sooners’ defense shut down the Cyclones rushing attack. Oklahoma has yet to allow a 100-yard rusher despite playing two of the best returning backs in college football in Montgomery and FAU’s Devin Singletary. As a matter of fact, Oklahoma has yet to give up as many yards on the ground through three games combined as it did against Georgia in the Rose Bowl last year.
Concern: Oklahoma got just one sack on 36 passing attempts against Iowa State
Yes the Cyclones played most of the game in max protect with six and seven guys in on pass protection, but the Sooners have to find a way to get home in those situations. Someone up front has to be able to beat the man in front of him and create pressure on the quarterback to help out the secondary.
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Encouragement: The Sooners’ defense hasn’t come close to its ceiling yet
The Sooners’ defense had 16 freshmen and sophomores on their two-deep defensive roster against Iowa State. Compare that to just two seniors. Brendan Radley-Hiles– a true freshman – led the team in tackles. Four of the team’s five leading tacklers were freshmen or sophomores. For many this was the first road game of their collegiate careers. To say Oklahoma is young on defense is an understatement. This group can still get much better as the season goes on. Now the question becomes whether or not those players are hungry and coachable enough to get better every week?