How the Offensive Line Gave Oklahoma an Identity on Offense

The Sooners' offensive line paved the way for 257 rushing yards Saturday night to help upset No. 7 Alabama 24-3.

Oklahoma Sooners offensive lineman Febechi Nwaiwu / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables had a lot of emotions Saturday night after his team took down No. 7 Alabama, but surprised wasn’t one of them. 

The defense and running game prevailed in the 24-7 upset that stirred fans at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium to rush Owen Field for only the second time this millennium. But the truth is, fans only storm fields when there’s an unexpected result. 

The Sooner faithful had that faith in the defense, even if it was only the size of a mustard seed when going up against Bama’s potent offense led by Heisman hopeful Jalen Milroe. But what was expected from OU’s offense was low, especially after the consistent struggles from the offensive line, which broke program sack records you don’t want to break and didn’t pave the way for a 100-yard rusher until Week 10, and even that was against an FCS opponent. 

“I think if you go back and watch the film, I think each game we kept improving, kept our head down,” right guard Febechi Nwaiwu said. “Like we were saying at the beginning of the season, we knew it would take a lot of work to get to a point where we would feel like an elite offensive line. I still don’t think we’re at that. I still think there’s a lot of things we can work on, but Saturday, of course, it felt amazing. It was a good step forward, but it’s not done.”

Even if Venables denies being shocked by what transpired in the trenches Saturday night, the rest of us were. OU’s offensive line handled a group playing for a program that’s famous for winning with physicality. The Sooners rushed for 257 yards and averaged 5.1 yards a carry behind Logan Howland, Heath Ozaeta, Troy Everett, Nwaiwu, Spencer Brown and Eddy Pierre-Louis. 

“Just knew it was coming,” Venables said postgame. “Could we do it consistently? We had shown signs here or there, just one guy off here or there, and it all looks bad. And tonight, man, I think it’s a culmination of the development process, as we’ve said.”

The left side of freshmen Howland and Ozaeta first showed improvement in the passing game against Maine, when the big guys didn’t let the Black Bears get to their quarterback one time. The next week against Missouri, the Tigers sacked Jackson Arnold three times, which was still drastically better than the nine sacks given up in both games against Ole Miss and South Carolina. 

Although the sack numbers stood out against Maine, though, that was when the Sooners seemingly found their offensive identity with a sophomore quarterback and injury-plagued receiving group. Jovantae Barnes ran for 203 yards to become OU’s first 100-yard rusher of the season as the team totalled 381 rushing yards. 

“I think we are building (an identity),” Nwaiwu said. “You know, I can’t say what everybody else thinks, but I think that an offense should be good at everything—not good at everything, but I think an offense should be well-rounded all around, so yeah, we were good at running the ball, but there’s always something to improve on. You can never be too good at everything.”

With Barnes missing the next game against Mizzou, OU posted 122 yards on 36 carries as Arnold threw for only 74 yards. Even in the loss and the numbers not being as polarizing, it was still evident what offensive coordinator Joe Jon Finley wanted his group to do. 

Then against Bama in a win, Arnold actually threw for even less yards, 68, on only 11 attempts. It was OU’s lowest passing total of the season, yet, the Sooners still beat a top-10 team. Arnold did rush for a team-high 131 yards, though, as freshman running back Xavier Robinson had 107 rushing yards and two touchdowns to give the Sooners’ a pair of 100-yard rushers. 

“It really starts with that front five,” Robinson said. “They did a great, great job. Monday started that week. You can see it all. They just did a good job opening up the gates and just having us make those reads. With Jackson back there, that really opened up some windows.” 

“I mean, it's just the standard, you know what I mean,” Brown said. “It's been a long time coming. We've been grinding for the last few weeks and the work finally showed and the work showed on Saturday night.

Read More About OU's Rushing Success

Oklahoma RB Xavier Robinson Looking to Build on Breakout Game vs. Alabama

How Jackson Arnold Assured Brent Venables' Belief in Him as Oklahoma's QB