Oklahoma football: Three takeaways from, for once, a Sooner smackdown

For the first time this season — dismissing the Western Carolina game, of course — what we witnessed on Saturday night against TCU was the Oklahoma football offense that everybody has been anxiously waiting to see for over six weeks now.

The Sooners (7-0, 4-0) began the second-half of the 2021 season with a new quarterback and a refreshing new look, rolling to a breakthrough 52-31 victory over the visiting TCU Horned Frogs.

Caleb Williams got the start at quarterback for OU, the first freshman to start at the quarterback position for the Sooners since now assistant coach Cale Gundy did so in 1990.

From the pre-game player introductions, when there was a giant affirming roar from the 138th consecutive sell-out crowd at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium when the image of Williams appeared among the Sooner starters on the scoreboard, you felt that something special was about to unfold.

After starting 17 consecutive games at quarterback for Oklahoma and compiling a 15-2 record, Spencer Rattler was replaced by Williams, who like Rattler before him was the No. 1 quarterback in his respective recruiting class (2021). Williams took control of the game from the outset, leading the OU offense to touchdown in its first two possessions and a 14-0 lead.

TCU would come within three points, 17-14. late in the second quarter, but that was as close as they would get the remainder of the game as the Sooners tacked on a score right before halftime and another touchdown early in the third to go up 31-14.

While the resurgence of the offense behind Williams was a delight to see, the Oklahoma defensive effort was not as sharp. But as we have witnessed repeatedly the past five years or so, the return of the  Sooners’ high-octane offense was able to overcome the deficiency.

The Sooners move on the Week 8 and a road trip back to the Sunflower State to play Kansas next Saturday. Kickoff for that game is set for 11 a.m.

Here are three big takeaways from OU’s 15th consecutive win on Saturday:

Caleb Williams ready and right for quarterback role

Could the young quarterback follow up his performance against Texas with another game of high productivity? The answer is a resounding yes, and then some, with plenty of help from RB Kennedy Brooks and WR Jadon Haselwood. Williams completed 78 percent of his passes (18 of 23) for 292 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for 61 yards, including a dazzling 41-yard touchdown run.

“Caleb got the opportunity tonight and obviously did a great job with it,” said head coach Lincoln Riley in his postgame comments.

Here’s what Haselwood, the recipient of three of Williams’ touchdown passes, has to say about his teammate:

"“I don’t think he ever feels pressure. He can sling it, he can run, he can do whatever he needs to do to get the ball downfield.”"

The offensive line deserves some credit here, as well. For the most part, the O-line did its job in keeping Williams clean. He was sacked just twice, both coming in the first half, and there were no quarterback hurries.

Not only is there a new sheriff in town leading the Sooners’ offense, but it appears he plans to stick around for a while.

Sooner defense still a liability

Oklahoma continues to have trouble with big pass plays and preventing lengthy drives. The problem with getting beat over the top is partially explained by the injuries the Sooners have sustained in the secondary. Because the Sooners are getting beat deep so often this season, they are playing softer coverage and teams like TCU are taking advantage of that to advance the ball and sustain drives.

TCU quarterback Max Duggan competed 20 of 30 passes for 346 yards on Saturday night. That was the second-most passing yards OU has given up all season.

Six of TCU’s 11 total possessions in the game produced drives of 40 yards or more. One of those drives lasted nearly seven minutes and another was close to five minutes in length.

Perhaps the most obvious problem defensively against TCU, though, was another poor tackling performance. Lincoln Riley pointed that out as well, saying in the postgame press conference, “That’s the No. 1 thing that showed up defensively.”

The run defense was not as good in this game either. Coming into the TCU game, the Sooners had held five of six opponents under 100 rushing yards for the game. TCU had 183 rushing yards on Saturday night, and that was without Zach Evans, the second-leading rusher in the Big 12, who was out with an injury.

This was not one of the better OU games defensively. They need to come up more consistently with the effort and execution they showed in the second half a week ago against Texas. If they don’t, they are likely to run into big problems down the road in the schedule that even the change at quarterback isn’t going to be able to overcome.

Kennedy Brooks has another blue collar game

Oklahoma rushed for just 48 yards in the first half of the TCU game, and 32 of that came on the Sooners’ first offensive possession. Before halftime, OU averaged just 2.8 yards per run. Like he did a week ago in the Sooners’ second-half explosion against Texas, Brooks’ picked up the pace after intermission.

The junior running back collected 106 yards on the ground in the second half, 153 for the game, and averaged 7.7 yards per carry for the game.

Brooks now has 668 rushing yards through seven games and is well on pace to eclipse 1,000 yards for the season for the third time in his career.