The Oklahoma Sooners remained at No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, after week two, even as teams ranked above them fell. That’s because OU barely escaped on their home field with a four-point win over the Houston Cougars.
Oklahoma’s offense sputtered repeatedly, but the defense and special teams came up big in the 16-12 victory. Former conference foes Oklahoma State and Kansas State jumped the Sooners in the rankings.
While fans and experts are concerned, especially when it comes to the offense, OU’s early-season performance has already led some to claim they shouldn’t be ranked as high as they are.
Dan Lyons of Athlon Sports identified the three teams in the Top 25 poll that he believes are the most overrated. The Sooners appeared on that list, along with No. 8 Penn State and No. 16 LSU.
Houston was picked last in Athlon’s preseason Big 12 power rankings and 15th in the league’s preseason media poll. Yet, that Coogs team effectively shut down Oklahoma, which expects to be in the mix for a College Football Playoff spot. The Sooners were outgained 318 yards to 252. Third-down continues to be a glaring issue for [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ team, which is 5 for 26 on conversions, the third-worst percentage in the Football Bowl Subdivision. After scoring touchdowns in each of the first two quarters, the Sooners offense did not score in the second half. The team’s final two points came on a safety late in the game … The offense will need to wake up next week, when OU takes on Fritz’s old team, Tulane, which nearly upset Kansas State in Week 2. – Lyons, Athlon Sports
Quarterback [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] and the offense were unable to move the ball at all in the second half against Houston, and offensive coordinator Seth Littrell stressed the importance of consistency and cleaning up third downs in his postgame press conference. OU is missing key players due to injuries along the offensive line and at wide receiver, but the lack of conversions and points was alarming.
Tulane nearly upset the Sooners in the season opener three years ago, and they’ll be back in Norman with a better roster than they had in 2021. Oklahoma will have to continue to surge on defense and special teams while also getting far more help from the offense if they want to avoid going into [autotag]SEC[/autotag] play with a loss already on their record.
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