Sooners Fall Short in Bedlam
At the end of the day, Oklahoma just couldn’t overcome a bevy of second-half penalties, a key turnover, and several poor officiating errors at critical junctures of the fourth quarter. This was definitely not the end of the regular season the Sooners were anticipating going into this year.
While Oklahoma did fall short in bedlam, it wasn’t due to a lack of passion and effort on the Sooners’ part. Now, we break down the reasons why the Sooners fall short in Bedlam.
Penalties and Officiating
The Sooners were undisciplined, especially on offense in the second half. Oklahoma just couldn’t get the offense on track due to costly and untimely penalties. The offensive line committed numerous holding and false start penalties.
In the area of officiating, this game was clearly not officiated on a level playing field. This was clearly not the top Big XII’s officiating crew. How could the conference not have their top crew officiating the biggest conference game of the year? The officials took the game away from the players in the fourth quarter. The officials picked up a flag after calling an obvious personal foul. This was a possession-changing call and gave the ball to the Cowboys.
The officials also missed two pass interference infractions by Oklahoma State late in the fourth quarter.
If you were a conspiracy theorist, you might say this was a ploy by the Big XII conference to punish Oklahoma for leaving for the SEC.
First, in the biggest conference game of the year a lessor officiating crew was assigned this game. Also, the Sooners and Longhorns had more 11:00 am starts than any team in the conference, just something to think about.
Negatives
One of the biggest negatives is the offensive line. At this point of the season, the offensive line should be much more disciplined. This was clearly offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh’s worst group. Possibly this line just wasn’t as talented as everyone believed.
Coming into 2021, the wide receiver group was believed to be a strength. In recent weeks this group has underachieved. The receivers have had a problem creating separation with defensive backs, even when the line has provided ample protection.
The Sooner defense is not without deficiencies. In many situations, the secondary seems confused and out of position. For much of the season, the defense was very soft and passive.
Positives
Over the last couple of weeks, the defense began to perform the way they were expected to all year. The defense has played with effort and passion in the late season. The defensive line has begun to dominate the line of scrimmage as expected.
On the offensive side, the Sooners have discovered a future star in quarterback Caleb Williams. In tonight’s game, Williams played with passion and effort. Although the Sooners fell short in bedlam, Williams played his heart out.
The Final Word
In conclusion, the Sooners just couldn’t overcome penalties, and an untimely turnover, as well as poor officiating.
Oklahoma fans should be proud of the effort from the Sooners tonight. Oklahoma never gave up, they battled to the last play.
On a bright note, following tonight’s game Sooner headman Lincoln Riley denied rumors that he would be leaving Oklahoma to coach LSU. In a post-game interview, Riley stated “I am not going to be the next coach at LSU.”
Good news for Oklahoma fans.
[pickup_prop id=”14410″]
