Oklahoma Defense Remains Confident Turnovers Will Come, but the Time is Now

The Sooners remain the only FBS team without a takeaway. Recent history says Oklahoma must turn that around in a big way in order to contend for a playoff berth.

Oklahoma's defense, including Peyton Bowen (22) has been very good this season. But so far, the Sooners haven't been able to force turnovers. Brent Venables says that must change. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Oklahoma’s defense has been excellent through four games.

There’s no denying that.

The Sooners enter Saturday’s non-conference finale against Kent State (3 p.m., SEC Network) in the top nationally in virtually every major defensive category.

OU is second nationally in total defense (207.5 yards per game), leads FBS in third-down conversion percentage defense (.179), first-downs allowed (45), and is tied for first in sacks (4.0), is third in passing yards allowed (118.5) and scoring defense (9.0), tied for third in lackles for loss (9.2), and is fifth in passing efficiency defense (93.38).

But the Sooners remain the only FBS team who have yet to force a turnover.

Even Kent State, which comes into Saturday’s contest last in FBS in total defense (allowing 541.8 yards per game), has forced four.

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“Luck’s not the right word, but the stove is hot,” Sooners coach Brent Venables said Monday. “We’re going to continue to emphasize turnovers. … We gotta do a better job of being more purposeful in practice.”

OU defensive end Taylor Wein said turning the category around was imperative.

“We gotta get turnovers,” Wein said. “We gotta take the ball away. That’s something that we’re really emphasizing that we gotta get better at.”

The Sooners have forced just one fumble through four games — a fourth-quarter fumble by Temple quarterback Evan Simon that was recovered by an Owls’ offensive lineman.

In Venables’ first three seasons, OU had just five games where it didn’t force a turnover. The Sooners went 1-4 in those games.

The Sooners’ stretch without a turnover is its longest in a single season since 2019.

While OU has had success thus far this season without forcing turnovers, that doesn’t figure to continue.

If the Sooners are to continue playing excellent defense, they’re likely to need the help of turnovers.

“We start practice every day with a really cool turnover circuit that’ll pay dividends,” Venables said. “We gotta do a better job of being more purposeful in practice. All those good-on-good reps.”

But Venables said the Sooners can’t try to force things too much either.

“I don’t want to be that team that’s over there trying to rip at the ball and nobody’s tackling the ball carrier, either. That’s bad football. But at the same time, man, we need to create turnovers.”

No other team currently in the top 10 nationally in total defense has fewer than four takeaways.

The teams that finished last season in the top 10 in total defense averaged 23.4 takeaways. Only Northern Illinois (14) finished in the top 10 in total defense last season with fewer than 18 turnovers forced.

All of last season’s playoff teams forced at least 16 turnovers.

“We got some work to do,” Venables said. “You want to be one of those teams. You need to be. You can’t be last in the country.

“... We gotta quit giving the ball back. We’ve had six turnovers on offense. Gotta quit giving it back on offense, and we gotta go get it on defense. So hopefully we can get that turned around sooner rather than later.”