Tag: 2021 week 4

This Sooners’ tight end highest graded at position in Power Five per Pro Football Focus

Through the first four weeks of the season, this Oklahoma Sooners’ tight end has the highest grade at his position per Pro Football Focus.

It’s easy to see that something isn’t right with the Oklahoma Sooners’ offense. It’s not running with the same efficiency as in previous years, which has to do with several factors. Quarterback, offensive line, and at times the receivers just aren’t playing well enough to keep the offense humming.

While they’re struggling, it’s not all bad news. The Sooners are getting good performances from several players this year. Mario Williams and Michael Woods continue to stand out in the passing game, and Eric Gray showed his explosiveness on his big catch and run early in the game.

One of the more underrated positive performances for the Sooners has been the play of tight end/h-back Brayden Willis. Though he hasn’t been used much in the passing game, just five targets, he’s been excellent as a blocker in 2021 and finds himself with the highest grade of any tight end through four weeks per Pro Football Focus.

It’s going to be tough for any receiving tight end to supplant Willis if he keeps dominating defenders in the run game. He leads the country in run-blocking grade at the position (84.1) and places 19th in pass-blocking grade (75.2).

On every contending team, you need guys that are “glue guys.” They’re not the guys that fill up the stat sheet, but the ones that do all the little things the right way every time they’re on the field. Brayden Willis is one of those guys.

When he was called upon last year in the wake of the Austin Stogner injury, he was solid in the passing game. This year with Stogner back, he’s still not getting a ton of opportunities in the passing game (of course, neither is Stogner), but Willis is still finding a way to contribute in a meaningful way every single week.

When we get to the end of the season and start talking about team MVP candidates, it’s unlikely that Brayden Willis’ name shows up. However, his contribution can’t be understated because of what he’s done in the running game.

Best Grades from Pro Football Focus in OU’s win over WVU

Taking a look at the best grades from Pro Football Focus for the Oklahoma Sooners in their win over West Virginia.

The Oklahoma Sooners have started to find a way to win defensive battles in 2021. It’s a far cry from what the Sooners looked like just a couple of years ago when they had to score 40-50 points per game to win. The defense in those early years of Lincoln Riley’s tenure as offensive coordinator and then head coach were some of the worst years of defense this program’s ever seen.

The script has flipped for the 2021 Oklahoma Sooners. The offense has been inconsistent. They haven’t been able to run the ball as effectively as they’d like and the Sooners defense is carrying the day.

For the second straight week the Sooners were unable to reach 30 points while the defense held their opponent to fewer than 16 points. While we’d certainly like to see more points scored, the Sooners are going to win a lot of games if they can continue to keep their opponent to fewer than 20 points a game.

There will be challenges in the coming weeks with Kansas State, Texas, and TCU on the docket, but the Sooners defense looks more up to the challenge than at any other point in the last five years.

Let’s take another look at Saturday’s win over West Virginia through the lens of Pro Football Focus (Subscription required) and take a look at which Sooners graded in the top five of various categories.

Sooners wide receiver Michael Woods making himself right at home

Michael Woods was the latest Sooners receiver to lead the team this season after his breakout performance against West Virginia.

Amid a chaotic and lackluster offensive campaign, the Oklahoma Sooners have found some guys who can play and will be major assets if they get better offensive line and quarterback play.

One of those guys is Arkansas transfer, Michael Woods.

Woods transferred after the Arkansas spring game and was a Sooner the next weekend. He spent all summer working with the offense and has made his name felt all season.

The Sooners game against West Virginia is where he shined the brightest. Woods finished with eight receptions for 86 yards averaging 10.8 yards per catch. It became apparent throughout the night that Spencer Rattler’s trust in him went up as the game inched closer and closer to its end. Woods made timely catches on third downs and helped keep the chains moving all night.

For his efforts, Woods became the fourth receiver to lead the Sooners in receiving this season’s four games. Previously, Marvin Mims, Mario Williams, Jadon Haselwood each took a turn as the leading pass catcher. This time, Woods took the lead.

Woods almost operates solely outside and is better for it as it allows guys like Mario Williams, Marvin Mims, and Drake Stoops to maneuver in the slot. Woods’ ability to make contested catches is going to continue to allow him to see the field.

Another aspect of Michael’s game is his ability to fight for yards after the catch. His longest reception came after the catch and his ability to make things happen with the ball in his hands.

Woods finished with 619 yards his last year in Arkansas. Parker Thune of 247 Sports posted an amazing stat about Woods last season in Arkansas and how he would’ve fit into Oklahoma last season.

“Woods’ 619 yards last season represented roughly 26 percent of Arkansas’ offensive output via the pass. That same share of the production in Oklahoma’s 2020 offense would have amounted to 893 yards.”

With that being said, due to the uncertainty of the Sooners offense right now, who knows if Woods will reach that level of production. However, it’s becoming apparent that Woods is a bonafide receiver, and the Sooners are lucky to have him.

With the current state of the Oklahoma offense, they will need his sure hands on these short and intermediate routes until they can unlock the vertical passing game. Woods offers the Sooners veteran leadership and another dependable asset that shows the wide receiver room is not nearly as deficient of playmakers as it may have been last year.

Their biggest obstacle is finding ways to consistently get a passing game going to allow Rattler to spread the wealth and generate more explosive plays, which is what the offense lacks more than anything.

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Oklahoma’s offense isn’t firing on all cylinders, lands on USA TODAY’s ‘Misery Index’

After yet another close win, the Oklahoma Sooners find themselves featured on USA TODAY’s week 4 ‘Misery Index.’

The Oklahoma Sooners did nothing to dissuade the doubters in their 16-13 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday evening. It was a tough defensive battle, and while Spencer Rattler led OU on a game-winning drive, it wasn’t enough to silence the critics of the Oklahoma Sooners.

This is a team that’s been a double-digit favorite in all three of four of their wins and was only able to cover the spread against the lowly Western Carolina Catamounts.

This team, though they’re 4-0 hasn’t convinced anyone that they’re one of the best four teams in the country though they stayed at number four in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll. Over at USA TODAY Sports, Dan Wolken provided his weekly “Misery Index” and the Sooners sort of made history, but in a bad way.

In the long and storied history of the Misery Index, there has never been a 4-0 team landing in such a prominent position. But Oklahoma is a special case after a 16-13 win over West Virginia that continues a trend of underwhelming performances this season against mediocre opponents. It got so bad Saturday night that quarterback Spencer Rattler was repeatedly booed and fans chanted “We want Caleb,” referring to highly touted freshman Caleb Williams.

Wolken had more to say about the Sooners’ inconsistent offense, but the call for the backup quarterback turned a win into feeling like a loss.

It wasn’t a performance that lived up to expectations. But of course, nothing has in 2021. For an offense that was returning a host of starters on offense and bringing in talented transfers, the Sooners were supposed to be even better than they were when they lost two games a year ago.

Spencer Rattler has lofty expectations to live up to, but after the string of quarterbacks that came before him, perhaps those were unfair and unrealistic expectations. Sure, he was the number one quarterback recruit in his class, but the Sooners run of quarterbacks to start the Lincoln Riley head coaching era is almost unimaginable.

Style points matter in college football. However, the Sooners can’t care about anything other than executing their offense and winning. Focusing on the wrong thing is how a team can find itself playing from behind. If the Oklahoma Sooners are able to win every game this season, it won’t matter if it’s by 3 points or 30 points. They’ll accomplish everything they have their eyes set on and nobody will care about how good a win looked.

The Sooners certainly have some things to improve upon as they get set for a tough matchup against a Kansas State team that’s had their number the last two years. At the same time, they’re a team that’s close to putting it all together if they can get a better performance from the offensive line moving forward.

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Sooners updated game-by-game win probabilities per ESPN FPI after week 4

Take a look at the updated game-by-game win probabilities for the Oklahoma Sooners after their 16-13 win over West Virginia.

Another week and another win that was closer than most people anticipated. The Sooners beat West Virginia 16-13, but they continue to lose the eye test battles. The offense looked stagnant as they carried the ball for 2 yards per attempt and the offensive line couldn’t provide enough protection for Spencer Rattler to push the ball down the field.

To West Virginia’s credit, they put together a great defensive game and nearly produced enough offense for the win.

Lincoln Riley and the Oklahoma Sooners have work to do as they get set for their first road game of the season against a team they haven’t beaten since 2018, the Kansas State Wildcats.

ESPN’s updated Football Power Index did not care for the Sooners three-point win over West Virginia. Much like last week, Oklahoma’s win probabilities fell in every game but one. Last week, Kansas was the only game where the computer saw a greater likelihood that the Sooners would win. This week, it’s Texas Tech that sees the Sooners with a greater win probability after losing quarterback Tyler Shough to injury.

Social Media Reacts to Sooners’ close win over the Mountaineers

Social media reactions to the Oklahoma Sooners win over the West Virginia Mountaineers from week 4 of the college football season.

It was another rough outing for the Oklahoma Sooners offense, but the defense rose to the occasion in a tight 16-13 win over West Virginia. When it mattered most, the Sooners and Spencer Rattler provided the drive of the game as they methodically moved the ball down the field from their own eight-yard line into position to give Gabe Brkic a chance to win the game.

And Brkic did what Brkic did, nailing the 30-yard field goal for the game-winner as time expired.

During the game, a segment of Sooners fans in attendance began chanting for Caleb Williams to replace Spencer Rattler. While Rattler and the offense were certainly struggling a bit with West Virginia’s defense, it was never so bad that Rattler needed to be replaced.

The running game was as big of an issue as anything. That goes to the offensive line’s inability to move the line of scrimmage or set the edge against a very good defensive front for the West Virginia Mountaineers.

While there were some understandably frustrated with the play of Spencer Rattler and the offense, there were others still supportive of the Oklahoma Sooners starting quarterback.

Football is a team game, and while Rattler needs to be better, he also needs some help. While the quarterback gets all of the focus, even the best will struggle if the offensive line is struggling or if receivers aren’t getting open.

There were inconsistencies throughout the offense last night, and a lot of that credit has to go to West Virginia for coming in with a solid game plan and executing it to the frustration of the Sooners’ offense.

6 takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners 16-13 win over West Virginia

The Oklahoma Sooners are finding new ways to win in the Lincoln Riley era and here are five takeaways from the 16-13 victory over WVU.

Over the last three weeks, the Oklahoma Sooners defense has become the strength of this team. In their win against West Virginia, they held the Mountaineers to 13 points and now have three games in a row of holding their opponents to fewer than 16 points.

On the season they’re allowing just 16 points per game and against Power Five opponents just 14.5 points per game. If the offense is going to struggle like they have the last couple of weeks, then the defense will have to provide that level of play each and every week.

Unlike previous seasons during the Heisman era of Lincoln Riley’s tenure, the Sooners are winning games at the other end of the spectrum. Instead of winning close games with both teams scoring over 30 points per game, the Sooners are finding to win defensive battles.

They’re winning, just winning differently. And that feels strange.

Let’s take a look at five takeaways from the Sooners win over West Virginia.

Jeremiah Criddell OUT, Billy Bowman IN for Sooners vs. West Virginia

As the Sooners get set to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers, Jeremiah Criddell will be out of action while Billy Bowman is back.

The Oklahoma Sooners continue to have injury issues in the secondary. Woodi Washington will miss his second straight game. As the Sooners get warmed up for tonight’s matchup with the West Virginia Mountaineers, injury news is coming out.

According to several reports from Owen Field, first, from Jason Kersey of The Athletic, it looks like Jeremiah Criddell will be out of action tonight against West Virginia.

And though that’s a huge loss for the Sooners secondary, they’ll get some good news as Billy Bowman is back and ready to roll.

Criddell and Bowman have been the two primary players for the Oklahoma Sooners at slot cornerback. Getting some consistency in the secondary will be huge for the Sooners at some point this season and though they’ll miss Criddell, Bowman’s presence will help a secondary that has struggled with injuries.

Jaden Davis and D.J. Graham will start on the outside with Bowman and Justin Broiles taking over the majority of the snaps.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.

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Spencer Rattler poised for a rebound performance vs. West Virginia

After all the talk about Spencer Rattler’s performance in the early part of 2021, the talent is still there for him to have a huge game vs. WVU.

Spencer Rattler has shown that he’s able to bounce back from adversity in the past. In 2020, he started the season with five interceptions in his first four games, including three in a loss to Kansas State, one in the loss to Iowa State, and one in the first half of the Texas game, which led to his benching.

Over the final seven games of the season, the Sooners’ starting quarterback threw just two more interceptions while keeping his touchdown rate at a high level.

While the critiques of Spencer Rattler’s performance in week three are justified, he’s still a really good quarterback with a lot of talent. In 2021, he’s struggling to put it on display.

It was just a year ago when Rattler was leading the Sooners to another season of high-scoring offense. In six of their 11 games, the Sooners’ offense went for more than 40 points, four times more than 50, and twice more than 60 points. That doesn’t happen unless you have a good quarterback.

The expectations following Rattler are nothing new. He’s been a highly regarded quarterback prospect since he was a freshman in high school. The problem at this point is that the expectations aren’t being met in 2021.

The numbers aren’t flashy in 2021. At the same time, he’s not turning the ball over at the same rate he was in the early stages of 2020. He’s protecting the football and making sure his team lives to fight another down.

While his yards per attempt is down to 7.6 from 9.6 last season, some of that is due to the way teams are playing the Oklahoma Sooners in 2021. They’re forcing Oklahoma to drive the length of the field and are not allowing big plays. Rattler’s average depth of target per Pro Football Focus is down 2.5 yards per attempt compared to his 10.2 aDOT of 2020.

That said, he’s completing passes at a higher rate in 2021 than he did in 2020. Up from his 67.5% completion percentage last season, Rattler’s completion percentage this year is 74%. Among FBS quarterbacks with at least 42 dropbacks on the season, Rattler’s completion percentage is fifth in the country.

He may not be getting the ball downfield at as high a rate as he was last year, but he’s also not turning it over at the same rate he did in the early part of the 2020 season.

When you reign in a gunslinger, sometimes it’s difficult for the gunslinger to pull the trigger. If he’s thinking about where he shouldn’t throw it vs. where he should throw it, then he may not get the ball out on time because he’s concerned with making a mistake.

All the talent is still there for Spencer Rattler to be one of the best quarterbacks in college football. Because teams are taking away the deep ball, he may not be getting opportunities to display that talent as much in 2021. Against a West Virginia defense that Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa torched in week one, Spencer Rattler has a chance to rebound with a nice performance under the lights against the Mountaineers.

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Oklahoma Sooners’ true freshman among the best in college football

The Oklahoma Sooners have been the beneficiary of yet another standout true freshman wide receiver a year after Marvin Mims led the Sooners in receiving.

The Oklahoma Sooners have hit home runs lately in their recruiting. So well, that several true freshmen have been able to contribute early. Last year saw Marvin Mims and Seth McGowan play key roles for the Oklahoma Sooners.

In 2021, the Sooners are getting contributions again from a true freshman wide receiver in Mario Williams.

Brad Shepard of Bleacher Report highlighted the best true freshmen in college football through the first three weeks of the season and Mario Williams was featured.

All the 5’9″, 186-pounder has done in Norman is squeeze his way onto a crowded depth chart, where he’s the No. 3 receiver on the title-contending Sooners. Quarterback Spencer Rattler and OU’s passing attack hasn’t gotten going yet, sitting 87th in yards per game, and though Marvin Mims (168) and Jadon Haselwood (127) have higher yardage totals than Williams, it isn’t by much. – Shepard

Williams has had a key role in the offense each of the first three weeks of the season with veteran Theo Wease out of action with an injury. Williams was the most targeted wide receiver in week one as the offense attempted to get the bubble screen going against Tulane. In week two, he led the team in receiving before halftime when the starters were still playing against Western Carolina. In week three, though Jadon Haselwood led the way in targets, Williams was just behind him with five of his own.

In the first three games of the season, he’s failed to see fewer than four targets and he’s just behind Haselwood for the team lead in targets and receptions.

Mario Williams has taken full advantage of his opportunity and will continue to make plays in the passing game. He provides the Sooners with another downfield threat but can make plays after the catch in the short or intermediate parts of the field as well.

While teams attempt to take away Marvin Mims in the passing game, and Jadon Haselwood has emerged as a threat as well, opportunities abound for the fab freshman wide receiver. As teams attempt to take away the deep passing game, the Sooners will continue to look to Mario Williams to make plays with the ball in his hands. And through three games this season, there’s no reason to believe he won’t continue to do so.

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