This Time, the Defense Will Have to Carry Oklahoma

The Sooners have been offensive-oriented for a generation, but now that offense is struggling and the OU defense must carry the standard.

Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold (11) against Houston / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

NORMAN — With Lincoln Riley on the West Coast and 13 percent of the National Football League starters populated by former Oklahoma quarterbacks, maybe it was just a matter of time before the OU defense finally surpassed the OU offense.

But no one could have predicted it would happen like this.

Through two games — two supposedly easy ones at that — the Sooners rank 108th in the nation in total offense (313.5 yards per game), 109th in passing offense (166.0 yards per game), 79th in rushing offense (147.5 yards per game), 57th in scoring offense (33.5 points per game) and 72nd in passing efficiency (137.2 rating).

Most glaringly, Oklahoma ranks 131st in the nation in third down efficiency, converting just 19.2 percent of the time.

Meanwhile, OU is 35th in total defense (257.5 yards per game), 15th in rushing defense (63.5 yards per game), 67th in passing defense (194.0 yards per game), 15th in scoring defense (7.5 points per game) and 36th in third-down defense (28.6 percent conversion rate).

The narrative on OU football has flipped 180 degrees from just two years ago, and certainly over the last 15, and what’s been true through one-sixth of the regular season will probably be true through November: the OU defense is going to have to carry this team, no matter how bad the OU offense plays.

Can that take a toll on a defense?

“Absolutely not,” said linebacker Danny Stutsman. “If we’re gonna be the defense that we say we want to be, then we have to be ready for this moment. We have to have the broad shoulders to take on stuff like that. Defense wins championships, and that’s what we’re prepared to do.”

“I tell them all the time, no matter what happens, we control what we can control,” said defensive coordinator Zac Alley. “Whether the (game is) one second left with one yard to go or it’s the first play of the first quarter, our standard doesn’t change, how we play, how we perform. 

“You tell me we get to go win the game on defense? Good. That’s what I want. That’s how I want to think, that’s how I want to do.”

That happened in Saturday’s 16-12 win over Houston as the OU offense didn’t produce points on its final eight possessions and was actually outscored 2-0 by the defense in the second half. Gracen Halton’s safety in the final minutes all but ensured victory.

“We got an opportunity to go stop them right now and then we do,” Alley said. “We get the safety right there and then come back, had to do it again. They never wavered and I was proud of them for that.”

“It was huge. They won the game for us,” said quarterback Jackson Arnold. “Everyone will tell you that. They won the game for us tonight. Super proud of those guys. That’s a defense that we had to go against in spring, so we know how it is. We know how good those guys are.”

Arnold was the frontman for an offense had no identity and showed no particular strength. Against a Houston defense that gave up 27 points and almost 200 yards on the ground, Oklahoma couldn’t run, couldn’t pass, couldn’t block and only had one sustained touchdown drive.

“Just a bad night in general,” Arnold said. “A lot of mistakes. A lot of sloppiness. A lot of misses by me. Stuff we’ve gotta get better at and improve on this next week.”

“You can't win games like that,” Halton said. “Offense gotta score some touchdowns, we gotta make some good stops on defense. But, I mean, it's a good feeling that we know that we got the guys that can do that.”

Offensive coordinator Seth Littrell is working through a bottleneck of injuries at wide receiver and more ailments on an offensive line that already lost all five starters from last year. So right now, he’s probably having a hard time figuring out what the strengths and weaknesses of the unit are as a whole as well as those of each individual player.

“I don't know if there's one glaring area we have to get — well, yeah, there is. It's third down,” Littrell said. “So you've got to be able to stay on the field, move the chains in order to have success. You can move the ball, you can get in the rhythm, but if you're not consistent enough within a drive to continue to move the chains, then it's going to be hard. 

“And the other thing is, when you take your opportunities down the field, at times, you have to make those opportunities work and you've got to get off the field right there with touchdowns. You're not going to always be consistent going on 14-, 15-play drives. You've got to be explosive and I don't think we've been near explosive as up to date.” 

Tulane comes to town this week looking to do what the Green Wave nearly did in 2021: score a major upset. After that, No. 7-ranked Tennessee brings its fearsome defense and high-flying offense to Owen Field.

If the defense has to carry the weight of the world until the offense gets it figured out, that’s just the way it has to be.

“For me, I feel like it's just a mindset that we have,” said cornerback Woodi Washington. “Every time we go out there, we're just itching to get a stop. We've got to get the ball back for the offense and I think we do a great job of that.”

“If that comes down to it, then that’s what it is,” Stutsman said. “But there’s gonna be times where we’re gonna struggle, and we have full faith in the offense, they’re gonna have our backs. That’s why it’s a team sport. Complementary football.

“We’re a team so that doesn’t bother us at all. Every time we get an opportunity to go out on the field, that’s a good thing in our minds — another chance to get a sack, another chance to get a TFL, another chance to get an interception, so we’re excited, man, and we take a win however we can get it because there’s going to be a game where they bail us out and vice versa, because it’s a team sport.

“I wish every single game could be a blowout, but that’s just not how it goes.”