By John Shinn
The Norman Transcript
NORMAN — Oklahoma is off to a 1-0 start, but it hardly felt that way Saturday night. What was supposed to be a season-opening breeze against Utah State turned into a cliffhanger, with the Sooners prevailing 31-24 at Owen Field.
There obviously were some things that went right, but what went wrong set off fireworks far brighter than the ones OU launches after touchdowns.
The Sooners gave up 422 yards to a Utah State team many figured it would dominate. A defense that was supposed to be one the team’s strengths was torched for big plays through the air.
Offensively, quarterback Landry Jones was just 17-for-36 through air with two interceptions. The 47.2 completion percentage was way off the mark for an offense that mostly utilizes timing throws and short drops.
Also, outside of running back DeMarco Murray, who rushed for 218 yards and two touchdowns, and receiver Ryan Broyles, who scored two touchdowns and caught nine passes for 142 yards, no other skill player had much of an effect on the outcome.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson reminded those hitting the panic buttons that, for the first quarter and half of the second, OU was cruising to an easy win. It was up 21-0 with 6:21 left in the first half.
But Jones cooled off after the half, and so did the rest of OU’s offense.
“There’s where we got a little out of whack,” offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said.
It wouldn’t have looked as bad if it didn’t fall right in when OU’s defense tumbled off the track.
Their biggest issue was big plays through the air. Utah State quarterback Diondre Watkins averaged 20.5 yards per completion Saturday night and the Aggies had four completions of 31 yards or longer. Two of their touchdowns came in that manner.
One of the question marks heading into the season was how OU cornerbacks Jamell Fleming and Demontre Hurst would hold up in their first seasons as starters. Both were beaten deep, but so was safety Jonathan Nelson, who was one of the Sooners’ best defensive backs last season.
“Speaking for myself, I need a better week of preparation,” Nelson said. “A lot of guys can say that for themselves because there were a lot of guys who messed up key assignments. Individually, I need to have better technique and work my eyes and things like that.”
What had defensive coordinator Brent Venables irked was that some of the mistakes that turned a potential rout into a down-to-the-wire game were made by players who were standouts last season.
“We knew the first game wasn’t gonna be pretty,” Venables said. “We needed to see how guys respond out there on their own for the first time. And then some of them are older guys; we’ve just got to get better technique-wise, better awareness, better urgency about putting their eyes in position to play the ball. Because there are some guys back there with some good ball skills that really didn’t display that last night.”
The crisis of confidence couldn’t come at a worse time. The Sooners host No. 20 Florida State (1-0) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Owen Field. The Seminoles crushed Samford, 59-6, in its opener.
The Sooners don’t have a lot time to fix what plagued them against Utah State.
“We are going to have a much bigger challenge next week against Florida State,” OU linebacker Travis Lewis said. “I am hoping we can man up and put this one behind us.”
A win against the Seminoles would cure the ills that crept up against Utah State. But OU whiffed on a chance to build confidence heading into a huge non-conference game. Instead, it’s trying to figure out how things got off track against Utah State .
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,” Venables said when asked if he was concerned after the opening night performance. “If you were an Oklahoma fan, would you be concerned? We’ve got to play better. That’s the bottom line.”
John Shinn 366-3536 jshinn@normantranscript.com
