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Oklahoma 2023 Report Cards: Solid D-Line Play Leads to Production, But Few Sacks

The Sooners' interior defensive line unit helped the team rank inside the top 10 in a few defensive categories, but had trouble getting pressure on the quarterback in 2023.

Randall Sweet

Oklahoma 2023 Report Cards: Solid D-Line Play Leads to Production, But Few Sacks
Oklahoma 2023 Report Cards: Solid D-Line Play Leads to Production, But Few Sacks /
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Oklahoma’s defensive tackles were solid in year number two under Brent Venables and Todd Bates, but didn’t take control of games the way OU fans hoped they would.

With a few additions in the second year under Bates, a proven defensive line coach, observers felt that Oklahoma’s defensive front had the potential to be much better than it was in 2022. 

While the group certainly improved from their first year in Venables’ system, Bates’ position room will need to take another step forward over the offseason as the Sooners head into the SEC.

Despite not making huge plays consistently throughout the season, OU’s interior d-line was solid all year and was seldom a noticeable weak point.

As a whole, Oklahoma’s defense gave up plenty of yards in 2023, with opposing offenses averaging nearly 5.5 yards per play and over 389 yards per game. While this is not entirely on Bates’ group, the Sooners’ interior unit rarely came up with a big play to stop opposing offenses once they started to get into rhythm.

2023 Oklahoma Report Cards

Specifically, against Kansas, OU’s defensive line struggled to get off of blocks and allowed Jason Bean and the Jayhawks to run for 225 yards and four touchdowns while averaging nearly five and half yards per carry.

At times, however, Oklahoma’s interior defensive line made big plays that helped keep the Sooners’ in contention. Against Texas, Jacob Lacey came up with a huge sack on Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers that ended up forcing UT to settle for a field goal, giving Dillon Gabriel and company one more shot to win the game.

Additionally, OU’s defensive front helped lead the charge on a handful of goal-line stands this season, most notably against Texas and West Virginia. Although the Sooners’ couldn’t pull off a Bedlam victory, the Oklahoma d-line helped stop Oklahoma State on fourth and short as well.

Led by individual standouts like Da'Jon Terry and Isaiah Coe, Bates’ unit had good depth in 2023 and rotated a handful of players. In addition to the aforementioned duo, Lacey, Jordan Kelley, Gracen Halton and Jonah Laulu all saw their fair share of time on the field this season.

2023 REPORT CARD - DT
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Lacey played the most out of the Sooners' interior defensive lineman, tallying 385 snaps. Coe, at 355, and Terry, at 306, were the only other players in Bates' group to play over 300 snaps. 

Kelly, who saw action in 299 plays, and Laulu, who earned 279 snaps, were the only other interior defensive lineman to see more than 100 snaps. Halton played 91 snaps with Kelvin Gilliam playing 47, Ashton Sanders playing 19 and Markus Strong earning two snaps this season.

Coe, who led the group in tackles with 26, also had the highest PFF grade of OU’s interior unit, grading out at 81.6 and ranking No. 22 out of every interior defensive player PFF graded in 2023. Terry, who earned a 76.2 PFF grade, had the most tackles for loss out of the Sooners’ interior unit with four on the season.

Halton also finished with a 76.2 PFF grade while Kelley recorded a 75.4 grade. Laulu finished the 2023 season with a 68.9 grade and Lacey notched a grade of 60.7, according to PFF.

As a group, Oklahoma’s interior defensive lineman finished the season with 102 tackles, 19 tackles for loss and four sacks. The Sooners' defense ranked No. 7 in the nation in tackles for loss as a team in 2023, aided in large part by the efforts of Bates’ interior defensive line unit.

With Coe, Kelley and Laulu out of eligibility and Gilliam transferring to Virginia Tech, young players like Strong and Sanders will have a chance to earn more time on the field. Additionally, the Sooners’ have an extremely talented duo of true freshman entering the fold in 2024 as former IMG Academy teammates Jayden Jackson and David Stone are set to enroll in January.

Fortunately for Bates and company, Terry, Lacey and Halton should all be back in 2024, helping the Sooners field a veteran defensive front during their inaugural SEC season. 

AllSooners DT Grades

  • Hoover: C+
  • Chapman: C+
  • Sweet: B
  • Lovelace: B-
Published
Randall Sweet
RANDALL SWEET

Randall is a recruiting analyst and staff writer at AllSooners focusing primarily on OU Football and the recruiting trail. Working as a journalist, Randall has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and high school sports across the state. A 2022 University of Oklahoma graduate, Randall hails from Lubbock, TX. While in college, Sweet wrote for the OU Daily in addition to working with Sooner Sports Pad and OU Nightly. Following his time at OU, Sweet served as the Communications Coordinator at Visit Oklahoma City before leaving to join the team at AllSooners. The West Texas native has bylines in the Norman Transcript and is a Staff Writer for Inside the Thunder. Randall holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. 

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