Tag: Oklahoma Sooners Offense

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.

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Where does OU’s Eric Gray rank among RB breakout candidates for 2021?

As the Sooners get set to start the 2021 season, where does Athlon Sports rank Eric Gray among breakout candidates at the running back position in 2021?

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The Oklahoma Sooners have had tremendous success in the transfer portal over the years. At the end of the Bob Stoops era and the beginning of Lincoln Riley’s tenure as the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, the quarterback position was bolstered by the transfer portal. In 2021, the Sooners got additions at running back, wide receiver, and offensive line via the transfer portal that will pay huge dividends in 2021.

Most notably, Eric Gray is expected to play a key role in the rushing attack for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2021 despite the return of Kennedy Brooks to the running back depth chart.

Athlon Sport’s Steve Lassan put together the top 25 breakout candidates at running back, and the Sooners’ Eric Gray comes in at number three on the list.

Kennedy Brooks is back after opting out of the 2020 college football season, but Gray could be Oklahoma’s best option at running back. The Tennessee transfer accumulated 1,311 yards and eight rushing touchdowns during his two seasons with the Volunteers, along with 43 receptions for 369 yards and three more scores. Wasting no time, Gray has already made an impression on his new team, including a touchdown run in the spring game. – Lassan

Gray is a versatile back that brings experience and a dual-threat ability that could remind some of an Alvin Kamara-type for the Sooners. Like Joe Mixon before him, Gray’s expected to split out to the slot or wide receiver in certain formations, and he’ll be a threat to catch the ball out of the backfield as well.

And as exciting as his pass-catching prowess is, it’s his natural running ability that will create a nice 1-2 punch for the Oklahoma Sooners with Kennedy Brooks.

Gray has good vision and excellent change of direction. He’s not necessarily fast, but he’s quick and elusive. He can make players miss in the open field and has enough speed to score from every area of the field.

With Lincoln Riley’s desire to run the football at the forefront of the Oklahoma Sooners’ offense, having a running back like Eric Gray as your second starter will pay huge dividends throughout the season. It’s likely that he and Kennedy Brooks will split the vast majority of running back touches in the 2021 season and that timeshare will help keep both guys fresh and running at max performance.

Though Eric Gray is hardly an unknown, as he was productive for the Tennessee Volunteers, the 2021 season is the year he becomes a household name across the country. With his ability, it’s not out of the question that he leads the Sooners backfield in total yards and total touchdowns.