Report Card: Oklahoma Sooners up and down in Alamo Bowl loss to Arizona
All of the excitement that had been built up in anticipation of Jackson Arnold’s first start as the Sooners starting quarterback was dashed with a couple of first quarter interceptions.
It wasn’t how anyone hoped or expected it would start. Arnold rebounded to play well over the next two quarters as the Sooners built a 24-13 lead. However, turnovers at the end of the third quarter and in the fourth dashed Oklahoma’s hopes of ending the season on a high note.
Though there were six turnovers and the Sooners defense allowed some big plays, there were a lot of positives to take away from the game.
For the final time in 2023, here’s out postgame report card.
Quarterback: C+
Jackson Arnold did a lot of good things on Thursday night in the Alamodome. What he didn’t do was protect the football.
There’s a lot to be encouraged by, like the throws to Nic Anderson and Brenen Thompson, or the response to the sloppy first quarter that helped give the Sooenrs a lead heading into halftime.
But the quarterback has to take care of the ball. Arnold accounted for four turnovers to go along with 361 yards passing and two touchdowns.
There’s a lot to learn from but Jackson Arnold showed the tools that have many excited about his future.
More: Jackson Arnold will be better for Alamo Bowl experience
Running Backs: B+
Gavin Sawchuk had another strong outing for the Sooners, earning his fifth-consecutive 100-yard game. He was explosive and created big plays on the ground.
There was an issue with consistency that could be related to the offensive line play, but Sawchuk showed off his big play ability throughout. Five of his runs accounted for 109 yards. The other 10 runs went for just 25 yards. In total, Sawchuk carried the ball 15 times for 134 yards and caught three passes for 42 yards.
Tawee Walker, who entered the transfer portal earlier this month, carried the ball seven times for 17 yards. He was solid, and again, a lot of his difficulties came from limited movement up front in the running game. Walker also caught two passes for 12 yards.
More: 5 takeaways from Oklahoma’s Alamo Bowl loss
Wide Receiver: B+
Nic Anderson and Drake Stoops had big games, each with at least six receptions and more than 70 yards. Anderson made a highlight reel grab for a touchdown that gave the Sooners a one-point lead in the second quarter.
Stoops finished his Oklahoma career with another strong game, showing off all of the attributes that made him a fan favorite during his tenure.
Brenen Thompson was the other highlight, using his speed to beat the Arizona defense deep for a 63-yard touchdown.
This group would have likely gotten an A+ if it weren’t for Jalil Farooq’s two fumbles inside the red zone. At minimum those two plays took six points off the board but could have led to two touchdowns and an opportunity for the Sooners to run away from the Wildcats. Instead, one of his fumbles led to an 87-yard return for a touchdown that turned the tide back in Arizona’s favor.
More: Social media reacts to Sooners 38-24 loss to Arizona
Tight End: C
Austin Stogner was good again as a run blocker but also got called for a hold and provided very little in the way of a receiving threat. The tight end position has been underwhelming for the Sooners this year in the passing game. It’s something they have to address in the offseason.
Offensive Line: B-
On the one hand, the Oklahoma Sooners put up more than 200 yards rushing. On the other hand, a lot of it came on scrambles or big runs from Gavin Sawchuk. Sure, they get credit for helping Sawchuk get space to create a big play. However, the run game wasn’t consistent and the pass protection had issues.
It was not all that surprising as they dealt with turnover up front, losing three offensive linemen to the NFL draft and the transfer portal prior to the bowl game.
There were good moments in the game, but a number of penalties by the offensive line stalled several drives along the way.
Defensive Line: A
The Oklahoma Sooners did a great job upfront. They limited Arizona to just 1.1 yards per carry and put together arguably their best effort from a pass rush perspective.
Oklahoma’s defense recorded five sacks and 11 tackles for loss in the game and kept Noah Fifita under duress for a lot of the game. The Sooners had him under pressure on 34.8% of his dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus.
Isaiah Coe recorded five pressures and a sack in the game. R Mason Thomas had an impressive pass rush that led to a sack.
The Sooners defensive front is a work in progress, but they showed some encouraging things against an offensive line that was without a future first round pick at left tackle.
Linebackers: B
The run defense was good, but the coverage was still an issue for Oklahoma’s linebacker crew. They were good on the pass rush with Kendel Dolby recording two sacks and Kip Lewis getting one as well. Dolby and Lewis tied for the team lead in Pro Football Focus’ stop metric at four.
Danny Stutsman tied for the team lead in snaps and had a nice pass breakup early in the game and was good in coverage overall. He finished with five tackles and a quarterback hit.
Brent Venables and Ted Roof have a really good group of players that they’re developing, but like the defensive front, it’s a work in progress.
Defensive Back: B
Like the linebackers, the defensive backs struggled in coverage but were good in run support. Arizona’s wide receiver duo of Tetairoa McMillan and Jacob Cowing combined for 17 receptions and 312 yards receiving in the game.
They’re a good duo, but Oklahoma struggled to keep up with their size and speed.
But again, they were good against the run and they made plays at key moments to hold the Wildcats to field goals when faced with a short field. it was the big plays allowed that killed the Sooners in the first and fourth quarters.
Special Teams: A-
Zach Schmit was perfect on the day and Luke Elzinga was really good when called upon, downing two punts inside the five-yard line.
Oklahoma’s return game hasn’t provided much in 2023 and didn’t provide much against Arizona.
Overall, it was a net positive in the loss.
Coaching Staff: C+
Brent Venables and the coaching staff didn’t turn the ball over six times, but there were questionable moments. At the end of the first half, they were a bit too conservative and weren’t able to get into scoring range when they got the ball back with just over 1:20 and two timeouts in the half.
Oklahoma made good adjustments to what Arizona wanted to do, but there were still lapses in coverage that allowed the Wildcats to convert on several 3rd and long situations.
Seth Littrell called a good game for the Sooners, but one could argue there needed to be a greater emphasis on the ground game early to take pressure off of Arnold.
Like the rest of the team, the Sooners coaching staff heads into the offseason with a lot to work on.
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