Oklahoma 2021 Report Card: Cornerbacks

The Sooners struggled to find consistency at corner after Woodi Washington missed a chunk of the season with an injury.

Author:
Ryan Chapman
Publish date:
Jan 13, 2022 8:00 AM EST

The close of 2020 raised the expectations for Oklahoma’s corners in 2021.

Woodi Washington and D.J. Graham appeared to be coming into their own, highlighted by an impressive Cotton Bowl performance against Florida.

But unfortunately, injuries played a big role in preventing OU’s cornerbacks from reaching their lofty goals this past season.

OU started off the season in somewhat shocking fashion, allowing Tulane’s Michael Pratt to throw for 296 yards and three touchdowns.

After escaping in the opening week, the entire defense started to find their rhythm.

Latrell McCutchin
BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN-Imagn Content Services, LLC

Against Western Carolina, Nebraska and West Virginia, Alex Grinch’s unit stepped up to the plate and put forth their most dominate performances of the season, punctuated by a play of the year candidate in Graham’s interception against the Cornhuskers.

Washington’s injury against the Catamounts began a revolving door at the cornerback spot opposite of Graham, however.

Jaden Davis, Latrell McCutchin, Key Lawrence, Billy Bowman and even Jordan Mukes all saw some sort of action as the Sooners looked to sort out their secondary.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the Sooners squared off against the Texas Tech Red Raiders that Grinch and cornerbacks coach Roy Manning found their answer in Lawrence, but not before Oklahoma’s pass defense fell into the 100’s.

Over OU’s five-game October stretch, the Sooner secondary gave up 313.8 passing yards per game, a mark which would have ranked 129th out of the 130 FBS teams.

The emergence of Lawrence as a consistent playmaker, as well as Washington’s return, helped shore things up on the back end after the bye week.

Key Lawrence, Nebraska Cornhuskers — Key Lawrence
Kevin Jairaj / USA TODAY Sports

Oklahoma’s corners did enough to keep OU in the game against Baylor and Oklahoma State, and the entire defense raised their game to lift the Sooners over Iowa State across OU’s up-and-down November stretch.

Both Washington and experienced nickel corner Justin Broiles finished the season with a pair of interceptions, when added with Graham’s show-stopper in Nebraska accounted for five of OU’s 11 picks in 2021. Lawrence also forced a pair of key fumbles, one against Kansas and one against Iowa State, to help tilt the balance in OU’s favor in both contests.

In the end, Oklahoma’s pass defense finished ranked No. 109 in the country, allowing 261.8 yards per game. The Sooners also finished 116th in the country in opposing completion percentage, allowing quarterbacks to complete 66.83 percent of their passes against the Oklahoma secondary versus FBS competition.

With Lawrence, Washington and Graham in tow, the cornerbacks could rebound in 2022, but this past year they failed to meet their preseason expectations.

Grading the Cornerbacks