Numbers that led to Oklahoma's blowout of Kent State

The Oklahoma defense is quickly laying claim to not just being the best under Brent Venables as head coach, but also the best Sooner defense this century. And believe it or not, there have been some pretty good ones, especially in the early 2000s under Bob Stoops, which Venables also happened to be a part of.

Kent State (1-4), a team out of the Mid-American Conference that has won just two of its last 29 games, including the one win this season, paid a visit to Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Saturday having allowed 44 points a game in its first four games this season. That was precisely the number Oklahoma put on the scoreboard in a 44-0 shutout over the seriously overmatched Golden Flashes.

The Sooner offense, with Michael Hawkins Jr. getting his first start of the season at quarterback, was pretty much able to advance the ball at will against Kent State, it wasn't quite as crisp and clean as its going to have to be against the much better SEC opponents it is about to go up against, and the Oklahoma defense continued its domination.

For the second straight game, the Sooner defense was credited with 13 tackles for loss and at least four sacks. Oklahoma bottled up the Kent State offense all afternoon. Out of 12 offensive possessions, the Golden Flashes had just three drives that went 10 or more yards and got no deeper into OU territory than the 21-yard line. In other words, Kent State never made it into the red zone the entire game.

Hawkins, who could get the start again next week in the Red River Rivalry against Texas, had a solid outing in his first start since the Armed Forces Bowl against Navy in December. He completed 14 of 24 passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. The sophomore backup also used his legs for 33 rushing yards on nine carries and a touchdown.

The Sooners totaled 355 yards of offense to just 125 for Kent State. It was the second-fewest yards allowed by the Oklahoma defense in five games this season, and the third time OU has held its opponent to fewer than 200 yards on offense.

Also notable in this game, Oklahoma recorded its first takeaway of the season, a fumble recovery by defensive tackle Gracen Halton that resulted in a four-yard scoop-and-score touchdown in the third quarter. The Sooners forced a second turnover in the same quarter when safety Jayden Hardy intercepted a pass at the Kent State 25-yard line, which six plays later led to another Oklahoma touchdown.

Now begins the most critical stretch of the season as five of the Sooners' final seven games of the regular season are against teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. It would have been six out of the final seven except preseason No. 1 Texas dropped out of the rankings this week following a 29-21 loss at Florida over the weekend, the Longhorns' second of the season.

It will be an angry and frustrated Texas team that No. 6 Oklahoma goes against Saturday in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Despite the disparity in the rankings, every Vegas oddsmaker has the Longhorns as favorites. That might just spur some anger on the Sooners' part.

Notable numbers from Sooners' win vs. Kent State

4 -- Quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. accounted for four Oklahoma touchdowns in the game. He entered the game with three touchdowns in his career.

5 -- Oklahoma's five sacks in the game gave it 21 for the season, second-best among FBS teams.

6 -- Half of Kent State's 12 offensive possessions ended in three-and-outs. For the season, the Sooners have now forced their opponents into 29 three-and-outs in 55 possession (52%).

9 -- Nine Oklahoma players saw their first action of the season in the Kent State game.

15 -- OU's third-down conversion percentage defense against Kent State, which converted just 2 of 13 third downs in the game. The Sooners lead the country in that category with 17.3% through five games.

17 -- The OU defense held Kent State to just 17 yards rushing and 0.5 yards per rush, both season lows for the Sooner defense. The last time Oklahoma held an opponent to 17 or fewer rushing yards was in 2009 against Baylor with six rushing yards.

36 -- The Sooners have given up a total of 36 points in five games, an average of 7.2 per game, second-best in the country to only Ohio State (5.0). Oklahoma has forced more punts (40) than points allowed this season.

49 -- Rushing yards by Cal transfer Jaydn Ott, more than doubling his season output (17) coming into the game.

55 -- Oklahoma kicker Tate Sandell hit a career-best 55-yard field goal in the second quarter.

97 -- Punt return yards by OU's Isaiah Sategna. That was the most by an Oklahoma player in a game since Justin Brown had 108 in 2012.

78 -- Rushing yards by true freshman Tory Blaylock on 15 carries, an average of 5.2 per carry.

163 -- Saturday's game marked the 163rd consecutive Oklahoma home sellout, dating back to the season opener in 1999.

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