Oklahoma football: Can OU dispel enough concerns to legitimize a 2020 title run?

By Chip Rouse | Jun 5, 2020

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - DECEMBER 28: Creed Humphrey #56 of the Oklahoma Sooners prepares to snap the ball at the line of scrimmage against the LSU Tigers during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 28, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

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Sam Ehlinger #11 of the Texas Longhorns is tackled by Tre Brown #6 of the Oklahoma Sooners for a safety. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

Creating more turnovers and generating offense from the defense

One of Alex Grinch’s primary goals in his first year as defensive coordinator was to create more turnovers. He wanted the Sooner defense to swarm to the ball and be more aggressive. The Sooners definitely played with more purpose and aggressiveness last season, but it did not result in more turnovers. Grinch wanted to double the 11 takeaways OU came away with in 2018. Instead, they ended up in 2019 with the same number of turnovers as the year before.

The 11 total takeaways in 2019 ranked the Sooners 121st in the country. This is an area in which the Oklahoma defense must improve. When it becomes better in this element of the game, the defense will be able to get off the field and prevent potential scoring drives, but also create additional possession and scoring opportunities for the high-powered OU offense.

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