SOONERS BOOMING ON DEFENCE

          There’s a different feeling about Oklahoma this season. Although the Sooners have dominated the Big 12 in recent history, they’ve never been able to elevate that into the College Football Play-offs. In all three seasons head coach Lincoln Riley has guided his team into the play-offs they have slipped at the first hurdle, with three semi-final defeats out of three. So, what’s stopped the Sooners from emulating their conference supremacy when it comes to the play-offs? The late, great Bear Bryant said it best, ‘offense sells tickets, defence wins championships’. Strong defence has constantly eluded Oklahoma, and the entire Big 12 if we’re being completely truthful. A devastating offense is obviously a great asset to have but when the other side of the ball resembles a sieve what legitimate chance have you got of winning the lot?

                Expectations are higher than usual around the Sooners this fall. There have been a couple of notable alterations to the Big 12 champions that have Sooners supporters oozing with optimism.

                Following a Heisman double at Oklahoma should be an unthinkable ask. Enter Jalen Hurts. Hurts left the University of Alabama with a more than respectable 26-2 record as a starter. In his first season (2016) Jalen Hurts won the SEC Offensive player of the year and freshman of the year. Individual accolades aside Hurts helped the Crimson Tide to SEC Championships in 2016 and 2018 as well as the 2017 National Championship. Hurts was the hottest property in the transfer portal and Sooners coach Lincoln Riley, the QB whisperer, was quick to convince the former Bama fan favourite he could bolster his career with a move to Norman. After such an emphatic start to the season from the QB a Heisman three-peat could easily be on the cards for Oklahoma.

                In Norman, Oklahoma the attitude on offense is essentially ‘next man up’. Year after year the school produces NFL standard running-backs, wide-receivers, offensive linemen and of course the glam role, the quarterback. Scoring at will hasn’t been an issue. Last season the Sooners relied on their ability to out-score their opponents, in fact they led the country in average points scored per game with 48.4. That figure has risen to 50.2 through the first six games of this season but more importantly for OU on the national scale they are allowing far less points against. Over the Sooners opening six fixtures the defence are allowing 20.3 points per game compared to 27.3 in 2018’s first six. The Big 12 has a reputation for ridiculously high scoring affairs with little to no quality on the defensive side of things. Heading out into the Big 12 world guns blazing and fighting through offensive shoot-out after shoot-out can win you the conference, the Sooners showed that the past four seasons. When it comes to the college football play-offs however (as OU discovered in 2015,17 & 18) the defence must lift a gear or two. After the 48-45 defeat to Texas in the Red River Showdown last season the Sooners relieved six-year Defensive Co-Ordinator (DC) Mike Stoops of his duties and replaced him with assistant head coach and defensive tackle coach Ruffin McNeil until the seasons end.

                Defensive displays did improve briefly for Oklahoma following Stoops’ departure with the Sooners allowing just 27 points at TCU followed by 14 against Kansas State. The honeymoon period ended abruptly for McNeil following the Kansas State match-up as the defence allowed no fewer than 40 points per game to see out the regular season, their final four games. Whilst we’re still in the early stages of this campaign the improvement on defence has been crystal clear for the Sooners. Who do we owe the credit to? Obviously the individuals on D for the development, Lincoln Riley and his staff and I suppose Athletic Director Joe Castiglione for his recruiting but the one stand out difference, Alex Grinch. Grinch spent last season with Urban Meyer in Columbus at The Ohio State University as the teams co DC but left at the start of 2019 to take up full DC responsibilities in Norman. Given that much of the defensive personnel were around a year ago there is a distinct impact created by Alex Grinch.

                So far this season Oklahoma’s defence are allowing 20.3 points per game (31^st in the country and 3^rd in the Big 12) compared to last seasons 32.4. The Sooners 448.1 yards against per game in 2018 has enhanced to 340.3 as of week 7 2019. Defensive backs Tre Brown, Brendan Radley-Hiles and Delarrin Turner-Yell were all frequent starters for OU last year as they tied the Houston Cougars for the worst passing yards against per game with 291.4. That number, under the guidance of Grinch, has shot down to 199.8. There has also been a minor improvement in rush yards allowed per game with 140.5 this term as opposed to 156.7 the year before. In the sold out Cotton Bowl last Saturday the Oklahoma defence made a statement as they sacked Texas QB Sam Ehlinger 9 times, a joint worst in Longhorns history. Ehlinger also failed to make a touchdown pass for the first time all year as the Sooner secondary played their part in the monumental victory.

                Stats don’t lie and they are all heading in the right direction if you’re a Sooner. Furthermore, the Sooners’ 22 sacks are the 12^th best in the nation whilst their defence on 3^rd down % sits 9^th in America with 27.8 %. Grinch inherited two extremely athletic talents on D in Linebacker Kenneth Murray and Defensive Lineman Neville Gallimore who both earned team captaincy prior to the beginning of the season. Senior Gallimore co-leads the team with 3 sacks whilst junior Murray’s 42 total tackles places him amongst the top ten in the conference.

                It could be argued this defensive group came into this fall with a chip on their shoulder. All the trash talk of their poor defence weighing down an otherwise National Championship quality side will have crept into the minds of these kids but credit to them for their positive reaction. This defence has put the work in at the gym, in the film room and most importantly where it counts, on the field. ‘The drive for five’ (the hunt for a 5^th consecutive conference title) is still on the radar for the Sooners but with a strong defence don’t expect it to stop there. Oklahoma have found the missing piece of the puzzle.