NORMAN — Oklahoma marched onto Owen Field on Saturday as a 28-point favorite against a lowly Houston team. Instead, it took nearly all 60 minutes for the Sooners to escape with a four-point win.

The main reason? The offense completely sputtered.

The Sooners finished with 249 total yards and 4.1 yards per play — both marks the lowest OU has had in a game since the Texas game in 2022. Before that, the Sooners would have to go back to the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl to find a game where their offense performed so poorly.

Most obvious of all, the Sooners mustered just 16 points and zero offensive points over the final 43 minutes. The offensive ineptitude was alarming considering it came against a Houston team that gave up an average of 423.8 yards per game (115th nationally) and 31.5 points per game (108th nationally last season). In Week 1, they gave up 308 yards and 27 points in their 20-point loss to UNLV.

Even with the Sooners dealing with injuries, there was absolutely no indication that the offense would struggle that much. Plus, it's hard not to play the what-if game. What if Houston hadn't muffed the punt early in the game that led to Brenen Thompson's 10-yard touchdown? Especially since the replay didn't conclusively show that Houston had indeed touched the ball before it was recovered by Lewis Carter.

Before we dive in, it's important to note that is just two games into the season, and the Sooners are dealing with injuries. But the same negative trends that hurt the Sooners against Houston were also on display against Temple, and the road only gets tougher from here. The Sooners open SEC play in two weeks, and even before that, they'll play a Tulane team that took No. 19 Kansas State down to the wire on Saturday.

So let's look at the areas they desperately have to fix:

(Editor's note: All snap-count data comes from Pro Football Focus).

Really, all of OU's offensive issues can be boiled down to the running game.

It was seen as a strength of the team, but that just hasn't been the case. Against the Cougars, the Sooners turned 29 carries into 75 yards, averaging 2.6 yards per carry. It was the lowest mark for an OU offense since West Virginia in 2022, and it came against a Houston defense that allowed nearly 170 rushing yards per game last season and gave up 195 rushing yards (4.1 yards per carry) to UNLV last week.

The running back room just hasn't found a rhythm. Through two games, starting running back Gavin Sawchuk has 10 carries for 19 yards. Jovantae Barnes has been the most consistent running back with 17 carries for 73 yards (4.3 yards per carry), but Taylor Tatum has flashed the most upside with a team-high 75 yards on six carries. Jackson Arnold actually leads the team with 22 carries, averaging 2.8 yards per carry.

But the biggest example of the confusion in the running back room is the snap counts. Sawchuk as the starter has played 39 snaps and only saw 13 against Houston. Barnes leads the team with 65 snaps. Tatum, who has the highest PFF grade of the three, has played just 24 snaps and only saw one carry against Houston.

The offensive line injuries and struggles certainly haven't helped. Branson Hickman and Troy Everett, the top two players at center, basically haven't played. Jake Taylor missed the Temple game and then left the Houston game with an injury in the second quarter. Geirean Hatchett isn't fully healthy and likely won't be anytime soon.

But despite the change at offensive coordinator and play caller from Jeff Lebby to Seth Littrell, the running schemes have basically been the same. The Sooners are still relying a lot on run-pass option plays, which put pressure on the offensive line to not block downfield. When it works, it puts defenses in a bind and gives the offense plenty of options. When it doesn't, it can halt the offense to a grind and make it where it's doing nothing effectively.

Unless the offensive line gets healthy and develops cohesion, Littrell will likely need to change the running schemes and utilize more traditional power-running plays. Because the offense isn't going to get much better until the running game finds its footing.

With injuries piling up in the receiver room, the Sooners basically haven't threatened defenses down the field. The Sooners had just two plays that went longer than 15 yards against the Cougars.

Through two games, only 10 of Arnold's 55 passing attempts have had an average depth of 20 yards or more. He's only completed two of them, and one of them went to Jalil Farooq who is out for the next two months. 31 of his passing attempts have had an average depth of nine yards or fewer. It's a big reason why Arnold has just 315 passing yards through two games.

This is where the WR injuries have been most noticeable. Most of the Sooners' tallest receivers haven't really played, including Nic Anderson (6-foot-4), Andrel Anthony (6-foot-1) and Farooq (6-foot-1). Jayden Gibson (6-foot-5), who poised to be OU's biggest downfield threat, suffered a season-ending injury in fall camp.

Five receivers logged snaps against the Cougars. Only one of them — JJ Hester — is taller than 5-foot-10. The lack of size was obvious. Jackson Arnold didn't always have time to find guys downfield, and when he did, he often overthrew them or was simply inaccurate. Hester only played seven snaps, and the other option with size (Ivan Carreon, 6-foot-6) didn't play. It's telling that Deion Burks, who leads the team with 15 receptions, is averaging under six yard per reception.

With the Sooners unable and sometimes unwilling to pressure Houston downfield, the Cougars were able to keep everything in front of them. The offense became predictable and it simply lacked explosiveness.

Both of those issues have combined to create OU's biggest problem: third-down efficiency.

Through two games, Oklahoma ranks 131st nationally in third-down efficiency, ahead of only Kent State and Jacksonville State. They've converted on only five of 26 attempts.

The Sooners have constantly faced third-and-longs. Against Temple, the average down-and-distance was third-and-8.4 yards. Against Houston, it was third-and-8.8. The lack of running game and the struggles throwing downfield have dramatically hurt the Sooners on early downs. It's also a big reason why the Sooners held possession for under 25 minutes against Houston, and why they've had seven three-and-outs through the first two games.

“Third and longs are hard," Arnold said on Saturday. "It’s really hard to convert. You’d love a 35% conversion rate on third-and-10 plus. But like I said early, it’s not putting ourselves in those situations, not having to worry about those situations. Tonight, getting in those third-and-10 pluses, it’s hard. It’s really hard on any offense to go out and convert those. But sometimes we have to go out and make plays and convert when we’re dealt bad hands.”

Third downs are going to be a big key against Tulane. The Green Wave rank 37th in third-down defense, giving up conversions on just six of 21 attempts. If the Sooners can't find success on early downs, and if they find themselves in third-and-longs, it's going to be incredibly difficult to generate sustained offense.

Two games isn't exactly a trend, but it's noteworthy that these three issues have popped up in both games against significantly-inferior opponents.

There's always a chance that there could be significant improvement in the next few weeks, especially if the Sooners can get healthy on the offensive line and at wide receiver. But the road is only going to get harder, and even Tulane is going to present a drastic step up from Houston and Temple.

In some ways, it's too early to panic. The running game struggled to open last season, too, before Sawchuk caught fire and averaged over seven yards per carry over the final five games. But the offense never looked as inept as it has so far this season, especially against Houston. If the Sooners are going to stay afloat in the SEC, they're going to need to find answers starting this weekend.

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