Oklahoma vs West Virginia in Review
Through four games, Oklahoma has made an art form out of making average teams look elite. In the same fashion, Spencer Rattler entered the season as the leading Heisman Trophy candidate. At this point, Rattler might not be the best quarterback on the Sooners roster. It’s abundantly clear what Rattler brings or doesn’t bring to the offense. To begin with, Rattler continues to throw into double and triple coverage, he misses open receivers, and he struggles with leadership.
On the other hand, Rattler is not the only problem with this Sooner team. At the same time, West Virginia self-destructed in the second half. Given these points, let us explore Oklahoma vs West Virginia in review.
West Virginia
Once again, an Oklahoma opponent lost a game that the Sooners refused to win. The Mountaineers dominated the first half despite only having a 10-7 halftime advantage. West Virginia had a chance to go up 17-10 in the third quarter, but a false start penalty and an errant pass in the end zone caused them to settle for a short field goal. Once again, with the game in the balance, the Mountaineers were their own worst enemy. Particularly, with time running out the Mountaineers were getting close to field goal range with the score tied. At this point, West Virginia imploded. To clarify, on consecutive plays they committed a snap infraction and an errant snap. In effect, this pushed them out of field goal range and was forced to punt back to the Sooners. At this point, Oklahoma drove the length of the field where Gabe Brkic kicked the game-winner.
Oklahoma
Once again, the Sooners played uninspired football in a win. In essence, the much-maligned Oklahoma defense carried the Sooners to another victory.
Offense
In the first place, no facet of the offense played well. Although this may be true, ultimately this falls on the leader. Clearly, the leader of any offense is the quarterback. With this in mind, Rattler has not been a leader for this team. In light of this, Rattler had one good drive in four quarters. Moreover, it’s past time for a quarterback change. For one thing, Oklahoma needs leadership from the quarterback position. Secondly, the offense needs an emotional spark. That being the case, it is time for Caleb Williams to have his shot.
It is important to realize, the quarterback position is not the only issue. As can be seen, the offensive line play is not the dominant play Oklahoma is accustomed to.
By and large, the running backs are not to be blamed for the lack of a ground game. Obviously, if the offensive line doesn’t improve the offense won’t get any better.
Defense
What must be remembered, so far this season the Sooners have had to depend on the defense. To point out, the defensive line gets better each week. For example, the Sooner defense kept the Mountaineers out of the endzone after the first possession of the game.
At the same time, the linebackers are becoming active and physical at the point of contact.
To round out the defense, the secondary performed well despite having several players out with injuries.
Clearly, the problem with this team is not the defense.
The Final Word
In the final analysis, Oklahoma is currently not a top 10 team or a championship contender. Although the Sooners remain unbeaten, this will not continue. Oklahoma has played far less talented teams so far and struggled to win those games.
Another key point is the schedule gets a lot more difficult. The next three opponents for the Sooners are Kansas State, Texas, and TCU. With this in mind, if Oklahoma doesn’t improve dramatically the Sooners will be one and two after that three-week stretch.
The road ahead doesn’t look promising for the Sooner faithful.
