Oklahoma football: Phenomenal offense + pathetic defense = danger ahead
By Chip Rouse
Through six games, halfway through the 2018 Oklahoma football season, the Sooners’ offense is humming along at about the same RPMs as last season’s high-scoring OU outfit.
Despite the change at quarterback, with Kyler Murray taking over for the departed reigning Heisman winner, Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma has barely missed a beat on offense. The Sooners rank in the top 25 nationally among FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) teams in four major offensive categories.
The same cannot be said, though, for the Oklahoma defensive unit, which appears to have shown its true colors in the last three games and this week cost longtime defensive coordinator Mike Stoops his job.
Through the first three games of the season, the broadcasters and other media who cover and follow the Sooners were in general agreement that, while the OU defense was still not as good as it needs to be or that head coach Lincoln Riley wants it to be, it appeared to be much improved over what it was last season. The operative term in that last sentence is “appeared.”
Oklahoma Sooners Football
Since the Army game, in which the Black Knights of the Hudson possessed the ball for nearly 45 minutes in regulation and ran 87 plays and gained 353 rushing yards, the performance of the Oklahoma defensive unit has appeared anything but improving; more like weary and worn down.
Oklahoma allowed an incredulous 101 offensive plays and 493 yards of offense (416 passing) to Baylor, but scored 66 points on offense for a 66-33 victory. One week later, A Texas offense that had been considered mediocre at best torched the OU defense for 501 total yards and 45 points, and this time the Sooners’ high-powered offense couldn’t make up the difference.
As many offensive weapons as Oklahoma has at its disposal, no lead against the Sooners is safe. Murray and Company is a threat to reach the end zone on every possession. But as Army demonstrated, if you keep the Sooner offense on the sidelines, it can’t hurt you. OU had just seven offensive possessions in regulation in that game and scored on just three of them. If the Oklahoma defenders can’t get off the field, it not only limits the Sooners offensive opportunities but also wears down the defense to the point it becomes even more vulnerable to long drives and big plays.
The Oklahoma offensive numbers at the season’s midpoint and the numbers the Sooner defense is allowing opposing offenses to put up are in stark contrast to one another and serve as a sobering signal of the peril that lies ahead in the remaining six games if something isn’t done — and fast — to close that gap.
Through six games, here is where Oklahoma stands nationally among other NCAA FBS teams in several major offensive and defensive categories:
Offense
9. Scoring (48.0 points per game
11. Total offense (524.7 yards per game)
16. Passing yards (315.8 per game)
24T. Red Zone offense (23 of 24 opportunities, 18 TDs)
36. Rushing yards (208.0 per game)
Defense
62. Rushing yards allowed (156.8 per game)
79. Scoring (27.3 points allowed per game)
96. Total defense (421.2 yards allowed per game)
106. Passing yards (264.3 allowed per game)
124T. Red Zone defense (21 of 21 scoring opportunities. 18 TDs)
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Assistant head coach Ruffin McNeill has taken over defensive coordinator’s role for the Sooners on an interim basis. Sooner Nation will be holding its collective breath over the next six weeks, hoping McNeill will come up with the right stuff to get Oklahoma headed back in the right direction defensively. Things have to get better on that side of the ball; they can’t get much worse.