Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma football: Why Bill Bedenbaugh is the best o-line coach in the country

By Christopher Dukes

FORT WORTH, TX - OCTOBER 01: Dru Samia #75 of the Oklahoma Sooners and Chris Bradley #56 of the TCU Horned Frogs in the first half at Amon G. Carter Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TX - OCTOBER 01: Dru Samia #75 of the Oklahoma Sooners and Chris Bradley #56 of the TCU Horned Frogs in the first half at Amon G. Carter Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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Changing the game

The two former colleagues next move was to change everyone’s concept of the Air Raid and in doing so, change college football offense as a whole. Riley combined Bedenbuagh’s downhill approach to running the ball with his spacing and misdirection concepts to create the most explosive offense in college football for the past four years.

Yes, the Sooners throw the ball all over the yard and stretch opposing defenses, but if you ask most of their opponents, it’s the toughness in the trenches and running game that scares defenses the most.

Oklahoma’s bread-and-butter play has become the counter, in which two offensive linemen block down while two more pull and lead the running back through the hole. They run it so well and with such authority that it leads to play action, bubble screens, quarterback keepers and all sorts of other dangerous variations devised by Riley. It’s why the Sooners led the country points per game in 2018.

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