The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from the Sooners 76-0 win over WCU

The Oklahoma Sooners did exactly what they were supposed to against a vastly inferior opponent in Western Carolina. They got out to a huge lead and dominated the Catamounts from start to finish.

The Sooners got a chance to play a lot of their younger players and get them valuable in-game repetitions. Those players rewarded the coaching staff with a dominant effort from start to finish.

Let’s take a look back at The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from the Sooners 76-0 week two win over the Catamounts.

The Good: Scoring Touchdowns

After settling for five field goals in their narrow win over Tulane in week one, the Oklahoma Sooners only kicked two field goals in their 76-0 win over the Western Carolina Catamounts.

They were 9 for 9 in the red zone during the game and Spencer Rattler led them on seven touchdown drives in the first half and each ended with a red zone touchdown.

While last week, the Sooners struggled to finish drives and finish the game, albeit against a much better Tulane team, OU accomplished both of those feats throughout this week two matchup. Excluding the kneel down at the end of the first half, the Sooners scored touchdowns on 10 of their 13 drives. They kicked just two field goals and punted once.

Against Tulane, they scored touchdowns on just four of their 11 drives, again, excluding the final drive before halftime and the drive where they were simply trying to run out the clock at the end of the game.

As the competition steps up with Nebraska coming to Norman followed by the start of Big 12 conference play, the Sooners can’t afford to settle for five field goals like they did against Tulane. If they can be as efficient at scoring touchdowns as they were on Saturday, they’ll have a great shot at going undefeated.

Next: The Bad.

The Bad: Two Freshmen are ‘Bad’ Men

The Oklahoma Sooners got standout contributions from several of their true freshman against the Western Carolina Catamounts. On defense, in particular, Ethan Downs and Danny Stutsman stood out as future game-changers for Alex Grinch’s defense.

Ethan Downs registered 24 snaps and got in on the action in the first half as part of the rotation with the first-team defense. He graded as the Oklahoma Sooners highest-rated defender per Pro Football Focus and finished third on the team in total pressures behind Perrion Winfrey and Nik Bonitto. Pretty solid company. Downs also registered a tackle for loss and a forced fumble

Danny Stutsman was flying around the field on Saturday and led the Sooners in tackles with eight. Per Pro Football Focus, Stutsman had four stops, which is a play made by the defender that results in a “loss for the defense.” It could be a tackle for loss, a sack, or a play that doesn’t pick up the necessary yardage to be considered a “successful play.” Like stopping the ball carrier for a two-yard gain on first down or short of the first-down marker on third or fourth down regardless of the yardage gained.

The two freshmen were fantastic in extended work against an overmatched Western Carolina. Like Caleb Williams did for the offense, the two Sooners provided a fantastic glimpse of the future of Alex Grinch’s defense.

Next: The Ugly

The Ugly: Playing FCS Opponents

Games against FCS opponents for the Oklahoma Sooners pretty much amount to an exhibition game. Sure, it gets a lot of their young guys valuable reps and it allows the team to get a nice gate at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium because when good things are happening, the money flows. However, it doesn’t provide much information for this year.

The Sooners were able to work on the things that they didn’t do well against Tulane, but against a team like Western Carolina, who couldn’t muster any sort of opposition, how much could OU learn from their performance. There will be things for them to clean up heading into this week’s matchup with Nebraska, but against an overmatched team like the Catamounts, it’s hard to gauge exactly where this team needs work.

They rebounded well after a disappointing finish against Tulane and did exactly what they should have done against a lowly FCS opponent. But if they go out there and lay an emotional egg against Nebraska this week, then it won’t matter what they did against Western Carolina.

The Sooners still have a lot to prove. They have to prove that they’ll play a full 60-minute game against quality competition. They’ll have leads on better teams during their Big 12 schedule. Will they be able to find an edge to put their opposition away with dominant performances like they did against Western Carolina, or will they try to coast to the finish line, as they did against Tulane.

This is an incredibly talented football team that can win some games because they’ll be the more talented team on the field most Saturdays. However, when it comes to contending for the College Football Playoff and the national championship, the Sooners won’t be able to rely solely on talent.