Most stats paint Oklahoma’s offense last season in a positive light.

In the first season with Jeff Lebby as offensive coordinator, the Sooners ranked 13th nationally in total offense (474 yards per game), 32nd in points per game (32.8) and 10th in rushing offense (219.4 yards per game). The crutch for most of last season was the defense, which ranked 93rd in points allowed and 123rd in total defense.

However, upon a closer look, there were a lot of areas the Sooners struggled. OU coach Brent Venables emphasized the word “efficiency” during Big 12 Media Days last week, and that was something the offense struggled with in 2022.

While the Sooners lost a couple of key contributors, the offense has the potential to be good, and maybe even better, in 2023. But to do that, there’s a few areas where the Sooners need to improve.

Here’s a look at where the offense struggled last season and where they need the most improvement this fall:

It was maybe the biggest talking point for both the team and fans last season, and it’s an area where the stats backed up the eye test.

The Sooners’ average time of possession in 2022 was just above 26 minutes per game. Only four teams in the entire country had a smaller TOP. Despite the low TOP, however, the Sooners averaged 78.4 plays per game, the sixth most in the country.

The Sooners still scored plenty of points. The problem was the offense never found the balance between playing up-tempo and knowing when to slow down, and that kept the OU defense on the field far too often. It was particularly an issue on the drives when the offense didn’t score.

"There were times last year that we didn’t do a great job of complementing each other," Venables said at Big 12 Media Days. "Hopefully we’ve worked through that in the offseason and that’ll be something that we’ve got a great handle on throughout the course of the year."

That fast pace particularly bit them against West Virginia, a game the Sooners lost 23-20. The Sooners held possession for just only 22 minutes, and only four of their 12 possessions lasted longer than two minutes. The Mountaineers completely controlled the pace, and it led to arguably OU’s most disappointing loss of the season.

If the Sooners want to be more efficient in 2023, it’ll have to start with finding a better pace on offense.

Venables specifically mentioned it last week as an area where the Sooners need to be better.

The offense had 50 red-zone possessions in 2022, the third fewest in the Big 12. They scored on 84% of those possessions, which ranked sixth in the Big 12 and 66th nationally.

Essentially, the Sooners didn’t have many opportunities in the red zone and needed to be more efficient.

The Sooners didn’t have many issues converting big plays, ranking 10th in plays of 30 yards or more (38). The bigger issue was the struggles on intermediate passing attempts, or throws 10-19 yards downfield.

Dillon Gabriel completed 62.6% of his passing attempts last season and was efficient in both short-yardage and deep passes. However, he was significantly less efficient on intermediate throws. Per Pro Football Focus, Gabriel completed 43-of-81 (53.1) of his intermediate throws, and four of his six interceptions came on such plays. On intermediate throws to the right side of the field, Gabriel was 6-of-14 with one interception. For comparison, Gabriel was 26-of-64 (40.6%) with 13 touchdowns and zero interceptions on throws of 20 yards or more.

The Sooners leaned heavily on short-yardage throws (0-9 yards downfield) and throws behind the line of scrimmage, which combined to account for 55% of the team’s passing plays. Gabriel and the Sooners found some success on such plays, but the lack of consistency on throws beyond the first-down marker led to some three-and-outs and quick, unproductive possessions. (Note: The Sooners punted 48 times during conference play last season, the second-highest mark in the Big 12.)

To help sustain drives, Gabriel will need to find more success on intermediate throws.