Jeff Lebby explains fourth-down call in Sooners’ loss to Oklahoma State
With 1:46 left in the fourth quarter, Oklahoma Sooners’ quarterback Dillon Gabriel trotted onto the field with one timeout, trailing by three and needing to go 80 yards. On the first play of the drive, Gabriel hit Drake Stoops for a 21-yard gain.
The Sooners were in business. But after an incomplete pass to Nic Anderson, a drop by Anderson, and a five-yard gain on a quick slant to Jalil Farooq on third-and-10, the Sooners faced a fourth-and-5 with the game on the line.
Gabriel sprinted to his left and threw it to Stoops, who juggled it but eventually came down with it. The only issue: The route was two yards too short. The Sooners turned it over on downs, and the Cowboys took over and ran out the clock.
Offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby was asked about that call.
“We liked it,” Lebby said. “We thought it was going to be man to man. It needed to be about a yard deeper. That’s the reality of it. I can put us in a better situation there.”
This is the third week in a row the Sooners’ offense and its play-calling have been drawn into question. The offense went up against a very poor Oklahoma State defense and moved the ball pretty well, racking up 492 yards. But they only had 24 points to show for it.
Too many times, the offense stalled around midfield. This is also the second week in a row the offense turned it over three times. Turnovers hadn’t been an issue for this offense in the two years under Lebby. Two of those turnovers were due to snap issues from a guy who has been a three-starter and is a senior on this team. That can’t happen.
No, Lebby didn’t have the bad snaps. He didn’t drop wide-open touchdowns, and he didn’t throw the ball into double coverage resulting in an interception. But he has to be better.
The defense was once again pretty good. It allowed one touchdown after the 9:42 mark in the second quarter. The only other Cowboys score came after Oklahoma State recovered a botched snap at the OU 20-yard line. The defense forced a three-and-out to hold the Cowboys to three and keep the game within reach for the Sooners offense.
Unfortunately, Lebby and the offense couldn’t take advantage of a porous Cowboys defense.
The team can still salvage a good season, but it starts with the offense, and that’s not something we thought would be an issue before the season.
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