OU offense shows some life vs. Ole Miss, but still far too broken to get by good teams

Statistically, and probably mentally as well, the Oklahoma had one of its best games this season last weekend against then 18th-ranked Ole Miss.

Had we made that same statement in the recent past, the assumption would be that Oklahoma blew out its opponent by multiple scores. The Sooners, however, played as well on offense as they have all season against the nation's third-best defense but still found themselves on the losing end of a 26-14 at Ole Miss.

Oklahoma had its third-best game in terms of total offense, producing 329 yards against Ole Miss, and it would have been the Sooners' best offensive output of the season had not 60 lost yards in the rushing column not been counted them because of a school-record 10 quarterback sacks allowed.

There have been multiple contributors to the dramatic downturn in offensive production, but injuries to key personnel and substandard performance by the offensive line have been the primary drivers to what has been the worst Oklahoma offensive performance since the John Blake Sooner teams (1996-98).

The Sooners have three SEC conference games remaining in the 2024 season, and they are all against top-25 teams. While the Oklahoma offense showed some life in the first half against Ole Miss that hasn't been present since the opening game of the season, the consistency is still not there. And when the Sooners get behind the chains in early downs and are faced with third-and-long situations, bad things have become the norm more times than not because of abysmal upfront protection.

OU ranks 126th in third-down conversion rate on offense and sits dead last among the 134 FBS teams with 39 sacks allowed through eight games. The Sooners have allowed a horrific 19 sacks in the last two games and are averaging almost five per game. These two telling stats are a primary reason Oklahoma is just 4-4 this season and 1-4 in conference play.

A year ago, Oklahoma produced over 500 yards of offense in six of its 13 games and under 400 yards just once. By comparison, the Sooners have had 300 or more yards of offense just three times this season. That little offensive output isn't going to score many points, and the Sooners are averaging just 21 points a game in their inaugural SEC season, half of what they averaged a year ago when they scored 41 points and averaged over 500 yards of offense.

While it is good to see the Sooners starting to figure some things out with an offense that has been lethargic and spinning wheels through five difficult SEC games, this surprisingly inept OU offense is not nearly as good as it needs to be to beat any of the 15 teams that make up the SEC, let alone the best of those teams.

In practical terms, it's going to take the offseason, getting the injured players healthy again and retooling the offensive line with returning players with more experience, the talented group of incoming 2025 freshman and a more selective approach in procuring better players out of the transfer portal. Above all, finding the right offensive coordinator is a critical success factor in this entire process.

As for the remainder of this season, the Sooners still have plenty to play for -- pride and the tradition of OU teams that have gone before, if nothing else -- and who's to say that they aren't capable of getting another win or two and finishing out the season strong?