Oklahoma football: Sooners leaving opponents in the dust early and often

Oklahoma football offensive coordinator Jeffy Lebby wants the Sooners to start out quickly and set the tone by getting on the scoreboard early and keeping the pedal to the floor offensively.

The Sooners are averaging 57.0 points a game through the first three games. That ranks third best in the country behind USC (59.3) and Oregon (58.0). Nearly a third of OU’s total points this season have come in the first quarter. Oklahoma is outscoring its opponents 63-3 in the opening 15 minutes.

The offense is the only part of the Sooners’ game, however, that’s off to an impressive start. The defense is doing its part as well in contributing eye-popping numbers. The OU defense is allowing just 9.1 points a game, 4.2 yards per play and an average of 288 yards per game. That may be after just three games and, arguably, the easiest stretch of the 2023 schedule, but they represent a striking improvement over the Sooners’ full-season numbers from last year.

Oklahoma scored on nine of 11 possessions in the 66-17 win over Tulsa and did not punt the ball until their next-to-last possession of the game with just under six minutes remaining. On the other side of the ball, five of the 13 Tulsa offensive possessions in the game ended in an interception. All five of those interceptions led to an OU touchdown.

Another interesting development in the Tulsa game was the running back rotation the Sooners deployed in the game. OU’s two leading ground gainers coming into the game, Tawee Walker and Marcus Major, did not have one carry against the Golden Hurricane. Instead, the Sooners turned to sophomore Jovantae Barnes and redshirt freshman Gavin Sawchuk, who during the offseason were thought to be the team’s top two running backs in preparation for the 2023 season.

Both running backs delivered when they were called on against Tulsa: Barnes rushing for 68 yards in 13 carries, an average of 5.2 per carry, and Sawchuk 25 yards on nine carries. Both scored rushing touchdowns to add to Oklahoma’s total.

Here are some more of the numbers that tell the story of OU’s dominant victory over their in-state rival from Tulsa:

3 — Oklahoma receivers with over 100 yards receiving vs. Tulsa: Jalil Farooq (126), Nic Anderson (120) and Andrel Anthony (112).

3-120-3 — Receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns by OU WR Nic Anderson in the Tulsa game, a career best. His three touchdown catches are the most by an Oklahoma freshman in one game.

5 — The last time Oklahoma had as many as five interceptions in a game was in 2003 in a game at Texas Tech.

11 — Number of Sooner receivers who caught at least one pass in the win over Tulsa.

15 — Tackles for loss by the OU defense against Tulsa, the most by a Sooner defense since the 2019 Big 12 Championship game against Baylor.

31 — Oklahoma has won 31 of its last true road games.

60 — Tulsa has not given up 60-plus points in a game since a 62-28 road loss at Tulane in 2017.

66 — The 66 points scored against Tulsa on Saturday are the most scored by a Sooner team in a true road game since 2016 in the memorable shootout at Texas Tech between Baker Mayfield and Patrick Mahomes. Oklahoma won that game 66-59.

74 — Number of Sooner players who saw action in the game on Saturday.

90 — Pass completion percentage for Dillon Gabriel against Tulsa (28 of 31 and five touchdowns).

100 — This was the second time this season that the Sooners have limited their opponent to under 100 yards. Tulsa ran 46 running plays against OU with a net gain of 75 yards.

30,855 — Capacity crowd in attendance for OU-Tulsa at Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium in Tulsa and the largest since the stadium was renovated in 2008.