Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma football: Sooners have scored just 39 points in two games

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma's Shane Whitter (13) brings down West Virginia's Leddie Brown (4) during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the West Virginia Mountaineers at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021. Oklahoma won 16-13.Lx11223
Oklahoma's Shane Whitter (13) brings down West Virginia's Leddie Brown (4) during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the West Virginia Mountaineers at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021. Oklahoma won 16-13.Lx11223 /
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A year ago, the high-scoring Oklahoma football offense averaged 43.0 points a game. In their last two games this season, the Sooners are averaging 19.5 points.

If you take away the 76-0 blowout over FCS opponent Western Carolina, Oklahoma scoring average this season is a very pedestrian 26.3 points.

We are witnessing a form reversal in this Oklahoma team. In recent seasons, it has been a porous Sooner defense that has been the big chink in the team’s armor. This season, the OU defense is, for the most part, holding its own, but it is the once nearly unstoppable offense struggling to get traction. And the residual effect is a very un-Oklahoma-like performance.

While the defense numbers are noticeably lower than in recent years, so too are the offensive numbers, and it’s unlikely the Sooners are going to win many games 16-13 going forward.

The only time the Sooners led in this game was when the clocked showed all zeros at the end. After all of that, it is easy to overlook the fact that Oklahoma is now 9-0 against West Virginia as a member of the Big 12.

Here are a dozen other numbers that tell the story of the 2021 Big 12 opener between Oklahoma and West Virginia:

0-9 — West Virginia converted 4 of 14 third-down attempts, but were 0 for 9 after the first quarter.

1 — Gabe Brkic’s game-winning 30-yard field goal as time expired is believed to be the only time in OU history that the Sooners have won on a walk-off winning field goal.

7 — This was the second week in a row Oklahoma has been held to just seven points in the opening half.

9 — Nine different Oklahoma receivers caught at least one pass for the fourth consecutive game.

9 -9 — Spencer Rattler completed his las nine passes in the game, including going 6 for 6 in the Sooners’ game-winning drive.

12 — The victory, however precarious, was Oklahoma’s 12 straight, the second longest active streak in college football. In addition, the Sooners have won eight of their last 12 Big 12 openers.

14 — Oklahoma trailed at halftime (10-7) for the first time this season and the first time in the last 14 games.

16 — OU’s 16 points was the Sooners’ lowest game-winning total since the 2013 season against guess who? Oklahoma defeated West Virginia 16-7 at home in 2013.

47 — Oklahoma held West Virginia to just 47 yards rushing and an average of 1.6 yards per carry.

91 — Total offensive yards by Oklahoma in the first half against West Virginia.

151 — West Virginia gained 75 yards in 17 plays and a touchdown on its first possession of the game, but had only 151 yards in 46 plays the remainder of the game.

226 — The OU defense held West Virginia to 226 yards of total offense. That is the fewest yards the Sooners have allowed since limiting TCU to 219 yards of offense in 2019.

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