Oklahoma-Ole Miss Review: PFF Grades, Redshirt Report and More

Looking back at the game and diving into Pro Football Focus' grades and snap-count totals reveals even more about the Sooners' loss to Ole Miss.

Oct 26, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jackson Arnold (11) scrambles as Mississippi Rebels defensive Jared Ivey (15) pursues during the first half at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The Sooners are officially on a losing streak. 

Oklahoma dropped its third game in a row with a 26-14 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday in Oxford. The Sooners let it slip away after leading 14-10 at halftime. The deficit put OU at 4-4 overall this season and 1-4 in SEC play. 

“A lot of good things that we played to give ourselves a chance,” OU coach Brent Venables said postgame. “But the explosive plays were a killer and losing our rhythm on offense for three-plus quarters there. It’s just hard. It’s a good football team. They put a lot of pressure on you. They did a nice job of coming back out in the second half and playing winning football when they needed to. And we weren’t able to put things together like we were in the first half. That’s how the game went.”  

Here’s a look at some OU numbers – Pro Football Focus grades and snap counts – coming off the Sooners’ loss to Ole Miss. 

Pro Football Focus

Offensively, at least according to Pro Football Focus, this was OU’s best offensive performance since beating Auburn five weeks ago. It was the offense’s best grade in a loss at 57.4. 

The Sooners threw out their seventh different starting offensive line combo of the season in Jacob Sexton, Heath Ozaeta, Troy Everett, Febechi Nwaiwu and Michael Tarquin. Four of them played all 86 snaps: Ozaeta, Everett, Nwaiwu and Tarquin. Sexton, though, left the game twice because of an injury and never returned after the second time, totaling 29 snaps, according to PFF. In his place, Logan Howland played 57 snaps. 

Of the linemen, Tarquin received the best grade at 65.4, followed by Nwaiwu (64.5), Everett (60.4), Howland (54.4), Ozaeta (52.3) and Sexton (38.7), as the group gave a program-worst 10 sacks. According to PFF, Ozaeta and Howland were each responsible for two of those sacks. 

For the first time since Week 3 against Tulane, Jackson Arnold started and finished a game as QB1. PFF graded his performance at 55.6, which is his worst grade as a starter this season other than when he was pulled against Tennessee. 

Running back was the most successful offensive position, according to PFF. Jovantae Barnes and Taylor Tatum were the highest-graded offensive players at 68.7 and 67.1, respectively. Sam Franklin was also at No. 6 with a 61.6. Their snap distribution went Barnes (59), Tatum (23) and Franklin (5). 

Walk-on freshman Jacob Jordan was again the standout wide receiver with a grade of 63.4 while playing 63 snaps. Other receivers to get with snap count included Brenen Thompson (78), JJ Hester (72), Zion Kearney (13), Zion Ragins (9) and Ivan Carreon (8). 

Bauer Sharp was the most productive tight end with 71 snaps and a grade of 59.1, followed by Jake Roberts (27) and Kade McIntyre (1). 

Defensively, linebacker Danny Stutsman out-snapped everyone else with 63. Fellow linebackers Kip Lewis had 40, Dasan McCollough with 27, Trace Ford with 25, Kobie McKinzie with 24, Samuel Omosigho with nine and Lewis Carter with one. Ford also had the highest grade among all Sooners at 75.6. 

In the secondary, there was Billy Bowman Jr. (61), Eli Bowen (52), Robert Spears-Jennings (51), Kani Walker (32), Dezjhon Malone (30), Woodi Washington (29), Jacobe Johnson (6), Michael Boganowski (4) and Peyton Bowen (4). Overall, it was a low-performing group with no player earning a grade in the 70s. 

OU was strong up front, though, with Ethan Downs (75), Gracen Halton (74.4) and Jayden Jackson (72.4) surpassing that threshold. Snap count was widely distributed up front between R Mason Thomas (44), Da’Jon Terry (36), Halton (35), Downs (30), Jackson (29), Damonic Williams (27), Caiden Woullard (22), and Adepoju Adebawore (10). 

Redshirt Tracker

No one surpassed their redshirt limit on Saturday, but receiver Ivan Carreon did reach his four-game limit. It was also Jacob Jordan’s third appearance in a game, so he has one more contest to spare before burning his redshirt.