That squeal of tires you heard was the Oklahoma Sooners’ national title hopes coming to a sudden stop. At least for now. At least until the defense can figure out how to stop a quarterback who can actually throw the…
Enough is enough. How much longer is the Sooner team going to be defined by poor defensive secondary play?
And this year we can’t blame it on Zack Sanchez.
This is all on Mike Stoops.
Even on the spectacular second quarter 21-yard TD catch by Ohio State’s Noah Brown, which was in fact well covered by wide receiver-converted-to-defensive back Miciah Quick, the Sooners had seven defenders in coverage of only three Buckeye receivers. With Quick alone against Brown, that meant six defenders were covering the two receivers J.T. Barrett did NOT throw to.
That TD with 4 seconds left in the second quarter gave Ohio State a 35-17 halftime lead. Game over.
Brown caught five passes for the Buckeyes. Four were for touchdowns.
“(We’re) not coached well enough and not athletic enough or skilled enough to put ourselves in position (to defend on pass plays),” Coach Bob Stoops said.
The Sooners defense had not earned a shutout since holding Iowa State scoreless in 2010.
That changed Saturday, when Oklahoma blanked Louisiana-Monroe 34-0 on a sweltering night in Memorial Stadium in Norman.
Defensive captain Corey Nelson manned the middle of the field all night for the Sooners, recording eight tackles, one sack and two tackles for a loss.
The improvement from last year’s defense was notable. But, Nelson and his teammates maintained they have much to prove.
“We’re not satisfied at all, and I’ll make sure that the defense won’t be satisfied with this win that we got,” Nelson said. “Especially with a shutout, we have to continue to stay hungry and stay humble.”