By John Shinn
Most football experts will tell you how you finish is much more important than how you start. If that wasn’t the case, coaches wouldn’t spend all that time talking about the importance of the fourth quarter and halftime adjustments.
Oklahoma (2-1) is happy with the way it’s finishing games. It’s outscored its three opponents — Alabama-Birmingham, Washington and Oregon — 68-38 in the second half.
It’s in the beginning where the 17th-ranked Sooners are struggling.
They have been tied or trailing at halftime in all three games, needing second-half rallies for home wins against the Blazers and Huskies and to build a 13-point second-half lead at Oregon.
All three of OU’s opening possessions have ended in punts.
Sooner offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson thinks he knows the reason for stumbling out of the gate.
“I don’t think we’ve started the games with any rhythm or any consistency,” he said. “We’re probably trying to do too much, probably being too scattered and all over the place, probably trying to show a bunch of formations and a bunch of different looks and just not coming out and getting our guys into a rhythm.”
They’ve certainly warmed up as the games have gone along. In each contest, the Sooners have scored a touchdown the first possession of the second half. They’ve also dominated the third quarter, outscoring foes 45-10.
“We’ve made some halftime adjustments but the key thing we’ve done at halftime of these games is to simplify,” Wilson said. “‘We’re going to do these runs and we’re going to do these passes,’ and then we go out and execute it.”
OU will try to get into rhythm quicker when it faces Middle Tennessee (2-1) at 6 tonight at Owen Field.
The Sooners are well aware of the problem.
“It could be a mental thing,” quarterback Paul Thompson said. “We just have to overcome that. We have some young guys out there and it might take awhile to get rolling. It might take a couple plays to add confidence. I think in upcoming games we will improve in that area.
“The way we come out in the second half is big, but we have the same guys coming out in the second half that we did in the first so I don’t know what it is.”
Of course, the problems aren’t pinpointed on the offensive side of the ball. The Sooners haven’t sparkled defensively in either half but they’ve been much better in the second.
The Sooners fell behind Washington 7-0 when tailback Kenny James scored on a 54-yard run on the Huskies’ first play from scrimmage.
Oregon took an early 10-0 lead, with its first touchdown set up by a 67-yard screen pass on the game’s second offensive play.
Cornerback Reggie Smith said the reason for the struggles isn’t rocket science.
“I think we came out flat,” he said. “We’ve got to come out on edge, ready to go every play.”
Of course, the defensive struggles have also occurred late in games. OU coach Bob Stoops believes talent isn’t the issue. The defense has played well enough in the middle of games to prove that point.
“Maybe some of that goes by the wayside with their focus,” he said. “You look at both phases, we’re up 13 and 17 points and playing awfully well, and then we don’t and give up a drive. Is it our intensity, our focus, our attention to detail in those situations?
“We’ve got to be more consistent with it.”
No one is hitting the panic button. Despite the slow starts, the Sooners have shown the ability to play at a much higher level.
All they need to do is find that level for four quarters.
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
