Postgame Thoughts: Tennessee 25, Oklahoma 15
The Oklahoma Sooners’ tenure in the SEC got off to a rocky start with a 25-15 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers that was in some ways bizarre, dispiriting and encouraging.
Based on one viewing of the game, let’s dive in with some initial musings about what went down on Saturday…
*Unfortunately, this game proceeded according to the script I was hoping we wouldn’t see. The OU defense played lights out and stood firm against UT’s electric offense from start to finish. For its part, OU’s offense either put the defense in horrible situations or squandered great opportunities when gifted with takeaways in favorable spots.
It’s essentially the flip side of what OU fans witnessed for so many years when the Sooners fielded a porous D and an all-world O. Much like the hope a few years ago in high-profile matchups that OU would magically game plan its way to a defensive masterpiece, an offense performing better against its toughest opponent yet isn’t the way things normally work.
*You can usually spot the winner of a football game in advance when one team owns a massive advantage in the trenches. OU’s problems started there as its offensive line had no chance of holding back UT’s defensive front, which might be the best in the entire country. About the best anyone could hope for was that the Sooners could keep the DL from swallowing up the O. Clearly, that didn’t happen.
*Any optimism that OU would block better in this game seemed to come from center Branson Hickman’s return to the lineup for the first time since the season opener against Temple. That sounded like wishful thinking before the game, and it proved to be as much during it. Even at 100% – and Hickman almost certainly isn’t anywhere close to it – his presence on the line isn’t going to help as much as fans probably hope.
But an important question at this point: If Hickman is so vital to the success of OU’s OL, how do you manage that in the short run?
*As for Jackson Arnold, it appears to me the second-year quarterback has responded poorly to a very bad set of circumstances. You can’t blame Arnold for all of the injuries that have stacked up this season on the offensive side of the ball. He does bear responsibility if he’s making things worse, however, and he clearly entered that territory last night with his decision-making.
Two weeks ago, the suggestion of pulling Arnold for Hawkins struck me as ridiculous. Last night’s events changed my perspective entirely. Especially given how well OU’s defense was playing, Brent Venables owed it to the team to make a switch behind center.
*Naturally it’s up to Venables to gauge how the players would respond to a change for the longer term. It’s fair to assume freshman Michael Hawkins demonstrated enough last night to convince the coaches and the team he’s the better option at QB for the time being. On the other hand, it’s not fair to assume a QB switch will fix a lot. The most likely case is that Hawkins is a better in the context of the constraints on OU’s offense.
Either way, the coaches still have to figure out how to get Arnold back on track, because Hawkins’ slight frame will put him in peril if he’s taking most of the snaps.
*If there was one bright spot on the offense, OU got solid contributions from speedster Jaquaize Pettaway at receiver. With the health of that unit, he will get more opportunities in the coming weeks.
*The OU defense defended UT as well as you could ask a team to do. Big passing plays like the two the Vols broke off are going to happen with that kind of team. The key is only giving up two.
Meanwhile, Venables and defensive coordinator Zac Alley deployed OU’s odd front, offering the Vols a light run box. The Vols only managed to run for 2.3 yards per carry with the Sooners playing three down linemen, which is another good sign for the future.
UT probably would have put up more points if the Vols didn’t go to a run-heavy approach in the second half. Keep in mind, though, that Josh Heupel’s offense gave the ball away twice in its own territory playing more wide open in the first half. Star quarterback Nico Iamaleava often found himself under duress, too.
By downshifting in the third and fourth quarters, UT coach Josh Heupel bet correctly on OU failing to drive the ball consistently, so he prevented OU from getting easier scoring opportunities and preserved the health of his stud. In other words, the strength of OU’s defense forced him into a more conservative approach.
*One of the smarter observations about college football I’ve ever heard: Teams don’t get better or worse during the season - their opponents do.
Obviously, this OU team has significant problems, but Tennessee looks extremely good so far this year. From 10,000 feet up, this game showed that the Sooners can’t hang with one of the four or five best teams in the country. That was also my assessment before the game, so my broader opinion about the team hasn’t changed much.
We’ll see as the season progresses how OU stacks up against the opponents who fall lower in the pecking order. Not every team is going to be Temple the rest of the way. They won’t all be Tennessee, either.