Jeff Lebby and the Oklahoma offense discovered a groove final Saturday that, at instances, appeared nearly unstoppable.
The Sooners hung 52 factors on a ranked Kansas crew, racking up 701 whole yards of offense. It was a balanced assault, as Dillon Gabriel threw for 403 yards whereas the operating again combo of Eric Gray and Jovantae Barnes mixed for 245 yards and 4 touchdowns on the bottom.
The outburst was fairly the change of tempo from the earlier two weeks, the place the Sooners actually struggled to maneuver the ball.
Obviously, the lack of Gabriel was a consider every of Oklahoma’s blowout losses. But even the lack of the lefty quarterback shouldn’t trigger the offensive struggles OU endured. After scoring simply 24 factors towards TCU, the Sooners have been blanked in a historic Red River Rivalry loss. Even although the blame is to be distributed evenly, the shortcoming to maneuver the chains damage each the offense and the protection.
There have been a number of areas of Oklahoma’s roster that many anticipated to undergo rising pains and expertise sluggish begins. One that many forgot to think about was offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby establishing his personal system and working it with out assist from an elite offensive thoughts.
Of course, he ran the offense at each Mississippi and UCF, his two earlier stops as coordinator. Lane Kiffin and Josh Heupel each have distinct offensive techniques, although, and Lebby was a disciple.
Now, alone in Norman, Lebby’s offensive id is beginning to take form. Outside of Oklahoma’s quite weak non-conference slate, Saturday was the primary time that Lebby has appeared snug dialing up the performs in Norman.
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Against Kansas, Oklahoma simplified issues. There weren’t loads of obtrusive “misses” on offense, and it was as a result of the Sooners didn’t attempt to do an excessive amount of.
“The biggest thing is we wanted to take what they gave us,” Lebby mentioned following the victory. “Talked all week about Kansas being great against the run. They play with great energy and toughness, and that’s what you saw from them. Statistically, they’d been really good against the run. We liked our matchups, guys made plays. It was good to get it going that way.”
In video games like Kansas State and TCU, the play-calling appeared efficient however Gabriel and the large receivers struggled to seek out rhythm at instances. There have been a number of excessive overthrows and misses downfield on offense. The receivers appeared to get loads of separation, although.
When the Sooners misplaced to Texas, clearly Gabriel’s absence loomed giant. Still, Oklahoma was shifting the ball efficiently on two straight possessions earlier than switching formations and developing empty. Both instances, Lebby was dedicated to the run with Willis and Gray, however opted to change issues up close to the aim line and it proved expensive.
Saturday although, each the play-calling and the gamers gave the impression to be on the identical web page. Lebby discovered a groove dialing up performs and had the Jayhawks on their heels all sport lengthy.
“I think the biggest thing is our guys made plays,” Lebby mentioned. “We talked a ton about it. We’re going to pitch and catch, but you’ve got to make plays and make competitive plays in certain situations. That showed up today situationally, which was great to see. Again, plenty to clean up. But proud of our guys, the way they came back, fought, been inside-out the entire time. Just proud of them for that.”
Heading into the open weekend, Oklahoma nonetheless has time to salvage the second half of the season. If the offense seems to be something prefer it did towards Kansas, the Sooners have the power to remain in any sport. Building off of the bye week is very vital for the offense. Oklahoma’s momentum on the offensive facet of the ball can energize your entire crew whereas serving to Lebby set up his personal offensive id.
“It’s huge,” Lebby mentioned. “Everybody in that locker room understands now we have the chance to be actually, actually good on offense. So for us to have the ability to go play clear and play the way in which we performed exterior of the turnovers and the mishap there on the finish of the primary half was actually good to see. Just happy with our guys, blissful for our guys that they get to get pleasure from an ideal win right here at dwelling earlier than this open date.”
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