Greatness… At Oklahoma, it SURROUNDS us. This year, WE surround Owen Field! #surrOUndedhttps://t.co/UmmBBF1uwqhttps://t.co/7CIdb29nWr
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) August 12, 2016
With star running backs Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon getting limited touches, it was the Oklahoma defense that shined the brightest on Saturday morning in Norman. Limiting the Sooner offense to just two passing touchdowns and a couple of field goals, defensive coordinator Mike Stoops wasn’t quite satisfied.
“Well we gave up a couple big plays. Our defense is set on not giving up big plays so those are always concerning, giving up chunk yards. So getting players more aware of situations. We gave up a big pass today on a kind of different play, so those are really the big concerns for us; trying not to give up big plays and play consistently. I think right now you just look for consistency in everything you do across the board. We’re starting to put things together where we are playing more consistently and that to me is the key to any success, getting quality play any time you step on the field. We’re starting to get more consistency as we go through camp.” – Mike Stoops via SoonerSports.com
The “big pass” that he talked about was to Joe Mixon. Oklahoma’s sophomore running back only carried the ball one time but he also took a 15-yard pass from Baker Mayfield and darted 69-yards to the end zone. Clearly you should be able imagine the frustration engulfing Mike Stoops over a play like that.
The other scoring play came from the arm of Mayfield as well as the junior quarterback found Nick Basquine on a 20-yard strike to cap off a 75-yard drive. It was enough to make Mayfield feel good but in the same notion of Mike Stoops, Oklahoma’s captain sees a lot of room for improvement.
“We did some good things (offensively) and had some explosive plays, but I mean that’s expected with the guys we have. The defense played well and they tackled well when we went live. The big thing we talked about afterward as an offense is they were more physical than us. And that’s kind of what we’ve been stressing, being more physical every game. The reason we lost our two games last year is we weren’t as physical in those two.” – Baker Mayfield via SoonerSports.com
Oklahoma’s defense dialed up the pressure as well, registering seven sacks (all the had to do way touch the QB) and JUCO transfer Kapri Doucet nabbed three of them. Other defensive players standing out were; Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, Will Johnson, Jon-Michael Terry, and Dakota Austin.