Was it fitness? Was it focus? Grinch, OU defense search for answers to fourth-quarter failures

Kansas State and Iowa State both scored at will in the fourth quarter, overcoming the Sooners' lead and leaving OU 0-2 in conference play for the first time in 22 years

Brock Purdy escapes Nik Bonitto / Brian Powers-USA TODAY Sports

Alex Grinch can’t quite put his finger on Oklahoma’s fourth-quarter travails.

But he knows he needs to. A fierce game with Texas is lying in wait just three days away.

“As you look at the last couple weeks,” Grinch said Wednesday, “and I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face: if we win the fourth quarter, we win the game.”

Grinch’s defense has given up 31 points in the fourth quarter of the Sooners’ last two games. And of course, OU is now 0-2 in Big 12 Conference play for the first time since the John Blake era.

Was it fitness? Was it focus? Was it a lack of clutch play in crunch time?

“To say (it’s) one specific issue would probably be inaccurate,” Grinch said, “but I think you hit on a lot of 'em.”

Kansas State scored 17 unanswered fourth-quarter points before being forced to punt in the final minute. Iowa State scored 14 unanswered points. Both opponents overcame a deficit to win.

But there’s another side of that coin.

The Wildcats’ fourth-quarter drives covered just 38, 38 and 29 yards. The Cyclones fourth-quarter drives covered 13 and 55 yards.

The Sooners had to defend short fields after a fumble, a blocked punt and an 85-yard kickoff return.

“Like coach Grinch always says, we don’t have no room to evaluate,” said linebacker Nik Bonitto. “We can get the ball at the 1-yard line every drive; we’ve got to find ways to get stops. Unfortunately last game, we couldn't do it. We couldn't do it. And at Kansas State we couldn't do it.

“No, it's just about finding a way, to want to make plays and just getting guys out of the end zone so we can help our offense out.”

Grinch said as he’s studied the situation intently, a multitude of problems have manifested.

“I think that one of the things we’ve got to do a better job of is focus,” he said. “It’s been a major emphasis — focusing on my individual responsibility, my individual job, regardless of any other circumstances, whether it’s the guy next to me, (or I) maybe had a poor rep the time before.

“I think I was asked about fitness or whatever, fatigue, maybe a couple weeks ago, too. And it was something I didn’t think at the time — and it’s something that when you see it two weeks in a row now, you gotta say, ‘OK now, wait a second, are we doing doing too much here? Are we playing guys too many reps?’ And that's something that we certainly analyze as well and something that we're currently doing moving forward.

“So, no, it's everything, I think. And to think that you flip one of those and everything turns out roses, no.”

Grinch, Bonitto and linebacker DaShaun White said it’s not a lack of ability. Not when the Sooner defense dominates so thoroughly for most of the first three quarters.

“There’s 14 points on the board with, I think, two minutes to go in the third quarter against Kansas State,” Grinch said. “There’s 16 points on the board ... with a minute to go in the third quarter last week and all of a sudden you look up at the end of the game. … (You) were frustrated by (giving up) that 16 points. ‘God dang, give me those 16 points again, and fix those issues,’ as opposed to not finishing.”

White said the tackling issues that ruined last week’s trip to Ames were “very disappointing. Especially going back watching the film. That was the big issue that we circled, and stop it right there. Like I said, very disappointing.”

White said the team’s problems were clearly not physical in nature.

“I think it’s a mentality thing. I do,” he said. “… It just keeps going back to consistency. I feel like our mentality is very inconsistent. Which is something we work on daily. We have to continually remind each other: ‘Fourth quarter finish. Fourth quarter finish.’ Or, if we’re in the same period of practice, finish, finish, finish.

“We just have a problem finishing. It’s simple,” White said, “but it’s not easy to fix.”

Said Grinch, “Ultimately, when we take the field, we’ve got to get three good plays in a row, or get a takeaway.”

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