Oklahoma's much anticipated season opener against an SEC opponent left much to be desired by the home-team Sooners.
Despite a solid performance by the Oklahoma defense against a high-powered Tennessee offense, the Sooner offense couldn't hold up its end of the bargain as the 6th-ranked Volunteers rolled to a 25-15 victory on Saturday night. Tennessee's total domination of this game was not indicative of the final score.
Head coach Brent Venables and his staff have been preparing for this game not just this past week but since the first of the year, knowing that Tennessee would be the opponent in OU's SEC conference opener. You would have expected a better performance, especially in front of a spirited and vocal sold-out home crowd at Gaylord Family--Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
Instead, the result was what one local sportswriter aptly described as "a dud of an SEC debut for the Sooners. A celebration of a new era gone kersplat."
There's no way around it, the Oklahoma offense laid a giant egg, admittedly against one of the better defenses in the SEC if not the country. Nevertheless, this was easily one of the worst offensive performances by an Oklahoma team this century. Only one time in the past 25 years have the Sooners produced fewer than the 222 yards of total offense in a single game.
With QB Dillon Gabriel missing the 2022 Red River game with Texas, the Sooners had just 191 yards of offense. Other than that, you have to go back to 2005 for a worse offensive effort.
Former five-star QB prospect and 2022 Gatorade National Player of the Year Jackson Arnold was benched just before halftime after committing three costly turnovers (two fumbles and an interception) and completing just 7 of 16 passes for a total of 54 yards. Backup Michael Hawkins Jr. entered the game at the end of the opening half in place of Arnold and played the entire second half.
The Sooners, now 3-1, totaled just 82 yards of offense in the opening 30 minutes and minus-20 in the second quarter. One hundred forty of OU 222 total yards came in the second half, and most of that in the fourth quarter, when the Sooners scored 12 points to make the final score appear closer than it really was.
"It was very frustrating. Just some bad football. Guys getting whooped and beat and not beating their matchup. Don't like that. At all."Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables
As pitiful as the Oklahoma offense was in this game, though, the defense did its best to keep the Sooners in the game. Tennessee came into the game averaging 64 points a game and over 600 yards of offense. The revamped Sooner "D" held the Vols' high-powered offensive attack, second best in the nation, well under its average output (345 yards) and less than 30 points.
The supposed best offense in the SEC and we lose by 10 with no offense…….. Yea man yall in trouble. Patience Sooner fan base. Patience. It’s a slow roast but it’s gonna happen.
— Gerald McCoy (@Geraldini93) September 22, 2024
Unfortunately, the Sooners suffered a key blow to the defense with an injury to Kendel Dolby, who plays the "Cheetah" position, The senior defensive back suffered what appeared to be a serious ankle injury and was carted off the field in the second quarter.
Three telltale takeaways that tell the story of the game
Is there now a quarterback competition at OU?
Oklahoma starting quarterback Jackson Arnold spent all offseason bemoaning his four-turnover game in his first career start for the Sooners against Arizona in the Alamo Bowl last season. Despite the turnovers in the Alamo Bowl, he finished that game and actually threw for 361 yard and two touchdowns.
Against an outstanding Tennessee defense on Saturday night, Arnold completed just seven passes for 54 yards to go along with an interception. The biggest blow, though, came in the second quarter, when Arnold was responsible for fumbling the ball on two separate Oklahoma possessions after the Sooner defense had forced two Tennessee turnovers deep in Volunteer territory.
Arnold was pulled from the game just before halftime and was replaced by true freshman Michael Hawkins Jr.. Arnold never returned and Hawkins finished the game, leading OU on two fourth-quarter touchdown drives. The freshman admitted that he had a lot of nerves at the first, but he managed to calm down and ended the night completing 11 of 16 passes for 132 yards, 22 rushing yards and a touchdown. That begs the question: Who will be at quarterback to start at Auburn next weekend?
Brent Venables, in his postgame press conference, was noticeably disappointed with his starting quarterback's performance against Tennessee. He said that he and his coaches will "evaluate" the position and "figure out who the best guy is to get us to our fourth win."
If you told me the defense would hold this Tennessee offense to 23 points (not counting the safety) and forced two turnovers, including one inside the 5, I would've guessed OU won the football game.
— George Stoia III (@GeorgeStoia) September 22, 2024
Sooners squandered two gifted scoring opportunities
On two separate occasions in the second quarter, the Sooners had chances to cut into Tennessee's score advantage and even take the lead, but the Oklahoma offense squandered both opportunities by not taking care of the ball.
In the opening minute of the second quarter, with Tennessee holding on to a 10-3 lead, Sooner defensive end Robert Spears-Jennings forced a fumble by UT quarterback Nico Iamaleava that was recovered by Ethan Downs at the Tennessee five-yard line. On the very next play, on a quarterback keeper, Arnold was strip-sacked in the backfield and lost the football, recovered the Volunteers.
Later in the second quarter, defensive lineman Trace Ford forced another Imaleava fumble, this time at the 33-yard line on the Tennessee side of the field. Once again, one play after the Sooners had recovered the Tennessee fumble and flipped the field, Arnold was under pressure from up the middle and quickly flipped the ball out in the flat to wide receiver Zion Ragins. The ball was too low and Ragins dove for it but couldn't haul it in. The ball bounded away and was scooped up by a Volunteer defender. It was later ruled a backward forward pass and a fumble recovered by the defense. Another OU scoring opportunity literally tossed away.
Offensive line struggles has reached epidemic proportions
One more can be said about how bad the Oklahoma offensive line has been through four games this season. There were major concerns before the season started about the O-line because of having to replace all five starters. Offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh hasn't been able to stabilize the starting five because of injuries and has been forced to go with four different combinations.
The OU offense has been spinning and sputtering for the past three weeks. Total offensive production is dramatically down, rushing numbers are painfully depressed and passing yards at an all-time low. The Sooners have not thrown for more than 200 yards in any of their four games. The central cause of all of this rests at the feet of the guys on the offensive side of the trenches.
Communication and continuity are at the root cause of the offensive line issues. The result is they are being beaten and pushed around by more physical and talented defensive fronts. Now that OU is into SEC play, the offensive line concerns are being magnified. Against Tennessee, for example, the Sooners were held to just 36 rushing yards and 1.1 yards per carry. You could make a strong case that the three Oklahoma turnovers were caused by defensive pressure and disruption. The Sooners yielded three sacks and 11 tackles for loss to the Tennessee defense
The problems with the offensive line have now grown to crisis proportions, and the Sooners debut season in the SEC hangs in the balance.