OU football: Sooners aim to shoot down the air raid

When coach Bob Stoops first arrived at Oklahoma in 1999, he brought a groundbreaking offense with him.

Stoops had now-Washington State coach Mike Leach install an offense at OU that Leach developed with former Kentucky coach Hal Mumme: the Air Raid.

While he was the defensive coordinator at Florida, Stoops always dreaded playing Kentucky — a team that boasted a high-flying offense that could light up the scoreboard and was extremely difficult to prepare for — so when it came to hire an offensive coordinator, Leach was the obvious choice.

Leach’s stay at OU was short-lived, as Texas Tech hired him away in 2000, but the impact of his innovative offense is still felt throughout college football.

Almost 15 years later, the Air Raid still has defensive coordinators scratching their heads, and, Saturday, the Sooners will face the same offense their former offensive coordinator pioneered.

The offense has evolved since its stint in Norman — see Dana Holgorsen’s offense at West Virginia that’s run mostly out of the pistol and incorporates jet sweeps and swing passes to give the ball to players at full speed — but the foundation of the offense has remained the same.

It consists of short, quick-hitting pass plays that spread the defense out and rely on receivers to pick up yards after the catch.

When OU lost to Texas Tech at home last season, one particular play — the jailbreak or tunnel screen — shredded the Sooners and led to a pair of first-half touchdowns for the Red Raiders.

“That’s a tough play,” defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. “Their timing is outstanding on it. It’s just something we have to have alerts for and recognize quicker than a year ago.”

Texas Tech caught the Sooners in soft zone coverage that allowed Tech’s blockers to pick up their assignments and engage them before OU’s defenders could read the play and find the ball. What resulted were two easy touchdowns where senior receiver Alex Torres waltzed into the end zone untouched.

Last season, the Sooners attempted to defend Texas Tech by only rushing four linemen and dropping everyone else into zone coverage. As a result, they gave up 441 yards through the air and spotted the Red Raiders a 24-point lead.

“A lot of keys we misread,” junior safety Tony Jefferson said. “They gashed us. And that’s what Texas Tech can do: You make one simple mistake, and they can gash you because they got the players to do so.”

Although the Red Raiders are known for slinging the ball around the field, since coach Tommy Tuberville’s arrival, they’ve become much more balanced — producing one of the better rushing attacks in the Big 12.

“They’re running for 190 yards a game,” senior defensive end David King said. “So, it’s not like they’re just slinging it every play. We’ve just got to do a good job of being in our gaps and guys making plays, making tackles.”

But still, Texas Tech’s offense poses its greatest threat throwing the football. If the Sooners hope to stop, or even slow down, Texas Tech’s aerial attack Saturday, they’ll have to disrupt the timing of the offense either through blitzes, press coverage or a combination of both.

“I think you got to push them off their spots,” Mike Stoops said. “Whether it’s a rush or whether it’s a blitz, throw their timing off, get them to pull the ball down a little bit and not have those throwing windows they like to have.”

Texas Tech caught the Sooners in soft zone coverage that allowed Tech’s blockers to pick up their assignments and engage them before OU’s defenders could read the play and find the ball. What resulted were two easy touchdowns where senior receiver Alex Torres waltzed into the end zone untouched.

Last season, the Sooners attempted to defend Texas Tech by only rushing four linemen and dropping everyone else into zone coverage. As a result, they gave up 441 yards through the air and spotted the Red Raiders a 24-point lead.

“A lot of keys we misread,” junior safety Tony Jefferson said. “They gashed us. And that’s what Texas Tech can do: You make one simple mistake, and they can gash you because they got the players to do so.”

Although the Red Raiders are known for slinging the ball around the field, since coach Tommy Tuberville’s arrival, they’ve become much more balanced — producing one of the better rushing attacks in the Big 12.

“They’re running for 190 yards a game,” senior defensive end David King said. “So, it’s not like they’re just slinging it every play. We’ve just got to do a good job of being in our gaps and guys making plays, making tackles.”

But still, Texas Tech’s offense poses its greatest threat throwing the football. If the Sooners hope to stop, or even slow down, Texas Tech’s aerial attack Saturday, they’ll have to disrupt the timing of the offense either through blitzes, press coverage or a combination of both.

“I think you got to push them off their spots,” Mike Stoops said. “Whether it’s a rush or whether it’s a blitz, throw their timing off, get them to pull the ball down a little bit and not have those throwing windows they like to have.”

Dillon Phillips

Dillon is a former staff member of The Oklahoma Daily who worked as Sports Reporter, Assistant Sports Editor and Sports Editor.