The Oklahoma Sooners fell to 4-3 on the season with their loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks. In the offseason, most observers would have chalked the Gamecocks off as a win in their preseason predictions.
I, and many others, underrated the Gamecocks and vastly overrated the Sooners. In particular, the turnover the Sooners faced on the offensive line this offseason turned out to be too much to overcome.
Sure, the wide receiver injuries and the inconsistent quarterback play haven’t helped, but on Saturday Oklahoma’s pass protection was inadequate and didn’t give either quarterback a chance. After the three turnovers to open the game put Oklahoma in a 21-0 hole, South Carolina was in a perfect position to get after the quarterback.
Ultimately, the Sooners are a long way off from being a contender in the SEC. There’s a lot of work to be done.
Let’s take a look at the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from Week 8.
The Good – Defense Steps Up
The defense played really well. There might be a case to be made that South Carolina got conservative in the second half and that’s probably accurate. But they didn’t need to do anything more on offense to win the game.
But the defense did their job even in the first half.
Zac Alley’s unit gave up just one touchdown drive when South Carolina started on their side of the 50-yard line. Other than that, the Gamecocks were gifted with short fields by the offense.
The Sooners held South Carolina to 1.8 yards per carry, recorded six sacks and 11 tackles for loss. Can’t play much better than that, especially after the offense puts you in a 21-0 hole less than six minutes into the game.
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