Bedlam at all times has just a few distinctive twists and turns, however Saturday evening was one of many weirdest matchups between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in latest reminiscence. The Sooners walked away victorious 28-13, bettering to 6-5 on the season and securing bowl eligibility.
It wasn’t as fairly because the scoreboard suggests, although, as all of Oklahoma’s 28 factors got here straight away within the first quarter. The remainder of the sport, the Sooners struggled to generate a single optimistic offensive drive. Because of the electrical begin, paired with stout protection all through the battle, Oklahoma got here away with a much-needed win.
Here are three takeaways from Oklahoma’s Bedlam victory:
Opposite Coaching Styles
Oklahoma’s recent teaching employees wasted no time making gutsy calls in Bedlam. After blitzes and deep photographs allowed Oklahoma to discover a four-score lead within the first quarter, the Sooners have been nonetheless breaking out the methods. That speaks to only how a lot OU wished this sport.
Mike Gundy opted to kick a area purpose contained in the 10-yard line, down by 28 factors within the second quarter in a sport the place the offense has been solely lifeless.
On the very subsequent sequence, Oklahoma ran a trick-play on the kick return, launching a cross-field cross to Marvin Mims that went for 50 yards down the sideline. A couple of performs later, the Sooners then went for it on a fourth-and-5, close to area purpose vary. Even although Oklahoma failed to search out factors on that second-quarter drive, the aggressive mindset was evident and on show for your complete evening.
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The Sooners took probabilities on protection, too, sending a number of completely different blitzes and mixing up seems to be typically. Oklahoma State ended the competition with 4 turnovers, going simply 7-for-22 on third down.
Pressuring the Quarterback
Oklahoma’s line of defense was in a position to make play after play towards the Cowboys.
The pre-snap motion was extraordinarily evident, and clearly confused each Oklahoma State’s entrance and Spencer Sanders. The completely different seems to be made the Cowboys uncomfortable all sport lengthy.
Sanders was pressured to make fast reads, and early, and it costed the Cowboys factors. Three first quarter turnovers have been due to Oklahoma’s completely different seems to be defensively, and late within the sport when Sanders needed to improvise, Sanders tossed a fourth choose to DaShaun White.
Quick Hitters
Oklahoma’s gameplay to get Dillon Gabriel settled in early was clear. On the primary two drives of the sport, the Sooners used quite a lot of screens within the backfield and crossings routes over the center of the sphere. The straightforward, fast hitters on offense gave your complete unit final confidence within the first quarter.
In the tip, the short hitters that have been meant to get Gabriel in rhythm have been the identical performs that gained Oklahoma the sport. After the opening quarter, Gabriel struggled to search out any open receivers and the offense was stagnant. Thanks to the “gimme” performs within the first quarter, although, Oklahoma coasted to victory with out scoring some extent the remainder of the sport.
Next Saturday, the Sooners will shut the 2022 common season in Lubbock, TX, towards the Red Raiders. Lubbock is at all times a tricky place to play, and although Texas Tech has struggled at instances this season, the workforce is now bowl eligible. Not to say, a 6:30 p.m. evening kick ought to give followers lots to be enthusiastic about.
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