It would not at all be surprising if Brent Venables gave a fiery postgame speech after Oklahoma’s game against the Houston Cougars on Saturday. They won 16-14, but finished with just 249 total yards of offense, didn’t score in the entire second half, and even Venables admitted after the game that his team deserved to lose. Those offensive line issues that were the talk of the offseason reared their ugly heads and Jackson Arnold look lost in the pocket. The Sooners were lucky to escape with a win, but if they play like that again, they’ll almost certainly lose next week against the Tulane Green Wave. For now, let’s focus on what we can takeaway from OU’s win against the Cougars.
Oklahoma Scrapes by Houston, 16-14
The Offense Still Has Work to Do
For much of the first half, Oklahoma’s offense appeared stagnant and unorganized, only managing two trips to the red zone and scoring just 14 points. After losing Jalil Farooq last week, the team was also without Nic Anderson for a second straight week, and it’s clear that the Sooners have yet to figure out their receiving room. There were a few dropped balls and miscommunications between Jackson Arnold and his pass catchers.
But perhaps more concerning than the receivers was the play of Arnold, who finished the first half with two touchdowns but just 99 passing yards. He looked jumpy and uncomfortable in the pocket and he tried to force multiple throws into very tight windows or double coverage. It seemed like the Houston pass rush had him flustered and he rushed through his reads and failed to see where the Cougars’ defenders were.
The second half didn’t start much better for Arnold and the offense. On their first possession of the third quarter, after a decent start to the drive, Arnold took a deep shot on a post to Deion Burks but threw an interception, giving the Cougars a chance to take the lead. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, towards the end of another fruitless drive, OU called a quarterback draw on third and long, which elicited a few boos from the Sooner faithful. Oklahoma sent out the field goal unit, hoping to go up by five, but Tyler Keltner missed the 45 yard field goal.
With about eight minutes left in the game, the Sooners got the ball again, still ahead by two points. They put together an 11 play, 34-yard drive, but were forced to punt yet again with just two minutes left. They did well by taking over five minutes off the clock, but, given the talent gap between them and Houston, they should have been able to out-physical them, run the ball down the field, and put the game away on that drive.
After the defense forced a safety late in the fourth, Arnold converted a pass for a first down on a gutsy play call that put the game away and was probably the offense’s best play of the entire second half. But even that drive didn’t end well: center Joshua Bates was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, which allowed Houston about thirty more seconds than they should have had at the end of the game.
This game was borderline embarrassing for the Oklahoma offense. They were outplayed nearly every step of the way, and made too many mental mistakes. Venables and his co-offensive coordinators have a lot to figure out for the rest of the season.
Another Uncertain Running Back Room
Until late last season, OU failed to establish a bonafide lead back, which seemed to stunt the entire running game. Come this season, presumed starter Gavin Sawchuk has barely been on the field: he’s only had ten carries for 19 yards. Nothing has been said regarding his status or if he’s dealing with an injury, but something seems to be going on with him.
After a bumpy first few years in Norman, Jovantae Barnes is now leading the team in rushing attempts this season with 17 for 73 yards. Somewhat surprisingly, freshman Taylor Tatum has been the third running back used, and he’s also been the most efficient. Although he has just six carries, he had 75 yards and a score.
Until the program tells the public what’s going on with Sawchuk, it seems like we should assume he’ll be the starter once he works through whatever he’s dealing with. But until then, it will be exciting to see what former four-star recruit Barnes can do. He’s already been through a lot in his young career, but he has the talent to be a star for the Sooners, so maybe he can provide the explosiveness OU has been lacking in the running game.
The Good News
Well, the good news is that OU’s defense played very well again, despite being on the field for an inordinate amount of time thanks to the offense’s woes. Brent Venables’ defense singlehandedly kept the Sooners in the game while the offense continuously stalled out. Danny Stutsman made some timely tackles for loss, Billy Bowman played well, and Robert Spears-Jennings had what could have been a momentum-changing interception early in the fourth, but the offense couldn’t convert the opportunity into points. Gracen Halton made the most impactful play of the day for Sooners, tackling Houston’s running back in the end zone for a safety with less than two minutes to go and giving OU a four point lead.
The one area where the unit really struggled was defending the flats. Houston consistently gashed the Sooners on swing routes and short horizontal passes, which will certainly come back to bite OU later in the season if they don’t address that.
Some more good news is that OU might officially have good tight ends again. This week, Jake Roberts caught a touchdown pass and the game-sealing pass, and last week, Bauer Sharp also caught a touchdown. If they can stay involved all season, they’ll give the Sooners a facet of the pass game that has been disappointing in recent seasons.
Oklahoma will be back in action next at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sep. 14 at home against Tulane.
Main Image: © BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK
