Oklahoma’s offense comes into this Bedlam game with plenty of questions surrounding it. Two weekends ago at Baylor in the Sooners’ only loss of the season, Oklahoma was held to just 260 yards of total offense and true freshman quarterback Caleb Williams was intercepted twice.
Redshirt junior running back Kennedy Brooks only rushed for 55 yards on 14 carries against the Bears and OU didn’t eclipse the century mark rushing as a team.
Then, last week versus Iowa State, Brooks got back on track with 17 carries for 115 rushing yards, but Williams continued to struggle in the passing game. The freshman completed just 8-of-18 passes for 87 yards with one touchdown and an interception.
It’s not exactly what one would describe as humming on all cylinders ahead of this pivotal in-state rivalry game against Oklahoma State. The Cowboys also boast the nation’s No. 3 total defense, No. 4 rushing defense and No. 10 passing defense, so this figures to be Oklahoma’s most difficult test of the season.
With that in mind, what are the three biggest keys to cracking the code and winning to set up a Big 12 championship game rematch.
Run the football effectively to set up third and shorts
With Williams having been intercepted three times over the past two weeks and only having passed for 229 yards in the two games combined, it’s important that Oklahoma runs the football effectively.
Again, it was a positive sign for OU with what Brooks was able to accomplish last week against Iowa State. Still, as good as Iowa State is defending the run, this is a different beast in Oklahoma State.
Cowboys senior linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez is one of the best in the country. He’s recorded 95 tackles and 9.5 tackles for loss. Rodriguez is flanked by fellow senior linebacker Devin Harper who has 71 tackles, nine tackles for loss and five sacks on the season.
In a perfect world, Oklahoma rips off multiple chunk-yardage runs in this game and maybe that’s enough to set up several scoring drives that prove to be the difference in a defensive struggle. More realistically, hope that the Sooners just don’t get consistently stuffed in the run game for losses, no gains or gains of less than two yards.
In addition to all of the other accolades this Oklahoma State defense has earned, the area the Cowboys are best is in third-down conversion defense. As in, tops in the country nationally. Oklahoma State opponents have converted just 38-of-156 third-down conversion tries. Or, just 24.4 percent of their third-down opportunities.
So, it’s important that Oklahoma finds a way to run the football against Oklahoma State effectively. It’s more important, though, that OU runs it effectively enough to keep itself out of third-and-mediums or longer all evening long.
“And it’ll be important. He’s had some good games in the past against these guys and has been key to some victories before. And we know this year is a new year, new challenge, but he and our run game are obviously a big part of what we do. They obviously help with a young quarterback. There’s nothing like being able to run the football at a high level on the road. And so it’s important every single week. And like you said, against a group like this that’s been good defensively against the run, it’ll be probably one of the keys to the game,” Oklahoma head football coach Lincoln Riley said.
Caleb Williams has to deliver
A lot of what was just discussed in the running game would go a long way toward making Williams’ life easier on Saturday night in Stillwater, Okla. It’s not unfeasible that Oklahoma can win another game on Saturday as it did last week versus Iowa State, but, essentially, that’s asking Oklahoma’s defense to play close to perfect again and for the run game to carry the Sooners.
Call it a gut feel, but that doesn’t sound like a reliable winning recipe.
The Sooners need more production out of the passing game. Williams is capable, too. He’s already demonstrated that this season. His six-touchdown, no interception performance against Texas Tech comes to mind.
Riley remains confident that Williams is prepared to perform.
“I still have a lot of confidence in him because when he and when he as an offense around him have played at a high level, we’ve played. We’ve had a stretch of games, a set of games since he’s been the starter where we’ve played just as high of a level as we’ve ever played. Now, have we had some bouts of inconsistency? We have. But again, my confidence comes from the progress that he’s making that I see on Saturdays and behind the scenes, and then my confidence comes from I think some of the times when we have not been good it’s not just us getting our butts kicked,” Riley said.
While it would certainly welcome it, Oklahoma doesn’t need a repeat of Williams’ home performances versus TCU and Texas Tech. However, it does need Williams to make decisive decisions and throws when the opportunities present themselves.
“I think the thing I would say for him is just I think we need just a big stack of routine plays out of him. And they certainly don’t make that easy. But the more routine plays that he can make, then I think the big ones from him and from other players on our offense will come that way. And, honestly, when he’s done that, when we’ve done that as an offense, we’ve played pretty well. And again, that routine play can be described a lot of ways. Whether it’s a run, whether it’s a down-the-field throw, whatever it is, we just need to be steady and go execute and not make a lot of mistakes because you know you’re playing a group, again, like I referenced, that has so many starts, that has so much experience,” Riley said.
Don’t help Oklahoma State out with penalties and turnovers
Play a clean game. Against the best defense Oklahoma has seen, that’s a must on the road.
For everything that Oklahoma State’s defense does well, the Cowboys aren’t great in the takeaways department. Oklahoma State ranks 82nd nationally in turnovers gained with the Cowboys’ 13 takeaways thus far this season.
Obviously, Williams has struggled taking care of the football of late. Don’t help OSU out by tossing one up to the Cowboys’ secondary. Also, cut down on the penalties.
In its loss at Baylor, the Sooners were penalized nine times for 86 yards. Against Iowa State, OU had six penalties for 50 yards. Oklahoma needs its cleanest game against the best defense it’s faced.
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