Tag: Jovantae Barnes

Early turnovers, offensive ineptness doom Oklahoma Sooners in loss to South Carolina

The Oklahoma Sooners offense turned the ball over four times and allowed nine sacks in their 35-9 loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks.

The Oklahoma Sooners were going to need at least a solid performance from their offense to have a chance against a talented South Carolina defense. And they didn’t get it.

Oklahoma turned it over on their first three drives. Two interceptions and a fumble by [autotag]Michael Hawkins Jr.[/autotag] The Gamecocks took advantage of the short field and took a 7-0 lead. South Carolina then forced a fumble of Hawkins and returned it for a touchdown, and then they got a pick-six on the third offensive possession for the Sooners.

That was the day for Hawkins, who was replaced by [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag].

Less than six minutes into the game, South Carolina was up 21-0 and the hole was too big for an offense that has struggled during SEC play.

Oklahoma was held to just a field goal in the first half for the second straight week and trailed 32-3, the largest deficit the Sooners have trailed at half since the late 90s.

Though Arnold came in and moved the ball, the Sooners offensive line couldn’t hold up against a relentless South Carolina pass rush. The Gamecocks came through with nine sacks on the day. No player had more than one sack on the day.

It was going to be a difficult matchup for Oklahoma’s offensive line, but the Sooners struggled not just with the pass rush, but the Gamecocks coverage units made life difficult for the Sooners offense.

Oklahoma turned the ball over four times and nearly had several more turnovers in the game. South Carolina had just one drive that originated in Gamecocks territory. That one drive was an eight-play, 75-yard drive. Otherwise the Sooners’ defense forced eight punts and 254 yards of total offense, including just 185 yards in the first half.

Coming off the bench, Jackson Arnold finished the day 18 of 36 for 225 yards and a touchdown. The highlight came on a 54-yard touchdown strike to [autotag]Brenen Thompson[/autotag].

True freshman and walk-on wide receiver Jacob Jordan led the Sooners in receiving with six catches for 86 yards. [autotag]Jovantae Barnes[/autotag] played hard all day, carrying the ball 17 times for 70 yards, averaging 4.1 yards per carry for his best day of the season. Barnes also added four catches on five targets for 21 yards.

Still, it was a bad offensive performance for the Oklahoma Sooners who have yet to have a good performance in SEC play. The offensive line isn’t capable of providing enough protection for Oklahoma’s quarterbacks and the they haven’t gotten enough help from the players around them to be successful.

But the start to the game torpedoed any hope the Sooners had of winning the game. With the loss, the Sooners fell to 4-3 on the season and 1-3 in SEC play. Next week, Oklahoma goes on the road to face the Ole Miss Rebels.

More: 5 Takeaways from Oklahoma’s loss to South Carolina

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3 Keys for the Oklahoma Sooners vs. South Carolina Gamecocks

How can the Oklahoma Sooners pull off a in over the South Carolina Gamecocks? Here are three keys to the game.

The Oklahoma Sooners have a big opportunity to right the ship with a tough matchup against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday.

On the surface, you might say, “South Carolina? Tough?” Yeah. This is a team that beat Kentucky, who beat Ole Miss in Oxford. These Gamecocks were a two-point conversion attempt away from sending their game with Alabama to overtime. In Tuscaloosa. The Gamecocks played LSU to a three loss. South Carolina had the lead until the final minutes of their loss to the Tigers.

Shane Beamer has them playing tough regardless of opponent. Although they were blown out by Ole Miss, they’re a better team than they showed on that day in Columbia.

It’s a tough matchup for a Sooners team hoping to rebound from their blowout loss to the Texas Longhorns. So what do they need to do to pick up the win? Let’s check out this week’s keys to the game.

1. Get the Ground Game Going

The best way to take the pressure off of your young starting quarterback is to find an effective running game. The best way to neutralize an elite pass rush is to find an effective running game. Ipso facto, Oklahoma needs to find an effective running game.

That may be a tall ask at this point in the season as the Sooners have struggled throughout and are one of the worst rush offenses in the country. At the same time, there have been positive signs in each of the last two games. Yes, even against Texas.

After Oklahoma forced a three-and-out on the Longhorns’ second drive, the Sooners opened up with a three-yard run by Gavin Sawchuk, followed by an eight-yard run by Jovantae Barnes for a first down. From that point, Seth Littrell had Michael Hawkins throw it on three straight plays, one of which turned into a 13-yard sack knocking them out of Texas’ side of the field and ultimately forcing them to punt.

A three-yard run might not be much to write home about, but getting to second-and-seven gives you more options than throwing incomplete on first down and being in second-and-10.

Second and third-and-long is a place Oklahoma doesn’t want to be in against the Gamecocks. They can get after the passer as well as anyone in the country with their talented defensive front. South Carolina can get home with just four, so they can drop seven into coverage and make Hawkins dink and dunk. But if the Sooners can grind out some yards in the run game, it may force the Gamecocks to commit more defenders to the box on early downs.

The dirty, three-yard runs can be effective. Just keep churning them out and grinding away. While there’s been a lot of talk about explosive plays, Oklahoma simply needs to move the ball. If it’s only three and four yards at a time, so be it.

Sure, a lot of the outcome of this game does ride on the quarterback, but the Sooners need to get the run game going. Lean on Jovantae Barnes, Gavin Sawchuk, Taylor Tatum, and an offensive line that’s coming together instead of putting everything on your young quarterback.

Up Next: A Complete Game

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Oklahoma Sooners have to find more consistent running game

If the Oklahoma Sooners want to better support their young quarterback, they have to find a more consistent ground game.

The Oklahoma Sooners offense has problems that go beyond the quarterback. Sure, inconsistent play in the passing game has an impact on the number of defenders an offense will face around the line of scrimmage, but even when the Sooners have had favorable boxes, it hasn’t helped.

Oklahoma ran for over 200 yards in week one against Temple. OU rushed for just over 180 yards against Tulane, buoyed by [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag]’s near-100-yard day. But against Houston, the Sooners ran for just 75 yards on just 2.58 yards per carry. OU hit rock bottom against Tennessee when they averaged 1.1 yards per carry on 24 attempts. Yes, you read that right: 1.1 yards per carry.

Take the quarterback run game and sacks out of the equation, and the numbers look slightly better. It amounts to 17 carries for 37 yards. It’s still not good or even average, but it improves to 2.17 yards per carry. It’s a far cry from what this offense expects of their running game.

So far, Oklahoma’s averaging just 3.6 yards per carry, helped by Arnold’s big day against Tulane. However, that’s the lowest yard-per-carry average for a season since 2010, when the Sooners averaged just 3.3 yards per attempt.

With a rushing average that low, one would think the Sooners struggled offensively. But what did Oklahoma have going for it that season? Landry Jones was cooking, throwing for 4,718 yards and 38 touchdowns. Ryan Broyles had 1,622 yards receiving and 14 touchdowns. They had DeMarco Murray, who ran for 1,214 yards, 15 touchdowns, and averaged 4.4 yards per carry.

That 2010 team went 12-2, beat Nebraska in the Big 12 title game, and Connecticut in the Fiesta Bowl.

This 2024 team has been a far cry from 2010, but there’s still time to turn some things around. Adjustments can be made, and the Sooners have already made a big one, inserting Michael Hawkins into the starting lineup. But the true freshman displayed his passing prowess. They didn’t try Tennessee deep, but Hawkins showed his passing ability on several throws to Jaquaize Pettaway, Bauer Sharp, and Zion Ragins. He had a good command of the offense. His speed is a threat in the running game and will put pressure on defenses.

If Oklahoma can find a more consistent passing attack, it will force teams to respect the pass and back a player out of the box against the run.

The Sooners had a lot of success running outside. Deion Burks ran a couple of jet sweeps for 18 yards early in the game, but the Sooners never went back to it. Jovantae Barnes had a 17-yard run on an outside zone play. According to Pro Football Focus, when the Sooners ran outside to the left, they gained 27 yards on two carries. But Oklahoma seemed intent on trying to establish the inside run game. They weren’t effective. When they ran between the tackles, Oklahoma gained just 17 yards on 13 carries, according to PFF.

Tennessee’s really good up the middle and the Sooners seemed content to run into the teeth of the defense.

Certainly, offensive line continuity has been an issue. The constant reshuffling due to availability hasn’t given them an opportunity to mesh, but playcalling and execution haven’t helped the run game either.

A lot of the issues have been in the run-pass option game, where Jackson Arnold struggled to make the right decisions with the football.

The run-pass option takes advantage of how a defense is aligned and allows the quarterback to make a choice based on what the defense does post-snap. If there are six or fewer players in the box, or near the line of scrimmage, it’s favorable for the Sooners and they need to run it. Arnold’s been choosing to pass in those instances. When there are more than six defenders in the box, that’s when OU should throw it, and Arnold’s been giving it to the running back in an unfavorable matchup for the offensive line. There have been opportunities to create yardage in the run game, but if the quarterback doesn’t make the right choice in the RPO game, it’s going to be difficult on the run game.

At his weekly press conference, Brent Venables indicated the Sooners would be cutting back on the number of RPO-based play calls. It won’t go away completely, but the Sooners are certainly going to scale back on and may return if Michael Hawkins Jr. proves more efficient in the RPO calls.

The Oklahoma Sooners are going to get more direct in some of their run calls, taking some of the guesswork out of it.

The Sooners have a tough task this week against an Auburn Tigers‘ defense that is allowing just 118.8 yards per game and 3.1 yards per carry. But the Sooners will need to find their rushing attack if they want to have more offensive success against the Auburn Tigers and better support their young quarterback.

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3 keys that could lead to an Oklahoma victory over Tennessee

Three keys to the game as the Oklahoma Sooners get set to take on the Tennessee Volunteers.

It’s safe to assume Oklahoma’s preparation has intensified over the last week. The Sooners are preparing for a much more talented foe than they have seen at any point this season. No. 7 Tennessee presents an incredible challenge for OU on Saturday night, but that’s to be expected with the Sooners entering the SEC. The conference games will be more challenging than they were in the Big 12.

The rest of the college football world doesn’t give the Sooners a real chance to win this game. Brent Venables, a master motivator and no stranger to coaching in high-profile matchups over the last 20 years, knows what it will take for his team to come out on top Saturday night.

While Tennessee is the higher-ranked team, it is not invincible. Oklahoma has a path to victory. We took the time to highlight that path with our three keys to the game below.

1. Start Fast

It’s such a cliche statement, but it does hold a lot of weight in a football game. Especially in a game where one team has heard they were the underdogs and didn’t have a chance at winning. It’s a confidence thing that can boost one team and psychologically damage the other.

Oklahoma has had some decent starts to their games this season, but they’ve yet to carry it into the second quarter. And that’s where Oklahoma needs to hone in on Saturday. Play a complete first half, take a breather, and gear up to scrap in the second half because Tennessee will not go away if you come out swinging.

Oklahoma offensive coordinator Seth Littrell must get his young quarterback into a rhythm. Maybe start out with the short passing game and mixing in designed QB runs along with the regular run game to ease him in. As the results show and his confidence grows, Littrell can then start to open up the playbook even wider.

Up Next: More Keys to the Game

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3 Keys to an Oklahoma Sooners win over the Tulane Green Wave

What do the Oklahoma Sooners have to do to pick up a win over a tough Tulane team?

The Oklahoma Sooners will welcome a tough Tulane Green Wave team to town for a Saturday afternoon kickoff. Oklahoma’s hoping to remain undefeated ahead of SEC play in week four but will have to survive a test from a Tulane team that nearly knocked off Kansas State last week.

The team will have to remain focused at the task at hand but OU has the talent to come through and pick up another win. But what do they need to do to earn a victory? Here are three keys to the game for the Sooners.

1. Win First Down

The Oklahoma Sooners haven’t been efficient enough on first down through two games in the 2024 season. Against Houston, the Sooners had a first-down success rate of just 38.4%.

Success rate is defined as gaining 40% of the yards to go on first down, 60% of the yards to go on second down and 100% of the yards to go on third and fourth down.

So, Oklahoma gained four or more yards on just 10 of their 24 first downs in the game. When you aren’t doing much on first down, it’s going to make second and third down a lot more difficult.

Teams with a high success rate on first down move the ball efficiently and score points. If Oklahoma wants to get right offensively, being more successful on first down would go a long way.

Against a good Tulane offense, the Sooners’ defense will be challenged. But one way to get to true freshman quarterback Darian Mensah is to force him into some longer down and distances.

Oklahoma’s run defense has been really good to start the 2024 season and if they can contain Makhi Hughes on first down to force more second and longs, it will give them a really good chance to get off the field.

Up Next: 2 More Keys to the Game

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Sooners Wire staff predictions for No. 13 Oklahoma vs. Tulane Green Wave

Sooners Wire staff predicts another close matchup as the Oklahoma Sooners get set to take on the Tulane Green Wave.

The No. 13 Oklahoma Sooners (2-0) welcome the Tulane Green Wave (1-1) to Norman on Saturday afternoon. Both teams played Big 12 squads last week in tight ball games.

The Sooners struggled to put away Houston in a 16-12 win, and Tulane nearly pulled off an upset of Kansas State at home but threw an interception in the end zone on what would have been a game-tying touchdown drive in the final seconds.

Week three promises to provide another intriguing matchup in Norman, but who wins? Here’s a look at this week’s Sooners Wire Staff Predictions!

Sooners Wire Staff Predictions

Oklahoma stays unbeaten at 3-0 in 2024 with another tense win at home.

OU’s defense controls the game for the most part, and the Sooners win the special teams battle for the third game in a row. Field position proves to be critical again, but the OU offense has a better outing than they did against Houston.

Someone from the running back room turns in a solid performance, and the duo of Jackson Arnold and Deion Burks connects enough times to get the job done. The offense is aided by a touchdown from either the special teams or the defense, and OU beats a good Tulane team by 10.

However, there’s still plenty of room for improvement and healing to do during the week before Tennessee comes into Oklahoma riding high on three impressive victories to open the season.

Sooners 24, Green Wave 14

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Up Next: More Sooners Wire Staff Predictions

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Oklahoma Sooners have to find their running game

The Oklahoma Sooners need to find their run game for the offense to find a rhythm.

There have been a lot of issues with the Oklahoma Sooners offense in two games. You can point to almost every aspect of the offense and say it’s not good enough.

When Oklahoma ran the ball against Houston, the Sooners had a success rate of just 30%. A play is deemed successful if it picks up 50% of the yards to gain on first down, 70% on second down, and 100% on third and fourth down.

Only eight of Oklahoma’s 26 runs, not including Jackson Arnold’s kneel-down, gained enough yardage to be considered successful against the Cougars. That’s not going to work.

Yes, the Oklahoma Sooners have been dealing with injuries along the offensive line, but what they’re doing from a run-game perspective isn’t doing them any favors. Jovantae Barnes has looked good at times, but there were times when he was running right into the backs of his offensive linemen.

Gavin Sawchuk hasn’t been able to find a clear runway to take off from. Taylor Tatum was effective with his one carry for six yards, but Seth Littrell didn’t go back to him after that. He’s been effective, but the offensive staff doesn’t seem to trust him fully enough to give him an extended look. Sam Franklin, who showed good burst and vision in week one against Temple, didn’t receive a carry this week.

Oklahoma’s running backs received just 17 carries on Saturday night, 12 of which went to Barnes. He ran 12 times for 40 yards, providing the most effective running aside from Arnold.

The Sooners went through a bit of this last year. It took nearly half the season for Oklahoma’s running game to take off. But they don’t have the luxury of taking half the season to figure it out. They have to find answers quickly.

On a night when a lot was off with the offense, the Sooners need to be able to simplify things by running the ball with effectiveness. If they can get better run blocking, it’ll help the running backs, but the backs also need to do a better job finding the running lanes or cutting to open space when the run call isn’t there.

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3 freshmen to watch for Oklahoma Sooners against Houston

Oklahoma’s true freshmen stood out in a big way in week one can these three freshmen have another strong performance?

The Oklahoma Sooners look to improve to 2-0 on Saturday night. They’ll welcome the Houston Cougars to Norman at 6:45 p.m. after defeating the Temple Owls, 51-3, last Friday.

OU’s younger players received plenty of playing time in Week 1, as the home team was in control from the beginning. While Houston is a more talented team than Temple, the Sooners are expected to win in convincing fashion again.

Even if the opponent were a tougher one, Oklahoma would still need contributions from the youngest players on their depth chart. [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and his coaching staff did an excellent job in the [autotag]2024 recruiting class[/autotag]. Now they hope their hard work continues to pay off, beginning with a strong showing against the Cougars. Here are three freshmen players on OU’s roster to watch in Week 2.

1. Jayden Jackson, DT

Making history last week as the first true freshmen starter at defensive tackle since Tommie Harris in 2001, [autotag]Jayden Jackson[/autotag] starts again up front for Venables and Co.

Jackson’s size and strength on the interior of the defensive line will be tested more once the Sooners reach [autotag]SEC[/autotag] play, but against Houston, he should once again have a chance to make some noise.

He wasn’t the player up front that popped the most last week against Temple, but the defensive line dominated the game when he was in. Watch for Jackson to make plays stuffing the run against a porous Cougars offensive line while rotating with [autotag]Damonic Williams[/autotag], [autotag]Da’Jon Terry[/autotag], and [autotag]Gracen Halton[/autotag].

Up Next: Freshmen Playmakers Need More Snaps

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3 keys to an Oklahoma Sooners victory over the Houston Cougars

The Oklahoma Sooners have a underrated challenge coming to town and here are three keys for their matchup with the Houston Cougars.

Brent Venables and his team are putting the finishing touches on preparation for their second game of the 2024 season. After a 48-point win over Temple, OU readies to host the Big 12’s Houston Cougars.

The Cougars are the first Big 12 team Oklahoma will face since moving to the SEC. The two teams have played twice in the last decade, with each side picking up a win.

In Week 1, Oklahoma struggled on third down, going 1 of 12. The defense, however, suffocated the Owls. Offensive line play was a focus of much post-game angst, and rightfully so. The Sooners struggled to run the ball, and the depth at receiver was called into action. Most probably weren’t expected to contribute in 2024, but injuries have forced Emmett Jones’s hand.

Willie Fritz left Tulane to take the job at Houston, and his team will be ready to play after a disappointing performance against UNLV.

Oklahoma should win the game convincingly, but the Sooners can’t get caught napping or the action could get weird quickly.

Below, we compiled our three keys to a Sooners victory.

Establish the line of scrimmage

This is a direct message to Bill Bedenbaugh and his offensive line. The big boys up front have been in a battle all offseason to decide who would earn snaps. As the games go by, the Sooners need to put their five best out there so they can jell.

Projected starter at right tackle Jake Taylor looks ready to suit up. Though we haven’t yet seen what Taylor’s capable of as a starting offensive lineman at the collegiate level, with a four-star pedigree, there are high hopes for the 2022 signee.

The Sooners need to come out and let the Cougars know that whatever ideas and inspiration they might have gleaned from the film against Temple will not work. The running game should pop much more often than it did in the first half of their week one win.

Up Next: 2 More Keys to Victory

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Oklahoma Sooners announce game captains for week 2 vs. Houston Cougars

The Oklahoma Sooners revealed their week two game captains for their matchup with the Houston Cougars.

The Oklahoma Sooners (1-0) begin their week getting ready for the Houston Cougars (0-1) in Norman on Saturday night. The matchup is the second of four-straight home games for the Sooners to start the season, culminating in their week four matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers.

After their 51-3 win over the Temple Owls, the Sooners will to continue improving in all three phases as they inch closer to their SEC debut.

With week two underway, the Sooners have announced their game captains. Oklahoma will be led by defensive end [autotag]Ethan Downs[/autotag], running back [autotag]Jovantae Barnes[/autotag], tight end [autotag]Jake Roberts[/autotag], cheetah linebacker [autotag]Kendel Dolby[/autotag], and kicker Zach Schmit.

https://twitter.com/OU_Football/status/1830987191092178989

Downs represents one of the longest-tenured Sooners on the roster and one of a handful of players still on the roster from the Lincoln Riley days. He’s been a steady force for the Sooners at defensive end as Oklahoma has turned over it’s unit up front under Brent Venables.

Barnes looked really good against Temple. He was fast, explosive, showed the ability to break tackles and nearly broke a long run for a touchdown. After a 2023 season that was limited due to injuries, Barnes looks ready to improve upon his breakout freshman campaign back in 2022.

Roberts is another veteran on the roster, in his fifth season of college football. Combined with [autotag]Bauer Sharp[/autotag], the Sooners have a really good duo at tight end. When Oklahoma utilized two-tight end formations, Roberts was out there to aid the offense. His experience and leadership is key for a team relying on a lot of youth across the depth chart.

Dolby has been a revelation since coming up from the JUCO ranks. Initially a backup last season, he emerged to take over the starting cheetah role and hasn’t relinquished it. He’s displayed his playmaking ability both in coverage and as a blitzer. Against Temple, he had a sack and forced a pass deflection that led to an interception.

Schmit may not have won the place-kicking duties, but his work as the kickoff man is crucial to Oklahoma’s special teams. His ability to kick it out of the back of the end zone prevents teams from mounting a return.

Though the Houston Cougars were beaten by UNLV in week one, this is a well-coached team led by Willie Fritz. Fritz had his Tulane Green Wave team pushing the Sooners back at the beginning of the 2021 season. Oklahoma’s game captains will have to keep the Sooners focused on themselves this week and not looking past Houston to stave off a threat from the Cougars.

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