After Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby stressed the importance of having an offensive identity Monday, the Sooners failed to present one Saturday.
The defining characteristic of OU’s (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) offense during its 20-6 win over Cincinnati (2-2, 0-1) seemed to be inconsistency.
It’s what plagued redshirt senior quarterback Dillon Gabriel, whose primary criticism from his time at OU has been his deep ball — or lack thereof. On the Sooners’ second drive, Gabriel winded up from OU territory only to overthrow junior Jalil Farooq on what would’ve been a walk-in touchdown.
Later in the drive, after leading the Sooners into the redzone, Gabriel missed another scoring opportunity by fumbling.
“That kind of summed up the day for us offensively, just finding ways to mess it up,” offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby said postgame. “(We need to) just play cleaner, execute cleaner.”
Gabriel threw a couple near-interceptions, was behind throwing to a few receivers in stride and overall didn’t look as sharp as the first three weeks of the 2023 campaign.
The consistent piece of his performance came from his connection with junior Andrel Anthony, who caught his only completion over 30-yards with a 49-yard reception in the third quarter. Anthony caught seven of his eight targets for 117 yards, his second-consecutive 100-plus yard showing.
“He made another incredible, competitive play today that was huge,” Lebby said of Anthony. “He’ll continue to do that. He’ll continue to create targets. I thought we had a couple chances for a couple other guys to have some big ones as well that we didn’t connect on, or something happened from a protection standpoint, but proud of our whole group.”
OU’s running back rotation remains puzzling as walk-on Tawee Walker and redshirt senior Marcus Major, neither of whom saw a carry in OU’s 66-17 win over Tulsa last weekend, were the only backs to rush on Saturday.
Three different backs have led the team in yards through four games. Lebby continues to not have a set plan for how he’ll divide carries within the group.
“We'll see as we move forward,” Lebby said. “As we see what we’re going to get on tape, understand who we’re playing and then how these guys practice every week will create opportunity.”
Lebby claimed his plan was to ride the “hot hand” within the group earlier this week, which seemingly was no one as OU garnered 1.94 yards per carry through the first half while the Bearcats’ duo of Dontay Corleone and Jowon Briggs proved troublesome for OU’s offensive line.
It wasn’t until the third quarter when the Sooners were able to break through for 47 rush yards on six attempts. OU opened its touchdown-scoring drive in the third with three consecutive run plays totaling 36 yards and opening the door for a pair of crucial completions, including one to convert a 3rd and 7 on the Bearcats’ 15-yard line.
“It’s about up front. If we’re blocking it the right way, we’ll call more run plays,” right guard McKade Mettauer said. “We have little ebbs and flows, so when we’re more consistent as an offensive line, I think we’ll get more run calls, and towards the end you saw that.
“We were getting more run calls, and having a good balance with the (pass) game that we have will really open up some more of those deep shots that we want to take.”
It certainly wasn’t pretty and OU will have to improve if it hopes to establish an identity against Iowa State at 6 p.m. Sept. 30 on FS1, but regardless, the Sooners will cruise into week four unbeaten and feeling better than a season ago.
“A win is a win, so I don't want to complain about that," Gabriel said. "I think there's things we can get better at. But at the same time, finding ways to win in games where there might be a struggle or adversity, that's important.”
