Jeff Lebby knows he can put OU football 'in a better situation' than final call of Bedlam
STILLWATER — After yet another loss where the OU offense came up short, there remains plenty of heat on Sooners offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby.
“That has zero effect,” Lebby said of outside criticism after the Sooners’ 27-24 Bedlam loss. “I don’t go down those rabbit holes. I am consumed with our football team, our unit and whoever we’re preparing for.”
OU had four non-scoring drives of four or fewer plays in the loss and had three turnovers and twice turned the ball over on downs.
“We just didn’t play good enough,” Lebby said. “That’s the reality. I didn’t coach good enough, I didn’t call it good enough and we didn’t play good enough. That’s the reality of it when you’re on the wrong side.”
While seven different players caught passes for the Sooners, only four — Drake Stoops, Jalil Farooq, Nic Anderson and Brenen Thompson — are wide receivers.
That was the Sooners’ second-lowest total of the season and lowest since just three caught passes in the win over SMU in Week 2.
Lebby said calling a timeout was under consideration before the final offensive play — where Stoops caught the pass but was brought down short of the first-down marker — but ultimately it was decided to run the play without regrouping.
“We liked it,” Lebby said. “Thought it was going to be man-to-man. Needed to be about a yard deeper. That’s the reality of it. I can put us in a better situation.”
Here’s more of what we learned from Saturday’s loss:
More: Mussatto's Minutes: OSU has clear path to Big 12 Championship. Who might the Cowboys play?
Top 5 OU football players of the week
1. Wide receiver Drake Stoops: Not being able to pick up the first down on the final offensive play, and the missed pass interference call overshadowed it but Stoops still had a career day — 12 catches for 134 yards and a touchdown.
2. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel: Surprised? Shouldnt be. Gabriel was 26 of 37 for 344 yards and a touchdown. The running game was missing for him, but Gabriel’s arm was still strong and his Pro Football Focus grade was his second-highest of the season.
3. Running back Gavin Sawchuk: Sawchuk broke off a 64-yard touchdown run early but was still fairly effective after that, finishing with 13 carries for a career-high 111 yards.
4. Linebacker Kip Lewis: Lewis was in a tough spot, replacing injured Danny Stutsman, but he held up well, finishing with 15 tackles — nine of them solo — to move to third in tackles this season for OU.
5. Running back Tawee Walker: It wasn’t clear whether Walker would play after being hurt late against Kansas, but he entered in the second half and averaged 7.4 yards on eight carries.
More: Turnover woes all of a sudden sinking OU football's offense, but can Sooners fix it soon?
Top 5 players of the season
1. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel: Gabriel has thrown for 2,646 yards and 20 touchdowns with five interceptions. He also leads the Sooners with eight rushing touchdowns, though the rushing element was largely missing in Bedlam.
2. Linebacker Danny Stutsman: Though Stutsman missed Bedlam, he still is far and away the team leader in tackles with 73. He also leads the team with 11.5 tackles for loss and has two sacks and an interception return for a touchdown.
3. Wide receiver Drake Stoops: Stoops moved over 50 catches for the season in Bedlam. In nine games, he has 52 catches for 528 yards and six touchdowns. He has 19 more catches than any other Sooners player and trails only Nic Anderson in touchdown catches.
4. Running back Tawee Walker: Should there be any question who OU’s top running back is? Walker is averaging 5.3 yards per carry, with 44 yards and six touchdowns on 84 carries.
5. Defensive end Ethan Downs: Downs has the most tackles of any OU defensive lineman at 24. Six of those have come for a loss, with a team-high 4.5 sacks.
More: OU football vs. West Virginia: TV channel, betting line, scouting report
Redshirt watch: Jasiah Wagoner appears in fourth game
It’s becoming more and more likely freshman Jasiah Wagoner won’t redshirt.
Against Oklahoma State, Wagoner appeared in his fourth game — second consecutive — to move to the brink of dropping redshirt eligibility.
That’s no surprise, as Wagoner was one of the surprises of preseason camp before a late injury slowed him down.
Wagoner has two tackles so far.
Freshman running back Daylan Smothers appeared in his third game of the season and first since the blowout win over Tulsa in Week 3.
Here’s a look at the Sooners’ redshirt watch list:
Played in five or more games: Adepoju Adebawore, Peyton Bowen, Lewis Carter, Cayden Green, Jacobe Johnson, Samuel Omosigho, Jaquaize Pettaway, Makari Vickers.
Played in four games: Jackson Arnold, Reggie Grimes, Jake Taylor, Jasiah Wagoner.
Played in three games: Jason Llewellyn, Ashton Sanders, Jacob Sexton, Daylan Smothers, Brenen Thompson.
Played in two games: Eli Merck, Reed DeQuasie,.
Played on one game: Joshua Bates, Taylor Heim, Kalib Hicks, Logan Howland, Daeh McCullough, Kade McIntyre, Heath Ozaeta, Markus Strong, Taylor Wein
Will seek medical hardship redshirt: Justin Harrington.Ryan Aber covers OU athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Ryan? He can be reached at raber@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @RyAber. Sign up for the OU Sooners newsletter to access more OU coverage. Support Scott’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.
OU vs. West Virginia
KICKOFF: 6 p.m. Saturday at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman (Fox)
More: OU football report card: Plenty of middling marks for Sooners in Bedlam loss vs. Cowboys
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football needs Jeff Lebby to put offense 'in a better situation'
