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Oklahoma-Texas Review: PFF Grades, NCAA Stats and More

Looking back at the game and diving into Pro Football Focus' grades and snap-count totals reveals even more about the Sooners win over the Longhorns.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma-Texas Review: PFF Grades, NCAA Stats and More
Oklahoma-Texas Review: PFF Grades, NCAA Stats and More /
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Halfway through the 2023 season, Oklahoma has already reached its win total from the entirety of 2022.

Brent Venables’ rebuild — of the defense, of the culture, of the mindset — has clearly taken root, and now seems to be spreading like wildfire.

“We're better in every area,” Venables said. “And we're not where we want to be. But this is the next step.”

The next step was beating Texas, 34-30, in an instant classic in the Cotton Bowl. Dillon Gabriel breathed late life into the Oklahoma offense with a 75-yard drive in 62 seconds and threw the game-winning touchdown to Nic Anderson with just 15 seconds left on the clock.

Now the Sooners’ reward is a much-deserved open date before resuming the schedule next Saturday with a Big 12 Conference game in Norman against UCF. The Big 12 announced Monday morning that game will kick off at 11 a.m.

Here’s a look at some OU numbers — NCAA statistics and Pro Football Focus grades and snap counts — coming off yet another impressive victory against the Longhorns:

NCAA Statistics

Playing Texas this year isn’t like playing Tulsa or Arkansas State. After the Longhorns put 30 points on the scoreboard (7 from the special teams) and 527 yards of offense in the ledger, the Sooners’ previously stellar defensive rankings took a hit.

OU dropped to 50th in total defense (352.8 yards per game) and 11th in scoring defense (14.0 points per game). The Sooners enter the halfway point of the season ranked 84th against the pass (239.2 yards per game) and 31st against the run (113.7 yards per game). The pass defense ranks 25th in the nation in efficiency rating.

On offense, a solid day against Texas supported OU’s fast start to the season. The Sooners are fourth nationally in scoring offense (45.2 points per game) and No. 6 in total offense (506 yards per game), and rank 56th in rushing offense (164.8 yards per game) and sixth in passing offense (341.2 yards per game). OU also ranks No. 6 in team pass efficiency rating (181.59).

After picking off Quinn Ewers twice, Oklahoma still leads the nation in interceptions by the defense (12), and after forcing and recovering a Ewers fumble, the Sooners are up to No. 2 nationally in both takeaways gained (15) and turnover margin (+1.83 per game).

On offense, Jeff Lebby’s unit is No. 2 in the nation in total first downs (164), and ranks No. 7 in completion percentage (.733). OU also still leads the nation in blocked punts (2, both by Peyton Bowen), but now ranks 105th in blocked punts allowed (1).

In the area coaches wanted to see the most improvement — third down conversion percentage on both offense and defense — the Sooners are No. 9 in the nation on offense (.519) and No. 12 in the nation on defense (.289).

Pro Football Focus

Four players played all 82 snaps on offense: right tackle Tyler Guyton, center Andrew Raym and left tackle Walter Rouse, and quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

Wide receivers Jalil Farooq (79) and Drake Stoops (77) were next, followed by right guard McKade Mettauer (73), who left with an injury to his left leg in the fourth quarter. Tight end Austin Stogner got 65 snaps, and left guard Cayden Green came in for Troy Everett and played 57. (Everett played 25.) Wideout Andrel Anthony played 55 before leaving with an undisclosed injury, and running back Tawee Walker played 50.

Wideout Nic Anderson, who caught the game-winning touchdown pass on his only reception of the day, played 33 snaps. Running back Marcus Major (27), wideout Jayden Gibson (14), right guard Caleb Shaffer (9), running back Gavin Sawchuk (5) and wideout Gavin Freeman (5) closed out the 18 players who got offensive snaps.

A total of 23 players received snaps on defense for the Sooners, led by linebackers Danny Stutsman (79) and Jaren Kanak (77) and cornerback Woodi Washington (76). Safety Billy Bowman (69) and defensive end Ethan Downs (60) were next, followed by cornerback Gentry Williams and safety Reggie Pearson (51 each). Defensive end Rondell Bothroyd (50), safety Key Lawrence (45), cornerback Kendel Dolby and cheetah linebacker Dasan McCullough (42 each) were next.

The Sooners played 12 defensive linemen, including tackle Isaiah Coe (37), tackle Jordan Kelley (36), tackle Jacob Lacey (34), tackle Da’Jon Terry (28) and end Trace Ford (21). Safety Peyton Bowen (17), defensive tackle Jonah Laulu (15), defensive ends P.J. Adebawore (14), Marcus Stripling (11) and R Mason Thomas (10) played double-digit snaps. Linebacker Kip Lewis played only three snaps but got a tackle on the Sooners’ goal-line stand, and defensive tackle Gracen Halton played one snap.

Against by far the best defensive front seven the Sooners have faced this season, no offensive lineman posted a PFF grade higher than 63.0. Rouse graded at 63.0, Raym at 58.6, Shaffer at 56.0, Everett at 55.1, Green 54.5, Guyton 51.6 and Mettauer 50.1. A week after OU posted some of its best o-line grades of the season against Iowa State, Texas’ front just made everything a challenge for the OU blockers.

Gabriel, however, posted a grade of 87.9 overall, including an 86.4 on pass plays and 69.7 on run plays.

Farooq (74.4) and Freeman (73.3) posted strong grades, as did Anthony (66.3) and Walker (66.2). Anderson (59.1) and Stoops (59.0) were next, followed by Sawchuk (58.0) and Gibson (55.2). Stogner posted a grade of 55.1, meaning every Sooner had an overall winning grade against the Longhorns on offense.

On defense, Bowen posted the highest overall grade (80.1), followed by McCullough (75.2), who made two tackles on the goal line stand. Lewis (72.9), Washington (71.8), Kelley (70.8), Downs (70.2) and Coe (70.2) all posted strong grades. Williams (69.9), Terry (68.8), Bowman (65.1), Adebawore (63.4), Lacey (63.1), Stutsman (62.2), Thomas (61.3) and Halton (60.0). Six other defenders posted grades of 51.0 or better, and only one was below 50.

One true freshman played offensive snaps (Green), while two played on defense (Bowen and Adebawore) and at least four others (Jaquaize Pettaway, Jacobe Johnson, Lewis Carter, Sammy Omosigho) played on special teams (PFF’s special teams report wasn’t posted as this story was compiled).

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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.

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