Texas 45, Oklahoma 35: Final Thoughts – Report Card

Oklahoma’s loss to Texas on Saturday was a setback but the season is only halfway finished and just as the football team must move on from here so should we the fans. There is still a lot of football left to play and a lot of possibilities left to play for. The best that can happen from here is that the Sooners learn from their mistakes, improve as a team and finish the season strong.

Report Card

 

Offense

 

Quarterback – Sam Bradford made a critical mistake just before the half that resulted in a Texas field goal. Outside of that mistake Bradford had a pretty solid game. He completed 71.8% of his passes for 387 yards and five touchdowns.  

Grade: A-

 

Running Backs – What keeps these guys from getting a failing grade is that Chris Brown averaged 4.1 yards per carry and DeMarco Murray was effective out of the backfield as a receiver. However, something clearly isn’t right with DeMarco Murray and it is hurting Oklahoma. He and Brown both had 7 carries and while Brown was productive Murray only managed 0.9 yards per carry.  I think it is time to stop going 50/50 on the work load and give the ball to Brown more often.

Grade: C-

 

Receivers/Ends – DeMarco Murray was joined by receivers Juaquin Iglesias, Manny Johnson, Ryan Broyles and tight end Jermaine Gresham as guys who had big days catching the football. All five averaged over 13 yards per reception led by Gresham who averaged 18 yards every time he caught a pass. Manny Johnson had 85 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns.

Grade: A+

 

Offensive Line – Sam Bradford was sacked 3 times in 39 pass attempts, which really isn’t that bad when you consider that he only went down once every 13 attempts, but he was hurried into throwing an interception as well. The biggest failure of the offensive line was in run blocking where the Sooners only managed 1.8 yards per rush.

Grade: B-

 

Defense

 

Defensive Line – Gerald McCoy had two sacks while Jeremy Beal and Alan Davis each added another. There were a total of 14 tackles distributed among Oklahoma’s rotation on the front line. Colt McCoy came into the game as the Longhorns’ leading rusher but the d-line kept him in check for most of the day by only allowing him to run for 31 yards.

Grade: A

 

Linebackers – If only they all put up numbers like Travis Lewis. Lewis registered 19 total tackles but also made two huge mistakes that cost the Sooners 30 yards in penalties. Keenan Clayton tallied 5 tackles and was involved in a pass break up. It was the middle linebacker position that was exposed as Oklahoma’s weakness, particularly after Ryan Reynolds went down resulting in Brandon Crow being abused the entire second half.

Grade: C+

 

Secondary – Oklahoma’s defensive backs actually did a good job in pass coverage. They were challenged down field a few times but Texas was seldom successful. The majority of the Texas passing yards came on middle passes in between the linebackers and secondary.

Grade: B

Now, let's focus on Kansas!