Oklahoma’s offense isn’t firing on all cylinders, lands on USA TODAY’s ‘Misery Index’
The Oklahoma Sooners did nothing to dissuade the doubters in their 16-13 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday evening. It was a tough defensive battle, and while Spencer Rattler led OU on a game-winning drive, it wasn’t enough to silence the critics of the Oklahoma Sooners.
This is a team that’s been a double-digit favorite in all three of four of their wins and was only able to cover the spread against the lowly Western Carolina Catamounts.
This team, though they’re 4-0 hasn’t convinced anyone that they’re one of the best four teams in the country though they stayed at number four in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll. Over at USA TODAY Sports, Dan Wolken provided his weekly “Misery Index” and the Sooners sort of made history, but in a bad way.
In the long and storied history of the Misery Index, there has never been a 4-0 team landing in such a prominent position. But Oklahoma is a special case after a 16-13 win over West Virginia that continues a trend of underwhelming performances this season against mediocre opponents. It got so bad Saturday night that quarterback Spencer Rattler was repeatedly booed and fans chanted “We want Caleb,” referring to highly touted freshman Caleb Williams.
Wolken had more to say about the Sooners’ inconsistent offense, but the call for the backup quarterback turned a win into feeling like a loss.
It wasn’t a performance that lived up to expectations. But of course, nothing has in 2021. For an offense that was returning a host of starters on offense and bringing in talented transfers, the Sooners were supposed to be even better than they were when they lost two games a year ago.
Spencer Rattler has lofty expectations to live up to, but after the string of quarterbacks that came before him, perhaps those were unfair and unrealistic expectations. Sure, he was the number one quarterback recruit in his class, but the Sooners run of quarterbacks to start the Lincoln Riley head coaching era is almost unimaginable.
Style points matter in college football. However, the Sooners can’t care about anything other than executing their offense and winning. Focusing on the wrong thing is how a team can find itself playing from behind. If the Oklahoma Sooners are able to win every game this season, it won’t matter if it’s by 3 points or 30 points. They’ll accomplish everything they have their eyes set on and nobody will care about how good a win looked.
The Sooners certainly have some things to improve upon as they get set for a tough matchup against a Kansas State team that’s had their number the last two years. At the same time, they’re a team that’s close to putting it all together if they can get a better performance from the offensive line moving forward.
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6 takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners 16-13 win over West Virginia
