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Sooners saved by big time defense, despite serious offensive woes

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A stellar defense overcame an anemic offense to enable the Oklahoma Sooners to survive a 16-12 nail biter over the Houston Cougars in a contest that had the 83,653 faithful in Norman ever more fearful of the murderer’s row schedule that lay ahead in the SEC.

It was the lowest point total for Oklahoma since its 17-10 loss to TCU in 2005.

As the giant Oklahoma flag became tangled up when pulled across the Owen Field turf during the pre-game show, we should have known this was an omen of a bad night coming.

The offense under newbie QB Jackson Arnold (19 of 32 for 174 yards, 1 interception and 2 touchdowns) struggled, losing the total yardage statistic to the Cougars (249 yards versus UH’s 318), converting only four of 14 third down conversions and punting an uncharacteristic eight times.

Dropped passes, overthrown balls, ineffective run blocking and inopportune penalties (including an unsportsmanlike penalty on a lineman that kept the Sooners from almost running out the clock to end the game) was the story of the night for the offense.

Defensively, the Sooners had a fourth quarter interception (by Robert Spears-Jennings) and a safety (by defensive tackle Gracen Halton, with 1:42 left in the game), which gave fans their only chance to take a breath. Unfortunately, the offense failed to capitalize on those opportunities (Tyler Keltner missing a 45-yard field goal) and allowed Houston a fighting chance to be a mere field goal away from winning the game in the waning minutes.

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Sooners do the expected — blow Temple away 51-3

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If there is any takeaway from Oklahoma’s 51-3 win over Temple on Saturday night it was that the defense — which grabbed six Owls turnovers — was everything as billed. But the offense has a ways to go.

“I loved how aggressive and confident our guys were moving around, flying to the ball and being aggressive and knocking the ball loose,” Coach Brent Venables said. “Fantastic job by the defense.”

The Sooners had fumbles recovered by Terry, senior safety Billy Bowman Jr. and junior safety Robert Spears-Jennings. 

Concern about the offense, which scored many points, but failed to convert on only one of 12 third downs and saw starting center Branson Hickman get injured (sprained ankle), was not relieved, despite the offense scoring 44 points. In addition Jalil Farooq’s season likely ended when he sustained a broken foot.

Farooq’s injury compounded a depth problem at wide receiver. Top returning receiver Nic Anderson was out for this game and Jayden Gibson suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice.

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Mike: My 2024 game-by-game expectation for Sooners

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It is not an overstatement that the 2024 college football season is a pivotal year for the sport and certainly for the Oklahoma program.

Entering into the lion’s den that is labeled the SEC, the Sooners have their hands full, especially considering they bring a new quarterback and inexperience at the offensive line. 

And, the shape of the football landscape has changed in addition to this development. The Big 10 now has a more national appearance, grabbing Oregon and usually significant USC to their ranks, and the Big 12 has gobbled up the mountain time zone schools of Utah, Arizona and Colorado.

But for Oklahoma, it will be a one-week-at-a-time fight, with few easy weekends between the beginning game against Temple on Friday night, August 30 (6 pm ESPN), until the playoff committee in December announces the 12 teams (yes, that’s new too) to make the post season.

So, what should we expect from our Sooners this year?  Here is my game by game prognostication:

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