Rives Mitchell and Dave Myrick
Four weeks through the college football season has resulted in a 4-0 record for the Oklahoma Sooners. Facing their stiffest test last Saturday, the Sooners responded well on their way to a 20-6 defeat of the Cincinnati Bearcats.
Defense ruled the day for OU, as Danny Stutsman had another stellar outing, finishing with 13 tackles. Jaren Kanak and Dasan McCullough had seven tackles a piece as well. OU has gotten significant production from its young playmakers on defense.
Heading into week five of the season, most of Sooner nation is focused on the teams trip to the cotton bowl to face the #3 ranked Texas Longhorns. While we have no doubts the team is already preparing for this game, Iowa State stands in their way first.
Though the Cyclones will likely finish near the bottom of the conference, they picked up a nice win last week over Oklahoma State at home. Matt Campbell is all too familiar with spoiling OU’s season, too.
In 2017, Campbell and the Cyclones stormed into Norman and upset the #3 ranked Sooners 38-31. Though Iowa State had NFL players everywhere on the field (David Montgomery, Allan Lazard), this is the perfect look ahead spot for OU.
On paper, however, the Sooners matchup quite well with the Cyclones. Iowa State has struggled to find any presence in the ground game this season, rushing for just 66 yards against a weak Oklahoma State front. OU’s main defensive strength has been its run defense.
Though OU won by two scores last week, there was obvious offensive issues that need to be solved. The Sooner backs struggled to get going against the Bearcats, which is the bread and butter of Jeff Lebby’s offensive scheme.
Expect the Sooners to try and find a consistent running attack against Iowa State on Saturday. ISU has given OU troubles in the past running the ball, especially with the confusing 3-3-5 we’ve been accustomed to see from them.
We have no doubts OU can throw the ball all over the field this week if they want. That will come eventually.
The real concern comes if OU is not able to run the ball for a good average this week. Going into the cotton bowl against a stout defense, OU simply cannot afford to have a one dimensional game plan.
We went more in depth on everything we heard this week around the program on youtube, which can be viewed here.
Stay tuned into 107.7 The Franchise and The D&R CFB Report for the latest on OU football.
