Oklahoma football: Huge defensive swing is on the table
Oklahoma football fans can look to how much rival Texas improved on defense in 2017 to see just how high the ceiling can be set.
Oklahoma football football fans say it with us: Your Sooners were very bad on defense last year.
Doesn’t it feel a little better just to get it out there and off your chest? If there’s any good news after a terrible defensive season in 2018 it is that there’s nowhere left to go but up after giving up 40-plus points for the second-consecutive year in a playoff loss.
Still, some are questioning just how far the Sooners can climb from last year’s dismal results. Just how big a swing is even possible? Well there’s a recent example not too far down the road when Todd Orlando inherited a terrible Texas defense and turned them into one of the better units in the country in just one year’s time.
In 2016 Texas was a sieve, finishing 94th in the country in total defense and 90th in the nation in scoring defense. It gave up 30 or more points in seven of 12 games and 40 or more four times – including a stretch of three straight that all resulted in losses.
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Just one year later the Longhorns had arguably the best defense in the Big 12. Texas finished No. 8 in the nation in rushing defense, No. 2 in third down defense and led the country in both defensive touchdowns and interceptions returned for a touchdown. UT moved up 53 spots in total defense and 61 in scoring defense.
There are more similarities between the two situations than just a new coordinator. Like Texas in 2017, the Sooners return 10 starters from last year’s defense.
The 2017 Longhorns had a stellar linebacker in Malik Jefferson, an uber-talented player who was a Freshman All American, but was never quite able to put it all together before his junior year. The Sooners have Kenneth Murray, another former freshman All American who despite having results on the field has never quite been able to approach his high ceiling.
The 2017 Longhorns had a disruptive defensive lineman an Poona Ford who commanded a double team on nearly every play. The 2019 Sooners have the potential to do the same with Neville Gallimore.
While the Sooners don’t have a safety who has shown the kind of skill level DeShon Elliott when he became the Big 12 Defensive Back of the Year in 2017, there are two former five-star athletes in the defensive backfield in Robert Barnes and Brendan Radley-Hiles for Grinch and his staff to work with.
Does this mean Oklahoma football fans should saddle Alex Grinch with the high expectation of becoming the best defense in the conference in year one? Probably not. But it’s not something they should completely take off the table because all the ingredients are already there.