Oklahoma-SMU: Three Keys to the Game

Contain SMU’s talent ... Push the envelope ... Fix the kicks
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Contain SMU’s talent

The Mustangs have some good players.

Wide receiver Jordan Hudson, who scored SMU’s first touchdown of the season last week in a 38-14 win over Louisiana Tech on a 67-yard pass, was once committed to Oklahoma. Running back Jaylan Knighton was also committed to OU, and he ran for 64 yards last week. Running back Camar Wheaton, who ran for 322 yards and three touchdowns at SMU last year after redshirting with a knee injury at Alabama, was a 5-star recruit who almost chose OU but didn’t play last week because of a suspension for violating team rules (attendance). Running back L.J. Johnson, who began his career at Texas A&M, rushed for 128 yards and a TD last week, including a 67-yard run.

The offensive line added portal transfers from Texas, Miami, Notre Dame and Texas A&M. The list goes on.

SMU has the kind of talent that Arkansas State didn’t last week, and when a handful of opportunities arose, the Red Wolves couldn’t cash them in (evidenced by three dropped passes and a handful of missed throws that could have produced points).

SMU will. OU’s defense needs to minimize the busts, and when the Ponies score, the Sooners’ offense needs to muster a response.

Push the envelope

The Sooner defense didn’t really go out of its way to rush the passer last week. Arkansas State schemed for it, adding blockers, running minimal receivers on pass routes and utilizing quick throws all day. OU finished with two quarterback hurries and one late sack on a scramble.

But it wasn’t like Brent Venables didn’t try. The Sooners blitzed 52 percent of ASU’s drop-backs (14 of 27), according to Pro Football Focus, and those varied from jailbreaks with three linebackers rushing to more conservative blitzes with just one safety.

Red Wolves QB J.T. Shrout completed just 5-of-13 passes when blitzed, and the Arkansas State offense posted a 48.5 PFF grade on downs OU blitzed.

This week, SMU quarterback Preston Stone will set up behind three returning starters from last year, plus all those portal additions, and hope to deliver the ball quickly. Oklahoma will probably blitz about the same percentage, so causing confusion in the front wall and making Stone hesitate will be big.

Fix the kicks

Last week, kicker Zach Schmit didn’t miss — meaning he put all his placekicks (eight extra points and a 21-yard field goal) through the uprights. But Schmit didn’t strike the ball particularly well all day. Two kicks spun through on a sideways trajectory. Another slid just inside the upright. Two more tested the boundary. And these were all short kicks.

Bottom line, Oklahoma is going to need Schmit to make some important kicks this year, and he needs to find his rhythm — especially with a new snapper and new holder — if he’s going to start striking the ball with some consistency.

Schmit missed six field goals last year, and the Sooners could have used every one of them.

If he doesn’t find that rhythm and start hitting the ball with the usual regularity, then it may be time to take a longer look at backup Gavin Marshall — who looked smooth and confident on his two extra points last week.



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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.