Oklahoma football: Takeaways from the first 3 weeks and a 3-0 record

The offense is as good and dangerous as it’s ever been

Before the season started, there were questions about how quarterback Jalen Hurts would fit into the Oklahoma Air Raid offense. The answer to that question came in OU’s first game, a 49-31 win over Houston. Hurts completed 20 of 23 passes for 332 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 176 yards and three more touchdowns.

And he demonstrated that his first game in an Oklahoma uniform was no fluke by turning in equally impressive performances in his next two outings. Through three games, the Alabama transfer has completed 83 percent of his passes for 880 yards and nine touchdowns (three in each game) and leads the Sooners in rushing with 374 yards per game and an average of 9.8 yards per carry. He has four rushing touchdowns to go with his nine through the air.

I don’t believe the OU coaching staff wants Hurts to be the team’s leading ground gainer because of the high risk for injury, be he has clearly been effective when he has tucked the ball and taken off on the run. He combines speed and strength and is hard to bring down when he gets up a head of steam.

Sixteen different Sooners have caught passes this season, including four true freshman, which shows the depth of the Oklahoma receiving corps. The Sooners are averaging an incredible 10.5 yards per play in the first three games

In each of its three wins, OU has passed for over 300 yards and run for over 300, demonstrating the balance and two-headed monster that it is. Stack the box to stop the run, and the Sooner offense will throw over the top to one of its speedy receivers in space; drop back in pass coverage, and they will hurt you running the football. It’s pick your poison if you are an opposing defensive coordinator.

Granted, these numbers were put up against teams that have won just one game between them after three games. They will become much harder to come by when OU gets into the Big 12 schedule, but the fact remains: This offense is as explosive and balanced as it was with Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray running the show. Now it’s Jalen Hurts, and believe me, he is fitting in just fine.

CeeDee Lamb is being underutilized

Junior wide receiver CeeDee Lamb has caught just nine passes for 229 yards and three touchdowns. That is well off the pace of his career-high 65 catches for 1,158 yards of a year ago. At his present clip of three receptions per game, he will finish with fewer than 40 catches, which is well below what the expectation should be for the team’s leading returning receiver. He is one of the better receivers in the Big 12 and nationally and should be targeted more than he has been so far this season.