The Bad: Losing D.J. Graham to Injury
Lost in the second half to an undisclosed injury, D.J. Graham was forced to miss the rest of the game. While Key Lawrence and Justin Broiles played well on Saturday, Graham is one of this team’s best cover corners.
It remains to be seen if the injury will keep him out of Bedlam, but the Oklahoma Sooners could use him as they get set to take on Tay Martin and the Cowboys.
The Ugly: Where’d the Passing Game Go?
For the second consecutive week, the Oklahoma Sooners passing game was nonexistent. Much like last week, Caleb Williams and the Sooners receivers struggled to get anything consistent going in the passing game.
Caleb Williams was under pressure on 10 of his 24 drop backs. That might indicate he didn’t have enough time to throw, but if you look a little bit deeper, that’s not the case at all. According to Pro Football Focus, Caleb Williams averaged 3.98 seconds from the snap to the throw. That’s an eternity. When he was under pressure, Williams held the ball on average for 5.5 seconds. Quarterbacks should look to get rid of the ball in 2.5 to 3 seconds. When Williams was kept clean, he did that, letting go of the ball at an average time to throw of 2.89 seconds.
Under pressure, Williams was 2 of 6 for 25 yards and a touchdown. He was also sacked four times. Iowa State opted to play coverage vs. Williams. He was only blitzed twice. Against four or fewer rushers, Williams had 22 dropbacks, was 6 of 16 for one touchdown and one interception and had a passer rating. (NFL) of 41.4. Against the blitz, Williams was 2 of 2 for 36 yards. He averged 3.06 from snap to throw against the blitz.
It appears as if teams know how to combat the talented freshman at this point and that’s something Lincoln Riley and the offensive staff need to look into to combat. Dropping seven or more players into coverage appears to have created issues for Caleb Williams and the Sooners passing game. Williams is an incredibly talented player. Too talented to be held in check like he has the last couple of weeks. The coaching staff needs to come up with a better gameplan for how to combat the opposition’s coverage packages. Whether that means a heavy rushing attack featuring Caleb Williams or underneath throws to take what the defense is giving, the Sooners have to figure it out.
Oklahoma State brings to Bedlam the eighth best Pro Football Focus coverage grade to Bedlam, so you know Jim Knowles and the Cowboys defense is going to throw some challeges at the talented freshman.