Plenty of blame to go around for a disappointing end to a disappointing season
Oklahoma’s exhausting 2022 regular season is over. Thankfully.
After an arduous back and forth battle that saw the Sooners lose 51-48 in overtime to Texas Tech, we are all scratching our heads trying to figure out what went wrong this year.
Was it the defense? At times that squad showed the mark we expected from defensive-minded new head coach Brent Venables, but at others times, including during the same game, this squad looked like it wouldn’t beat a 3A high school team.
Was it the offense? At times QB Dillion Gabriel couldn’t connect with receivers, and halfway through the season we decided offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby was intentionally avoiding mid-distance passing routes in Gabriel’s quiver because of his inaccuracy. But then, he would toss beautiful 77-yard passes to Marvin Mims for touchdowns, as he did on Saturday night against Texas Tech.
Was it the coaching? At times we were sure Jeff Lebby was using some sort of Wheel of Fortune to decide plays. At other times his play calling was brilliant (when it worked).
Regardless of what it was, the last three games — two losses and one important Bedlam win — were microcosms of the season. And they lead us to conclude, at the very least, that Venables first year was as near a disaster as OU fans could stomach, even for a first-year head coach that brought thousands to the airport on the night he was named head coach.
And it is clear that you win as a team and you lose as a team. There is plenty of blame to share for Oklahoma’s 6-6 season.
It wasn’t just a missed field goal (Zach Schmit missed a 41-yarder in overtime). Or a missed tackle or two. Or an errant pass.
Here’s the miss by Schmit. I must be blind. https://t.co/y9w0BX902R
— Curtis Fitzpatrick (@cfitzfox) November 27, 2022
What a strange season. Win the first three. Lose the next three. Win the next two. Lose the next two after that. Then win one. And then lose the last one.
As I said, this is an exhausting team to watch.
The defense was aggressive early against Texas Tech. But as the game wore on, the Sooners defense was less so. It gave up a 17 point lead.
A key failure against Texas Tech was the defense’s inability to corral Red Raider running back SaRodorick Thompson. He finished the game with 86 yards, but they came at key times.
“We didn’t tackle great. The whole opportunity for Tech to get back into the game was related to the run game,” Venables said.
Marvin Mims had 162 yards receiving on five catches, including a 77-yard bomb in the first quarter. But, the offense went away from Mims in the second quarter.
Mims did not record a catch in the second half (his only catch was negated by a penalty).
"OH. MY. GOODNESS."#OUDNA | #BoomerSooner | @marvindmims pic.twitter.com/vWnURzfIeo
— ????ℍ???-??-?ℍ? ??ℝ?? (@soonergridiron) November 27, 2022
On the positive side, Eric Gray was, again, stellar. He ran hard for 161 yards on 28 carries.
And Dillon Gabriel had a great game passing, completing 28 of 40 passes for 449 yards and six touchdowns. He also ran for 21 yards.
It was his best game of the season.
The Sooners amassed 672 yards total offense.
Unfortunately, it gave up 599 yards on defense. And 51 points.
The Sooners end the regular season at 6-6 and 3-6 in conference play.
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