Oklahoma football: Best and worst of 2018 at midseason mark

Biggest surprise

There is still half a season to go, so there are sure to be more surprises — hopefully of the positive kind — as the 2018 season wears on, but after the first six games, the biggest surprise has to be how close and one-sided, in terms of time of possession and number of offensive plays, the game with Army was.

The Sooners were a four-touchdown favorite entering the final nonconference game of the season against the Black Knights. Everyone knew coming in that Army’s triple-option offense would pose a stiff challenge for the then-No. 5 team in the country (in the Coaches Poll), and that the Black Knights’ best chance of upsetting OU on its own field would be to keep the Sooners offense off the field.

What no one anticipated, and especially the Sooners themselves, was how successful Army would be in executing its game plan. Oklahoma scored in its first possession, going 68 yards in six plays to take a 7-0 lead. No real surprise there.

Army responded with a scoring drive of its own on its opening possession. Only instead of striking quickly, the Black Knights pounded the Sooners with a steady ground attack, picking up four yards at a pop over 16 plays and taking over nine minutes off the clock, to draw even at 7-7.

The Sooners came right back with another six-play touchdown drive that took another two and a half minutes of elapsed time. Then it was Army’s turn again, and on the Black Knights’ second possession of the game the Oklahoma defense was on its heels for a second consecutive 75-yard drive totaling 16 plays and nine more minutes.

With 6:09 remaining in the first half, and each team possessing the ball just twice, the score stood deadlocked at 14-all. Oklahoma put up seven more points on its third possession of the half, and managed to hold off Army for the remainder of the half and take a 21-14 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

Army more than doubled OU’s time of possession in the opening half (22:01 to 7:59), and this pattern continued in the second half. Army tied the game with an 85-yard, 19-play drive late in the third quarter that took almost 11 minutes. That’s the way things ended in regulation, although Oklahoma’s Austin Seibert missed a 33-yard field goal as time expired to send the game to overtime.

The Sooners scored in two plays in OT to go ahead 28-21. The game ended when OU’s Parnell Motley intercepted a pass from Army QB Kelvin Hopkins on a fourth-down play in the extra session. Motley’s interception

Oklahoma dodged a gigantic bullet in this one. Army ran a total of 87 offensive plays in the game to the Sooners’ 40 and controlled the ball for nearly 45 of the 60 minutes in regulation. It’s pretty darn difficult to cover a 32-point spread when you get just one third-down stop on defense the entire game and possess the ball a third as often as your opponent.

Biggest disappointment

Coming into the season, one of the biggest questions about the 2018 edition of the Sooners was the defense and what, if any, improvement could be expected on that side of the ball. Inconsistency on defense cost Oklahoma a shot at the national championship last season, and that concern was still very large again this past offseason.

Through the first three games this season, the defense had shown signs of improvement, although marginally, over last year. For one thing, OU was not giving up as many big plays as a year ago. Beginning with Game 4 against Army, however, things turned around dramatically. The Sooner defense had trouble getting stops and getting off the field and had noticeable difficulty getting players to the ground.

In its last three games, Oklahoma has given up 353 yards rushing to Army, almost 500 total yards and 416 through the air to Baylor and 501 yards of total offense and 45 points in the loss to Texas. In all three games, the Sooners were soundly disadvantaged in time of possession. That can be partially attributed to OU’s ability to strike and score quickly on offense, which doesn’t allow for much time in between possession exchange.

The growing concerns over the Sooners defensive disconnect and dysfunction finally cost Mike Stoops his job as OU longtime defensive coordinator. He was fired on Sunday after the Texas game and was replaced on an interim basis by assistant head coach Ruffin McNeill.

As for any improvement so far this season by the Oklahoma defensive unit, the numbers tell a very discouraging story:

The Sooners ranked 67th among NCAA FBS teams last season in total defense (allowing 394.9 yards per game); this season they have allowed 421.2 yards per game, which ranks 97th nationally.

Last season OU ranked 87th in pass defense (238.4 yards per game); so far in 2018, the Sooners are 106th out of 128 teams in pass defense (allowing 264.3 yards per game).

Oklahoma has not been very good in Red Zone defense for several seasons. In 2017, opponents scored in 43 out of 49 trips into the Red Zone (30 TDs). That was the 103rd worst percentage in the country, and it has gotten worse this season. OU’s opponents are scoring at a 100 percent clip in the Red Zone through six games in 2018 (21 of 21 with 18 TDs). That is dead last among FBS teams.