The rise of the Oklahoma Sooners has been the talk of the town after their big win in the [autotag]Cotton Bowl[/autotag]. The Sooners are currently sitting at 6-0 and are the only unbeaten team in the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag].
There are a lot of reasons as to why this is. From the offense continuing to get better in year two under [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag] to the defense showing vast improvement under [autotag]Ted Roof[/autotag]. The Sooners defense ranks No. 52 in the nation in total defense after finishing No. 122 a year ago.
A big reason for the turnaround has been takeaways. The Sooners rank No. 3 in turnovers and No. 2 in interceptions this season.
Key Lawrence spoke to reporters last week about why they’ve had so much success forcing turnovers. “It’s not really a focus. We just let the defense work for us,” Lawrence said. “Coach has a great defensive plan, and he knows schemes well. Hand in hand, it’s a lot of stress that we do. We just try to stress, and a lot of those things we just have to work for us.”
That’s a different mindset from what the team had under the previous regime. [autotag]Alex Grinch[/autotag] put so much emphasis on causing turnovers that it ultimately led to players being out of position trying to make a play or missing easy tackles.
In this scheme, it’s more about being in the right spot, and if you do that, the turnovers will come, as we’ve seen this season. The players on defense are getting in the right spots and making plays on the football.
Now they have to continue to do that as the Sooners enter the second half of the season.
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