Final thoughts on the Oklahoma Sooners matchup with the Oregon Ducks

As the Oklahoma Sooners get set to take on the Oregon Ducks, here are five final thoughts on the Alamo Bowl matchup.

The 2021 Valero Alamo Bowl provides a final opportunity for the Oklahoma Sooners to put their stamp on a 2021 season that didn’t go as expected. Despite how the season turned out, there’s a lot of optimism heading into 2022 following the return of Brent Venables.

As the Sooners head into their matchup with the Ducks, there’s an excitement for this game as well. The return of Bob Stoops has brought energy to a game that might otherwise feel like a typical bowl game.

As the Sooners close the 2021 season against the Ducks, there’s a lot to watch in this final game of the season. Oklahoma will get a great opportunity to evaluate talented players who might not have received a lot of snaps this season. The Alamo Bowl will provide a great look at what the young guys who will be important pieces for the 2022 team can provide as they step up the depth chart.

With a late kickoff tonight, here are my final thoughts on the Oklahoma Sooners matchup with the Oregon Ducks.

Oklahoma Sooners to Watch in the Alamo Bowl with opt outs and transfer portal departures

The Sooners have already seen several departures due to opt-outs and transfers, but opportunities abound in the Alamo Bowl for others.

While it’s a bummer to see your favorite Oklahoma Sooners transfer or sit out the bowl game in preparation for the NFL draft, on the bright side, it provides others an opportunity to get more significant snaps.

Nik Bonitto, Perrion Winfrey, Isaiah Thomas and Brian Asamoah are heading to the NFL.

Jadon Haselwood, Austin Stogner and Spencer Rattler are on their way to new schools for the 2022 season.

In their places, the Sooners will reallocate those snaps to players who will help them in the Alamo Bowl and the 2022 season.

As the Sooners take on the Oregon Ducks, who are some players to watch given the departures from their depth chart in the last month.

7 Bold Predictions for the Oklahoma Sooners matchup with the Kansas Jayhawks

As the Oklahoma Sooners look to extend their 16-game winning streak over the Kansas Jayhawks, here are 7 Bold Predictions for Saturday.

Heading into the Oklahoma Sooners matchup with the Kansas Jayhawks, the most important question has been answered. The Sooners know who they’re quarterback is and based on the way Caleb Williams has played in his first extended run leading the way for Oklahoma, it’s unlikely he’ll cede that spot anytime soon.

That said, there are still questions for Oklahoma as they work through the 2021 season.

With injuries in the secondary and an unknown timetable for the return of Woodi Washington and Delarrin Turner-Yell, someone will need to answer the bell as defensive playmaker for the Sooners.

Offensively things have gone as well as can be expected the last two weeks as Caleb Williams has helped Oklahoma rediscover its big-play ability.

As the Sooners get set to take one the Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence, Kansas this Saturday, let’s take a look at 7 Bold Predictions for this week’s game.

4 Oklahoma Sooners looking for a big game against the Kansas Jayhawks

As the Oklahoma Sooners get set to face the Kansas Jayhawks, who’s looking to stand out in this lopsided matchup?

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A trip to Lawrence, Kansas is up next for the Oklahoma Sooners as they keep moving forward in Big 12 play. They look to keep the momentum rolling as they’ve seen a major uptick in offensive production over the last few weeks due to significantly better offensive line play and a midseason change at quarterback.

Kansas is highly unlikely to pose a real threat to Oklahoma due to the massive gulf in talent. For that reason, this game serves as a get-right game for quite a few guys on Oklahoma’s team. There are a few guys we think could use a solid performance as Oklahoma heads into the home stretch of their conference schedule. Here’s our list:

Jadon Hadselwood, WR

It may seem crazy to include the guy that just put together a hat trick against TCU, however, Jadon Haselwood needs to build off of that performance. Oklahoma needs to continue to evolve and develop roles despite the fact they are undefeated.

Good teams don’t peak in October.

Haselwood might have taken a step forward to separate himself from the pack and firmly put himself into contention for the receiver spot opposite Marvin Mims but he’s got to keep stacking performances together similar to the one he had against TCU.

Three touchdowns is a tough ask but consistently being a target that Caleb Williams can depend on is a very attainable thing. Look for Lincoln Riley to keep feeding him.

Up Next: Can we have a Volunteer(s)?

Best Pro Football Focus Grades from Oklahoma’s win over TCU

Who earned the highest grades from Pro Football Focus in the Oklahoma Sooners 52-31 win over the TCU Horned Frogs?

On Saturday night, the Oklahoma Sooners were in a dog fight in the first half of their matchup against the TCU Horned Frogs. Though the game ended as a 21-point blowout win for the Oklahoma Sooners, it was a three-point game when the Sooners took over with 1:25 left in the second quarter.

Caleb Williams and the offense went 76 yards on five plays, culminating in an 11-yard touchdown strike to Jadon Haselwood on a beautiful back-shoulder throw, to make it 24-14. From that point, the Sooners never looked back.

They forced the Horned Frogs to punt on the opening possession of the second half, and another Williams to Haselwood touchdown essentially put the game out of reach, 31-14.

Though TCU battled to get back in the game, the Oklahoma Sooners had an answer at every corner and never let the game get closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

As we do each week, let’s look back at how Pro Football Focus graded the Sooners in their 52-31 win over the TCU Horned Frogs.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from the Sooners 76-0 win over WCU

The Oklahoma Sooners dominated the Western Carolina Catamounts in week two and here’s The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from the 76-0 win.

The Oklahoma Sooners did exactly what they were supposed to against a vastly inferior opponent in Western Carolina. They got out to a huge lead and dominated the Catamounts from start to finish.

The Sooners got a chance to play a lot of their younger players and get them valuable in-game repetitions. Those players rewarded the coaching staff with a dominant effort from start to finish.

Let’s take a look back at The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from the Sooners 76-0 week two win over the Catamounts.

The Good: Scoring Touchdowns

After settling for five field goals in their narrow win over Tulane in week one, the Oklahoma Sooners only kicked two field goals in their 76-0 win over the Western Carolina Catamounts.

They were 9 for 9 in the red zone during the game and Spencer Rattler led them on seven touchdown drives in the first half and each ended with a red zone touchdown.

While last week, the Sooners struggled to finish drives and finish the game, albeit against a much better Tulane team, OU accomplished both of those feats throughout this week two matchup. Excluding the kneel down at the end of the first half, the Sooners scored touchdowns on 10 of their 13 drives. They kicked just two field goals and punted once.

Against Tulane, they scored touchdowns on just four of their 11 drives, again, excluding the final drive before halftime and the drive where they were simply trying to run out the clock at the end of the game.

As the competition steps up with Nebraska coming to Norman followed by the start of Big 12 conference play, the Sooners can’t afford to settle for five field goals like they did against Tulane. If they can be as efficient at scoring touchdowns as they were on Saturday, they’ll have a great shot at going undefeated.

Next: The Bad.

Passing Out Grades: Report Card for Oklahoma after win vs WCU

How did the Sooners grade out in their 76-0 win over Western Carolina? Check out this week’s positional report card.

After a week of re-evaluation and reflection, the Oklahoma Sooners came out and showed the world that they did not put their best foot forward in game one against Tulane. Tulane played hard for the entirety of the game. However, OU flexed at once and was up 37-14 and eventually took their foot off the gas and allowed the door to be left open for Tulane to come back.

Oklahoma let out some frustration and then some against the Catamounts en route to posting a 76-0 final score. They would narrowly escape, and head coach Lincoln Riley made it known things would be different during their game against Western Carolina. The man did not lie.

There were several aspects of the team that had decent but not spectacular moments in the previous game. After the game in our previous report card, we broke down the grades for those units.

NEXT: How did the Quarterbacks and Running Backs Grade Out?

5 takeaways from the Sooners 76-0 win over Western Carolina

There was a lot to like from the Sooners dominant performance over WCU. Both the offense and defense did what they wanted in the 76-0 win.

There was a lot to like in the Oklahoma Sooners 76-0 win over the Western Carolina Catamounts on Saturday. The offense had their way with the WCU defense and the the OU defense kept the Catamounts from mounting any serious offensives.

There were touchdowns for everyone and the defense forced three turnovers and recorded four sacks.

Most importantly, after building a huge halftime lead, the Sooners didn’t let up. The backups were relentless in the second half of the game, flying around the football and making plays.

It was encouraging to see both the offense and defense put it on Western Carolina after the second half let down they endured last week.

With that, here are five takeaways from last night’s game.

A deeper look: Rotations and positions need to be re-evaluated going forward

A deeper look at how the snap counts for both the offense and defense might have had an impact on the final score in OU’s win over Tulane.

After narrowly escaping a scrappy Tulane team, OU has come under the microscope from fans and analysts alike. Some have wobbled from their preseason predictions that had the Oklahoma Sooners contending for a national title.

That’s their prerogative, but personally, that seems a bit ludicrous.

Most of the top 10 played teams  who viewed their week one matchup as their ‘Super Bowls.” The lone exception really being Alabama, who steamrolled a top 20 Miami team. While we’re not here to make excuses, the first game of the season, without a preseason like the NFL has, is bound to lead to some less than stellar play.

Aside from a very tough Tulane team, what else could’ve caused Oklahoma to struggle? After reviewing the game, a deeper look at the substitutions and snap counts reveals something that could be attributed, at least partially, to why the Sooners struggled.

Defensively, the snap counts — provided by Pro Football Focus — show that 27 Oklahoma defenders logged double-digit snaps. In a game that was close for all but the second quarter, that’s a lot of snaps for reserve players.

Multiple-year starters make sense. Guys like Delarrin Turner-Yell, Woodi Washington, and Pat Fields sit inside the top 10 in snaps. However, when you look down the list, guys like freshman Kelvin Gilliam, Ethan Downs, veterans Marcus Stripling, and Kori Roberson saw time on the field. Jalen Redmond only logged 39 snaps, and Perrion Winfrey was on the field for 36 out of a possible 82 snaps.

In a game that wasn’t a “laugher,” two of your starting defensive linemen logged less than than 50 percent of the defensive snaps. Yes, getting players some in-game experience is fine but playing starters less than 50 percent of the snaps can certainly lead to mishaps and missed assignments.

Alex Grinch loves to rotate and keep guys fresh. While that has value and means something, a freshman like Gilliam, who was no higher than third on the depth chart, played snaps in a game that was still in doubt. That could certainly impact the on-field results when youngsters like Ethan Downs played and didn’t record any pressures, hurries, or tackles.

Grinch will be a lot less liberal with who sees the field while the game against Western Carolina is still up for grabs. Look for the snap counts of the first and second teams to be higher this go around until the game is certainly out of hand.

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Pass catchers will always rotate, and the running backs too. The offensive line and quarterback don’t typically see as much of a rotation as some of their offensive teammates. According to PFF’s grades, the seven offensive linemen that did see the field revealed an up and down performance.

This becomes even more evident looking at the lack of a consistent push in the Sooner’s running game. Though he wasn’t sacked, pressure forced Rattler to bail out of the pocket early or get rid of the ball faster than he may have liked.

Tyrese Robinson, who moved from right guard to right tackle, posted a run-blocking grade of 52. Chris Murray, who replaced him at right guard, had a pass block grade of 58.9 and two penalties. Rattler’s blindside was exceptional between Erik Swenson (85.3) and Anton Harrison (78.2) posted excellent pass-blocking grades.

It’s safe to say that rotating the offensive line is not conducive to success. However, maybe OU will tinker with their offensive line ahead of Saturday. Perhaps Swenson takes more snaps at right tackle instead of Tyrese Robinson, who could slide back inside where he’s more comfortable. A guy like Wanya Morris could finally see the field.

Oklahoma’s very equipped still to be the team many thought they were. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and national champions aren’t crowned in September. It’s back to the drawing board and time for Lincoln Riley and his coaching staff to do some re-evaluating. They need to shorten the leashes of some guys as they get a better grasp of who they can depend on as the season rolls along.

Until then, let’s not press the panic button so soon.

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Oklahoma’s national championship optimism starts with the defensive line

The Sooners national championship hopes will rest on the shoulders of the defensive line.

There are high expectations for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2021. They have as high a ceiling for success as anyone in the country, including Alabama and Clemson. Lincoln Riley and the Sooners have been on the verge of National Championship contention for several years, but one thing was always missing.

A defense.

The offense we know is going to be good. That’s the standard for the Sooners heading into Riley’s fifth season as the head coach. But they’ve been held back each year by a defense that has struggled to get stops and create turnovers. That started trending in the right direction in 2020 as the Sooners defense began holding up their end of the bargain.

Now, despite the losses of Ronnie Perkins, Tre Brown, and Tre Norwood, there is a ton of optimism about this Oklahoma Sooners defense. That’s because the defensive line looks to be one of the best the Oklahoma Sooners have ever had.

Though he’s listed as a linebacker by most, Nik Bonitto operates as more of an edge rusher, and his nine sacks in 2020 led the Oklahoma Sooners. He was college football’s most productive pass rusher, according to Pro Football Focus.

Isaiah Thomas had a breakout season in 2020 with 7.5 sacks for the Sooners and is as productive against the run as he is as a pass rusher. With his ability to play on the edge and inside on passing downs, Thomas is as important of a defensive player as the Sooners have. Legal issues notwithstanding, he should have another great year for Oklahoma.

Bonitto and Thomas will be aided significantly by an improved interior defensive line. Jalen Redmond’s will be huge for the Sooners, and LaRon Stokes was an underrated part of the rotation last year. Perrion Winfrey is on many All-American watch lists.

Throw in potential contributions from Freshman Ethan Downs. OU Insider Recruiting Analyst Parker Thune mentioned on the Locked On Sooners Podcast as the incoming player with the best chance to contribute in year one.

“Ethan Downs is going to be an impact player for Oklahoma on the defensive side of the football this season. He’s a guy that my colleague Brandon Drumm and I have been pinpointing as a potential day one impact contributor for months and years now. It’s really no secret that he was pound for pound the most gifted in the state of Oklahoma in the 2021 class… Downs is a beast of an athlete. The absolute hardest worker you’ll ever encounter. Loves the weight room. Loves competition. Loves to just punch someone in the mouth. The way he just explodes off the edge and can dominate any opponent in the trenches is remarkable. He’s earned a lot of buzz early on. A lot of love from the coaching staff. A lot of love from his teammates… He’s just a classic old school, smashmouth style of football player.”

If the Oklahoma Sooners can get a pass rush off the edge from someone other than Bonitto and Thomas, it will pay huge dividends for Alex Grinch and the Oklahoma Sooners defense.

For the Oklahoma Sooners to get where they want to go in 2021, they’ll need the defensive side of the ball to be as good as many think it will be. The offense will be good, but as we’ve seen with this team in years past when they get to the College Football Playoff, a good offense isn’t enough to get you through to the National Championship game.

And while there might be questions at certain spots on the defense (cornerback), the Sooners look ready to contend with the guys they’ll deploy along the defensive front.