How Playing 'Loose' Can Help Oklahoma's Offense Bounce Back Against Kansas
NORMAN — Oklahoma’s offense has plenty of pressure on it this week.
One week after failing to put a single point on the board in the Cotton Bowl, the Sooners welcome in a Kansas Jayhawks offense that has had the same success as Texas on the scoreboard.
Both the No. 19-ranked Jayhawks and the No. 22-ranked Longhorns average 38.8 points per game, the 19th-best mark in the country.
And while it’s likely Kansas’ starting quarterback Jalon Daniels will miss the game Saturday, backup Jason Bean had plenty of success against OU last year.
Bean threw for 246 yards and ran for 59 more yards a year ago against a Sooner defense that was playing a lot better than the recent version of the 2022 defense.
Jeff Lebby’s offense is expected to get starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel back this week, a complete change of circumstance from what the OU quarterback picture looked like last week. But the offense has sputtered even with the talented lefty at the helm.
Gabriel missed key throws at pivotal moments in the loss to Kansas State, and was even more erratic in Fort Worth before he was knocked out of the game.
With the confidence for OU’s defense appearing to reach a new low, the Sooner offense needs to settle in early and score with the Jayhawks this Saturday.
The Sooners are no strangers to slow starts, however. Oklahoma has fallen behind first in every game except the season opener this year, and it’s important that the offense isn’t pressing from the start or the issues could once again compound on Saturday.
“I think that the biggest thing for our offense right now actually is to play loose,” tight end Brayden Willis said after practice on Monday. “Just play loose and relaxed a little bit, and just go out and make plays.
“… We have to go out and expect to make plays and make those plays. We can’t wait on anybody else to make plays. So I think that’s going to be a big emphasis this week is going out and attacking the opportunities we get.”
Last Saturday the Sooners walked off the field embarrassed.
The shutout loss to Texas marked the first time since 1998 OU failed to muster a single point, snapping a streak of 311 games.
Oklahoma can’t wipe last week’s showing out of the record books. They also can’t right all the wrongs of this season on one play, which is a mentality Willis said the offense will have to guard against.
“It’s a focused intensity,” he said. “You can’t be overly intense where you’re full of rage and you don’t remember your job, but you also have to be intense.
“… Then there’s the having fun aspect of it. Some of the best teams, when they go out there and make big plays, you see them having fun with each other. I think that’s a big component that if we could get, especially with how close this team is and this offense is in general, I think we could really play with each other with the love we have for each other.”
To have massive success, the Sooners will also have to find a way to navigate negative plays against Kansas.
This year, Oklahoma has allowed poor exertion on one singular play to snowball into doomed drives, bad quarters and dreadful halves of football.
In the face of a negative play, the offense will have to respond with a better play to find any kind of rhythm and get back on track.
“I think handling failure is knowing, again, not everything’s going to go well or go perfect,” OU coach Brent Venables said on Tuesday. “And it doesn’t have to. So just having a poise and a maturity to know in those moments, don’t flinch. Play the next play, play the next series. Get the adjustments, get the corrections, and then take it to the field the next series, as opposed to so much stress where it’s catastrophic if things don’t go well.
“Right now, we’re just not playing with the efficiency that we need to. That goes on both sides of the ball, so we can help and compliment one another.”
Regardless of how the season has gone to date, Oklahoma has a chance this Saturday to snap its three-game skid and seize positive momentum ahead of the bye week.
OU can’t dwell on the first half of the season this week, as those gloomy thoughts won’t serve anyone well once the ball is kicked off against the Jayhawks.
“Obviously as competitors we’re all a little disappointed and frustrated,” wide receiver Drake Stoops said on Monday. “This isn’t how any of us envisioned us starting the first six games of the season. We put the game to rest today.
“We watched film (Sunday). We watched it again today. We went through it with the coaches. Now it’s time to put our best foot forward for Kansas, which is a really good football team coming in on Saturday.”
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