An overview of Oklahoma’s season so far

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The University of Oklahoma’s latest season’s overview.

Bryson Dilbeck, Staff Writer

The Oklahoma Sooners are coming off their second win of the season after defeating the Kent State Golden Flashes 33-3 this past Saturday under the direction of first-year head coach Brent Venables. The Sooners, who were ranked ninth in the nation this season, have moved up to sixth as of this week. 

Oklahoma has looked very impressive under Venables so far, outscoring their opponents 78-16 and having a turnover margin of plus three. According to stats, the Sooners come in at 44th in total offense and 46th in total defense, averaging 461 yards per game while allowing 305.5 yards per game for the opposing team. This could be considered underwhelming by some, because the two teams Oklahoma played, The Texas El-Paso Miners and Kent State, combine for a record of 1-4. However, both did make a bowl game last year, and could potentially turn around their performance considering how early in the season it is.

It’s important to consider that Oklahoma has both a first year head coach and an almost entirely different coaching staff from the 2021 season. The coaches still need to work out their schemes and gameplans with the team and seemed to do it well in their first few games, but how did the players perform?

Quarterback, Dillon Gabriel, has had a good start to the season, totaling 529 yards, five touchdowns, completing 70.6% of his passes and not turning over the ball once so far. Gabriel has also ran the ball ten times for a total of ten yards and one touchdown. Running back, Eric Gray, has ran the ball 26 times for 173 yards and caught three passes for 39 yards but has yet to score a touchdown. Likely due to Marcus Major, who has ran the ball 12 times for 92 yards while scoring three touchdowns, the receiver room hasn’t had very even distribution when it comes to receiving yards. Wide receiver, Marvin Mims, has caught ten passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns. The second leading receiver, Theo Wease, has just six catches for 74 yards.

On defense, linebacker, Danny Stutsman leads the team with 21 total tackles, four tackles for loss and one sack. Defensive end, Reggie Grimes, leads the team in sacks with four, along with five tackles for loss. When it comes to turnovers, defensive backs, Justin Harrington and Gentry Williams, both have one interception and defensive back, Billy Bowman, has one fumble recovery.

On special teams (kicking, punting and returning), kicker Zach Schmit, is 10 out of 10 on extra points and 2 out of 2 on field goals with a long of 25 yards. Punter, Michael Turk, has punted nine times for 368 yards, averaging 40.9 yards per punt. Oklahoma hasn’t done much in kick or punt returns yet, Billy Bowman has returned five kickoffs for 84 yards with an average of 16.8 yards per return and Marvin Mims has returned three punts for 58 yards with an average of 19.3 yards per return. 

Overall, Oklahoma has played solid in their first two games. The team has appeared shaky at some moments, but has overall beaten the teams they were supposed to by the expected margin. 

The Sooners will likely face their first challenge this Saturday, as they will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska for their first away game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Nebraska fired head coach Scott Frost after their recent loss against the Georgia Southern Eagles. However, Nebraska will likely still prove to be tough. Nebraska added former Texas Longhorns quarterback Casey Thompson, who threw for 388 yards and five touchdowns against Oklahoma in his game against the Sooners in 2021. Overall, this game should be good for fans to gain insight on where Oklahoma stands, and perhaps more importantly where Brent Venables and the coaching staff stands.

Contact Bryson Dilbeck at [email protected]