Oklahoma football: Case closed — OU’s defensive improvement is for real

Through the first five Oklahoma football games this season, the Sooner defense appeared to be playing with greater intensity and more  effectiveness than it had in a number or seasons.

Still, there was guarded optimism and high uncertainty concerning whether the perceived defensive improvement was real or merely illusory because of the fact that Oklahoma  hadn’t played anybody in its five dominant wins this season that has better than a .500 record.

Texas, the nation’s 11th-ranked team — and a team that played the then-No. 6 LSU Tigers right down to the wire before losing by a touchdown — was going to be the Sooners’ first real test of the season. It was the game the serious followers of college football had been waiting for to determine what this year’s OU defense, under the leadership of new defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, was really made of a capable of, especially when going up against a quality college opponent.

At around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, a preponderance of evidence was in, and the overwhelming conclusion was that college-football’s best offensive team may finally have a complementary defense it can be proud of and makes this Sooner team not only a legitimate College Football Playoff contender but one that is truly dangerous and appears ready to take the next step.

With a halfway decent defense, Oklahoma might well have been playing in each of the last two national championship games, and who knows what might have happened from there.

Instead, the Sooners gave up 527 total yards to Georgia and allowed to Bulldogs to overcome a 31-17 halftime deficit and score a game-tying touchdown late before losing in double overtime in one of the national semifinal games in 2017.

And last year, against No. 1 Alabama, in another CFP national semifinal game, OU fell behind 28-0 to Alabama, Despite a valiant comeback effort that enabled Oklahoma to pull within 11 points of the Crimson Tide twice in the second half, the Sooner defense wasn’t able to get critical third-down stops on the Bama offense in the fourth quarter and OU was never able to get any closer, giving up 45 points in an 11-point, 45-34 loss.

The win over a good Texas team provided an exclamation point on the progress the Oklahoma defense has made since this same point a year ago. The Sooners gave up 48 points and 501 total yards (324 passing and 177 rushing) to quarterback Sam Ehlinger and the Longhorns in a losing effort last season. The OU defense recorded just one sack of the Texas QB.

“The defense did a great job of holding up their end of the bargain…It’s unbelievable what we (the offense and the defense) can get done together.” — OU wide receiver CeeDee Lamb after Saturday’s Red River rivalry win over Texas

This season, the Sooner defensive play was the big story in the game. Eight different OU players sacked Ehlinger nine times, matching an OU school record, and recorded 15 tackles for loss, the second most ever by an Oklahoma defense against Texas. The Longhorns’ 27 points in Saturday’s game were 11 below their season average and their 301 yards of offense were 178 under their season average. More importantly, the differential between this season’s Red River win and last year’s OU loss was 200 yards less of offense and 21 fewer points.

"“Defensively, just was awesome,” Sooner head coach Lincoln Riley said after the win on Saturday. “We tackled well, covered them well. Obviously, we were able to get quite a bit of pressure on the quarterback, which was probably the key to the game.”"

“The defense did a great job of holding up their end of the bargain,” said wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who caught a career-high 10 passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns. And when we (the OU offense) got started, man, its unbelievable what we can do together.”

The year-over-year statistical difference in the Oklahoma defense is equally staggering. This season, the Sooners are 31st in the nation in scoring defense (20.3 points per game), 41st in total defense (340.3), 37th in pass defense (199.8) and 52nd in yards allowed per play (5.21).

A year ago, Oklahoma ranked 101st in scoring defense (33.3), 112th in total defense (453.8), dead last (129th out of 129 FBS teams) in pass defense (294.0).

The Oklahoma offense since Lincoln Riley arrived on the scene, first as offensive coordinator and now as head coach, has been one of the best, if not the best, in college football. The Sooners have shown they can win games simply by outscoring opponents. Now with a defense that may not be among the best in the college game but clearly is good enough to make it extremely difficult for teams to keep pace with OU’s Ferrari offense, Oklahoma may just have the balance it needs to go all the way.

But defensively the Sooners must keep moving forward and continuing to get better. Gaining some takeaways in the remaining games would be a good way to keep things moving in that positive direction.

If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse, and the Sooners definitely are getting better on defense.