The burning questions around the country coming into this game were: In this performance of two high-powered offenses, which defense will stand up? OU looked good against Arkansas State, but can they look good against a quality opponent? Is the Sooner defense overrated? All of those questions were answered, and the answers may surprise some. There is a single word that can answer these questions: Defense.
The Oklahoma defense was the story of the night. Where the offense was lackluster and struggled for much of the game, the defense bailed them out. SMU possessed the ball 11 times and scored 11 total points. They gained 367 total yards, averaging only 33 yards per possession. To say I'm ecstatic about the defensive effort throughout the game would be an understatement. So, as we do with recaps, let's take this quarter by quarter right after we take a second to appreciate how the fans striped the stadium.
Photo credit to OU Football's X post.
1st Quarter
Our offensive struggles were evident early in this game: 1 touchdown and nothing but punts for the rest of the quarter. Granted, the touchdown we did get was a beauty. A couple of "trick" plays (regular plays that were more meant to mislead the defense than traditional trick plays) set up a wide-open touchdown pass for Andrel Anthony, his first as a Sooner. The problem with the offense in this quarter was how they gave Dillon Gabriel no protection. The running game did alright, but Gabriel ran for his life every snap against a four-man rush.
The defense meant business. In my game preview and in a forum post, I mentioned that we needed to dominate the line of scrimmage, and that's precisely what they did. The defensive line shut down the run consistently. The SMU running backs could not consistently get through the line of scrimmage without getting met by multiple Sooner defenders. A couple of bad plays let SMU drive down the field on one drive and get a field goal, but Billy Bowman stepped up and helped hold SMU to a field goal.
OU also showed in this quarter that they have put a serious effort into improving special teams. A really good opening kick return started the game. SMU tried to return OU's opening punt, and Kip Lewis blew it up before it started. SMU's opening punt was partially blocked by Peyton Bowen (who played a heck of a game). Our punt returns went far. OU special teams won the special teams battle in this game, especially in this quarter.
Score at the end of the quarter: 7-3 OU.
2nd Quarter
We saw more of the same from our offense in this quarter. The one exception was a 13-play, 94-yard, absolute beauty of a touchdown drive. The Oklahoma run game just dominated the defensive line on this drive. The difference between the offensive line on this drive and the first quarter was the addition of more help. Austin Stogner (who got his first catch since returning to OU) and Blake Smith (transfer from Texas A&M) were added to the line to help block, creating seven blockers on every play. This adjustment made it impossible to stop OU on the ground. This drive ended with a wide-open TD pass to Blake Smith. The rest of the quarter had questionable playcalling, but the defense helped immensely.
The defense in this quarter (and for the rest of the game) was the epitome of the "bend but don't break" philosophy. SMU got into OU territory on almost every drive this quarter but couldn't get much farther. The closest they got was when they attempted a long field goal and missed. Peyton Bowen began to make himself known on this drive and showed why he was a 5-star. Keep in mind this kid is a true freshman.
Score at the end of the quarter: 14-3 OU.
3rd Quarter
This was our worst quarter offensively, and it wasn't close. We couldn't run or throw the ball. The offense looked like they did in the 2nd half of bedlam last year. The running backs were utterly unable to get through the line. When he was allowed to throw it, Gabriel either missed his guys, or they wouldn't catch it. Put some incredibly confusing playcalling on top of that, and you have a pretty poor offensive performance. No points were scored, even though we made it into the SMU red zone on one drive.
The defense continued to be stout. They forced a three-and-out on the opening drive and kept up the pressure. There's not too much to go into here. At least they didn't give up any points.
Score at the end of the quarter: 14-3 OU.
4th Quarter
Venables said in a recent interview that the 4th quarter last year didn't just feel like our worst quarter; it was, statistically speaking, the worst quarter for OU last year. For a minute, it looked like that pattern would hold. Luckily for the Sooners, the exact opposite ended up happening. Let's start with the defense for this quarter.
The defense lost all discipline on SMU's first drive of the quarter. They had a stop on fourth down that was taken away due to penalty. They had a third down stop with goal to go that was taken away due to a penalty. They gave up a wide-open touchdown and a contested 2-point conversion to make the score 14-11. It wasn't looking good for a minute. But after this? The defense showed that Brent Venables coaching they've been receiving. For this segment, we're going to mesh the offense and defense.
Despite being shut down for much of the game, the OU offense showed up on the drive following SMU's touchdown. They had a dominant run game, and Dillon Gabriel and his receivers came to life. They showed some truly dominant offense on this drive. They thought they had a great touchdown pass to a wide-open Marcus Major, but it was called back due to an ineligible man downfield. A couple of plays later was the offensive play of the day on 2nd and 15. Jalil Farooq ran a slant route, and Dillon Gabriel hit Farooq in the chest. Farooq caught it despite a defender being draped around him. Farooq shrugged off the defender and began running for the endzone. A defender came up in front of him, hoping to stop him, and Farooq broke the defender's ankles with a Juke and got into the endzone. It was phenomenal.
The next drive, SMU has the ball at their own 25. The Sooners forced a quick three and out before making the defensive play of the game. SMU had the ball at their own 30-yard line on fourth down. They tried a pass to the left side (out route) to a receiver who seemed somewhat open on the sideline. Five-star true freshman Peyton Bowen (probably) earned his spot on the starting roster by diving in and deflecting the pass—turnover on downs.
Another touchdown by OU and an interception by Justin Harrington sealed the game. Final score: 28-11 OU.
Observations
Our offensive line has to get better. They were controlled for the most part by the SMU defensive line. Seeing how #11 Texas played against #3 Alabama in their win tonight and how Baylor played in their near win against #12 Utah, our offensive line will seriously struggle if they don't figure out their issues soon.
The wide receivers are good but must take that leap to elite status. They didn't do much to get separation from the defensive backs and dropped a few too many passes tonight.
Peyton Bowen is a monster. I'll be shocked if he isn't on the starting lineup for next week's game against Tulsa.
Danny Stutsman is going to be a stud in the NFL.
The main areas where Brent Venables wanted to improve, the fourth quarter and special teams, are leagues ahead of where they were at the end of last season.
Our defense has a chance to be a top-25 defense this year.
Tawee Walker is a smaller Rhamondre Stevenson. This is a great thing.
There is no quit in our football team.
Key Players
Tawee Walker: 21 rushes, 117 yards
Andrel Anthony: Seven receptions, 76 yards, one touchdown
Danny Stutsman: 17 tackles, one sack, 2.5 tackles for loss, one fumble recovery
Key Lawrence: Seven tackles, one tackle for loss, one forced fumble
Peyton Bowen: Four tackles, one pass deflection (on fourth down).
Other Stats
Offense: 19/27, 176 yards, 6.5 yards per pass, four touchdowns through the air. 47 runs, 189 yards, four yards per carry, no touchdowns on the ground.
Defense: 4/16 on third down, 2/4 on fourth down, allowed 5.6 yards per pass and 3.4 yards per run.
This was a good game for OU. I can't say it was a great game, but plenty was still to be desired (especially on defense). Some issues on both sides of the ball need to be addressed and fixed before we go up against some of the other quality opponents on our schedule, but this was a great showing against a quality opponent. Two wins, no losses, Boomer Sooner!
All stats above courtesy of ESPN
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