In the offseason in preparation for the debut season of Oklahoma football in the SEC, the conventional thinking was the Sooners would have an offense good enough to compete against any team in the all-powerful SEC and that the defense was making excellent progress at being an SEC-quality defense but probably wasn't quite there yet.
It's pretty clear that the emphasis since Brent Venables took over the head-coaching reins at OU two seasons ago has been revitalizing and rebuilding a defense that had fallen into deep disrepair. It's also abundantly clear that's where the focus absolutely needed to be with a imminent move to the SEC.
For most of the past two-plus decades, Oklahoma football has been known for its offensive production and firepower, and that has continued under the Venables coaching era. Even in the Sooners' disappointing 2022 season, their first losing season in a quarter of a century, OU was still ranked No. 13 in the country in total offense, averaging 474 yards of offense every game.
So why would there be any big concern about a fall off heading into the SEC this season? Yes, there would be a new starting quarterback and an all-new offensive line to deal with -- and, oh yes, a new offensive coordinator to work into the mix -- but Jackson Arnold was one of the most highly recruited QBs out of high school and offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh has always worked miracles with reworked O-lines before, plus he is one of the best at his position in college football. As for the new offensive coordinator and play caller, Seth Littrell was already in the system as an offensive analyst prior to his elevation to OC role.
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No one was expecting what has occurred offensively in the first two games of the 2024 OU football season. The offense didn't look all that impressive in the season opener, despite putting 51 points on the scoreboard against a Temple team, let's face it, really shouldn't have even been on the same field with the Sooners. The six turnovers created by the OU defense led directly to 27 of Oklahoma's 51 points.
And in barely escaping Houston last weekend -- a team picked to finish next to last in the 16-team Big 12 this season -- the OU offensive performance was as bad as Sooner fans can recall seeing it in quite some time. Through the first two games, the Oklahoma offense ranks 108th out of 133 FBS team in total offense, 108th in passing and 58th in scoring (largely because of the 51 points scored in Week 1). They could not run the ball at all against Houston and were unable to throw it with any consistency of efficiency, either.
Oklahoma fans are well aware of the significant role reversal between the once prolific offense and the recently much-maligned defense. The burning question now is: Can the offense be fixed and how quickly?
The Week 3 matchup with Tulane, which almost upset a ranked Kansas State team last weekend, serves as the last thing standing between the Sooners and a killer gauntlet of SEC conference games that begin a week from now when former Oklahoma All-American and later offensive coordinator Josh Heupel brings 7th-ranked Tennessee to Norman.
Every aspect of the Oklahoma offense struggled against Houston, and this week OU goes up against a much-better opponent in Tulane, not to mention what looms behind this Saturday. Injuries have hit the Sooners hard to begin the season in both the offensive line, where Bedenbaugh has gone through multiple combinations in just two games on an O-line that is already burdened with chemistry and communication issues having not played together before.
OU is also down several key receivers due to injuries, but is expected to get Nic Anderson back this week, which will give Arnold another playmaker besides Deion Burks on the receiving end of his passes.
"Your best ability's your availability," Venables said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday. "When you don't have guys available, you've got to get the next guys ready."
Littrell vowed when he took on the offensive coordinator role that he was going to run the ball down the throats of the Sooners' opponents. The run game was good for over 200 yards on the ground collectively against Temple, but none of the running backs truly stood out in that effort, and against a much-better Houston team, the Sooners were able to produce just 78 rushing yards total. This part of the OU offense definitely needs to improve to take pressure off of Arnold and the passing game and provide more offensive balance. I would expect we will see more emphasis on running the ball against Tulane.
"You have high standards, you have high expectations," Littrell said postgame after the win over Houston. "But will say this, our guys are sticking together, our guys are tough, resilient and hard-working dudes. Our staff is the same. You just got to keep grinding, keep working and really try to figure out all the necessary things you've got to do to correct the mistakes."
Perhaps the biggest concern fueling the offensive breakdown through the first two games, though, has been the inability to convert third downs into first downs and sustain drives. The Sooners are a deplorable 5 out of 26 on third downs.
The real problem, though, is on first and second down. Because the Sooners have struggled advancing the chains effectively on those two critical downs, Arnold and the offense are being faced with far too many third-and-long possessions. Against Tulane, the average yards to make on third down was 8.8 yards. That is definitely not a sustainable statistic if Oklahoma hopes to have any success at all the rest of the season.
Can Oklahoma get most if not all of these offensive breakdowns fixed or at least resolved to the point that the offense and defense are more complementary to one another? It isn't and won't be an easy fix, for certain, but, yes, I believe and trust that Venables and Co. will find enough remedies to get the offense back on track and in rhythm. Part of it is scheme, part of it is play calling, part of it of course is personnel and availability, but the biggest part is learning, adjusting and improving from mistakes.
The game with Tulane on Saturday is an important test of how serious Oklahoma is at addressing the issues that have befallen the Sooner offense as well as how grave and consequential they may be.