Bye Week Thoughts

Oklahoma has played six games this season and has won all six. After going 6-7 last year, an undefeated start to this season is as good as it possibly could have gone, especially considering one of those wins is over #3 Texas. Now we head into the bye week ranked #5 and ready to take on the second half of the season. Throughout this post, we will look at the statistical differences between last season and this season, talk about what did and didn't look good against Texas, the players that have stuck out to me, and the rest of the season.

Stats

To start our bye week discussion, let's take a second to appreciate how much better OU is from last year. Look at a comparison of stats between last season and this season.

	2022	2023 (through six games)
Yards per game gained	474.0	506.0
Yards per game allowed	450.5	353.7
Points per game gained	32.8	45.2
Points per game allowed	29.6	14.0
Passing yards per game gained	254.6	341.2
Passing yards per game allowed	261.5	239.2
Rushing yards per game gained	219.4	164.8
Rushing yards per game allowed	189.0	114.5
3rd down percent offense	40.51%	51.22%
3rd down percent defense	40.87%	28.57%
Turnovers	17	15

All yardage and points stats courtesy of ESPN. 3rd down stats courtesy of cfbstats.com. Turnover stats courtesy of sports-reference.com.

The only category that has taken a decline is rushing yards per game. While the turnovers number is lower, it's important to remember we only had 17 turnovers through 13 games last year. At this rate, we will have 30 turnovers during the regular season alone this year. Every other statistic has drastically improved. Quinn Ewers 346-yard passing game against OU was a significant outlier that makes the improvement in that category seem less than it is. The two categories that stick out to me the most are third down (both sides of the ball) and rushing yards per game allowed. Last year, Oklahoma struggled mightily on third down on both sides of the ball. That, combined with teams running all over us, made our defense look abysmal. OU had made it clear we are not going to allow teams to dominate on the ground against OU this year, and we will not allow anything easy on third down.

Texas

The Red River Rivalry this year proved to be a stressful roller coaster of a game, as it is most years. There was a lot that had Sooner fans euphoric and a lot that had us nervously terrified. Let's dive into both sides of the ball and discuss what went well and what didn't.

First and foremost, the offensive line finally came to life. One of the biggest complaints I had about our team in the first half of the season was the lackluster play of our offensive line. Nearly all their issues appear to have been fixed against Texas. The running game was (for the most part) open; Dillon Gabriel had all day to throw for the most part throughout the game. We had players like true freshman Cayden Green on the offensive line, dominating the elite Texas defensive line. Many of them made one of the best defensive linemen in college football, T'Vondre Sweat, a nonfactor. I was incredibly proud of the offensive line.

Dillon Gabriel elevated his play to a higher level against Texas. He entered his name firmly into the Heisman race. He was accurate and consistent the whole game. He led a game-winning drive that will be remembered forever. He is in the conversation for one of the best QBs in Sooner history who didn't win the Heisman (yet). The wide receivers looked elite for all 60 minutes. All the issues we had with drops last year have been completely erased.

My concerns with the offense fall with the running backs. Tawee Walker had a drop at the end of the first half that greatly impacted how the game played out. He had a nice run or two but didn't do too much else. Despite this, he was our best running back on the day. None of our RBs contributed too much to the offense. When your QB isn't known for being a great runner, it's a red flag when your QB is your lead rusher on the day.

The defensive line is the best we've had since the Gerald McCoy days. I am in complete awe of how good our defensive line is. The goal line stand was just the icing on the cake of their performance against Texas. Going up against one of the best offensive lines in the nation, they had five sacks (season-high) and 10 tackles for loss. They had Quinn Ewers running for his life. Helping them out was the exquisite play of our linebackers, Danny Stutsman and Jaren Kanak. Despite the one rushing touchdown allowed (which was the first rushing TD allowed this season), they shut down Jonathon Brooks, arguably the best RB in the nation.

The defensive backs were both good and bad in this game. Quinn Ewers throws a beautiful deep ball. The deep ball is how they beat Alabama. The Oklahoma secondary allowed zero deep balls. Woodi Washington shut down the one deep attempt in the fourth quarter. Combined with shutting down the deep ball, they missed almost no tackles. Despite all this, after an abysmal start for Quinn Ewers (5-9 for 13 yards and two interceptions), he completed 26 of his next 28 passes for 333 yards and a touchdown. You can not allow that as a defense and expect to run the table for an entire season. Granted, Quinn Ewers was a five-star QB who was throwing to excellent wide receivers. But the amount of wide-open receivers and easy passes Ewers was able to complete were a huge red flag. These issues in coverage have to be fixed if we're going to make an argument to be in the playoffs.

Our Best Players

I wanted to include Andrel Anthony in this list. He has been a monster wide receiver this year for us, with some of the most consistent hands in college football. Unfortunately, he had a season-ending injury against Texas, and the players I want to discuss are the ones who I expect to continue to impact the team for the rest of the season.

• Dillon Gabriel: He is undoubtedly one of the best QBs in college football this year. He throws a ton of touchdown passes, is efficient, accurate, releases the ball quickly, and seldom turns the ball over. This year, His two interceptions were a missed defensive pass interference call (quite obvious) and a mis-run route. That's it. Any team would be lucky to have him. I am very grateful he calls Norman home. He is the second-best player on the team.

• Jalil Farooq: I wasn't sure how to feel about Farooq coming into this season. He made some nice plays in 2022 but was incredibly inconsistent. You couldn't count on him to reliably catch the ball. This year, not only does he catch everything thrown his way, but he also dominates after the catch. He is tough to tackle by going right through tackles and breaking ankles with quick moves. He is our clear #1 WR and will be the rest of this season.

• Tawee Walker: Despite some limited production in the past couple of games, he is far and away the best running back on the team. This is a massive surprise to many OU fans, myself included. His blue-collar work ethic and incredible work in the weight room have made him a tough running back to bring down. Almost no one brings him down at first contact.

• Danny Stutsman: I could write an entire post about his impact on our team. He is far and away the best player wearing the crimson and cream this year. His tackling in the open field, pass rush and run-stopping ability, zone coverage, and strength have all turned him into an All-American caliber LB. I hope he decides to stay at OU for the 2024 season because he is the biggest reason our defense has been so successful this year.

• Peyton Bowen: Two blocked punts. Four pass deflections. One forced fumble (against five-star QB Quinn Ewers). All as a true freshman. We knew we were getting a special player in five-star Peyton Bowen. I don't think we realized how special. He hits hard, blows up plays, is all over the field, and it is only a matter of time before he gets his first interception. These next two seasons with him as a safety will be FUN.

• Gentry Williams: This year, the redshirt freshman has been huge for the secondary. Three interceptions and a fumble recovery in the first six games of the season is just unheard of for a single player for OU in recent years. In two games this year, he intercepted a pass on the opening drive (Tulsa and Texas). He went from barely playing last year to arguably being the team's best cornerback this year.

There are a lot of players I could've included here. The defensive line has a few players that could be considered, but their level of play has been because of how they work as a group, not so much because of one specific lineman. Our team is loaded this year.

Rest of the Season

I'm cautiously optimistic looking at the rest of the season. Oklahoma should win out. There are nothing but beatable teams on our schedule. But OU can't afford to look past any of them.

UCF doesn't have a very good defense, but their offense is unpredictable. I could see the OU defense shutting down the offense and potentially pitching a shutout or giving up 400 yards of offense and 30 points.

Kansas has a solid running game, and if Jalon Daniels is healthy, our entire defense has their work cut out for them. He runs just as well as he throws. Our offense should cut through their defense, but their offense, I'm predicting, will give us fits.

Oklahoma State in Stillwater is always a game that makes me nervous. The Cowboys seem to have figured out what's going on with their offense, and their defense is showing signs of life. After that game against Kansas State, I firmly believe we could see another defensive battle in Bedlam this year. Oklahoma State will be playing their hearts out too, since this is the last Bedlam football game for the foreseeable future.

West Virginia is a really good team this year. Their one loss so far (they're playing Houston right now, so I don't want to include that in their record yet) was to a really good Penn State team. They beat us last year. They almost beat us the last time they came to Norman. Their run game is really good. They have an excellent defensive front. This could be a trap game for OU this year.

BYU in Provo has me incredibly nervous. We've never beaten BYU, and they are the only one of the Big 12 newcomers with a conference win. Every year, they are a tough, physical team that knows how to play old-school, dominant football. I also think their QB, Kedon Slovis, is one good game away from breaking out.

TCU is the only game I'm feeling completely confident in. The final game of the season, in Norman, on black Friday, with OU trying to make it to the conference championship and playoffs? All of those could contribute. Avenging last year's slaughter, we suffered against the Horned Frogs? That 100% will contribute. TCU has a good team, but I can't imagine OU not winning this game by at least four scores.

Conclusion

Sooner fans get to take a break from the stress that OU football brings this weekend, sit back, and enjoy some good college football. We have a lot to think about and prepare for with future games. We have great players. We have great coaches. We have great recruits coming in. Let's be ready for anything. Boomer Sooner!