Under the lights in a primetime window and with the ESPN/ABC A-Team on hand, whatever set up for the Oklahoma Sooners to make a declaration on Saturday night in Norman. They didn’t rather make the declaration they desired to as they fell to the Tennessee Volunteers 25-15.
It was another frustrating efficiency for the offense and the Sooners made the modification from Jackson Arnold to Michael Hawkins late in the 2nd quarter.
The defense played another strong videogame, holding one of the finest offenses in the nation to simply 25 points and providing the Sooners a opportunity to stay in the videogame. But it wasn’t enough as the Tennessee Volunteers came into Norman and selected up the critical leading-15 win.
So what did we discover from Oklahoma’s initially SEC contest? Here are 5 takeaways from the videogame.
More: SEC Power Rankings after Week 4
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It can be hard to pull the trigger on a quarterback modification, specifically when the other alternative is a real freshman. Throwing somebody into the fire without a lot of experience can be a dish for catastrophe. Still, the Oklahoma training personnel understood they had to do something after Jackson Arnold turned the ball over 3 times in the veryfirst half, consistingof a fumble down near the objective line.
It was a relocation that required to takeplace, and it turned out to be the right call. Replacing Jackson Arnold in the lineup, Michael Hawkins was definitive and assisted put together a set of scoring drives in the 4th quarter to get the Sooners within striking range.
Though OU’s resurgence quote came up brief, they discovered a lot about Hawkins on Saturday night. His grace and physical characteristics were on screen. He revealed off a will to win, which assisted get the Sooners back in the videogame. His dive for the end zone late in the videogame where he was somersaulted through the air and eventually ruled a coupleof inches brief of a goal, revealed off his speed, athleticism, and desire to contend.
Venables and offensive planner Seth Littrell were noncommittal towards their quarterback strategy for week 5, however there has to be strong factortoconsider for Hawkins to get the start at Auburn.
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The Oklahoma Sooners hurrying attack continues to gotopieces. Once onceagain, it was a quarterback that led the method in hurrying with Hawkins recording 22 lawns hurrying on 12 efforts. Not almost excellent enough.
Oklahoma balanced a meager 1.1 backyards per bring in the loss. There were a coupleof celebrations where the Sooners discovered a bit of running space however stoppedworking to do so regularly. Jovantae Barnes led Oklahoma running backs with 8 brings, however just turned it into 12 lawns. And that consistsof a 17-yard run to the outdoors.
Oklahoma has to figure out a method to develop the run. It’s been downright awful in 2024.
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It’s simple to appearance at the loss and focus on the issues. There are definitely a number of locations one might point to. But for a minute, let’s focus on what went well, and that’s the Oklahoma Sooners defense.
If your group can hold the No. 1 scoring offense in the nation to simply 25 points, that’s a big win for the Sooners. Unfortunately, OU couldn’t produce much consistency on offense, leaving the defense hanging out to dry.
The Sooners’ run defense held Tennessee to simply 2.9 lawns per bring. They required a set of turnovers that were ruined by the offense and tape-recorded 3 sacks.
The Oklahoma defense kept the Vols from running away with the videogame, which offered Hawkins and the Sooners offense time to put something together.
The defense played winning football for the Soon