When Oklahoma takes the field Saturday night against Tennessee, the Sooners’ defense will have its chance to define the narrative under Brent Venables.
This year’s group has been the most complete Oklahoma defense in years.
The Sooners are led by a disruptive front, anchored by Taylor Wein and R Mason Thomas.
Against a Volunteers offense that ranks among the SEC’s fastest and most explosive, Venables’ defense must find a way to dictate tempo and create takeaways; something it’s rarely done despite its success.
“Oklahoma’s defensive front is definitely the strength of the defense,” said The Oklahoman’s Jenni Carlson. “Taylor Wein statistically has been spectacular, made a lot of plays, done a lot of things for this defense. R Mason Thomas is usually the guy who lines up on the other side and he’s also been a force.”
The duo has combined for 19.5 tackles for loss and nine sacks this season. The pair set the tone up front for a defense that prides itself on physicality and discipline. But one glaring weakness has persisted; turnovers.
As a team, Oklahoma ranks inside the top three nationally in both categories.
“They’ve really improved their defense, but they’re not a defense that gets turnovers,” Carlson said.
“They’ve only got four this entire season, and the four have come in two games. It’s been a little bit of a head-scratcher that they’ve been as good as they’ve been defensively and yet not figured out ways to get turnovers,” Carlson added.
Carlson believes the key lies in the defensive line’s ability to turn pressure into production.
“If those guys could get a little bit of penetration, cause some fumbles, those sorts of things, that would go a long way,” she said. “Guys like Taylor Wein and R Mason Thomas, if they could find ways not just to get guys on the ground but to get the ball out, it’d be a huge step in the right direction.”
Tennessee’s offense, powered by quarterback Joey Aguilar and its wide receiver core have averaged 312 yards per game and thrives on explosive-worthy plays.
The Volunteers will test Oklahoma’s ability to contain perimeter plays and manage tempo in a hostile environment.
“Oklahoma’s been really good against the run game for the most part,” Carlson said. “They tackle really well. They tend to contain really well. They just need to continue to do a lot of the things that they’ve done well throughout the season.”
That consistency will be critical in what shapes up as a potential College Football Playoff elimination game.
Oklahoma sits at No. 18 in the Week 10 Top 25 AP Poll, and another loss could effectively end its postseason hopes.
“If Oklahoma loses this game, they’re out of the playoff conversation,” Carlson said. “They’d have to win out to even be there, and they’ve got ranked opponents the rest of the season. So, this is a game where they won’t be favored. I’m not picking them to win, but if they’re going to, they’ve got to get an even better performance out of their defense.”
The Sooners’ defense has held opponents to 155 passing yards per game and in last week’s loss to Ole Miss, breakdowns in coverage and missed tackles proved costly. The Rebels threw for 315 yards.
“The defense wasn’t good enough last week,” Carlson said. “They needed to be even better. That may be asking a lot, but they’re still going to have to do more.”
With Tennessee’s offense capable of explosive stretches, the Sooners will have to find ways to disrupt rhythm, win the turnover battle, and withstand momentum swings in a charged Neyland Stadium atmosphere.
“Once the momentum gets going in Tennessee’s direction, a night game, an excited crowd, it’s going to be really difficult for Oklahoma to deal with,” Carlson said. “They need to guard against that and hold it off as long as they possibly can.”
If the Sooners can do that, and if the defense delivers the kind of performance Venables envisioned when he took over in Norman, Oklahoma could walk out of Knoxville with its biggest win of the season.
The Vols and Sooners square off inside Neyland Stadium Saturday night at 7:30 ET.
