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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ATLANTA, GEORGIA – DECEMBER 28: Justin Jefferson #2 of the LSU Tigers dives for a touchdown past Justin Broiles #25 of the Oklahoma Sooners during the College Football Playoff Semifinal in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 28, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

Red-zone disaster on defense

Oklahoma ranked among the top 15 teams in the country a year ago in red zone offense, scoring 67 times in 73 trips inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. Sadly, the Sooners’ opponents did even better than that when they reached the red zone against the OU defense. The Sooners yielded points 94 percent of the time (45 out of 48 trips) when an opponent had the ball within 20 yards of the Oklahoma end zone. Thirty-two of those 48 red-zone defensive stands resulted in touchdowns and 13 in field goals.

The Sooners ranked a highly undesirable 128th out of 130 times in red-zone defense in 2019, and they weren’t much better the year before, allowing the opposition to score in 93 percent of their red-zone possessions.

Next. Five best Oklahoma games of the past decade. dark

This is not a sustainable performance if Oklahoma wants to remain a national championship contender let alone play for and win another national title

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