5 Takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners’ blowout loss to the Texas Longhorns
After the Oklahoma Sooners dropped their first two games of conference play, things weren’t looking good, especially when they lost Dillon Gabriel a week ago in the loss to TCU. Their loss to Texas continues a run of play that is absolutely shocking.
Oklahoma has gone 0-3 in Big 12 play for the first time since 1998. It isn’t simply that they’ve lost. It’s how they’ve lost these three games. The Sooners have allowed 45.33 points per game in the three losses, and they’ve gotten progressively worse.
The quicksand that the Sooners are in turned into a pit of despair this week as the Sooners were dominated by the Texas Longhorns 49-0 in the Cotton Bowl.
What was that?
Texas Longhorns tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders (0) scores a touchdown between Oklahoma Sooners defensive back Trey Morrison (6), defensive back C.J. Coldon (22) and Oklahoma Sooners linebacker David Ugwoegbu (2) during the Red River Showdown college football game between the University of Oklahoma (OU) and Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022.
Lx18849 Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
Aside from the opening drive three-and-out forced by the defense, the Oklahoma Sooners couldn’t do anything on either side of the football against the Texas Longhorns.
Oklahoma’s defense got beat by a methodical offensive approach by Steve Sarkisian and Quinn Ewers. And the offense, without starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel resorted to trick plays and the wildcat to find some semblance of offense with next to no success.
Disappointment doesn’t quite cover what happened on Saturday in the Cotton Bowl. This team was absolutely dominated and embarrassed.
No Gabriel, no offense
Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Davis Beville (11) before the Red River Showdown college football game between the University of Oklahoma (OU) and Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
Without Dillon Gabriel, the Sooners basically had no offense. They tried running the wildcat, and it worked for a while. They tried some trick plays, which didn’t work at all, and the offense couldn’t really do anything.
Oklahoma couldn’t push the ball down the field, and when they did look to throw beyond the line of scrimmage, either people didn’t get open or the quarterback held on to the ball too long. Davis Beville was just 6 of 12 for 38 yards and it was evident they didn’t trust him to throw the ball much.
Jeff Lebby tried to get the offense going, but at times he got away from things that were working in the run game.
Too often, the Oklahoma Sooners offense looked like a team playing afraid to lose.
Defense has a long way to go
Oct 8, 2022; Dallas, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns running back Bijan Robinson (5) runs with the ball during the first half against the Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl. Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
For the third straight game, this Oklahoma Sooners’ defense has been bad. They’re not getting any pressure on the quarterback, and the coverage hasn’t been good down the field, either.
Quinn Ewers looked way too comfortable in the pocket for a quarterback playing in the Red River Showdown for the first time.
Oklahoma’s defense allowed 49 points, 585 total yards, 7.2 yards per play, and Texas went 10 of 15 on third down in this game.
The Sooners’ defense didn’t record a sack and had just four tackles for loss in the game.
Has Oklahoma hit Rock Bottom?
Oct 8, 2022; Dallas, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns wide receiver Jordan Whittington (4) celebrates after a touchdown during the first half against the Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
When we thought it couldn’t get any worse, it got much, much worse. After losses to Kansas State and TCU took the wind out of the sails of a 3-0 start, this loss to Texas was easily the worst.
What happened on Saturday was shocking. And it wasn’t just because they didn’t have their starting quarterback.
After allowing 42, 55, and 49 points in the last three games, the Sooners have a lot of questions to answer moving forward.
With Brent Venables’ success at Clemson, there were much higher expectations for this defense, even if it didn’t become a great unit right away. Even the person that thought they may take a step back didn’t expect this.
Where do they go from here?
Oct 8, 2022; Dallas, Texas, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables reacts during the first half against the Texas Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl. Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
If there was ever a week for the Sooners to show that they were more than the doormat of the Big 12 in 2022, this was the week. And yet, they got steamrolled by their biggest rival.
Even late in the game, when Texas was simply running the football and killing clock, the Sooners couldn’t stop the Longhorns. It didn’t matter the down and distance. Texas just ran right over and right through Oklahoma’s defense, even with several starters on the field.
Brent Venables may have a great culture and strength and conditioning program. He may be a great defensive mind. But none of that is translating to the football field.
They’ve got a long way to go to bring this program back to being a conference title contender.
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