OU's pace is torrid in first and third quarters, but Sooners focused on being stronger in the fourth
To say Oklahoma starts games fast wouldn’t really do justice to how the Sooners play in the first quarter of games so far this season.
Eight games in, OU is outscoring opponents 124-17.
And if that weren’t enough, the Sooners are pouring it on in the third quarter, too, giving up just 24 points and outscoring opponents 58-24. Even more, the Sooners haven’t allowed a point in the third quarter in five straight games — since coming home from Iowa State.
“I actually think it’s just really good pregame and halftime speeches,” head coach Lincoln Riley said. “That’s a joke. Trust me. You guys know I don’t believe much in those.”
Whatever he is or isn’t saying before the team takes the field, he needs to keep it up.
Now prepping for a challenging road trip to West Virginia on Saturday, the 14th-ranked Sooners (6-2) are coming off a rivalry game in which they led 21-0 just eight minutes in.
After one quarter of play in their last five games, OU led Texas 10-0, TCU 10-0, Texas Tech 21-7, Kansas 14-0 and Oklahoma State 21-7. That tallies up to 76-14 in the first quarter alone.
In the third quarter of those games, they’ve outscored the opposition 41-0.
“I mean, we have played well early, which has been a strength of this team the majority of the season,” Riley said. “The way you start games is certainly critical. We’ve emphasized different parts throughout the year.”
It probably speaks to the effectiveness of the game plan drawn up by the OU coaching staff. Specific to the third quarter, it speaks to coaches being able to make the proverbial “halftime adjustments” — good coaches know what to look for and how to tweak their own schemes in a quick turnaround.
It also speaks to the players’ own investment in the team and this season.
“It’s a little bit of all those together,” said quarterback Spencer Rattler. “We focus on our effort, of course, and our energy. We can’t control a lot of things, but you can control your energy, if that’s on the field, on the sideline. A lot of people don’t realize (if) you have that energy on the sideline when your defense is playing, they’ll play better, and vice versa.
“I think just as a whole team, you know, just our energy and our effort on the field all comes together and we just execute at a higher level when we’re locked into our assignment and mix that with the energy and the crowd is loud, and especially being at home. It all comes together.”
Cornerback Tre Brown boiled it down from his perspective.
“It’s not really game-planning at all,” Brown said. “It’s us going out there and playing with full effort and believing in ourselves and knowing we have more in the tank and that we can go out there and be who we are and play like the athletes we are.
“Everybody came to Oklahoma for a reason. We all have something to do. Doesn’t matter the scheme or the play call. We are together and we play together and fly around to the ball. That’s what keeps us going.”
Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch couldn’t be happier that his defense is shutting people down coming out of the locker room — unless it were shutting people down in the fourth quarter.
“I don't think there’s one thing that you circle,” Grinch said, “because if you could, you’d do the same thing right at the end of the third quarter, because that’s something I'd like to say we’re getting better at — but something that has really affected our year is our inability to finish as well as we need to in the fourth.”
He’s right. In the last two games, things have improved as OU outscored Kansas and OSU 35-6. But the game before, Texas Tech won the fourth quarter 14-7. TCU won the fourth quarter 7-6. And of course, Texas won the fourth quarter 14-0.
And those were wins. In the two losses, Iowa State won the fourth quarter 14-10, and Kansas State won the fourth quarter 17-0.
So there are obviously signs of recent improvement. But OU will need that to carry over Saturday in Morgantown.
“I know early in the season, we didn’t finish as well as we wanted to, but we always start fast,” said defensive end Isaiah Thomas. “I know around the third or fourth game of the season, we started harping on how we got to finish better. From that point on, we really took the time throughout practice, even off the field, preparing ourselves to be able to finish better in games. We start strong then we also take it upon ourselves to take great pride in finishing as well. We’ve seen that the last several weeks in the games we’ve played in.”
Grinch offered a logistical explanation for how the Sooners have been able to get off to such good starts.
“I think from a practice standpoint, we do structure (it) so we come out of the gate fast,” he said. “We don’t ease into practice. It’s stretch and then we’re immediately into it. For instance, defensively, right after we stretch, we go right to goal line. It’s not touch your toes and kinda get loose and 20 minutes into this thing, then we'll get this cranked up. There are things that you do, and that’s one of the things that we do do.
“Does that contribute? That’s why you do it. But at the same token, I will say this, you mention practice — I do think our guys have an appreciation for what practice means. You either believe in it or you don’t. Are you preparing on a day-in and day-out basis to play your best football Saturdays? Or are you just checking boxes and hoping things go well and outcomes come your way?
“I’d like to think they feel prepared, they feel confident and in which then, inevitably, you need to do because something’s going to happen. A play's not gonna go your way. A drive, a couple of drives. This is the thing we talk to the guys all about in terms of the only thing promised on game day is adversity. You don't know what else is going to happen, but that's gonna happen. ... First quarters have not come without adversity. Things have happened. Texas Tech, if memory serves, they scored on the first possession. Now what? So a lot of it comes back down to those things, is fast starts but understanding that you don't get to choose the adversity that you have and you gotta respond to it. And we've done a pretty good job of it over the course of the year.”
And Riley offered a tease for why OU has been so good after halftime.
“Coming out for the third quarter was something two years ago that we kinda revamped how we approached that, how we approached halftime,” Riley said. “I’m not going to go into all the details, and not anything earth-shattering, but a little bit different approach there with just how we schedule it and all that. And so, it’s gone well. And being able to get out and start halves quickly is a big part of playing great football and certainly helped us, especially with this latest streak going on.
“I was really proud, honestly, of how we played in the fourth quarter the other day. I thought that was one of our strongest quarters, if not our strongest quarter of the game. Obviously, we played well in the first quarter too. But to kinda regain momentum there and finish off the way we did was awesome. So, I think our guys have been ready to play in the beginning and have been able to seize momentum.
“Like coach Grinch says every time, ‘You don’t win a game in the first, second or third. You win the game in the fourth quarter,’ ” Brown said. “That’s something we keep in our mind that we need to finish.”
Said Rattler, “Big thing for us is, the first quarter’s good, the second quarter’s cool, the third quarter’s good, but the fourth quarter — you’ve got to execute at the highest level possible. So that’s what we really focus on the most.”
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