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15 highest-graded Oklahoma Sooners through Week 5 per Pro Football Focus

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15 highest-graded Oklahoma Sooners through Week 5 per Pro Football Focus


Football is a team game, but it’s made up of individual performances that enhance the whole. This season, the Sooners are playing well on both sides of the ball and have a top-five scoring offense and defense.

But what’s happening in 2023 is a change of pace from years past.

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Of the Sooners’ top 15 highest-graded players, according to Pro Football Focus, nine of them are on the defensive side of the ball. Oklahoma has an elite offense but looks like they have an elite defense to match for what feels like the first time in forever.

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Minimum Offensive Snaps: 99

Minimum Defensive Snaps: 89

Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

PFF Grade: 73.1

Snaps: 188

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Key Lawrence has been great this season. His ability in both pass and run defense has been incredibly impactful. The coverage bust against Iowa State aside, the Sooners are getting a career year out of Lawrence.

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

PFF Grade: 74.3

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Snaps: 97

Isaiah Coe may not show up a ton on the stat sheet, but he’s made a huge impact on the interior for Oklahoma’s run defense.

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

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PFF Grade: 74.5

Snaps: 119

Jonah Laulu’s move to defensive tackle has been fantastic for the former Hawaii transfer. His quickness on the interior has been difficult for guards to handle. He’s tied for second on the team in total pressures in 2023.

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Nathan Fish, The Oklahoman

PFF Grade: 75.3

Snaps: 224

Drake Stoops has been as steady a player as the Oklahoma Sooners have on their roster. He’s first in receptions and second in touchdown receptions. He’ll likely be called upon heavily again this week against Texas.

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Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

PFF Grade: 75.4

Snaps: 144

Gentry Williams has four tackles for loss this season and two interceptions. His aggressive mentality has provided a huge boost to the Sooners secondary. We’re watching a star in the making.

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Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

PFF Grade: 75.8

Snaps: 173

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While a lot of attention is going to Danny Stutsman and members of the secondary, Ethan Downs is quietly putting together a strong season. He leads the Sooners in total pressures and is tied for third in Pro Football Focus “stops” metric.

Nathan Fish, The Oklahoman

PFF Grade: 76.2

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Snaps: 151

Marcus Major’s led the Oklahoma Sooners in carries each of the last two weeks against a pair of stout run defenses. It’s been tough sledding, but Major has shown great burst and wiggle in the open field.

Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman

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PFF Grade: 76.4

Snaps: 173

Oklahoma’s five-star safety has been incredibly impactful through five games of his Sooners career. He’s been fantastic on both defense and special teams and his stock is only trending upward.

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Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

PFF Grade: 79.1

Snaps: 115

The Oklahoma Sooners have one of the better run defenses in college football. They’re rotating their defensive tackles, with none earning more than 33% of the snaps. Jordan Kelley is second among interior players and has recorded the second most quarterback hurries and stops at defensive tackle.

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Nathan J. Fish-USA TODAY Sports

PFF Grade: 79.5

Snaps: 235

Oklahoma’s leading receiver didn’t do a whole lot against Iowa State, but he didn’t have to. The Sooners moved the ball at will through the air. They’ll need him to be a big-time factor this week in the Cotton Bowl.

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Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

PFF Grade: 81.2

Snaps: 156

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As Gentry Williams has dealt with some minor dings here and there, Kani Walker has stepped up to fill the gap and played really well. Though he didn’t play in Oklahoma’s win over Cincinnati, he’s been effective at cornerback in a rotational role. He’s allowing a reception on just 53.3% of his targets.

Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

PFF Grade: 81.4

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Snaps: 275

There isn’t a defender in the Big 12 playing as well as Danny Stutsman is for the Oklahoma Sooners. One of the best things about the way Oklahoma has won is that it hasn’t required Stutsman to be on the field for 100% of the snaps. He’s leading the Big 12 in stops and is tied for third among linebackers with 10 pressures.

Nathan J. Fish-USA TODAY Sports

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PFF Grade: 82

Snaps: 131

Nic Anderson saw his largest snap count of the season in the win over Iowa State, seeing the field on offense for 45 snaps. He’s become an integral part of the wide receiver rotation and he leads the Oklahoma Sooners in touchdown receptions.

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Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

PFF Grade: 82.3

Snaps: 103

Everyone’s favorite running back, Tawee Walker, has provided a physical presence every time he’s touched the football. A significant part of the running back room, Walker could be called upon this week to set the tone for the offense.

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Nathan Fish, The Oklahoman

PFF Grade: 84.2

Snaps: 333

There are few quarterbacks in college football playing as well as Dillon Gabriel is right now. His 400 total yards of offense and five total touchdowns was an incredible day that could have been even bigger had the coaching staff not called off the onslaught in the fourth quarter.

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Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.





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Column: What Does Beating Maine Do for Oklahoma? Improvement, Progress, Confidence

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Column: What Does Beating Maine Do for Oklahoma? Improvement, Progress, Confidence


NORMAN — Back to business.

It wasn’t exactly a bye week for Oklahoma football — that comes next week — but the Sooners won’t have an easier time of it than they did last week against Maine.

OU returns to SEC action on Saturday when they visit Missouri — ranked No. 22 in the Coaches Poll, No. 26 in the AP Top 25 — followed by the open date and then back-to-back finishing strokes against No. 11 Alabama and No. 14 LSU.

The Sooners need one win to qualify for a bowl game for the 25th year in a row — and get those all-important postseason practices under their belt so the team can continue to march toward a successful 2025.

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Did drubbing the Black Bears 59-14 help OU prepare in any way for this closing gauntlet? 

I asked Brent Venables to put it in context for where the Maine game fits this most difficult of seasons.

“It’s just the next game,” he shrugged, “and next opportunity to improve. That’s what we wanted to see. 

“Today was kind of a byproduct of — again, the last three weeks, we’ve been talking about seeing their improvement at the spots where we haven’t had — at the first part of the season where we weren’t as good, whether it’s on offense, just everywhere on offense. The last three weeks or so, seen guys getting better in practice and today was an opportunity to do that against someone else and do the basics at a high level.” 

There’s the words that Sooner Nation has been waiting patiently to hear: “guys getting better at practice.”

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Practices are closed, so we can only take Venables at his word. But if that indeed has transpired, then that’s where OU will draw from when they step onto Faurot Field on Saturday night, not from dragging poor Maine around last weekend.

“Certainly far from perfect,” Venables said after the Maine thing, “but I thought our guys did the basics well.” 

Where Oklahoma really stands to benefit from such a thorough victory — OU had 665 yards total offense, while Maine managed just 251 — was in gaining confidence from something, anything good happening. Especially for an offensive line that has struggled all year just to do anything right.

“It hasn’t always been the best,” said center Troy Everett, “but today was great. A good confidence builder.” 

“Boost of confidence going forward,” said quarterback Jackson Arnold. “We had a bunch of young guys in today on the o-line and for them being able to go out there and dominate today and build that confidence up is huge for us.” 

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Arnold is another one who needed a shot of confidence after mostly rocky performances all season. He got benched because of turnovers, then watched his replacement get taken out for the same reason. Arnold knows he needed to just see some good things happen before he stepped back into SEC play. 

“I think it’s a sign of progress for us,” Arnold said after hitting 15-of-21 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 45 yards and another score — with no turnovers and no sacks. “The way we prepare, the way we went into the game mentally, I think it speaks volumes about the coaches and how they prepared us for the week and the game plan they put together.” 

Offensive coordinator Joe Jon Finley knows the Sooners overmatched the Black Bears. Although the OU offense opened with a punt and the defense gave up a 68-yard touchdown drive, the final score was always inevitable. What Finley wanted to see from last Saturday was something that goes much deeper than the scoreboard.

“I think it was just our guys continuing to take a step and learning how to compete,” Finley said. “The first big run we had today (Jovantae Barnes’ 74-yard near-TD) was a big-time effort play by our outside receiver, Brenen Thompson, on the left side. He goes all the way to get the into the field safety, and Barnes did a great job of making the corner miss. That’s how you draw it up and our guys executed it. Bauer Sharp finished on the blocks. I just think you see our offense get a little bit better every single day, every single week That’s exactly what we asked for.” 

Meanwhile, defensive coordinator Zac Alley wasn’t too pleased to give up a touchdown on the Bears’ opening drive after Maine “showed us some new things that maybe we haven’t seen or haven’t worked on,” but he was happy with the way his defense maintained their focus and fell back on what they worked on in practice all week.

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“We’re Oklahoma. We’re going to get somebody’s best shot all the time,” Alley said. “Just the ability to respond to something like this is something that’s not new, but the reality is when you face adversity again with the games we have remaining on the season and we’re going to respond the right way to that.”

Wide receiver J.J. Hester, a Tulsa native who began his college career at Missouri, will be additionally motivated this week to play his old squad. His 90-yard touchdown against Maine “catapults everyone,” he said, and was just the shot of confidence he needed to finish this season strong.

“It can help us a lot,” Hester said. “Sometimes you just need to see it happen and it happened today. So we’re just going to let that motivate us to keep going.”

Venables relayed a brief conversation he had with true freshman Daniel Akinkunmi, the offensive lineman from England who comes to Norman from the NFL Academy. Like most Londoners, he was raised on the soccer pitch, but Akinkunmi’s great stature — 6-foot-6 and 323 pounds (that’s 19.5 hands and 23.07 stone, using the King’s measurements) — drew him to American football. 

Akinkunmi got into his first game on Saturday, and although he and two other true freshmen o-linemen were predictably nervous, his head wasn’t exactly swimming. Akinkunmi played eight snaps, did his job, graded out OK, and could be ready for additional duty in November.

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“His first words were, ‘It was way easier than I ever thought it would be. I’ve been overthinking it,’ “ Venables said.

“It’s just the details,” Alley said. “Prepare so when you get out there you have an opportunity. … You’ve got to execute with the details of the things that we’ve seen and we’ve done. Sometimes the environment and the, ‘Oh man we’re playing a game’ — you get an adrenaline rush. And we’ve just got to calm down and do what we’re supposed to do.”

And for a team that’s 5-4 and striving to get just one more win (although Venables said last week he’d prefer to start a winning streak), the result of beating down an FCS opponent could actually translate to having just a bit more success in the SEC.

“Just get a little bit better at everything that you do,” Finley said. “We ran the ball very well today, and you have to be able to do that in this conference. Everything else, better. We’ve got some young O-linemen that fought their tails off, rotated, but gotta continue to find ways to run the ball. When do that, you got a chance to win.”

“Some stuff we still have to work on,” said Barnes, “but I feel like we took one step up, for sure.”

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How to Watch Oklahoma vs. Missouri

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How to Watch Oklahoma vs. Missouri


Oklahoma’s final non-conference game allowed the Sooners to build some momentum before their final three Southeastern Conference matchups. 

OU dispatched of Maine 59-14 on Saturday, dodging the rain and any severe injuries, which is the best any team can ask for when stepping out to play FCS competition. 

Running back Jovantae Barnes picked up where he left off in Oxford, rushing for 203 yards and three scores on 18 carries. 

Barnes will be a big part of Oklahoma’s game plan this week, as OU renews hostilities with old Big 8 foe Missouri at 6:45 p.m. Saturday on SEC Network. 

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Against Maine, Barnes became OU’s first rusher this year to cross the 100-yard mark, and receiver J.J. Hester became the Sooners’ first pass catcher to go over 100 yards through the air in 2024. 

Hester successfully ran a scramble drill with quarterback Jackson Arnold to produce a 90-yard touchdown catch against Maine, and his big day came at the right time. 

This weekend’s trip to Columbia will serve as a reunion for Hester as he started his college career at Missouri before transferring home to Oklahoma. 

Another big day could help Arnold have another strong showing in his second road start. 

After getting into a groove against Ole Miss, Arnold completed 15-of-21 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns against Maine while also rushing for 45 yards and another score on nine carries. 

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Defensively, OU rebounded from a tough first drive for another strong showing. 

Oklahoma held the Black Bears to 251 yards, and the Sooners ended their turnover drought defensively. 

Hester forced the only takeaway against Ole Miss, meaning the defense itself hadn’t handed the ball back to the offense since intercepting Quinn Ewers at the Cotton Bowl. 

Safety Robert Spears-Jennings changed that with a forced fumble in the third quarter, and true freshman Reggie Powers had an interception in the fourth quarter until it was called back for a penally elsewhere on the play. 

Hester won’t be the only face who has friends in both locker rooms on Saturday. 

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Missouri wide receiver Theo Wease started his career at Oklahoma, as did offensive lineman Cayden Green. 

Wease is in his second season with the Tigers, and Green is pushing through his first year in Columbia after his controversial transfer this past offseason. 

Missouri is hoping to get back quarterback Brady Cook for the contest against the Sooners, otherwise the Tigers will be forced to again turn to Drew Pyne to try and help move the ball. 

Despite sitting idle on a bye last week, the Tigers dropped out of the AP Top 25. Their last outing was a 34-0 loss to No. 11 Alabama.

A win for OU would be its sixth of the season, getting the Sooners bowl eligible after a disastrous start to life in the SEC. 

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Entire city police force in Oklahoma quits as two Council members also resign

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Entire city police force in Oklahoma quits as two Council members also resign


The sudden, mysterious departures in Geary, Oklahoma, which was a bustling trade center at the turn of the 20th century, have put the city, with a population of just under 1,000, in the spotlight as news of the mass resignations has gained national attention.

Last Updated : 04 November 2024, 04:25 IST



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