The bye week couldn’t have come at a better time for the Oklahoma Sooners. Fresh off their win over the Auburn Tigers, the Sooners had a chance to rest up and get back key players ahead of the Red River Showdown with Texas.
The Sooners had their starting offensive line together for the first time against the Tigers. The offensive results weren’t staggering, but there was an improved performance in the running game, and true freshman quarterback [autotag]Michael Hawkins Jr.[/autotag] looked to have more time to operate from the pocket. The bye week provides the offensive line more time to rebuild familiarity with the unit dealing with injuries since fall camp.
There’s more good news on the way, with [autotag]Deion Burks[/autotag], [autotag]Taylor Tatum[/autotag], and Dasan McCullough potentially returning for the Sooners in the Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma will need all hands on deck as they prepare for the No. 1 Texas Longhorns.
While on the first of their two bye weeks, the college football world went crazy. Top 10 teams Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, and Michigan all lost to teams that were either unranked or, in Texas A&M’s case, just inside the top 25.
It created big movement in our SEC Power Rankings and in the US LBM Coaches Poll after week six.
Getting a reprieve from their first two games of life in the [autotag]SEC[/autotag], the Sooners still earned a two-spot bump in the latest ESPN Power Rankings, moving to No. 20 in the nation. While lower than both the Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25, the Sooners still maintain a respectable ranking.
Here’s what ESPN’s Max Olson had to say.
The Sooners had the week off and extra time to prep for their showdown with Texas in the Red River Rivalry. The bye week was particularly well timed for this team, giving Brent Venables’ staff more time to adjust on offense and build up QB Michael Hawkins Jr.’s confidence ahead of the true freshman’s second college start.
More importantly, Hawkins’ playmakers need to get healthy. Brent Venables said WR Deion Burks and RB Taylor Tatum could potentially return for Red River. Oklahoma will need all hands on deck against a Texas defense that’s allowing seven points per game. – Olson, ESPN
It all comes down to the offense for the Oklahoma Sooners. Can they build off of some of the good things they did against Auburn? Can Hawkins find an even greater comfort level in the offense? Can the Sooners’ run game get going with greater cohesion up front? Can Deion Burks help open up the passing game?
Those are important questions for a team that’s been relying too much on their defense to win football games for them.
The offense has created big plays with Hawkins under center, and they’ll need more of that but also a more consistent flow for four quarters to have a chance to beat the Texas Longhorns.
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