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Oklahoma-Kansas: Three Keys to the Game

Terrific Tawee back in the lineup ... Sooners in a defensive drop-off? ... Solving the Jayhawks' ground-and-pound attack.
John E. Hoover|
Oklahoma-Kansas: Three Keys to the Game
Oklahoma-Kansas: Three Keys to the Game

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Oklahoma Sooners

LAWRENCE, KS — No. 6-ranked Oklahoma takes on Kansas for the last time on Saturday at David Booth - Kansas Memorial Stadium.

The Sooners (7-0 overall, 4-0 Big 12) are favored by 9 1/2, but Kansas (5-2, 2-2) seems unfazed by their role as an underdog this week.

Jalon Daniels, the preseason Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, is expected to miss yet another game with a sore back, meaning Oklahoma will again face Jason Bean, who threw four touchdowns but two interceptions in last year’s 52-42 OU victory in Norman.

The Sooners, on the other hand, are expected to get some starters back. Here are three keys for OU heading into Saturday’s showdown.

Terrific Tawee

Oklahoma’s running back room has been a mess all year.

But Brent Venables said Tuesday he expects the group to get a boost this week with the return of Tawee Walker.

Walker was leading the team in rushing yards but sat out last week’s tense win over UCF serving what Venables called an “in-house suspension.” Venables said he believes Walker will be play against Kansas.

But Walker or no Walker, the fact remains the Sooner running backs have been largely average this season.

Walker ran for two touchdowns against Arkansas State, then strafed SMU for 117 yards, then didn’t play a down against Tulsa.

Marcus Major got 17 carries the first two games, then didn’t play at all at TU, then carried 34 times against Cincinnati and Iowa State, then got nine attempts versus Texas before receiving 18 carries for a game-high 82 yards against UCF.

Jovantae Barnes was supposed to be the starter, but he’s been hampered by a foot injury and hasn’t played in Big 12 play yet.

Gavin Sawchuk finally got extensive action last week after coming back from a hamstring injury, rushing 10 times for 62 yards. He struggled mightily at the beginning, but showed he could be a strong closer at the end.

Walker’s return is a boost, to be sure. But the group as a whole needs to play like Oklahoma running backs are supposed to play.

Defensive drop-off

As ESPN’s Bill Connelly pointed out Friday, Oklahoma’s resurgent defense has taken a statistical hit as the opposing offenses have gotten better these last three games.

Against Iowa State, Texas and UCF, the Sooners allowed 1.9 points per drive, which ranks 49th in the nation during that stretch. The previous four games, that number was 0.7, or No. 2 nationally.

In the last three games, OU is giving up 6.0 yards per play, which ranks 89th. In the first four games, it was just 4.4 yards per play allowed, 18th in the nation.

The Cyclones, Longhorns and Knights connected on 20-yard plays or longer 8 percent of the time, which ranks 102nd in the nation. That number was just 5.3 percent, or 10th nationally, in the first four games.

OU has given up a 10-yard run or longer 17.3 percent of the time, which ranks 98th nationally. Previously, those runs came just 7.5 percent of the time, or 10th in the nation.

And the Sooners didn’t allow any completions of 50 yards or more in the first month of the season, which tied for No. 1 nationally. There have been three since then, which ranks 117th.

Kansas’ offense, meanwhile, ranks among the most prolific the Sooners will have faced so far.

The Oklahoma defense will have to end that trend if the Sooners are going to avoid an upset at The Booth.

Ground and pound

The single biggest element of Oklahoma turning things around defensively Saturday will be how they perform against Kansas’ rushing attack.

Tailback tandem Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw (a Moore native) combine to average 156.6 yards per game on the ground, and average almost 7.0 yards per carry. OU defenders this week called them “shifty” and “explosive,” and that’s exactly the kind of back the Sooners struggle to contain.

Neal ran 12 times for 84 yards and a touchdown in last year’s game in Norman, and he and Hishaw have been a lethal 1-2 punch this season.

Add in fleet-footed quarterback Jason Bean — and the usual trickery and deception of coach Lance Leipold’s offensive scheme — and the Jayhawks are confident they can control the game by controlling the tempo and controlling the line of scrimmage.

That puts pressure on Oklahoma’s offense to be productive. That certainly should happen against a Kansas defense that ranks 94th overall and 82nd in points allowed, which means Saturday’s game could evolve into another shootout.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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