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Oklahoma football: Betcha didn’t know this?

By Chip Rouse

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 30: Running back Rhamondre Stevenson #29 of the Oklahoma Sooners runs for a touchdown against the Florida Gators during the third quarter at AT&T Stadium on December 30, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 30: Running back Rhamondre Stevenson #29 of the Oklahoma Sooners runs for a touchdown against the Florida Gators during the third quarter at AT&T Stadium on December 30, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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The Oklahoma football offense was down a year ago.

For the first time in Lincoln Riley’s six seasons as the architect and play-caller of the high-powered Sooner offense, Oklahoma finished outside the nation’s top 10 in total offense.

There are some plausible reasons for the decline of some 80 yards per game from Oklahoma’s nation-best 570 yards per game two seasons ago — for example, breaking in a new starting quarterback and not having a reliable running game for more than half of the season — but I wouldn’t call 494 yards a game and a No. 11 ranking nationally a serious drop off.

Moreover, I would expect that number to be back up in the 550-yards-per-game range in the 2021 season. The Sooners should have even more offensive weapons at their disposal in the coming season, so consider last season as a step back to take two steps forward.

The Sooners averaged 7.0 yards per play last season. That was down more than a yard and a half from the 8.6 yards per play in 2019, which led the nation, but it still ranked 11th best in the country.

That part is of no big surprise to any fan of Sooner football. I make note of it only to point out that even in a down year, Oklahoma was still one of the best teams in the country.

Here is something, though, I bet you didn’t know. Oklahoma gained 10 yards or more on 27.5 percent of its offensive plays last season. That not only was tops in the Big 12 but ranked sixth best in the country.

Like legendary Sooner head coach Barry Switzer used to say, “It’s hard to be humble when you’re No. 1,” which is where the Sooners are in the ESPN pre-summer college football rankings.

While the offense has clearly led the way in the Sooners’ impressive run of success over the six season Riley has been at OU, the defense has made giant strides in the past couple of years behind coordinator Alex Grinch.

The Sooners have gone from allowing 454 yards on defense two years ago to an average of 350 yards allowed last season. That’s an improvement of 85 spots in the NCAA rankings for total defense (from 114th to 29th).

That improvement also shows up in the points allowed category, as well. The Sooners allowed an average of 10 fewer points to its opponents last season than they did the year before Grinch came onboard..

Here is one further measure of that improvement, courtesy of Athlon Sports:

"Oklahoma’s opponents scored on 40 of 149 offensive possessions during the 2020 season (30 touchdowns and 10 field goals). That is a 73.1 percent stop rate in term of defensive stops, which led the Big 12 and ranked 14th among 127 Football Bowl Subdivision teams."

Expect even more defensive improvement this season, with seven defensive starters returning in Grinch’s “Speed D” unit.

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