After being held scoreless in a first half for the first time under head coach Lincoln Riley against Kansas last week, No. 4 Oklahoma and its offense has something to prove versus Texas Tech.
The Sooners did rip off 35 points after halftime against the Jayhawks, but getting off to a fast start offensively this week would be a nice sight as the Red Raiders visit Norman.
Which players for OU’s offense should fans be keeping a keen eye on? Let’s take a look.
Marvin Mims, WR
It wasn’t a great day for OU wide receivers in general versus Kansas as the Jayhawks held the Sooners’ receiving corps to just eight receptions and 87 receiving yards combined.
Sophomore wide receiver Marvin Mims in particular had a pedestrian outing against Kansas: one target and one reception for 14 receiving yards. The Frisco, Texas, product is OU’s leading receiver with 470 receiving yards thus far in 2021, so it’s notable when he’s more or less shut out of a game.
Oklahoma was without freshman Mario Williams and senior Michael Woods last week against the Jayhawks and it had its effects on the Sooners’ offense.
“I mean, you just in a sense wiped out an entire position group. It definitely had an effect. We obviously had to move some pieces around to make it work. At wide out right now, we just don’t have a lot of pieces to move. You look up at kind of the options and there’s good options but there’s not just a whole lot of them. It did. Was it the difference, some like huge difference that had this crazy impact on the game? I don’t know that I can say that, but did it impact a few of the things we did or didn’t do? To be fair, yes,” Riley said.
With just the one week sample size, those two being out of the equation meant the defensive clamps for Mims. If neither is back this week, then OU will have to get creative and figure out a way to get its best receiver the football.