It’s not that COVID-19 ever went away, but for just a few weeks in the last month or so, it didn’t feel like it was at the forefront of college football anymore.
The games were. But COVID-19 has come roaring back in the last week or two, with cases in the Big Ten and Pac-12 and now a huge breakout in the SEC to start this week.
A big part of the concern has always been what happens once players leave the facilities? Or in Oklahoma’s case this week, when you don’t have an opponent?
This is the third bye week for the Sooners and last one scheduled. As COVID-19 cases across the state have jumped up dramatically in recent weeks, it’s not fair to say this is the last time OU will have to deal with it, but it’s a big hurdle to clear once again.
“Yea, they definitely worry you because it’s out there more and we’re trying to keep our guys sheltered as much as we can,” said head coach Lincoln Riley during Tuesday’s Zoom call. “The more it’s out there, the more risk there is. We can’t get around that.”
Each open date has been its unique situation. The first one was OU recovering from a massive COVID-19 outbreak/contact tracing in September. Then last month it was about the team finding its confidence after the 4OT win vs. Texas.
This time around? OU looks as good as it has in a long, long time. It’s the stretch run of the season, and light is there at the end of the tunnel of all the sacrifices being worth it.
You just can’t slip up, not one day.
“As far as the bye week, we’ve had to be careful about it,” Riley said. “We’ve had to certainly adjust how we go about it. The amount of time we give our guys away from here. It’s definitely changed the traditional schedule.”
Heading into Bedlam against Oklahoma State, first glance would say OU has zero absences because of COVID-19 at this point. Will it change next week?
Pressure, pressure, pressure
You think of pressure, you think of OU’s offensive tempo making it tough on defenses. You think of OU’s improved pass rush making opposing offenses have to act quicker.
One positive consequence, though, is mistakes and penalties. The Sooners have been labeled, maybe rightfully so, as an undisciplined team in the past with some foolish penalties.
The script has flipped a bit where it’s OU that has been forcing miscue after miscue.
“I think anytime you can do something to put pressure on an opponent, then you can create opportunities for those penalties,” Riley said. “Whether that's a team doing a good job with tempo or a team pushing the ball down the field, or a team being very active on the pass rush and linemen get antsy. Some of it's controllable. Some of it's not.”
For the season, OU has 53 penalties for just under 70 yards per game. Not ideal, but look the other way. Opponents have 71 penalties for just under 85 yards per game.
Having 85 yard per game in penalties would rank No. 118 in college football.
All that is nice, but the key to any mistake is making team pay for them.
“I think the key is, you put as much as pressure as you can, but when opponents make mistakes, the good teams take advantage of them,” Riley said. “So, to me, it's not just the penalty that backs them up into a first-and-20 situation offensively. It's alright, now do you take advantage of that and get them off the field and create good field position for the offense, and then vice versa.”
Get the yips out of here
It’s happened enough that even Riley couldn’t dismiss the notion that OU has simply dropped a lot of touchdown passes this season.
Balls put in tight, correct spots by quarterback Spencer Rattler and not finishing the play. It hasn’t been one game, hasn’t been one receiver – it’s been a reoccurring problem.
“I think it is fair. I do think it's fair,” Riley said. “I think we've had a few more drops than we've had in previous years. It kind of comes down to each individual guy and if you can find a pattern, then you address it whether it's sometimes guys are too amped up and need to be relaxed, sometimes it's focus, sometimes it's something physical, sometimes it's something technical.
“So, I think you get to the root of the problem. The worse way to coach a guy is when he drops one is to tell him to catch it. That doesn't help a whole lot. Now, guys are going to drop one from time to time. That happens. I think ... our deal is we don't make any more or any less than what it is.”
OU has put up 62 points in back-to-back wins, yet it’s still easy to find a lot of room for improvement for what the offense can achieve heading down the stretch run.
