Oklahoma football will only win a national title if its defense consistently rises to the occasion.
The offense for Oklahoma football has fun to watch under Lincoln Riley but the defense has been the programs Achilles heel. Defense wins championships is a popular cliche for a reason. The Sooners’ defense has to reach new heights and be able to dominate top tier competition in order for the Sooners to call themselves national champions.
Oklahoma football has been widely celebrated as a top-tier program because it has been able to attract and cultivate Heisman Trophy winners and former national champions at the quarterback position. A national championship-winning team hasn’t come from Oklahoma in the Riley era yet.
The 63-28 loss to LSU in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl was not a good performance across the board. During the season last year, the defense gave up 48 points to Kansas State in a loss, 41 to Iowa State in a win and the lowest they’ve given up is 14 points.
Despite giving up points at a high clip during a few games last season, the defense has improved from the 2018 season to this past season. According to Kegan Reneau of Sooners Wire/USA Today, the Sooners defense improved dramatically from 2018 under former defensive coordinators Mike Stoops and Ruffin McNeil to now second-year defensive coordinator Alex Grinch.
On third down in 2018, 46.38 percent of attempts were converted on the defense which ranked 118th in the country. Last season the average dropped to 31.61 percent (15th in the country. Other notable improvements came in points per game (24.5 – 49th, 33.3 – 101st in 2018), yards per pass (5.1 – 32nd, six – 95th in 2018).
Can the Oklahoma football defense propel the Sooners to national champion glory?
The Sooners defense has talent at all three levels but they need to avoid games where they need to outscore their opponents because it costs them when it matters the most, in the playoff.
Last season, this defense was second in sacks in the Big 12 with 36 behind the Baylor Bears who had 10 more, third in forced fumbles with 19 and toward the bottom of the conference with seven interceptions. San Diego Chargers first-round pick Kenneth Murray led the team in tackles last season with 102.
Delarrin Turner-Yell, Pat Fields, and Brendan Radley-Hiles are returning in the secondary. DaShaun White, Nik Bonitto, and Caleb Kelly were expected to hold down the linebacker group but that was before Kelly suffered a reported torn ACL. The Sooners will have their leading sackers back on the defensive line in Jalen Redmond and Ronnie Perkins.
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