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Oklahoma's Defense Stood Tall in Cincinnati Thanks to Great Play on Third and Fourth Downs

The No. 16 Sooners held the Bearcats to 4-of-19 on third and fourth downs en route to a 20-6 victory to open Big 12 play at Nippert Stadium on Saturday.
Ryan Chapman|
Oklahoma's Defense Stood Tall in Cincinnati Thanks to Great Play on Third and Fourth Downs
Oklahoma's Defense Stood Tall in Cincinnati Thanks to Great Play on Third and Fourth Downs

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Oklahoma Sooners

CINCINNATI — Brent Venables ushered in defensive improvements just three games into his Oklahoma tenure.

At least, that’s what it looked like last year — until the Sooners opened Big 12 play.

Kansas State walked into Norman and ran all over the Sooners, toppling Oklahoma 41-34 behind an impressive rushing performance.

Adrian Martinez, a mobile quarterback, rushed for 148 yards and four scores, breaking off first down after first down on OU’s defense.

A lot of the Wildcats’ damage came on third and fourth down, where Kansas State combined to convert 10-of-19 attempts.

Struggling to get off the field became a theme the rest of the 2022 season, something Venables was intent on fixing this offseason.

Through three contests in 2023, Oklahoma looked improved. But nobody in Norman — player, coach or fan — was going to be stratified until it translated to the conference slate.

Oklahoma got its chance, and the defense held strong, in Cincinnati.

Battling a party atmosphere inside Nippert Stadium as Scott Satterfield’s squad took the field for the first time as a member of the Big 12, Venables’ defense won the day.

The No. 16-ranked Sooners kept Cincinnati out of the end zone in the 20-6 win, but most importantly held the Bearcats to 4-of-19 combined on third and fourth down.

“Really proud of the guys,” Venables said after the win. “… I love the belief. It takes courage to keep going out there. Things are still tight.”

Led by linebacker Danny Stutsman, who finished top on the team with 13 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss, the OU (4-0 overall, 1-0 Big 12) defense found ways to rally and get stops even if the Bearcats found success early in drives.

Cincinnati (2-2, 0-1) ended the day with seven different drives where the offense had five or more snaps, but failed to get any points.

Key Lawrence erased an eight-play, 49-yard drive with an interception.

The Bearcats then marched 37 yards on nine plays right before halftime, but missed a 26-yard field goal.

In the third quarter, OU came up with a fourth down stop to end a 10-play drive, and Billy Bowman iced the game with a tip-drill interception when the Bearcats had moved the ball 35 yards down the field on eight plays.

“Like Coach Venables says, they’re not in ’til they’re in,” Bowman said. “So as long as we can keep fighting and keep points off the board, we do our job.

“So that’s just a bunch of wasted yardage, to get down there. Then they have to get it in. It feels great not allowing the offense into the end zone and holding them to field goals.”

Producing stop after stop let Jeff Lebby’s Oklahoma offense find its footing.

Led by Dontay Corleone and Jowon Briggs, Cincinnati boasts a formidable defensive line of its own.

But it was the Sooners’ front that dictated the terms on Saturday.

OU held the Bearcat running game to 161 yards on the ground — 78 yards below their season average which ranked eighth nationally coming into the weekend.

“Stopping the run's really a mentality,” linebacker Dasan McCullough said. “So we've just have to stay disciplined to our jobs and have a physical mentality of coming down and hitting.

“So having that mentality regardless of how the offense is performing, all outside factors. We just got to be locked in on what we've got to do.”

Though this year’s team tries to avoid comparisons to a year ago, Stutsman said the defense has made great strides since last year’s conference opener.

“There has been so much improvement looking back,” he said. “It’s crazy to think how much improvement can happen in a year.

“Look at the K-State game the fits that happened. Now here in a similar situation with a really good running quarterback and kept him in the pocket for most of the game.”

Emory Jones, who transferred to Cincinnati this offseason from Arizona State, finished with just 58 yards on the ground.

Oklahoma did a decent job keeping him in the pocket for the most part, forcing the inaccurate passer to throw the ball 41 times.

The result?

OU made plays drive-after-drive on third and fourth down, ultimately keeping the Bearcats out of the end zone.

“That's huge,” McCullough said. “I mean if you stop a team on third down, I mean that shuts down a lot.

“… That's championship level football. So we just want to keep improving off of that… We still left a lot on the table so there's a lot for us to still improve on.”

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Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is co-publisher at Sooners On SI and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK. 

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