New Mexico HC Jason Eck may have just slipped up when talking about the Oklahoma Sooners and their offense
The Oklahoma Sooners are ready to get their offense back on track this weekend against the New Mexico Lobos.
The Oklahoma Sooners were embarrassed by Michigan last week. But they have a great opportunity ahead. They get to play the New Mexico Lobos in Week 3, with a chance to fix their offense. They’ll need to do it before facing the Georgia Bulldogs in Week 4.
But that’s just the thing. The offense was terrible last week. It was good in Week 1. That was against the UTEP Miners, though. Last week, they were terrible and completely reverted to what they were last season. And it appears New Mexico knows that. It feels like their head coach, Jason Eck, slipped up a bit when asked about OU as a team. And, you honestly can’t blame him.
“Very talented team,” Eck started. “They are the most talented team we will see on our schedule. They have an exceptional defense. Exceptional special teams. And they are very good on offense as well.”
The thing is, he seemed to hesitate on that last part. And, we all know why—the offense stinks. Regardless. This is a good opportunity for the Sooners to change that.
Oklahoma Sooners should win pretty handily on Saturday, or something is very wrong
This schedule won’t get any easier. After playing the Lobos, the Sooners start the toughest SEC schedule in the country. So, they have to use this opportunity wisely. They should win this game fairly easily. Then again, last week was so bad that you can’t rule anything out. But, at the same time, Eck knows exactly what this is. He knows exactly what Saturday is.
“They’re gonna be a challenge… we’re definitely stepping up in class,” Eck told reporters. “It’s kinda like we’ve been going to, like, fast food restaurants to eat. Now, all of a sudden, we got an invite to the nicest steakhouse in town. And you’re checking your wallet to make sure you have enough to cover it cause you don’t want to be embarrassed. I think the big thing we got to be ready for, we got to be ready to respond to adversity.
“Oklahoma is going to create some adversity for us. We got to respond the right way when that happens and not flinch if the momentum swings against you because if you flinch, you know, those games can become ugly really quick. You got to make sure you respond the right way. You hang in there, weather those storms, and come back. So, I think that’s going to be a critical message for our team this week.”
Through their first two games, New Mexico’s defense has been outstanding, allowing just seven points per game, 152 total yards per game, 83.5 passing yards, and 68.5 rushing yards on average. The Lobos have forced five turnovers and haven’t given the ball away once. Their defensive success isn’t just due to lopsided scores, either. Against Central Michigan, they held the Chippewas to only 149 total yards and a mere 30 passing yards.
On offense, New Mexico has been equally impressive running the football. The Lobos are averaging 246 rushing yards per game, ranking 22nd in the nation. They run on about 62% of their offensive plays and average 4.7 yards per carry. The Sooners’ defense will need to be stout up front to slow them down. All in all, this is a “get right game” for the Sooners.
