The Oklahoma Sooners did a phenomenal job at creating pressure on Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders last Saturday night. If they can recreate that effort against the Red Raiders, it’ll be a long day for [autotag]Tyler Shough[/autotag].
According to Pro Football Focus, Shough has been pressured on 30.4% of his dropbacks in 2022. Under pressure, he’s completed just 6 of 17 passing attempts for 65 yards and an interception. Tech has allowed 3.45 sacks per game entering Saturday night’s contest, which ranks 122nd in the nation. If Oklahoma’s defensive front can get to Shough without having to blitz, they’ll put Texas Tech right where they want them, in third and long situations where they convert only 36% of the time (96th in the nation).
Offensively, the Oklahoma Sooners need a bounce-back performance in the regular season finale. Though they started hot against Oklahoma State, they went ice cold from the second quarter on, and the defense picked them up.
Though Jeff Lebby and the Sooners will look to get Eric Gray and [autotag]Jovantae Barnes[/autotag] going on the ground, [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] and the passing attack will need to be better than they were a week ago to pick up the win.
Gabriel hasn’t been efficient of late, completing 57.5% of his passes over the last four games. Removing drops and throwaways from the equation, Gabriel’s adjusted completion percentage is 70%, which ranks 48th among FBS quarterbacks with at least 101 dropbacks over the last four games.
This offense needs their quarterback to be on target and making the right throws. Even if Gabriel doesn’t throw for big yardage against Tech, he needs to be more accurate and in sync with his receiving corps to keep Oklahoma in a rhythm and prevent the defense from being on the field for more than 100 plays like they were a week ago.
The offense won’t need to score 40 in this contest to win, but they’ll have a more consistent performance from start to finish as the defense continues its strong play of late and the Sooners pick up the win on the road.
Sooners 30, Red Raiders 20
Contact/Follow John Williams
[listicle id=76165]
[listicle id=76087]
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz7cqqgxy50qwt player_id=none image=https://soonerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.