Oklahoma football’s first-half offensive woes vs. Kent State: Anomaly or concern?

Jeff Lebby’s Oklahoma football offense was going nowhere fast, spinning its wheels in the mud, for nearly 29 minutes in the opening half against Kent State.

The Sooner run game that had totaled 259 yards and averaged nearly seven yards a carry just one week earlier literally was ground to a halt in the early going of the Kent State game, something that Sooners fans aren’t used to seeing from an OU team that for the last five years has unleashed one of the most prolific offenses in the college game and a situation that had a red-and-white striped Oklahoma Memorial Stadium stunned to near silence.

The Sooners totaled seven — that’s right, seven, as in less than 10 –rushing yards in the first half.

There’s no way around it. The Oklahoma first-half offense against mid-major Kent State out of the Mid-American Conference looked as inept and overmatched as I’ve seen it in almost a decade, maybe longer.

Invariably, this sent up red flags all over Sooner Nation, not to mention those college football experts who had doubts about the 2022 OU football team to begin with.

The Sooners did finally get their feet under them and gain some traction in the second half last weekend, ending up with 134 rushing yards for the game. Most of that came from senior Eric Gray, the former Tennessee transfer, who gained a season-high 71 yards, including a 44-yard run in the third quarter. Marcus Major added 39 rushing yards, including a touchdown.

Oklahoma was forced to punt on its first four possession of the game and picked up just two first downs in the first quarter. Before the Sooners’ five-play, 76-yard scoring drive right before halftime, OU had produced just four first downs.

So what happened in the first half last Saturday, and is it cause for long-term concern?

Asked in the postgame press conference about the Sooners’ first-half offensive struggles, Brent Venables response via The Oklahoman was:

"“First time seeing that scheme on the year. It takes a little bit of getting adjusted to what we wanted to use going in versus what we had in our back pocket.”“We wanted to be patient and then at some point hit a rhythm, and we were able to do that,” said offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby. “There are a ton of things for us to clean up, but I’m proud of the guys for sticking together.”"

Part of the problem certainly can be attributed to the offensive line, which is still a bit of a work in progress despite having three returning starters and lots of game experience. The O-line struggled to keep defenders out of the Sooner backfield. Some of it could have been because offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh switched tackle positions for the Kent State game. Tyler Guyton, who played left tackle in Week1, filling in for the suspended Wanya Morris, moved over to right tackle against Kent State and veteran Anton Harrison moved over the left side.

"“We’ve got to continue to get better,” Lebby said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to strike, strain and finish better. That’s the reality of it.”"

When the passing game started to click late in the first half and into the second half, it opened up more run opportunities.

“We added a few small tweaks in the run game,” Venables said. “And I thought our guys were cleaner and more physical in the last of the first half and certainly in the second half.”

Things did eventually get better and Oklahoma ended up with 430 yards of offense, outgaining the Golden Flashes 430 to 295 for the game.

This week’s game at Nebraska may not be the best test to see if the Sooners have worked out the offensive problems that plagued them against Kent State. The Cornhuskers are giving up close to 500 yards of offense per game, 124th worst in the country. But OU is clearly going to face defenses a lot stouter and stingier than what they faced against Kent State in the weeks immediately ahead.

An offensive lapse like the one scuttled the high-powered Sooner attack versus Kent State when Kansas State travels to Norman in the next 10 days, or against Texas on Oct. 8, will be fatal.

So, is it a one-time event, or something with longer-term impact? The jury is still out and not expected back for several more weeks.