Oklahoma-Florida A&M: What to Watch

Florida A&M Rattlers (0-1) at No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners (1-0)
Sept. 8, 6 p.m. CT
Owen Field (Norman, Okla.)
No Line

After the underwhelming effort given by the Sooners a week ago in El Paso, hopefully getting back on the field to work out some kinks will be just what this team needs.

Even though this is nothing more than a glorified scrimmage for OU, pay attention to:

*Landry Jones' completion percentage and yards per completion.

In the range of 50 percent most of the game last week, OU needs Jones to be closer to 70 percent. In addition, OU needs bigger plays out of the passing game – not dinking and dunking down the field.

*Damien Williams' carries and yards per rushing attempt.

At least 15 carries sounds right for Williams, with a YPA of at least 6 yards. Overall, prior to clearing the bench, OU RBs should average at least 6 YPC.

*Passing distribution.

It's fine if Kenny Stills has another big day. But OU needs Jones to start hitting Trey Metoyer and Justin Brown downfield for some big plays.

*Trey Millard's level of involvement.

We keep hearing about the plans to use Millard. The touches don't match his productivity to date. If it doesn't happen v FAMU, it's never going to happen.

*Secondary play.

Was UTEP that bad, or is the new secondary potentially that good? Can that secondary force turnovers to give the offense some great field position.

*Justin Brown's punt returns.

OU badly needs to shorten the field at times. In 2011, the offense was constantly driving the length of the field.

*Backups getting a lot more reps.

Watch for more playing time for Sterling Shepard, Lacoltan Bester and Durron Neal. Ideally, they'll produce a big play or two. Blake Bell running the actual OU offense would be nice to see. Finally, we need to see more defensive backups, especially at DE/DT.

*The number of offensive plays.

OU backed off its usual pace last week due to the number of newcomers. Does the offense pick it back up this weekend?