Oklahoma Sooners OC Ben Arbuckle kind of dances around a question everyone is wanting an answer to
Ben Arbuckle and the Sooners need to fix the offense.
The Oklahoma Sooners have a subpar offense, and at times, it can be even worse. The good thing is, they may have the best defense in the country. The offense looked good at the beginning of the season, but, of course, that was against much weaker opponents. Those teams were either FCS programs or FBS programs at the lower level.
Ever since the Sooners have played against the Power Four level this season, they have struggled in the passing game, the run game, or both. Against Power Four schools, it feels like they haven’t had a passing game at all. You can say they did well against the Auburn Tigers and Michigan Wolverines, but that was at the beginning of the season.
They have completely abandoned the deep ball or stretching the field. Why is that?
“Every aspect of an offense is important. At the end of the day, throwing the ball down the field it can be a few things. Maybe I need to call better plays, John’s gotta hit it, or we need to make catches,” offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle told reporters on Tuesday when asked about the downfield game.
“We have to continue to find the best ways to put our kids into positions to be successful. We have to practice it, rep it, and demand it in order to generate explosive plays.”
Sooners’ offense needs to get hot now before it’s too late
It seems like Arbuckle never truly answered the question — why have they gone away from those types of shots down the field? He stated what goes into it, not why they have actually stopped. It’s like they aren’t even calling plays with deep routes anymore. To me, this feels like a lack of confidence in John Mateer, whether that be because of the hand injury or something else.
The Sooners have been a running team over the last few weeks, aside from last week’s struggles. That seems to be the closest thing they have to an identity. On offense, Oklahoma plays not to lose.
They play not to turn the ball over. That’s all fine and dandy, but it won’t continue to win you football games when you play some of the elite teams you are destined to play in the College Football Playoffs. Oklahoma has too many good pieces on its roster on that side of the ball to play the way it does. Not only that, but its offensive line is playing amazingly right now, with the combination of the three freshmen playing lights out.
With Isaiah Sategna’s and even Deion Burks’ speed, there is no reason not to be throwing the ball deep, other than that Mateer just isn’t comfortable with that yet. Maybe he can start taking some shots downfield against the Missouri and LSU Tigers.
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