Football games don’t always go the way one thinks they’ll go. Lincoln Riley admitted as much during his post-game press conference. That’s some of the beauty and the frustration of the game of football. Talent can only get you so far. Beyond talent, the intangibles are what can define a team on any given Saturday.
The Sooners win was a mixed bag of outstanding play and head-scratching performances that left many wondering what this team’s ceiling is in 2021. Though they got the win over Tulane, in the mind of national observers the Sooners came out losers in week one.
With that, let’s take a look at the first installment of “The good, the bad, and the ugly.”
The Good: Complete Performance (in the second quarter)
That 23-0 second quarter that seemingly put the game out of reach was as complete of a quarter as we’ve seen from this football team.
The Sooners defense sacked Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt twice and forced three fumbles. Most importantly, they held the Green Wave to zero points after allowing 14 in the first quarter.
On offense, Spencer Rattler and the Sooners were good. They weren’t great. They scored a couple of touchdowns, but they consistently moved the ball down the field and came away with points on five drives.
You don’t like settling for field goals, and the Sooners will need to finish better, but points are points.
Up next, the bad.
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