I won’t sugarcoat it: that was a heartbreaker.
I had such a good opener planned out for this column after a win. Now I will never get to use it. Thanks, Kansas State.
That’s a brutal loss. Letting the Wildcats beat you the way they did in that environment is just unacceptable. The defense looked disorganized, the pass rush went missing for long periods of time, and the tackling was just dreadful.
K-State’s offensive line deserves a lot of credit for how well they played. The Sooners’ defensive line was a non-factor in the running game all night long, and when the linebackers could actually get near Wildcats running back Deuce Vaughn, he often ran right by them.
Adrian Martinez had a phenomenal performance running the football, but he is a very mediocre thrower. The Wildcats killed the Sooners with option plays. K-State’s coaching staff knew the Sooners couldn’t stop the run, and the Wildcats ran wild to the tune of nearly 300 yards.
Offensively, at times, the Sooners were quite offensive. Screen passes on second and long need to be taken out of the playbook immediately. Passes to receivers behind the line of scrimmage should not have been relied on as much as they were.
Jeff Lebby didn’t call a good game. I understand his high-tempo offense is what makes him so valuable, but the Sooners leaned on it too much. When teams are running the ball like K-State was, you need to control the clock. OU didn’t. The Sooners fell behind in time of possession once again, this time 24:56 to Kansas State’s 35:04.
When an offense has your defense’s number like K-State did, keep your defense off the field.
These slow starts on offense are becoming a theme. OU took nearly the entire first half to find the end zone against Kent State. They started off the Nebraska game with a five-play drive, while the Huskers answered with a touchdown, and against K-State, they had one first down on their first two drives. They punted on three of their first four.
That’s just not sustainable, and it’s not going to get easier against other Big 12 opponents.
The penalties are unacceptable for this team. Multiple false starts at home are ridiculous. The Sooners had four in the second half.
Between penalties and fixable mistakes on defense, it’s going to be a busy week in practice before the Sooners head south to face TCU.
The best performance of the night came from the fans. After all that nonsense directed at the student section after the UTEP game, they delivered a raucous atmosphere. They were loud. That’s all other Oklahoma fans can ask of them.
This season is by no means over. There’s so much football left to be played, and the sky isn’t falling. This loss could end up serving a purpose. After the first loss of the Brent Venables era, how the Sooners respond will be interesting to watch.
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