Oklahoma CB Courtland Guillory's Freshman Lesson was a Day He'd 'Like to Have Back'

Brent Venables described Oklahoma's pass coverage as "leaky" following the No. 11 Sooners 24-17 victory over No. 22 Auburn in their SEC opener Saturday in Norman.

While dozens of coverage breakdowns occurred with numerous OU secondary players at fault, the spotlight shone on freshman cornerback Courtland Guillory — though not in the way he wanted. Guillory was picked on repeatedly by Jackson Arnold and Hugh Freeze's offense throughout the day.

Per Pro Football Focus, Guillory was targeted five times and surrendered four catches. Unfortunately for Guillory, all four catches seemed to take the wind out of the sails for the defense. When it wasn't a breakdown in coverage, it was Guillory's undisciplined play leading the officials littering Owen Field with yellow flags.

Ultimately, the Sooners, and even Guillory on a handful of key tackles in the second half, were able to prevail. But with OU heading into their bye week at 4-0, that leaky coverage will need to find the plug quickly.

Oklahoma Sooners, Courtland Guillory, Reggie Powers — Oklahoma defensive back Courtland Guillory, defensive back Reggie Powers | Carson Field, Sooners on SI

On a day where the tenacious play of the Sooner front seven will be praised for a long time — to the tune of a school record-tying nine sacks of Arnold, the former Sooner quarterback — Guillory's mistakes seemed to pour cold water on the Oklahoma defense.

Such is life for underclassmen defensive backs in the SEC. One week, it's future NFL Draft pick Cam Coleman, in a few weeks at the Cotton Bowl it will be DeAndre Moore Jr. That is why it is imperative for Oklahoma that Guillory look at the Auburn game as a learning experience and a simple bad day at the office. Development with Guillory will dictate how the Sooner secondary performs as they get deeper into SEC play.

First, it was 40-yard bomb down the east sideline when Auburn found themselves backed up to their own 3-yard line on the Tigers' first drive of the second quarter.

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With the half coming to a close and the Sooners holding on to a 10-3 lead, Guillory committed a pass interference penalty in the end zone to get Auburn a first down on the Sooner 2-yard line. Auburn quickly scored on an Arnold-to-Coleman 2-yard connection — over Guillory.

Guillory's second pass interference of the day came midway through the fourth quarter on an Auburn fourth-and-6 at the Oklahoma 19-yard line. Auburn punched it in for a touchdown on the next play, giving the Tigers at 17-16 lead. It was the longest drive by the Tigers by far — 7:48 of clutch Auburn plays and missed opportunities by the Sooner defense, with Guillory's flag being the exclamation mark.

Despite a day he'd like to forget, Guillory's coach is confident in him, and there's good reason for it.

"He’s a really tough kid," Venables said of Guillory after the game. "He made some plays there late when he was in great position, doing the things we needed to do, too, that don’t show up on the stat sheet as well."

Oklahoma Sooners, Courtland Guillory — Oklahoma cornerback Courtland Guillory | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

This wasn't the first time the freshman corner has been picked on. The Michigan Wolverines had the same idea in week two. Michigan targeted Guillory on five plays, per Pro Football Focus. In that contest, Guillory won the day and surrendered no catches.

Different teams will pose different challenges. Some schools have better quarterbacks or better running backs. Oklahoma will be hard-pressed to find many wide receivers better than Coleman, but this is the SEC, so there are bound to be a few more dangerous pass catchers along the way. Guillory will need to answer the call.

The capability is there for the freshman. Despite his inexperience, the Houston native has performed remarkably well on a defense that has high expectations. His size and physical tools give him an edge not common among freshman corners.

Venables always puts pressure on his secondary. His aggressive defenses often force his corners to play on an island and to limit mistakes. Such was the case on Saturday. The Sooner head coach knows he can help out his talented freshman corner, but is more than confident in Guillory's individual ability to put this game behind him and improve.

" ‘Hey Coach, can you give me a safety,’ " Venables said with a chuckle. "I can help him, too. It’s not all on him, but this’ll help him. He’s really prideful. He’ll be all right."