The Sooners escaped a pre-Halloween home scare and put up serious numbers against the Red Raiders. Check out our highlights from the 52-21 victory:
Filmed by Justin Jayne and Collin McDaniel
Edited by Justin Jayne
When his Oklahoma career began, Jalen Redmond didn’t anticipate he’d suffer setback after setback.
Unfortunately, the redshirt sophomore is coming off another hitch — a reported knee injury suffered against Nebraska on Sept. 11 that cost him the Sooners’ first four games in conference play. That’s just the latest difficulty for the Midwest City native, who missed all but three games in 2018 due to blood clots, and opted out of last season due to COVID-19 concerns.
“I’ve only played in 20 games since I've been here, so the majority of my career, I've been out injured with something that happened to me,” Redmond said. “It's been really hard.”
Redmond has developed a highly effective track record across games he has played. In 2019 he led the Sooners’ defense with 6.5 sacks, and after his 2020 redshirt season, Pro Football Focus graded him as the best returning defensive tackle in the Big 12 for 2021.
Before going down with the knee ailment against Nebraska, Redmond delivered the most quarterback pressure of any pass rusher in college football that week at 45 percent, according to PFF. On the season, he impressively boasts 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two quarterback hits and a fumble recovery despite limited playing time.
Highest graded returning Big 12 DTs:1. Jalen Redmond, Oklahoma - 82.62. Darius Stills, WVU - 76.13. Moro Ojomo, Texas - 76.04. Samuela Tuihalamaka, Ok St - 75.3 pic.twitter.com/1DNiyQcMej
— PFF College (@PFF_College) May 22, 2020
Highest QB pressure % in Week 3 💨@OU_Football pic.twitter.com/rcUOcLCMfy
— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 20, 2021
“The amount of pressure he’s able to get, he’s just a matchup problem inside,” OU coach Lincoln Riley had said one day before news of Redmond’s knee injury was leaked. “Just the combination of the athleticism and the strength that he has is pretty unique, and he’s just starting to really settle in, and I think you’re starting to see kind of like the smaller nuances of the position. … He’s really starting to turn into a good player.”
Without Redmond, No. 8 OU’s defensive line struggles to create pressure despite the presence of other talented pass rushers like defensive end Isaiah Thomas, noseguard Perrion Winfrey and outside linebacker Nik Bonitto. The Sooners have amassed 14 sacks and 34 tackles for loss in four games with Redmond this season, but only seven sacks and 27 TFLs in five contests without him.
Oklahoma’s “Speed D” had only one sack in consecutive weeks against West Virginia and Kansas State, eking out three- and six-point wins to open Big 12 play without the imposing 6-foot-2, 280-pounder. The defensive line registered no sacks against TCU and just one against Kansas.
Inconsistency plagued the unit that let Horned Frogs quarterback Max Duggan throw for a career high 346 yards plus four touchdowns with a broken bone in his foot. The same group allowed Jayhawks quarterback Jason Bean his best completion percentage of the season and one-win Kansas its second-most points this fall. Redmond warmed up for the game in Lawrence but was bound to the sideline, only to play in an emergency situation.
“I don't want to do anything but be out there with them guys and help ‘em,” Redmond said. “It hurt me to see them struggle, but they came back. Stuff happens, anybody can go down at any time, that’s the sport we play.”
Despite his misfortune, Redmond continues to battle back, just like he always has. Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch noticed when Redmond was returning from his opt-out he practiced hungrily, like “a guy that hadn’t played in a year.”
Redmond returned to OU’s lineup against Texas Tech last Saturday and tallied two tackles. Yet, the Sooners only had one sack against the Red Raiders to show for his return, and he admitted he felt a little inefficient.
“In my opinion — I might be hard on myself or whatever — I didn't feel like I played the game I could have played,” Redmond said. “I was a little hesitant, but that's all on me. I feel like I could have played a lot better and contributed a lot more than I did. Everybody’s got their own opinion, but that's that's mine on myself.
"Just being the first game, I was rusty. I know I was, and I'm just working to get back through it every week."
While the sacks didn’t come in bunches upon Redmond’s return, other glimpses of his impact were visible. His presence at defensive tackle allowed Thomas, a redshirt senior team captain and Redmond’s roommate, to slide back to defensive end. That helped Thomas to his best game of the season, which included 1.5 tackles for loss, two pass breakups — one led to an interception — and a forced fumble which he recovered.
Redmond’s resurgence and that of senior safety Delarrin Turner-Yell and sophomore cornerback D.J. Graham comes at a pivotal time for OU. It’s next three games — at No. 12 Baylor, hosting Iowa State and at No. 11 Oklahoma State — are its toughest yet.
Though Redmond’s time as a Sooner hasn’t gone as anticipated, he has a “Championship November” opportunity to change its trajectory.
“We're gonna ask a lot of him in this last month, there's no doubt about it,” Grinch said. “The other guys around him have to play to a standard as well. … We're excited. Believe me, they're seeing (No. 31) out there. That’ll make sure you're awfully happy defensively.”
