Offensive line dominant in Oklahoma’s 52-point explosion vs. Kansas
It’s been brewing for some time, but the Oklahoma Sooners’ offensive line was absolutely dominant in the Sooners’ 52-42 win over Kansas on Saturday. The skill-position guys get the stats, but the guys up front paved the way.
According to Pro Football Focus, including the sack, Dillon Gabriel was only pressured three times in the win. Kansas’ sack leader Lonnie Phelps only played 15 snaps, limited due to injury, but the Sooners front didn’t allow anyone else to get to Dillon Gabriel either.
That pass protection helped Gabriel stand comfortably in the pocket on his way to a 403-yard passing day with two touchdowns.
In the running game, the offensive line paved the way for a Sooners rushing attack that had more than 300 yards on the ground until Oklahoma kneeled down to close out the game in the final minutes. As a unit they helped the run game average 5.2 yards per carry five touchdowns. They provided the path for Eric Gray to have a monster day. Gray ran for 176 yards, averaged 8.8 yards per carry, and scored twice.
“Yeah, it’s, again, been one of our best units all season,” Venables said after the win. “They played well again today. And Kansas doesn’t do a whole lot. They’re pretty vanilla. So, from a mental standpoint, a scheme standpoint, what you see is what you get. And when they do bring pressure, they show it. So, not to take anything away from our guys. It’s about putting hats on people, and there’s fundamentals, and there’s a physical strain, you got to move people and hat them up the right way and gain leverage and pass pro, all those things. So, they played really well today. That was a huge part of our offensive success, obviously.”
Four of Oklahoma’s starting offensive linemen played all 101 snaps in the game. Left guard snaps were split between Robert Congel (60) and McKade Mettauer (41). Anton Harrison, Chris Murray, and Congel didn’t allow a pressure against the Jayhawks.
The Sooners had eight runs of 10 yards or more in the game and helped the Sooners convert 76% of their third downs.
On the Sooners’ second-to-last drive of the game, the offensive line came up big. The Sooners ran 16 plays on the drive, the Sooners threw the ball just one time and picked up 3rd and 2 or less on three straight occasions. They had a chance to keep the drive going, but a 2nd and 4 loss of two yards put the Sooners behind the chains, and Jovantae Barnes couldn’t pick up the first down on 3rd and 6, gaining four yards before Brent Venables opted for the field goal to make it a three-score game.
The Sooners ran 101 plays on Saturday against the Jayhawks, and a big reason Oklahoma was able to stay on the field was the play of their offensive line. They kept Dillon Gabriel largely untouched and created room for Eric Gray and Jovantae Barnes to put together big games on the ground.
It was a strong performance for the Sooners as they head into the bye before preparing for their road trip to Ames. They’ll get a stiff test against an Iowa State defense that’s one of the best in the country.
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5 takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners 52-42 win over the Kansas Jayhawks
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