Oklahoma football: Five bold predictions with five days to go
By Chip Rouse
The Sooner defense will nearly double its takeaway total of the past two seasons
Since arriving in Norman from Ohio State ahead of last season, defensive coordinator Alex Grinch has emphasized the need by the Sooner defense to create more takeaways. Grinch believes that the sole objective of the defense is to get the ball back for the offense, and the surest way to do that is to force and recover turnovers by the opponents.
The season before Grinch joined the OU coaching staff, Oklahoma had a total of 11 takeaways. Unfortunately, the Sooners were unable to improve on that number last season. By contrast, in Oklahoma’s 2000 national championship season, the Sooners tied for fifth in the nation with 33 takeaways.
A second year in Grinch’s system and with nine defensive starters returning, the focus on takeaways will finally take hold. The Sooners will generate 20 or more takeaways, and in a season with at least two fewer games. The last time an Oklahoma defense created as many as 20 takeaways in a season was 24 in 2017, and two years before that, in 2015, the Sooners were credited with 27 takeaways.