Oklahoma DE R Mason Thomas Playing Best Football Ahead of Texas Game

R Mason Thomas logged a 94.3 defensive grade in the Sooners' 44-0 win over Kent State, which was the best mark of his career.

Oklahoma defensive end R Mason Thomas, defensive tackle Markus Strong | Carson Field, Sooners on S

NORMAN — R Mason Thomas’ last six quarters of football have arguably been the best of his college career.

Two weeks after recording the game-sealing sack against Auburn, Thomas logged six tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble — that Gracen Halton returned for a touchdown — in the Sooners’ 44-0 win against Kent State. He finished the game with a Pro Football Focus (PFF) overall defensive grade of 94.3, the best of his career.

Thomas has put together plenty of stellar performances throughout his four-year career at OU. But against the Golden Flashes, he did something that he hadn’t previously achieved: shutting out an opponent at the college level.

“It builds my confidence, for sure,” Thomas said. “This is my first shutout in my college career. It says a lot about what we're doing in the darkness. It comes to light."

Thomas’ six tackles were a career-best mark, and he tied with defensive tackle David Stone for the most tackles in the lopsided win.

OU coach Brent Venables singled out Thomas’ performance in a team effort that he described as “mature.”

“They just show up, compete to a standard, regardless of who we’re playing or how the game’s going,” Venables said after the game. “I just really appreciate that about our guys.”

While Thomas was certainly one of OU’s most dominant defenders in the win, he was one of 11 players on the field at a given time — and the entire defense had a fantastic outing.

The Sooners allowed only one third-down conversion, and that came on Kent State’s first drive of the game. The Golden Flashes rushed for only 17 yards, while Oklahoma logged 13 tackles for loss and five sacks.

Specifically, the Sooners’ front seven controlled the line of scrimmage.

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Thomas was one of five OU defensive ends who finished the Kent State game with a PFF grade higher than 70, along with Taylor Wein, Danny Okoye, Marvin Jones Jr. and Adepoju Adebawore. 

Thomas praised the Sooners’ coaching staff for allowing the front seven to have a field day.

“It's to the coaches calling up the schemes to get us in position to get tackles for loss,” Thomas said. “That says a lot about what we're scheming and how we execute.”

Making the defense’s day even more impressive, Oklahoma’s starters didn’t play the entire game, and two of them — defensive tackles Jayden Jackson and Damonic Williams — sat out of the contest.

Players like Okoye, linebacker Taylor Heim and safety Jaydan Hardy were some of the Sooners’ best defenders. Altogether, 75 different Oklahoma players appeared in the win.

The drubbing proved that Oklahoma’s defense can operate near peak efficiency, even when players have to inevitably miss time.

And that’s crucial for the Sooners as they approach the gauntlet that lies ahead: OU will battle Texas in the Red River Rivalry game in Dallas on Saturday before battling ranked opponents in five of their final six regular-season games.

“I came out here talking about having dogs in the second string and third string, having dogs, not wanting no cats,” Thomas said. “We definitely have some dogs that stepped up.”