Oklahoma football: Sooners still searching for leaders on defense

Oklahoma football is 10-1 and ranked No. 6 in the country, but there’s an elephant in the room the Sooners still haven’t addressed.

The Sooners gave up 40 points to Kansas. That’s something that hasn’t happened since John Blake was roaming the OU sidelines.

Comparisons to the Blake era are certainly not what the Sooners want. The defense, which showed signs of life against TCU and Kansas State, has regressed over the past three weeks and giving up 40 points and 348 yards on the ground to Kansas might be the new low point of the year.

And it couldn’t come at a worse time for Oklahoma, which goes into what should be its toughest defensive challenge of the year so far in Heisman Trophy contender Will Greir and West Virginia.

The Sooners and Mountaineers are most likely playing a Big 12 title elimination game and though Oklahoma hasn’t lost to West Virginia since Mountaineers joined the Big 12 in 2012, Dana Holgerson has shown the ability to exploit Sooner defenses in the past.

While coaching turmoil has been a problem for Oklahoma on defense – it’s extremely hard to create continuity when a team changes defensive coordinators in the middle of the year – the most glaring issue continues to be on the field.

I’m not talking about talent, of which the Sooners can compare with anyone on their schedule, it’s been about leadership from the players. After 11 games this team still hasn’t found its on-the-field general. There’s no Eric Striker or Zack Sanchez bringing fire and brimstone to the OU defensive huddle. When things go wrong, the buck stops nowhere.

One could rightly point out that part of the problem is Oklahoma’s lack of older players. The OU defense had just one senior starter out there when it took on Kansas last week in linebacker Curtis Bolton. The OU secondary has just one upper classman – junior cornerback Parnell Motley – in the 10-player two-deep roster.

While all of this is true, there are still a ton of guys with big-game experience on the field for Oklahoma. Nine players on the OU two-deep have played in conference championship games and a College Football Playoff contest.

When this season began Lincoln Riley pointed out that this might be the most physically-talented team he’s seen since coming to Norman, but it would also be the one with the most question marks in leadership positions. Until someone steps up and takes over the alpha role on defense, that potential and talent will continue to go unfulfilled.