The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from the Sooners’ 27-14 loss to Baylor
In one of the worst performances of Lincoln Riley’s career on the offensive side of the football, the Oklahoma Sooners laid an egg against the Baylor Bears, easily the best team they’ve played thus far.
It was the lowest point total for the Oklahoma Sooners in Lincoln Riley’s tenure. Though they’re 9-1 in 2021, things feel different with this team compared to Sooners’ teams of the past few years.
Though it wasn’t fun to write, let’s dig into this week’s “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.”
The Good: Brian Asamoah
At least through the first three quarters, the Oklahoma Sooners defense played one of its best games of the year. While the Baylor offense was able to make plays throughout the game, the Sooners defense made strong stands, like the fourth and 2 early in the game, to keep Baylor at bay.
The defense was led by Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Brian Asamoah who had his best game of the season. Per Pro Football Focus, Asamoah finished the day with seven solo tackles, four assisted tackles, five stops, a pressure, and a forced fumble. Most importantly, he didn’t miss a tackle, and though he allowed a 23-yard reception according to PFF, his other reception allowed only went for two yards. Asamoah was the Sooners best player on Saturday on either side of the ball.
Unfortunately, the offense couldn’t help out much on Saturday as they struggled to find any consistency throughout the game.
Up Next: Caleb Williams is Human
The Bad: Caleb Williams plays his worst game of the year
Saturday was a letdown for as good as Caleb Williams has looked in his first year with the Sooners. Williams looked indecisive, and when he was decisive with the football, he often threw into contested situations that led to an incomplete pass or a turnover.
After throwing just one interception through his first few games, he threw two on Saturday, and for the first time, this season looked like a true freshman quarterback.
Of course, Caleb Williams didn’t get much help from the coaching staff or his teammates. Wide receivers struggled to get clean releases or make plays at the catch point, and the running game was almost non-existent. Partly because Baylor was doing such a good job taking it away and somewhat because the coaching staff went away from the run.
Caleb Williams isn’t going back to the bench anytime soon. However, he’ll need to play much better down the stretch for the Sooners to finish the season contending for the Big 12 championship.
Up Next: Let’s Get Physical
The Ugly: Oklahoma couldn’t match Baylor’s Physicality
The offense was pushed around by the Baylor Bears’ defense for much of this game. The Sooners couldn’t match Baylor’s physicality, whether it was at the point of attack in the running game or the top of the wide receivers’ routes.
Early on in the game, it was evident the officials would let the wide receivers and defensive backs battle it out. Several plays could have been called defensive pass interference against Baylor, but the officials kept the flag in their pockets.
But the wide receivers never adjusted to the physicality in the passing game. At the catch point and the top of their routes, OU’s receivers got bullied and failed to make contested catches when presented with an opportunity to make a play.
As much as Caleb Williams struggled in this game, the wide receivers didn’t help much either.
Iowa State is no slouch defensively, and after that, the Sooners will take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Bedlam, likely for a chance to make the Big 12 championship game. Oklahoma’s offense needs to toughen up and show some fight if they’re going to defend their Big 12 title.
On the ground, the Oklahoma Sooners gave the ball to their running backs just 15 times. On those 15 attempts, the Sooners averaged just under four yards per carry. Caleb Williams added 15 yards on designed runs, but that was all the Sooners could muster on the ground.
The Oklahoma Sooners could have run the ball more to help conserve their defense in a game that was close through three quarters. Eight of Brooks’ 13 carries came in the first half. Eric Gray and Marvin Mims both carried the ball once in the first half, and neither carried the ball again the rest of the game.
So in the second half of the game, the Oklahoma Sooners only had five designed runs to their running backs. Again, it wasn’t like they were behind three scores. They were behind three in the third quarter and only 10 early in the fourth quarter.
The offensive line hasn’t been great running the football in 2021, but the offensive staff has to stay committed to the running game to help their young quarterback not feel like everything is on his shoulders.
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