Three Quick Takeaways From Oklahoma’s Loss to West Virginia

One other week, one other disastrous loss for Oklahoma.

The Sooners dropped their second consecutive recreation on Saturday 23-20 to West Virginia to fall again all the way down to .500 on the season at 5-5 and an unsightly 2-5 in Large 12 play.

The Mountaineers, who entered the day in useless final within the convention standings, handle to stymie the OU passing recreation sufficient all through the day and are available by means of with large conversions after they wanted them offensively to beat the Sooners for the primary time since WVU entered the Large 12.

Oklahoma ran the ball extraordinarily successfully as soon as once more with Eric Grey, however in any other case are left on the lookout for solutions as soon as extra after this newest debacle.

Self-discipline Stays an Subject

Brent Venables mentioned at size a scarcity of self-discipline as being a serious problem with Oklahoma after final week’s loss to Baylor.

On Saturday in Morgantown, little, if something, had modified because the Sooners have been incessantly bit by premature penalties and simply typically inexcusable errors.

Oklahoma’s incapacity to get off the sector on key downs cropped up once more towards the Mountaineers as West Virginia went 4-for-5 on fourth down conversions together with a faux punt the place quite a few Sooners gave the impression to be in place to make the play.

Two OU penalties led on to WVU first downs to increase drives, with an offsides penalty towards Jordan Kelley being notably painful within the eventual game-winning drive.

As Venables mentioned every week in the past, self-discipline had been one thing burdened by the teaching employees since they took over final December.

However, regardless of that, the Sooners proceed to shoot themselves within the foot when it issues most – which makes issues very troublesome to win soccer video games.

One other Questionable Fourth Down Determination

Final week, Oklahoma had an opportunity to go for a fourth all the way down to open the fourth quarter, however elected to punt as a substitute.

Baylor then took the ball down the sector for a landing, placing the Sooners severely behind the eight ball in attempting to make a comeback.

One other large fourth down spot introduced itself on Saturday with Oklahoma holding the ball on the West Virginia 29-yard line needing three yards to select up a primary down.

However, with simply over six minutes left to play, Venables elected to aim a 46-yard discipline aim by means of a driving rainstorm moderately than trusting his offense to get the yardage.

Zach Schmit then missed the kick, his second of the day, with West Virginia regaining possession. The Mountaineers then took the ball down the sector, drained the clock, and kicked a game-winning discipline aim. 

That is two consecutive video games the place Oklahoma didn’t belief their offense in a giant spot and it instantly hurting them, with this one being much more pricey than every week in the past.

Given the climate situations, the choice to go for the sector aim moderately than attempting to select up the three yards shall be closely scrutinized within the week forward.

Dillon Gabriel Struggles Proceed, Eric Grey Stays Scorching

Whereas the Oklahoma operating recreation with Eric Grey stays extraordinarily impact, the passing recreation with quarterback Dillon Gabriel was a tick off as soon as once more.

Gabriel didn’t flip the ball over on Saturday, however did miss a number of open throws that might have been large performs.

On the afternoon, he completed having accomplished simply 17 of his 28 passes for a measly 190 yards and no touchdowns – definitely a far cry from what he or offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby predict to do by means of the air.

On the opposite finish of the spectrum, Grey continues to be Oklahoma’s best weapon and definitely one of many absolute best gamers on your complete roster.

The Tennessee switch ran for an impressive 211 yards on Saturday at 8.4 yards per carry with a pair of touchdowns.

However, this all ties again to the endless dialog of “complimentary soccer” being so elusive for OU this season. Oklahoma merely has to discover a solution to get each the passing and speeding assault buzzing on the identical time to be as efficient as they wish to be on offense. 

The Sooners have not been in a position to get fairly completely in sync for a full sixty minutes in current weeks, and that has now contributed to back-to-back losses. 

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