Knowles and Ogbongbemiga Know Defense Struggled and Hopefully Learned from it

Oklahoma State defense struggled against Oklahoma in loss

STILLWATER – All the talk was how much quarterback Jalen Hurts was the Oklahoma offense and he was. The Sooners rely on him touching and doing something profitable with the football on 60 percent of their offensive plays and he is the guy that produces 68 percent of the offense. In the 34-16 Bedlam win for Oklahoma on Saturday night in Stillwater, Oklahoma juggled the percentages just a little and Hurts wasn’t quite as big with 54 percent of the offensive plays depending on him and he was responsible for 51 percent of the total offense, including his first receiving touchdown on Oklahoma’s version of the “Philly special”. It was that other 49 percent, mainly 160-yards by running back Kennedy Brooks and another 50-yards on just three carries by Rhamondre Stevenson that made a strong difference.

“We didn't do a very good job against the rush,” head coach Mike Gundy said of his defenders that had risen to the number two run stopping defense in the Big 12 allowing just 139-yards a game. “The guard/tackle pull play gave us a lot of issues. We weren't very effective against the rush.”

They were not and while Hurts made plays early and had the first touchdown, a 28-yard scramble. It was Brooks yards that really seemed to make the difference. It was almost as if Oklahoma wanted to disprove the one man theory that was being floated out there.

"Their quarterback is obviously a great player, and we focused a lot of attention on him,” defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said to the media. “Anytime you play defense against a great offense, when you focus in one area, you do leave yourself open in other areas. We were behind in the running game when it came to stopping the running back. They did a great job of adjusting and running through the running back. We made adjustments in the second half, but I felt like we were behind in that area the whole game."

The guard-tackle pulling play was strong for Brooks and for Oklahoma. It is a play that a lot of teams use, including Oklahoma State, although they pull the guard more often, but sometimes pull a Cowboy back. Offenses use pulling linemen all the time. Part of stopping it is blowing up the blockers at the point of attack and not letting them downfield to do damage, which they often did with the Cowboys, the guard setting a seam and the tackle pulling through second to clear out the hole at the second level.

“Sometimes they got us out schemed when they were running and we had guys blocked that we weren’t expecting to be blocked,” linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga. “On a few occasions we missed and that is going to happen sometimes, There were times we got out of our gaps. That essentially hurt us and against a good team we can’t make those mistakes.”

"You just try to add more people to the box. They are a very good offense and very good attack across the board. When you add more people to the box, you leave yourself vulnerable in other areas. I felt like when we added more people to the box, we were still behind. We didn't do a great job tackling off blocks, and our tackling wasn't as good tonight as it has been in the past."

The Cowboys made adjustments, but part of it to seemed that they wore down some. This is a very young defense with the only senior starter being cornerback A.J. Green. They have improved a lot during the course of this season. There will be more depth coming in the form of some of the red-shirting freshmen and recruits with possibly some transfers.

It doesn’t do anything to soothe the frustrations of another loss to Oklahoma, but it could go a long way toward keeping it from happening again next October in Norman and leading to a 2020 season that could be special.

“It is what it is, but I know that we will learn from our mistakes and it will show in the next game and next year,” Ogbongbemiga, who has become a really good defender. “We’re coming along and I know this is just a bump in the road.”