2022 Oklahoma Sooners Defense – Syndication Server

Could upcoming quarterbacks provide fatal blow for Oklahoma’s 2022 season?

The letdown against Kansas State revealed what could be a problem for the Oklahoma Sooners over the next three weeks, according to ESPN’s Bill Connelly.

One would think after the way Oklahoma played against [autotag]Casey Thompson[/autotag] and the Nebraska Cornhuskers that the Sooners would be trending toward an elite defense this season. That thought was quickly dashed on the opening two drives in OU’s loss to Kansas State. The Wildcats putting up 14 points before the Sooners could catch their breath.

It was a startling start to the game in Brent Venables’ first Big 12 game. Perhaps more surprising was that the defense couldn’t sustain their play from a stretch where they forced three-straight three and outs. Kansas State adjusted and executed better than Oklahoma did on their way to their second straight win in Norman over the Sooners.

While the season is far from over, the loss brings into focus a potential problem for the Oklahoma Sooners as they dig into conference play. The defense may still have a long way to go.

In his assessment of the fatal fall for each of the top 16 playoff contenders, ESPN’s Bill Connelly had this to say about the Oklahoma Sooners (ESPN+). Yes, Connelly still considers the Sooners a playoff contender, even if the probability dropped significantly last week.

Brent Venables’ first OU squad was rounding into form before Kansas State came to town. The Wildcats won for the sixth time in their past 11 trips to Norman, their 41-34 victory driven primarily by the fact that they were almost always ahead of the chains. Quarterback Adrian Martinez and KSU averaged 6.7 yards per play on first down and dropped Oklahoma to 70th in success rate allowed. The Sooners aren’t allowing many big plays — aside from Martinez’s spectacular, game-clinching 55-yard scramble, anyway — but they aren’t creating uncomfortable downs and distances for opponents. It caught up to them once, and the Sooners can’t let it happen twice.

The next three quarterbacks on the OU schedule, by the way? TCU’s Max Duggan (currently ninth in Total QBR), Texas’ Hudson Card (36th) or Quinn Ewers, and Kansas’ Jalon Daniels (first). All rank ahead of Martinez. – Connelly, ESPN

Neither Hudson Card nor Max Duggan appears capable of putting together an Adrian Martinez-type performance against the Oklahoma Sooners. Yes, Duggan can run, but he’s not going to be able to break tackles in the same way Martinez did Saturday night. Both quarterbacks have the weapons on the outside and in the running game to make life incredibly difficult for the Oklahoma Sooners defense.

And then there’s Jalon Daniels, who is playing like a Heisman candidate for the Kansas Jayhawks. That doesn’t even mention Spencer Sanders who’s looked a lot like the guy who threw all over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl earlier this year.

The Big 12 schedule is chock-full of potential pitfalls for the Oklahoma Sooners. They have to improve, and that starts Saturday against TCU. A better showing against Duggan, Kendre Miller, Quentin Johnston, and the Horned Frogs would provide a huge confidence boost for the rest of the season.

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Oklahoma’s defense has spent the offseason taking ownership

Defensive coordinator Ted Roof talks about Oklahoma’s defense as they prepared to start fall camp and he discussed the defense’s buy-in.

Oklahoma has left the Mike Stoops defensive days behind them. That started with the hiring of Alex Grinch, who helped shape the unit into a somewhat respectable defense. While it eventually hit a wall under Grinch’s direction, the days of being lambasted for weeks upon end are long gone.

Enter Brent Venables, college football’s best defensive mind over the last 10 years, as the new head coach of Oklahoma, a place he’s won a national championship as their defensive coordinator. He’ll no longer be the coordinator of the defense, that role has been passed to Ted Roof. As the team gets started with fall camp, Roof’s words about Oklahoma offer encouraging signs that the Sooners are on the precipice of breaking through the proverbial wall they ran into under Grinch.

When speaking with the media ahead of fall camp, Roof spoke on numerous topics, including the defense’s football IQ and the players’ willingness to get better on their own.

When asked about the biggest areas of progress from the defense since arriving, Roof had this to say,

“Well, I see an improved football IQ. And you can tell that the guys have been working because of that, as far as knowing assignments, understanding the defense, understanding where their help is because playing team defense is a big deal, as far as knowing where your help is and playing opposite your help; where, if you’ve got help outside, you want to make sure you stay inside leverage, things like that, the details of that, that allow you to play fast and allow you not to have to think and process as opposed to reacting.

“And so in addition to that, (it’s) learning offense, too, meaning formation tendencies, motions, shifts, all the receiver splits, all those things that go into the pre-snap process that the more you can understand that and recognize that, the faster you can play because then you can anticipate. And I think that’s what the great players do, they anticipate. They play ahead of the play instead of behind the play. …”

Oklahoma’s defenders immersing themselves in the nuances of football, understanding tendencies, knowing route combinations and even minute details such as receiver splits are something that should be refreshing to the ears of many Sooner faithful.

Knowing and understanding details like this are the difference between being a top-60 defense and a top-20 defense.

Venables’ 2014 Clemson defense led the nation in total defense, while his 2018 version led the nation in scoring defense. The Sooners want to level up into an elite defense and this staff’s tutelage could be the thing that gets them there. However, there has to be buy-in, and the buy-in comes from the players going the extra mile and immersing themselves in the fine details.

How does this level of commitment happen though? It starts with the players and the players taking ownership. That starts with doing things and coordinating player-led practices and workouts when NCAA rules prohibit coach interaction. Roof spoke on that in detail.

“Well, there are NCAA rules that we have to follow as far as a certain amount of hours that we can require them to be here, but you never regret doing more than what’s required,” Roof said. “And our guys have spent a lot of time on their own this summer, and I think we’ve had a great summer. I think we’re better defensively now than when we started the summer. But we should be. But some places aren’t. So, I’ve been real proud of the way that our guys have worked, and I think we’ve made some strides and looking forward to getting started. But being player-led, that’s a big deal. Coaches can do this and do that, but when your players take ownership and it becomes player led, then you’re moving in a really good direction.”

Oklahoma is less than a month away from unveiling its new defense to the world. With full buy-in from the staff and most importantly the players, Oklahoma can begin to try and push themselves to a level on defense that Norman hasn’t seen in years.

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Oklahoma Sooners set for major defensive retooling after 6th starter departs

With six defensive departures (thus far), the Oklahoma Sooners will need to replace more than half of their defensive starters from 2021.

Every off-season in college football is filled with departures and arrivals. Roster turnover is par for the course. It’s just a matter of how much and at what level of significance each team participates in the roster retooling during the off-season.

Heading into 2022, the Oklahoma Sooners defense will be facing a major overhaul.

Nik Bonitto, Perrion Winfrey, Isaiah Thomas, Brian Asamoah, and Delarrin Turner-Yell have declared for the 2022 NFL draft. Safety Pat Fields announced that he’s headed to Stanford to pursue a Masters in Management Science and engineering.

That’s six defensive starters from a 2021 squad that saw more improvement this season.

It’s not unexpected, but it certainly poses some questions for new head coach Brent Venables and defensive coordinator Ted Roof.

On the brights side, the Sooners still have quite a few players that are on an upward trajectory. Woodi Washington and D.J. Graham are really good on the outside, despite some of the big plays Oregon was able to come up with in the Alamo Bowl. David Ugwoegbu is a playmaker that has room to improve. Jalen Redmond is a stud interior defensive lineman to build your front four around. And then there’s Key Lawrence, who was a revelation as the do everything defender, playing safety, corner, and slot corner and making plays for the Sooners defense.

The Alamo Bowl gave us a glimpse of the future, and the future is bright.

Marcus Stipling was living in the Oregon Ducks backfield. On the opposite side, Ethan Downs flashed and made plays. Billy Bowman who was up and down early in the season before ceding the starting slot corner job to Justin Broiles looked good against Oregon. Danny Stutsman and Shane Whitter are promising linebackers who have the athleticism and playmaking ability to be great players for Oklahoma in 2022 and in the future.

While it’s certainly startling to see more than half of your defenses starters exit at one time. At the same time, they have a lot of potential with their current group and guys like Kobie McKinzie on the way. And then there’s the new shiny head coach that will be a game changer on the defensive side of the field himself.

Every off-season, every team in college football experiences a certain amount of turnover and this year, the Oklahoma Sooners will face that challenge. The next nine months will be pivotal to figuring out what the Oklahoma Sooners defense will look like. Despite losing the star power, there’s a chance this team will still be good on that side of the ball.

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