Oklahoma Sooners’ Week 4 game against the Auburn Tigers just got so much harder before their game vs. Temple was even over
The Oklahoma Sooners are going to be without R Mason Thomas for a portion of their game next week against Auburn.
On Saturday against the Temple Owls, the Oklahoma Sooners’ best defender in R Mason Thomas, was called for a targeting call on a late hit on the quarterback; he also led with the crown of his helmet and was ejected from the game. That means Thomas will miss the entire first half against the Auburn Tigers next week.
Week 4 against the Tigers is one of the biggest games of the entire season for the Sooners. Not only do they want to win their first SEC game of the year, which happens to be at home, but they also want to beat Jackson Arnold, who was their QB last year but transferred to the Tigers and is balling out as we speak. Now, that game just got instantly harder.
Sooners are going to be without elite pass and run defender in Thomas
I know what it looks like on the stat sheet – Thomas doesn’t really have anything crazy there through three games that would make him look like a great defender. If someone who hadn’t ever heard of him just looked at his stat sheet through three games, they may think he’s just another rotational guy. But Thomas is the best defender on the Sooners and had nine sacks last season.
Thomas was supposed to be due for a huge season this year, but because the defensive line is so good, and Thomas gets the bulk of the attention from other offensive lines with chips and double teams coming his way, everyone around him is eating, like David Stone, Jayden Jackson, Gracen Halton, and Marvin Jones Jr. Without him, Auburn will be able to gameplan a bit better with their offensive line, which has looked much better than everyone thought it would.
So, yes, the game just got harder, because their best player on that side of the ball will miss the first half. But, if you’re a Sooners fan, don’t get too worried. The good news is that the Sooners have so much depth on the defensive line to their advantage, even at the defensive end positions. They have Marvin Jones Jr., who’s been great, across from Thomas.
Then, behind Thomas, we will likely see Adepoju Adebawore, or P.J. for short, who’s been great as well. We could see Taylor Wein, who had a ton of love in fall camp, and Danny Okeye, who Brent Venables mentioned as someone he wants to “unleash” to the SEC, is another guy who could play. So, the Sooners will likely be fine, as they can send pass rushers and run stoppers in waves.
I mean, this is the best defensive line in the country we are talking about here. But that doesn’t mean things won’t be a bit harder for the Sooners next week at home.
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