It’ll be tempting for offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby and quarterback Dillon Gabriel to need to throw the soccer. The Cowboys rank 128th within the nation in cross protection and 71st in cross effectivity protection.
Central Michigan (424 yards, 4 TDs), Baylor (345 and two), Texas Tech (379 and two), TCU (286 and two), Texas (319 and two), Kansas State (296 and 4) and Iowa State (274 and one) all kicked the OSU secondary round for large yards and touchdowns. Certainly Gabriel can get his.
However the Cowboys are additionally 89th within the nation towards the run, giving up 163.1 yards per recreation. (OSU ranks 121st in whole protection, 452.9 yards per recreation, and one hundred and first in scoring protection, 30.0 factors per recreation).
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Working the soccer doesn’t expose OSU’s biggest weak spot, however it’s OU’s biggest energy.
Eric Grey
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports activities
Eric Grey has 1,113 speeding yards this season. He’s logged seven 100-yard video games, together with a career-high 211 and two TDs final week at West Virginia, and he’s been over 50 within the different three.
Whereas Grey’s greatest attribute has been his highly effective legs, he’s additionally utilized supple fingers, catching 28 passes for 189 yards. Merely put, he has emerged because the Sooners’ greatest participant, and he did it by beefing up his energy, stability and explosiveness in his first offseason with energy coach Jerry Schmidt.
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OU leads the Large 12 at 221.4 speeding yards per recreation, and though the Sooners haven’t majored within the large play (they’re averaging simply 5.0 yards per carry, which ranks fifth within the league), they’ve been remarkably constant, with no less than 130 yards in all 10 video games, and greater than 200 in six video games.
Grey is averaging 6.75 yards per carry, which ranks eighth within the nation, and his per-game common of 111.3 ranks 14th.
It’s going to be chilly Saturday evening (temperatures within the 30s), and it’s probably going to be windy — probably very windy (10-15 mph with gusts to 25). Gabriel’s passes haven’t fared nicely in opposed climate situations this 12 months.
In the meantime, Grey posted his career-high final week at WVU: 25 carries. The week earlier than, he was at 23. Every of the 2 video games earlier than that, he reached 20.
Eric Grey working, not Dillon Gabriel throwing, can be Oklahoma’s key ingredient to beating OSU on Saturday.
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Don’t Make Heroes
Oklahoma State has good, dynamic gamers on offense. However the Cowboys don’t have any superheroes.
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Amongst each the working backs and receivers this season, OSU has produced simply 5 100-yard performances (by comparability, OU has 12).
DaShaun White
BRYAN TERRY / THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK
Three of these got here from wideout Bryson Inexperienced, who had simply two catches for 13 yard final week towards Iowa State. Brayden Johnson had 133 yards towards Central Michigan however has been injured and didn’t catch a ball final week. Working again Dominic Richardson’s solely large recreation was 131 yards on 27 carries towards Arizona State.
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If the OU protection doesn’t create an unlikely Bedlam hero someplace, then retaining quarterback Spencer Sanders from carrying his crew with an enormous recreation turns into far more manageable.
But when Inexperienced or John Paul Richardson or Brennan Presley — or, worst-case state of affairs, Richardson — are in a position to get free for large chunks or lengthy scores, then the Sooner protection can be up towards all of it day.
OU wants success on first and second down after which, towards all odds, possibly the Sooners can get off the sphere on third and fourth down for a change.
If that occurs, the Sooners win and can lastly clinch a bowl berth.
Get Wild and Discover Farooq
Wager the home that Oklahoma State could have a number of eyes on Marvin Mims. The Sooners’ chief in receptions and receiving yards every of the final three years stays the crew’s greatest big-play risk.
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He had 98 yards final week at WVU and dropped a 46-yard landing. Mims has three 100-yard video games this season, plus others of 81, 66 and 87. He’s able to pop one on any given play.
Jalil Farooq
Bryon Houlgrave-USA TODAY Sports activities
However it might serve Dillon Gabriel nicely to seek out Jalil Farooq early and infrequently, and in a wide range of methods.
Farooq is the Sooners’ most versatile offensive weapon, in a position to go deep like he did towards Iowa State (the Large 12’s greatest protection, bear in mind) or just transfer the chains like he did towards Texas (5 rushes for 60 yards) or Baylor or West Virginia (he mixed for seven catches for 83 yards in these video games, many on jet sweep-type performs into the perimeters of the opponents’ protection).
Farooq runs arduous, quick and hard. He hits full velocity shortly, breaks tackles and finishes runs. Reasonably than forcing the soccer into protection to Mims, exploiting an usually overpursuing OSU protection with misdirection performs to Farooq could be a clever gambit.
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And if that’s not sufficient, Lebby can all the time put Farooq, Eric Grey and tight finish Brayden Willis within the backfield for some wildcat-type snaps. It’s been arduous for nearly each protection to deal with, and may actually exploit cracks in what’s clearly a weak OSU protection.
The Oklahoma Sooners rallied from 11 points down in the fourth quarter for an incredible win over Auburn 27-21 on Saturday. OU scored 17 unanswered points to come away with the improbable win.
Brent Venables and Oklahoma are now 4-1 heading into the first of two bye weeks they’ll have during the regular season. With Texas on the other side of this bye, it’s a good opportunity for OU to get healthy and work on some of the many issues this team still has.
With the win, the Sooners moved up two spots to No. 19 in the latest Associated Press Top 25. The Sooners
They’re eighth out of nine SEC teams in the AP Top 25 after week five. The conference dominates the rankings with four of the top five teams and six of the top ten. ]
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Texas dropped to No. 2, as Alabama’s heart-pounding win over Georgia was enough to jump the Crimson Tide over the Longhorns into the No. 1 spot in the eyes of the voters. Texas also has a bye week coming up, sitting at 5-0.
Elsewhere in the SEC, Tennessee moved up to No. 4 and Georgia fell to No. 5 after the loss to Alabama. Missouri sits at ninth, Ole Miss is No. 12, LSU is at No. 13, and Texas A&M hangs on to a ranking at No. 25.
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Oklahoma kicker Zach Schmit endured a tough two years.
In 2022 and 2023, the Oklahoma City product connected on 27-of-39 field goals, including a host of crucial kicks late in tight games.
As a result, Brent Venables brought Tyler Keltnerin from Florida State to compete with Schmit, and Keltner won the starting job.
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But life has many twists and turns.
Keltner had to miss OU’s trip to Auburn, putting Schmit back in the spotlight for the Sooners’ first SEC road game.
And Schmit was nails.
He was trotted out for a 24-yard kick after an illegal motion took a touchdown off the board late in the third quarter to cut the lead to 14-10.
Then Venables needed Schmit to make one more kick, a 39-yarder, to heap the pressure back on Auburn.
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Schmit came through again, extending OU’s lead to 27-21, forcing the Tigers to go the length of the field.
Payton Thorne came crashing back down to earth after the turnover-prone Auburn quarterback enjoyed a smooth first three quarters, and the Sooners hung on for a crucial road victory to head into the bye week 4-1 on the year and 1-1 in conference contests.
“A great story of redemption,” Venables said after the win. “… We needed him every step of the way. Him nailing that. We’re up by three and now up by six and Auburn has no timeouts. A field goal and everything changes in their play selection. Who knows?
“… But it didn’t matter. Zach was ready.”
When he stepped up for his crucial kick, his own story of redemption was the farthest thing from Schmit’s mind.
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“It was another opportunity to step up and help the team,” Schmit said. “Like I told them in the locker room, I’m not worried about my own success in this game. But my main goal is to help the success of the team.
“… For me, it’s about the redemption of this team, making sure we bounce back from the Tennessee loss and making sure we go into this bye week with a lot of headway, 4-1 and in a good position. That’s what it’s about to me.”
Regardless of how things play out on the field every Saturday, Venables is a big believer in who Zach Schmit is.
This week, he was named as a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy, college football’s academic Heisman.
Schmit’s a fighter, too.
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Though he didn’t win the placekicking job out of fall camp, he battled with Keltner throughout the spring and the summer to help the team.
“I was really thankful for his courage that he has shown,” Venables said. “He could have easily just quit, wasn’t on scholarship. He’s going to be incredibly successful in the business world. … Really, a cool moment to celebrate him and a great example for all of us.”
Schmit hasn’t run from his struggles, either.
He’s aware of everything, the good and the bad, which has only given him a bigger appreciation for Venables.
“Through the ups and downs, he’s been by my side consistently,” Schmit said. “He always tells us that he’s in the A-gap with us. A lot of people in the media can see that and say that’s kind of cliche, but for him it’s what he means.
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“He took a lot of flak because of me, but to continue to have trust in me and faith in me and put me back out this week shows me the type of man he is. Not even head coach, but just the man and the father figure (he is) for this team.”
The Sooners won by six points, a pair of field goals.
Saturday’s heroes — Kip Lewis, Michael Hawkins Jr., J.J. Hester and Schmit — soaked in the locker room scenes before OU left Auburn to get back to work during the bye week.
“It was awesome,” Schmit said. “… Especially when you win on the road in a (hostile) environment, especially coming back from 21-10. I’d assume every one wrote us off at that point, so to be able to do that shows what type of team we have in that locker room.
LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) – Also in Lawton, members of the local chapter of the Oklahoma Council of the Blind joined members statewide for the state convention at the Hilton Garden Inn.
The event featured plenty of resources for the visually impaired including things such as the state library for those with disabilities, different tech to assist those with daily tasks or even those looking into getting a seeing-eye dog.
The current president of the state organization she hopes the event continues to grow.
”We bring all these things in to one spot for people to be able to benefit from it and we’re hoping to get, every year, we get more and more,” said Elaine Boykin. “We have a number of new people here this weekend and it’s great. It really is.”
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The event included a welcome by Mayor Stan Booker, a proclamation from Representative Daniel Pae, and a tribute to the late Kay Love, former president of the Oklahoma Council of the Blind and the founder of the Lawton chapter.
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