Oklahoma football: Three telling takeaways from the win over a tough SMU team

Brent Venables had cautioned everyone in his weekly press conference early in the week that SMU was a fundamentally sound and talented team and would pose a much sterner test for the Oklahoma football team than was the case the previous weekend.

That indeed was the case as the Mustangs came into a packed house at Owen Field with the confidence and mindset that they had what it takes to pull off the upset of the 18th-ranked Sooners.

After forcing a punt on Oklahoma’s first possession, SMU was held to a similar action on its opening possession, except that Sooner freshman safety Peyton Bowen broke through the wall of protection and blocked the Mustang punt. The ball caromed out of bounds at the SMU 40-yard line, setting the Sooners up with a short field.

Dillon Gabriel and the Sooners needed just three plays with Gabriel hitting a wide-open Andrel Anthony across the middle who ran untouched into the end zone for the first Oklahoma score.

The Sooners never trailed the rest of the game, but they also weren’t able to put the pesky Ponies away until late in the game. That in and of itself was a big change over last season when OU lost at least five games because of the inability to make plays when needed at the end of games.

Oklahoma entered the fourth quarter with a 14-3 advantage, having not allowed a touchdown in seven quarters to begin the 2023 season. SMU snapped that string in the final frame, completing a 13-play, 76-yard drive with just three minutes gone in the fourth quarter. That made it 14-11 with plenty of time remaining, but the Sooner offense came to life when it needed to, producing touchdowns on consecutive possessions to stretch the lead to 17 points at 28-11.

The Sooners sealed the victory on an interception by Justin Harrington at the OU 27 with a buck forty left in the game and thwarting a 13-play, 65-yard drive. An OU victory formation followed.

It was a hard-fought victory for OU — with both positives and negatives to learn from — the kind the Sooners are going to have to endure if they expect to contend for a conference championship in their final Big 12 season.

Here are three big takeaways from the Sooner win over SMU:

Tawee Walker runs over, through SMU front seven

Tawee Walker was the unknown man on the OU running back depth chart. The junior rushed for a total of 62 yards in 11 games his sophomore season at Oklahoma. As a junior this season, he has nearly tripled that amount in just two games. Short and solid, built like former K-State star all-purpose back Deuce Vaughn, Walker has earned his spot as the team’s No. 1 or No. 2 running back, depending on the situation, and he is delivering.

In his first two games of 2023, the 5-foot-9, 215 running back has rushed for 161 yards and averaged 5.5 yards per carry. Walker was the Sooners’ leading ground-gainer against SMU, rushing for 117 yards on 21 carries. He also demonstrated his versatility with three receptions out of the backfield for 25 yards.

It should be noted that the SMU defense allowed just 48 total yards on the ground in a win over Louisiana Tech in the season opener. Walker more than doubled that amount by himself on Saturday night. Being able to run the football is the Sooners identity on offense, according to offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, and the prime trigger that unleashes the passing game and bigger chunks of real estate downfield.

OU rushed for 189 net yards against SMU and is averaging 204.5 yards per game, tied for 32nd among FBS teams after two-plus weeks. Walker is the main component of that performance.

Defense makes big plays when it needed to

Make no mistake, the Sooner defense, along with special teams, won this game, not the offense. Oklahoma gave up more yardage than it did in Week 1 (365 vs. 208), but to a much stronger offensive team. The Mustangs crossed midfield into Oklahoma territory on seven of their 11 possessions, but most of the SMU drives bogged down after reaching midfield with the Oklahoma defense coming up with big stops after that point.

SMU was just 4 of 16 in third-down conversions on Saturday. Last season OU allowed opponents to convert 41 percent of their third-down tries. Through two games this season, that figure stands at 22 percent (6 of 27), eighth best in the nation.

A year ago, the Sooners ranked 122nd in total defense (461 yards allowed per game) and 106th in rushing defense (187 yards per game). So far this season — admittedly not against the toughest competition on the 2023 schedule — OU ranks 35th (82.5) and 28th (287.5), respectively, in those two defensive categories.

Penalties remain a lingering problem

Penalties were a lingering problem for Oklahoma even back before Brent Venables took over as head coach. In the first two games, the Sooners have been flagged 15 times for 153 yards. OU was penalized nine times in the SMU game for 88 yards. Two critical pass interference penalties called on the Sooners enabled SMU to score its only touchdown of the game.