Oklahoma Working to 'Pepper the Rock' to Get Back to Forcing Turnovers vs. Maine

The OU defense hasn't generated a takeaway over the last two games, a trend the Sooners hope to reverse against the Maine Black Bears.

Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart runs the ball as Oklahoma Sooners defensive lineman Caiden Woullard makes the tackle. / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

NORMAN — Oklahoma’s defense is hoping to reverse a trend on Saturday. 

The Sooners failed to force a turnover two weeks ago against South Carolina, and the only takeaway of the game against Ole Miss came when receiver J.J. Hester dislodged the football to erase OU’s own fumble. 

With the FCS’s Maine Black Bears (4-4, 2-3 CAA) coming to town, Oklahoma (4-4, 1-4 SEC) needs to help its offense out to get some swagger back on the defensive side of the football ahead of the Sooners’ final three conference games in November. 

“We need to force turnovers,” OU coach Brent Venables said on Tuesday. “… That's a formula for success and how you win, you force turnovers, you complement, you know, each other and give the offense a short field.”

Maine will give the Sooners chances to take the ball away come 11 a.m. on Saturday. 

The Black Bears have fumbled 12 times this year, losing five of those to the opposition, and quarterback Carter Peevy has thrown four picks in 2024.

Despite the dry spell over the last two weeks, OU is still tied for 19th in the country, having forced 15 turnovers. Nine of those takeaways have been fumble recoveries while the Oklahoma secondary has picked off opposing quarterbacks six times. 

And while the defense can’t play outside the structure of each specific play to generate big plays, linebacker Kip Lewis said the defense has to be prepared to make the Black Bears pay if mistakes happen. 

“We gotta get more in tune with the details,” Lewis said Monday. “Opportunities show up, we gotta take 'em and not waste 'em and be able to capitalize on 'em.”

Amidst OU’s offensive struggles, the defense has put immense pressure on its own shoulders to hand the ball over with a short field or outright score.

Lewis’ pick-six turned the tide against Auburn, and while plays like that can’t be counted on every week, the Sooners believe they can be more aggressive throughout practice to put themselves in better positions to force turnovers come Saturday. 

“We were just talking about it too and the weeks prior to that because we knew we had to (force) some turnovers,” defensive end R Mason Thomas said. “… We were on fire at the beginning (of the year) and then we haven't been, we've been losing the turnover margin these past couple weeks, so it's been a big emphasis on peppering the rock, getting the ball back to our offense.”

Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart did an excellent job of taking care of the football last week, but the Sooners were able to limit Lane Kiffin’s high-powered attack. 

If OU can replicate the same intensity it played with in the first half against the Rebels, the defense believes it can get back on track before rolling into Missouri.

“We played really good in the first half,” Lewis said. “Gotta stay strong and make sure we have competitive stamina throughout the game and just keep competing throughout the game and making sure we get better on our details.”