Oklahoma Sooners defense puts on a masterclass against the Tennessee Volunteers in SEC opener
The Brent Venables defense has finally arrived to Norman, Oklahoma. They had played well in the first three games, but their performance against Tennessee signaled to all just how ready the defense was. The Sooners held a Volunteers' offense that was averaging almost 64 points a game to just 25. Tennessee averaged 336.3 rushing yards […]
The Brent Venables defense has finally arrived to Norman, Oklahoma. They had played well in the first three games, but their performance against Tennessee signaled to all just how ready the defense was.
The Sooners held a Volunteers' offense that was averaging almost 64 points a game to just 25. Tennessee averaged 336.3 rushing yards per game and the Sooners held them to 151 despite a run-heavy offense throughout much of the game. Overall, an offense that averaged 639.3 yards per game barely had half of that against Oklahoma.
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The Oklahoma Sooners hired Zac Alley to serve as defensive coordinator this past offseason, replacing Ted Roof. Alley came over from Jacksonville State, where he helped coordinate one of the best defenses in college football last season. Alley's prior relationship with Brent Venables and success elsewhere earned him the trust of Venables, who turned over […]
Oklahoma harassed Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava all night and made him uncomfortable, taking away his first read often and forcing errant throws. Outside of one deep ball to start the game, Iamaleava and Tennessee had to earn their yards the hard way. The Sooners buttoned up much of Josh Heupel's offense throughout the game.
Tennessee had punted just twice in their first three games. Against Oklahoma? They had to punt eight times.
The Vols boasted a season-wide 52.7% success rate, 11th in the country. Oklahoma dropped that tally to 30% Saturday night.
With Oklahoma's efforts came great reward. The Sooners forced two fumbles and sacked Iamaleava three times. Oklahoma also boasted nine tackles for loss on the night.
To put this performance in perspective, Oklahoma's offense averaged 1.1 yards per rush, turned the ball over three times, allowed a safety, had -19 yards in the second quarter, and scored three points by the start of the fourth quarter….and the game was winnable until the very end thanks to their performance.
The offense flat-out stunk against the Vols. There are other words I could use to describe their performance, but none of those are entirely professional. Despite some late-game heroics when freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins came in, the offense playing the way it did led to Oklahoma losing that game.
However, if I'm Brent Venables and Sooners' fans, I'd be content with one result: the defense proved it belonged in the SEC Saturday night.
