The Oklahoma Sooners took their first step to creating an identity in their 51-3 win over the Temple Owls in week one. It looked like a Sooners team of old, with a defense that forced a ton of turnovers and created a ton of pressure on Temple quarterback Forrest Brock.
The Sooners held Temple to less than 200 total yards and held their rushing attack to less than two yards per carry. Oklahoma’s head coach was pleased with his defense’s performance.
“Thought the defense, from start to finish, really played outstanding. Again, six sacks, nine tackles for loss, forced six turnovers, and scored a touchdown. For the first time, I think we’ve had six turnovers in a game since 2003. We only had six forced fumbles last year, and we had four tonight. Really I loved how aggressive and confident our guys were moving around, flying to the ball and being aggressive and knocking the ball loose. Fantastic job by the defense.”
It would be easy to credit the Sooners’ efforts to the level of competition they were playing. And certainly, nobody is going to confuse Temple for the 2008 Oklahoma Sooners. However, Venables was pleased more with the fundamentals with which the Sooners’ defense played as much as anything.
Venables spoke about what he saw from a technical standpoint. “Vertical, active, stayed on our feet and did a really nice job in block recognition, squeezing and condensing gaps,” Venables said. “Some of our movements that we did up front, I thought they played with great pad level.”
You know, it really doesn’t have anything to do with them, that we’re the things that I’m talking about. It’s, it’s us. But I just thought we were sure of what we were doing completely, really good. Pad level, excellent with our hands. We got a lot of knockback, and we made it hard for them to run the ball downhill. They tried to run downhill.”
The OU defense played fast and physically. From the front four, which was disruptive in both the run and pass game, to the back seven, Venables and defensive coordinator Zac Alley’s defense looked the part of a title contending defense.
It’s just one week, but the Sooners played sound, fundamental, physical, and tenacious defense. They’ll have tougher challenges throughout the 2024 season, including next week’s game against the Houston Cougars. But it’s a great start to the season for the Oklahoma Sooners.
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Publish date : 2024-08-31 10:01:00
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