Oklahoma's Defense Cracked on Crucial Downs in the Sooners' Ole Miss Defeat

In Oklahoma’s two losses, Brent Venables’ defense has sprung a leak on third downs. 

Texas converted on 10-of-17 third down attempts at the Cotton Bowl, and Ole Miss finished 9-of-21 on third downs and 2-of-3 on fourth downs. 

"Told the staff earlier in the week, this game's gonna come down to third and fourth downs,” Venables said after OU’s 34-26 loss to the No. 8 Rebels. “… They were better than us. They called better plays and executed better. We needed to execute better on our side and make plays.”

Lane Kiffin’s offense pressed its advantage early. 

Ole Miss converted on 6-of-11 third down attempts in the first half and the Rebels picked up a first down on their only fourth down attempt before halftime. 

As a result, the visitors held the ball for nearly 19 minutes in the first half and ran 46 plays to OU’s 23, helping to build a 22-10 halftime advantage on the scoreboard. 

Mississippi quarterback Trinidad Chambliss carried the ball 12 times for 53 yards. He picked up a first down with his legs twice, and helped set up an easier field goal with an 8-yard run on third-and-11 midway through the third quarter. 

He also completed 5-for-10 passes for 84 yards on third down. 

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"I didn't think we tackled well,” Venables said. “Thought a few times, we didn't cage like we needed to rush the quarterback, and then we had some opportunities to make tackles and he ran through some of our tackles. Guys making plays. 

“We've gotta be better. We've knew that he had great lower-body strength. Saw that in several games this year where he's able to elude the rush, and we've gotta be better. We had a couple of plays we had spy calls on and we kinda get lost in the trash and then we lose leverage on him, and then he breaks the tackle cause we lost our leverage. Very painful lesson.”

Still, Oklahoma’s veteran leaders said the defense needed to respond better after allowing the Rebels to pick up first downs. 

“We’re a next-play mindset,” safety Robert Spears-Jennings said. “If he gets a third down, then it’s like, let’s get them to third down and get a stop.”

The Rebels put together three scoring drives of 10 plays or more, including an 11-play, 75-yard march immediately after the Sooners took their first lead at the end of the third quarter. Ole Miss went 2-for-2 on third and fourth down on that particular drive, and once Chambliss got his team back on top, they didn’t look back. 

Oklahoma won’t be able to linger long. 

The Sooners have to respond next week on the road in Knoxville against another high-powered offense in Tennessee. 

OU was able to put the Texas disappointment in the rearview to shut down South Carolina, and Oklahoma will have to quickly make corrections to replicate that feat next week against Josh Heupel. 

“I think you could choose from any one of those third-down conversions,” linebacker Owen Heinecke said. “… Definitely boiled down to a couple of plays where we'll watch the film back. But we gave them an opportunity to keep the door open when we should shut it. Disappointed from that standpoint, but a lot to learn from.”