Quick Takeaways From Oklahoma's Victory Over UTEP
NORMAN — Finally, the Brent Venables era is underway in Norman.
The No. 9-ranked Oklahoma handled the UTEP Miners, winning 45-13 on Saturday afternoon at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
OU (1-0) stormed out of the gates, scoring three quick touchdowns to create all the distance the Sooners would need to down the Miners (0-2).
Here are three takeaways from the first victory of Venables’ tenure:
The Tempo is Real
If you blinked in the first quarter, you likely missed three different Oklahoma touchdown drives.
It took the Sooners just 13 combined plays and 3:32 to traverse 223 yards the first three times they got the football.
Offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby’s offense was so efficient early on that UTEP actually dominated the time of possession battle in the first half. At one point in the second quarter, the Miners had held the ball for 17:23 to just 5:23 of possession for the Sooners.
Unsurprisingly, Dillon Gabriel looked to be in a great rhythm early on when the offense was humming.
The former UCF quarterback completed six straight passes after his deep shot to Marvin Mims on the first play of the game landed harmlessly in the grass.
Gabriel later then completed seven straight passes spanning the end of the first half into the third quarter, where OU tacked on another pair of lightning-quick scoring drives.
Major Red Zone Asset
Lebby praised running back Marcus Major’s fall camp performance earlier in the week, and Major showed why on Saturday.
Major carried the ball just seven times, rushing for 54 yards and two scores against UTEP, averaging 7.7 yards per carry.
The redshirt junior could have rushed for more in the fourth quarter, but the Sooners turned to true freshman Jovantae Barnes to close out the win.
The Oklahoma City product was especially effective as OU’s goal line back.
Major hit the holes hard in the second half, bursting through the line and keeping his legs churning through the initial contact to tally a pair of third quarter touchdowns.
Most of his work came in the second half against a tired Miner defense, but Major is in a position to score in bunches in 2022 if he continues to run hard near the goal line.
Sooner Defense Shuts Down the Run
Venables’ defense made UTEP one dimensional on Saturday.
The Miners only mustered 28 rushing yards, as UTEP quickly had to pivot to dinking and dunking down the field in the passing game.
Ronald Awatt was UTEP’s leading rusher, but the redshirt senior only racked up 39 yards on the ground for the entire contest.
Oklahoma’s pass rush hit home six times for 42 yards, adding to UTEP’s offensive issues.
Defensive end Reggie Grimes was a menace, accounting for 3.5 of the sacks on Hardison off the edge for the Sooners.
Hardison did manage to throw for 244 yards, but OU’s play along the defensive line paired with the pressure the Sooner offense heaped on early meant the Miners had to live or die through the air on Saturday.
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