Oklahoma-Houston Video Review: Why Was the OU Offense So Bad?

The Houston Cougars were four-touchdown underdogs but pushed the Sooners to the limit and forced the OU defense to make winning plays.

Oklahoma Sooners offensive linemen Jake Taylor (79), Febechi Nwaiwu (54), Joshua Bates (64), Jacob Sexton (76) and Michael Tarquin (far right). / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

Oklahoma avoided a disastrous loss on Saturday, but the win merely papered over some alarming flaws in this Sooner team.

OU was a 27.5-point favorite, but held just a two-point lead with 1:42 to play thanks to some lasting deficiencies by Seth Littrell’s offense. But a safety by defensive tackle Gracen Halton gave the Sooners a 16-12 lead and the football — and a win that Brent Venables said his team did not deserve.

This week, OU is back home against Tulane. The Green Wave had a double-digit lead at halftime of their 34-27 loss to Kansas State on Saturday, and was throwing into the end zone on the final play of the game. Sooner Nation might have flashbacks to Tulane’s 2021 visit to Norman, when the Green Wave — coached by now-Houston coach Willie Fritz — recovered a late onside kick and nearly pulled off the stunner.

A week after that, OU begins SEC play as No. 7 Tennessee — up seven spots in this week’s AP Top 25 — and Sooner legend Josh Heupel return to Norman on Sept. 21. That’s daunting.

Here’s Sooners On SI’s video review of the Houston game:

FIRST QUARTER

Boy, the Sooners’ first possession portends bad tidings, doesn’t it? Jet sweep to Deion Burks gets tossed for a loss of 6 (was that a tribute to Jeff Lebby?), followed by a run up the middle to Gavin Sawchuk for no gain, followed by pressure on Jackson Arnold and a short completion to Bauer Sharp for 5 yards. It’s a three-and-out, but it turns out great for Oklahoma — Luke Elzinga hammers a 54-yard punt and the ball takes a funny bounce. Officials think it hit Houston return man Mekhi Mews’ right hand (it didn’t), and Lewis Carter pounces on it at the Cougars’ 10-yard line. After a replay review, Arnold executes a play-action fake and fires a quick back-side slant to Brenen Thompson and, after Tyler Keltner’s PAT, the Sooners lead 7-0. It’s a good route by Thompson and a good throw by Arnold and a quick lead for OU. Turns out, a touchdown that Brent Venables calls “gift-wrapped” will be fool’s gold.

Danny Stutsman doesn’t waste any time on Houston’s first possession, breaking into the backfield on a handoff up the middle to knock Re’Shaun Sanford for a 1-yard loss. But that’s a little fool’s gold, too, as Donovan Smith hits a couple of short throws for 9-yard gains, then gets Woodi Washington climbing over Joseph Manjack on a 12-yard pass interference penalty. The Cougars push downfield with gains of 10 yards, 8 yards and 21 yards, but Damonic Williams, over the nose on a three-man front, shucks his blocker like an old towel and throws Smith for a 5-yard loss on third down, bringing on Joseph Kim for a 43-yard field goal to make it 7-3. Houston converts two third downs on the drive, including a nice escape by Smith for a 21-yard pickup. There’s too much about this drive that looks like OU defenses of the last 10 years.

OU’s third possession begins as the broadcast team calls him “Jackson Allen.” On the previous possession, they called him “Jackson Dart.” We’re waiting on “Jackson Five” and “Jackson Hole.” Arnold starts the drive with a read option gain for 7 yards and a short throw to Jovantae Barnes for 9, but his throw over the middle goes through Deion Burks’ hands, and Arnold overthrows Thompson badly on a deep post over the middle. Maybe when he starts hitting those throws a little more consistently, announcers will remember his name.

OU gets a break on the next Houston drive, as Smith connects over the middle with Devan Williams for 36 yards, but the play is negated by a holding penalty. The Cougars still pick up 15 on a screen pass from Smith to Sanford, but he steps out 2 yards short of the marker and Houston has to punt.

Billy Bowman twists and leans back to catch the punt — always an ill-advised technique — and now the Sooners’ special teams maladies have begun. A swing pass to Barnes gains 2, and then Barnes finishes the quarter with his best run of the day, a fast, powerful dash through the middle for a gain of 13.

SECOND QUARTER

Thompson breaks free on a deep ball across the middle as Arnold executes another play action and Thompson is open behind his man. It’s OU’s deepest completion of the day, 33 yards. Burks catches what looks like an RPO throw from Arnold on a quick slant to the right and gains 11 to pick up the first down. Arnold then gets away on a 6-yard scramble out of trouble and down the right sideline, and two plays later, after an OU timeout, Arnold completes a third-and-2 pass to Jake Roberts for the touchdown. Roberts, a Norman kid back after playing at North Texas and Baylor, sneaks through undetected as the inside tight end on the left side of a three-tight end formation and is wide open behind the defense. It’s 14-3 with 12:28 on the clock, and this feels like another easy blowout is brewing.

The next possession starts horribly for cornerback Gentry Williams, who gets tangled — and beat deep — in one-on-one coverage, and he lands on his surgically repaired right shoulder. Danny Stutsman erases Parker Jenkins for no gain on a thundering hit, then tackles Jenkins again for a 1-yard gain to force another punt.

This time, Peyton Bowen is on the return, and he zig-zags through traffic for a 20-yard punt return. Burks grabs a 4-yard pass to start the drive, and after a 1-yard run by Sawchuk, Arnold hits Burks on another quick slant on the right side for a 15-yard gain. That’s nearly the last positive for the offense in the first half as Sawchuk gets thrown down for no gain and Arnold gets sacked for a loss of four. Arnold hits Sharp over the middle for another 15-yard gain, but the ball comes loose with a double collision and Sharp spinning, and it’s ruled incomplete. Elzinga drops a 33-yarder to the 10-yard line.

Sammy Omosigho shows how advanced he is when the Cougars come out and change the formation, the motion back to his side of the field. Omosigho has the outlet covered, and Smith has to scramble for 4 yards. Cougs punt again as Lewis Carter and Robert Spears-Jennings make back-to-back tackles for minimal gains, although the third-down run by Stacy Sneed is literally shoved backward by Jayden Jackson.

Bowen fails to catch a simple punt return, however, as it hits him in the facemask. OU quickly picks up a first down on Arnold’s rollout throw to Zion Ragins on the right side, an absolutely beautiful toss that picks up 14 yards. But Arnold badly under throws Thompson deep down the left side then gets taken down for a 1-yard loss as Carlos Allen twirls around Febechi Nwaiwu. On third down, Arnold has Ragins behind the defense down the right sideline, but Arnold puts the ball well out of bounds as he heads to the sideline, takes his helmet off and slams it. Elzinga’s 45-yard punt pushes Mews back inside the 5, and Jaydan Harry and Spears-Jennings combine on a punishing hit at the 4.

Backed up on their goal line, Houston gets nothing as R Mason Thomas, Kobie McKinzie and Spears-Jennings deliver forceful tackles — the last one leaving Spears-Jennings on the ground with a dinged shoulder. Sneed almost sneaks away for a 7-yard run, but the Cougs have to punt again.

In a growing theme, Oklahoma starts with great field position — this time at the Houston 46 — but Arnold throws incomplete to Burks into double coverage, watches Thompson drop a quick screen, then scrambles out of good protection but can’t connect with Ragins in bounds. Elzinga’s punt goes 46 yards into the end zone, his only mistake of the night.

On a 77-second scoring drive that starts at the Houston 20, Sneed pokes the center of the OU defense for 5 yards, then skates through again on a cutback for 16 yards. That was Houston’s longest play before Smith fires across the middle to a completely uncovered Stephon Johnson for 23. Quick pickups of 7 and 4 yards as Smith picks apart the OU defense eventually produce a 44-yard field goal by Kim, who cuts it to 14-6 as the half expires. It’s just enough to leave the Sooner defense feeling like it has a long way to go.

THIRD QUARTER

Kip Lewis goes down on the first play of the second half, a 7-yard swing pass from Smith to Jayden York. It looks like Lewis has sustained some kind of shoulder injury as he was blasted in the right shoulder by Kani Walker. On third-and-2, Sneed slices and spins for an 8-yard run through the middle of the OU defense, but on the next play, Woodi Washington hauls in a one-handed interception in coverage with Manjack. Washington has both hands on Manjack’s shoulders, then quickly lets go and catches the ball. He’s flagged for interference, and the Sooners are sleepwalking on the next play, a 44-yard deep ball from Smith to Manjack. Kani Walker thought the defense was in quarters coverage, meaning the safety is supposed to have the deep right hash. Instead, Spears-Jennings thought they were in cover-3, meaning he thought Walker had the sideline, and he stayed with the slot receiver. Venables later said it was quarters. Smith’s 2-point conversion pass is too high and out of the end zone, and it’s 14-12.

On second-and-8, Burks takes in a quick RPO throw from Arnold and makes a man miss for the first down. Bauer Sharp gets caught for a hold, but Arnold swings a pass to Barnes down the left sideline. Roberts catches a second-and-10 pass over the middle for 12 yards. Two plays to Barnes gain nothing, and on third-and-11, Arnold escapes on a draw play for a 13-yard gain. (Remember that one if you later offered your displeasure.) It was a promising drive, but Arnold hits a low point when he tries to connect with Burks on a deep post and Burks bends his route too vertical and drifts beyond the designed route. The ball is intercepted by Jeremiah Wilson. At first it looks like an awful throw, but slow-motion replays show that Burks didn’t run a disciplined route and Wilson cut underneath him.

Houston begins one of the most ridiculous drives you’ll ever see: 12 plays, 7 1/2 minutes, four first downs — and 20 yards. It results in a punt, but was still an eventful possession. Omosigho has a tackle for loss (somehow Sneed got away from Stutsman), Kendel Dolby has an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (another questionable call), and Gracen Halton has an 11-yard sack.

Taylor Tatum’s first carry of the night squirts for six yards, but Arnold is sacked for a loss of five as either Tatum or wideout Jaquaize Pettaway don’t pick up the middle linebacker. Arnold is under duress again on third-and-long as Ragins can’t get his hands under a desperate ball.

Lewis Carter destroys Mews for no gain on the punt return, and Houston starts with holding and personal foul penalties on two of its last three plays of the third quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER

Smith’s throw to Shoulders over the middle is jumped by Spears-Jennings, who makes an incredibly athletic interception.

But the OU offense once again does nothing with the big break and excellent field position as Barnes is swarmed by the left side of the Houston defense for a loss of 1 and Arnold can’t connect with Sharp on a quick throw that’s batted down at the line. On third down, Arnold takes off on a QB draw that gains 5 yards and draws boos from a frustrated crowd. It’s an ultra conservative call, but the hope was to get closer and go for it on fourth down. Then Tyler Keltner simply pulls his 45-yard field goal to the left, and the takeaway is nullified.

This is the third of what will be four straight Houston possessions on which the Cougars can take the lead with a field goal. Smith converts a third-and-1 with a sneak, but Spears-Jennings makes a huge solo stop on second-and-3, and and Kip Lewis stuffs Sanford for no gain on third-and-4 to force another punt.

The OU offense again fails to produce points — the Sooners have just 188 yards total offense at this point — but does set off on a drive that swallows six minutes off the clock, which is huge. Not until another ill-advised diving catch of the punt by Bowman. Arnold’s 9-yard connection to Burks over the middle moves the chains on third-and-8, and an offsides penalty by the Cougars on fourth-and-1 converts the first down. Two runs by Arnold and Barnes pick up 10 yards, but the Sooners net minus-1 yard on the next three plays as the blockers are overwhelmed three times by the UH defense — the last one on Houston’s third sack of the night as Barnes couldn’t hold up against Michael Batton’s sack. 

Stutsman might be the MVP with 15 tackles, and the game-winning play is coming up, but it’s Elzinga who might be the Sooners’ best player on the night as his 51-yard punt rolls untouched to the Houston 5-yard line and dies. On first down, Halton pushes his blocker with his right hand and spikes himself and  accelerates into the backfield, where he crashes in on Sneed in the end zone. At first it looks like Sneed’s forward momentum reached the field of play beyond the end zone, but replay can’t confirm it. Halton puts two points on the scoreboard and OU gets the ball back with 1:42 to play.

Bowman again has to make a desperation catch of the free kick — Venables said he looked like a freshman fielding balls in the air. Houston has three timeouts, but all OU has to do is run out 102 seconds. Barnes gets hammered for a short gain, but on second down, Arnold flips a quick throw over the middle to Roberts, who adjusts to a throw behind him and picks up 28 yards. It’s a bold and confident call by offensive coordinator Seth Littrell, and the players executed it perfectly. Barnes runs up the middle for 2 yards before Houston’s second timeout, then picks up 3 on second-and-8, forcing the Cougars to call their third timeout. With 52 seconds on the clock, Arnold takes a knee at 47 seconds, and as pushing and shoving ensues, Josh Bates is flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for removing his helmet. It’s an undisciplined and immature move that puts a scare into 80,000-plus and infuriates the OU coaching staff — and perhaps underscores where this team’s lack of game experience is exposed.

Instead of getting the ball back with just 2-3 seconds left, Houston gets it back with 29 seconds to play at its own 13-yard line. Smith works the sideline twice then picks up 14 and 19 before the clock expires.

It’s an alarming performance by Oklahoma and an anxiety-filled finish, but given the scope of what happened elsewhere in Week 2 in college football, it’s not a loss.

"We deserve to lose," Venables said.

Venables and his staff will have plenty of work to do this week for Tulane.