Postgame Thoughts: Oklahoma 26, South Carolina 7
The Oklahoma Sooners went on the road and dispatched of the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday, 26-7, in a well-rounded performance.
The Sooners immediately shook off concerns about a potential hangover from their loss to archrival Texas by punching the ball into the end zone on the team’s first possession. The OU defense then put USC into a vice grip, allowing just one touchdown in the entire contest. Meanwhile, OU finally got its dormant ground attack going.
A few thoughts about the win, based on a viewing of the live broadcast.
*Judging by the amount of parity in the SEC this season, you can’t complain about any victories on the road. South Carolina hasn’t come close to living up to expectations for the program this season, but beating the Gamecocks so decisively reflects well on the Sooners.
*Teams rarely need a touchdown more than OU needed one on its opening drive of the game. Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle came through with a solid script for the opening drive that pointed to what was coming the rest of the game: five of the 10 plays were rushes, yielding a total 50 yards.
*Playing against a team with a defense that isn’t one of the best in the country at stopping the run made for a nice change of pace.
Excluding sacks, OU churned out 183 rushing yards on 39 attempts. No one will mistake 4.82 yards per attempt against the South Carolina defense for an elite running game, but it constituted major improvement for this OU team.
Most importantly, the Sooners saw their top two running backs, Tory Blaylock and Xavier Robinson, combine for 159 yards on 30 carries. That kind of conventional rushing attack has been missing at OU this year.
*One red flag with the running game: Too much dancing behind the line of scrimmage from quarterback John Mateer, who appeared indecisive when his number was called. He showed the same hesitancy a week ago versus Texas in his first start after hand surgery. It’s tough to say if that’s a matter of self-preservation or opposing defenses scouting him.
*OU’s passing game on Saturday was unremarkable, which represented improvement from the previous week’s performance. At first glance, Mateer only appeared to get baited into one truly bad decision – again, progress. Although he seems to be missing a degree of zip on his throws since his surgery, Mateer looked far more confident this week.
*Isaiah Sategna isn’t the sexiest WR1, but you can’t deny his chemistry with Mateer. Until defenses adjust from trying to take away the deep ball, Sategna’s ability to find holes in coverage will remain vital to OU’s passing game.
*The tight ends were… passable. Let’s hope Kaden Helms can maintain his upward trajectory.
One the whole, the TE group seems to block the zone insert plays best in the running game.
*Rough day for freshman left tackle Michael Fasusi. You have to take the good with the bad there.
*South Carolina had no capacity to block OU’s defensive front. The Sooners logged 13 tackles for loss on the day, and the ability of Gamecocks quarterback LaNoris Sellers to evade tacklers kept that total far lower than it could have been. Notably, 10 OU defenders logged at least half of a TFL on the day.
This unit continues to establish itself as the best DL in the country.
*Lots of missed opportunities to corral Sellers in the backfield. You’d expect that against a QB with his skill set, but it still happened too often. Linebacker Owen Heinecke had a rough day in that regard.
*Was this the best game of the season so far for Cheetah linebacker Kendal Daniels? It felt as though he made more eye-catching plays than usual.
*By and large, OU’s secondary played well. Standouts included rookie cornerback Courtland Guillory, who played solid ball after an injury knocked Gentry Williams out of the game in the first half. Freshman safety Reggie Powers also flashed with multiple displays of physicality that the Sooners could use on the back end.
With players such as Powers and safety Michael Boganowski rapidly maturing, starting safety Robert Spears-Jennings should be feeling some heat. The veteran is simply missing too many tackles.
*Unnecessary pass interference penalties by the OU defensive backs marred their overall performance. Boganowski had a particularly egregious play in the second half on a deep shot that he should have intercepted.
In fact, the penalty situation for the entire team was a problem. Another outing like that will sting against a better opponent.
*Finally, a couple points to keep in mind.
First, the Gamecocks are suffering from serious injury problems across the board. Two starting offensive linemen and a couple reserves were absent. USC also lost elite pass rusher Dylan Stewart early in the game.
OU did what it should do to a banged-up team, but the context should temper any enthusiasm about a dominant win.
Second, OU’s fantastic performance in the second half will overshadow a first half in which it seemed like the Sooners were intent on beating themselves. I mentioned the penalties already. There’s also the matter of indefensible management issues on the OU sidelines.
For example, the Sooners drew a delay of game penalty in the first half because it took too long to sub in their punt team for the offense. It appeared as though the decision as to whether or not to go for it on fourth down contributed to the protracted substitution process. That kind of indecision by head coach Brent Venables and his staff has reared its head far too often in the last four years.
Additionally, after a cavalcade of penalties gift-wrapped a score for the Gamecocks late in the first half, the Sooners got the ball back on their own 25 yard line with a minute and 43 seconds remaining in the second quarter. On the sixth play of the possession, Mateer threw incomplete to Sategna on third down. That stopped the clock and saved a timeout for USC with OU preparing to punt the ball back. Naturally, the Gamecocks got a long return off the punt that positioned them to score again before the end of the half.
The fact USC ultimately botched the last drive before the end of the half shouldn’t change the assessment of Venables’ questionable in-game coaching. The Sooners simply cannot let amateurish management cost them a game this season.