Blatant Homerism: OU's offensive line dance
I’ve witnessed plenty of unlikely upsets over the years in the annual Red River game between Oklahoma and Texas. If the Sooners pull off a shocker over the Longhorns on Saturday, it will go down as one of the most surprising.
Although No. 1 UT may be garnering more praise than warranted at this point in the season, Steve Sarkisian’s squad has run roughshod over every opponent in its path so far. The Horns are winning by an average score of 45-7. Through five games, no opponent has come within fewer than 19 points of UT yet. Elite teams perform like that, and Texas is one until proven otherwise.
Meanwhile, despite holding a 4-1 record, OU is struggling to stay above water. A nightmarish offense hasn’t quite kneecapped the Sooners yet, but the situation could get dicey in a rough stretch of seven games to close the 2024 season. Why expect it to take off against the top-ranked team in the country?
If you do want to cling to a bit of hope for the Sooners in this year’s showdown, take a look at this chart below:
That represents the distribution of snaps among the eight offensive linemen (jersey numbers denoted in far left column) who have been on the field for the most plays this season. Three OLs have played at least 93% of the snaps this year – Febechi Nwaiwu, Jacob Sexton and Michael Tarquin. No other lineman has even been in on 50% of the team’s offensive plays this year.
Here’s another graphic to consider:
That denotes the player who played the most snaps at each position on the offensive line in each game. Nwaiwu has played the majority of snaps at right guard in all five of OU’s games to this point, but injuries have turned the other four slots into revolving doors. In the season opener versus Temple, for example, the players who played the majority of snaps at the five positions looked like this:
Center - Geirean Hatchett
Right guard - Nwaiwu
Left guard - Sexton
Right tackle - Spencer Brown
Left tackle - Tarquin
Bear in mind that with first-string RT Jake Taylor out due to injury, OU started the game with Bronson Hickman at C, Nwaiwu at RG, Hatchett at LG, Sexton at LT and Tarquin at RT. A reaggravation of a leg injury for Hickman in the first half prompted OL coach Bill Bedenbaugh to shuffle the lineup for the rest of the game. Hatchett hasn’t played a down since then after undergoing season-ending surgery. Brown, a Michigan State transfer, proved to be unplayable and has barely been on the field since the opener.
Now consider how OU’s OL rolled in its third game against Tulane:
C - Joshua Bates
RG - Nwaiwu
LG - Heath Ozaeta
RT - Tarquin
LT - Sexton
Bates got the start at C with Hickman, Troy Everett and Hatchett all injured. Taylor was still out, so Tarquin played RT instead of LT in this game. Redshirt freshman Logan Howland started at LT in place of Tarquin, but his performance led to his replacement in the first half by Sexton. When Sexton moved to LT, Heath Ozaeta took his place at LG.
The bottom line is that continuity among the OL has been close to nil through five games.
The Sooners finally got to use their true first-string OL in the fifth game of the season against Auburn:
C - Hickman
RG - Nwaiwu
LG - Sexton
RT - Taylor
LT - Tarquin
Presumably, those five will start the game on Saturday, too.
The unit was far from great against Auburn. The larger point, though, is that this OL is the one the coaching staff considers its best. The five members now have one game together in the books, and they’ve spent two weeks preparing for Texas. The break also gave Hickman and Taylor extra time to recuperate.
Don’t expect any miracles out of the OL in the Cotton Bowl on Saturday – the ceiling remains lower for this particular group than what the Sooners have enjoyed in years past. But much-needed stability and the strongest combination of blockers can only help.
Picks and Recs: Anything Stevie Wonder
Wonder is having a moment right now thanks in part to the retrospective podcast series “The Wonder of Stevie” chronicling the period in his career in the 1970s during which he released a string of five classic albums. I just happened to be at a concert this weekend in which one two-hour set consisted entirely of Wonder’s songs. It reminded me that it doesn’t really matter if Wonder is your jam – every aspect of his catalogue is a celebration, and he’s probably the most talented musician who has ever walked this earth.
I don’t have much time to get into it this week, but I will try to write something regarding Ross Dellenger’s latest story on an effort to transform college athletics around major college football. It’s not a good idea.