Oklahoma football: Sooners’ defensive issues strike serious concern
By Connor Pasby
As good as the Oklahoma football offense is — or can be — it’s not good enough this season to make up for a defensive unit that is seriously leaking oil.
Even the best of college defenses are bound to have a game or two during the season when the performance drops off a bit, but in the case of the Sooners, it has become a perilous pattern that is dangerously close to derailing what could be a dream season.
OU defensive coordinator Alex Grinch says: What we need to do is we have to find ways to make plays. Well, we’re now eight weeks into the season, and the fact that the Sooner defense is still trying to find ways to make plays and get off the field is beyond disturbing. It is fast approaching the fatal stage.
After OU’s 35-23 comeback victory against the Kansas Jayhawks, the defense continues to show deep concerns. The Jayhawks were 9 of 13 (69.2 percent) on third-down conversions. Once again, the Sooners struggled to get off the field and allowed Kansas to control 22 minutes of the time of possession in the first half. Alex Grinch: “There’s a theme forming over the past few weeks – an inconsistent unit.”
Alex Grinch: "There's a theme forming over the past few weeks - an inconsistent unit."
— Eric Bailey (@EricBaileyTW) October 23, 2021
Adds it's everyone's fault, especially his. Needs to fix things in practice. #Sooners
The inconsistency is spot on with this bunch. Through the first 5 games, the Sooners were holding their opponents to 325 yards per game. The last 3 games have been eye-balling: 485.7 yards per game.
Despite some key injuries in the secondary, Grinch wants to see more out of his group. “In the end, If you want to get off the field, make a play”
The secondary hasn’t seen a ball in its hands since Week 4 vs. West Virginia. The Sooners are ranked 102nd nationally in passes intercepted. Heading into the second half of the year, the back end of the defense needs a “spark plug”.
Starting safety Delarrin Turner-Yell has missed a significant amount of time after suffering an ankle injury against West Virginia.
For a team that struggled to get in any offensive rhythm and ranked 109th among FBS teams through the first six games, Kansas was moving the ball with ease against the Sooners. The Jayhawks put together four drives of 10 or more play, and three of them resulted in points.
The Jayhawks put up more points on the No. 4 team in the country than they did the past two games combined (vs. Iowa State and Texas Tech).
Despite all the drama and chaos that happened at Kansas, in a half-empty stadium with as many OU fans as Kansas faithful, the Sooners are 8-0. They have Texas Tech at home on Saturday, followed by a much anticipated bye week.
After the bye week, a difficult and pivotal three-game “gauntlet” begins for the Sooners with Baylor, Iowa State, Oklahoma State — the teams sitting immediately below Oklahoma in the Big 12 standings, all with 3-1 records currently.
Oklahoma looks to get some key parts of that defense back for the final three games of the regular season. Jalen Redmond, DJ Graham, Woodi Washington, and Delarrin Turner-Yell have all missed some time with injuries but could be back for the last stretch.