At the end of the day, what can you really learn from a complete blowout where one team is clearly superior to the other? Not a lot.
There is a growing sentiment among Oklahoma fans that this game somehow invalidates what happened at the beginning of the season. I don’t believe that is the case.
We knew that Texas Tech was a bad team. We knew they were the second-worst team in the conference, and we knew that, if Oklahoma is who we think we they are, this game wouldn’t be close.
We knew that Texas Tech’s defense was horrendous. 68 points may not have been on my bingo card, but points were always supposed to come easily in Lubbock. I wouldn’t make any bold assumptions about Oklahoma’s offense based on this game alone.
On the other hand, Texas Tech’s offense is average, maybe a little below-average, and Oklahoma’s defense completely throttled them. In case you couldn’t tell at the time, I’m letting you know now, what we saw on Saturday was a defensive rout comparable to Kansas State in 2015 (the 55-0 game).
If you want to make bold assumptions off of this game alone, then assume this: Oklahoma’s defense is a different animal with the addition of Ronnie Perkins. What we saw on Saturday was, comfortably, the best defensive performance in Alex Grinch’s Oklahoma tenure. I’m very keen to see where they go from here.
Oklahoma didn’t show us who they are on Saturday. They couldn’t have against a team like that. But one thing is certain: Oklahoma’s defense, against a worthy offense, showed us exactly what they are capable of.