Oklahoma's PFF Grades, Snap Counts Produced the Gritty Win at Tennessee

Sooner Magic doesn’t exactly describe what unfolded Saturday night in Knoxville.

This was something far less ethereal, far less fateful.

Oklahoma beat Tennessee at storied Neyland Stadium not because of any stunning turnabout or shocking development. The Sooners prevailed because it seems they have begun to coalesce as a team. OU won because they were grittier. They were better in clutch moments. And they were at their best when the chips were down.

If that seems like a lot of football cliches in one paragraph, well, then maybe you didn’t catch the game. Early, it seemed the Vols would win in a blowout. Later, their comeback felt imminent. Even late in the game, a Tennessee rally seemed all too likely.

But OU prevailed 33-27 thanks to a handful of big plays at just the right time.

No. 18-ranked OU improved to 7-2 overall — no six-win, losing season this year, guaranteed — and 3-2 in Southeastern Conference action not because they were necessarily the better team. They went into hostile territory and took down the 14th-ranked Vols because they were the tougher team.

Numbers from Sunday’s Pro Football Focus breakdowns bear that out.

Here are OU’s PFF grades and snap counts from another memorable trip to Knoxville on Saturday night (special teams grades were not available as of 3 a.m. CT on Sunday):

Offense

Seven players — all five offensive linemen (maybe that was the Sooner Magic part), plus quarterback John Mateer and wideout Deion Burks — played all 66 offensive snaps for coordinator Ben Arbuckle. 

In all, just 15 Sooners on offense saw action against the Vols, and no one graded out with a 70 overall offensive grade, per PFF. The highest overall score went to Burks, who graded out at 69.0, while wide receiver Isaiah Sategna posted a 68.8 — the only two players with a “green” score. 

All but two other players graded out from 54.6 to 65.7. Right tackle Ryan Fodje, a true freshman making his second career start after spending most of his first year at guard, posted a 48.3, while tight end Carson Kent posted a 43.3.

Burks (70.1), Sategna (68.3) and Jer’Michael Carter (65.0) posted the three highest grades on pass plays. Mateer graded out at 54.2 on pass plays, but scored a 70.8 on run plays.

Nwaiwu was the team’s best performer in a specific category, posting an 85.7 score as a pass blocker. Pierre-Louis at 80.3 was the only other offensive player with an 80 or better. As run blockers, the Sooners’ top scores were posted by Robinson (74.6), followed by tight end Jaren Kanak (64.1). No offensive lineman scored a 60 or better as run blockers (a 59.1 from true freshman left tackle Michael Fasusi led the unit. Fasusi also posted the best overall grade on the o-line at 65.5).

Here are the offensive snap counts and PFF grades:

• LT Michael Fasusi: 66 snaps (65.5 overall grade)
• LG Eddy Pierre-Louis: 66 snaps (58.4 grade)
• C Jake Maikkula: 66 snaps (61.5 grade)
• RG Febechi Nwaiwu: 66 snaps (62.0 grade)
• RT Ryan Fodje: 66 snaps (48.3 grade)
• QB John Mateer: 66 snaps (63.3 grade)
• WR Deion Burks: 66 snaps (69.0 grade)
• RB Xavier Robinson: 60 snaps (64.1 grade)
• WR Isaiah Sategna: 55 snaps (68.8 grade)
• TE Jaren Kanak: 40 snaps (56.5 grade)
• WR Javonnie Gibson: 33 snaps (65.7 grade)
• WR Jer’Michael Carter: 33 snaps (65.7 grade)
• TE Kaden Helms: 26 snaps (54.6 grade)
• TE Carson Kent: 11 snaps (43.4 grade)
• RB Tory Blaylock: 6 snaps (58.1 grade)

Defense

Brent Venables was much more liberal with his substitutions as 24 players got time against the Vols on defense.

No one played all 84 defensive snaps. Cornerbacks Courtland Guillory and Eli Bowen each led the defense with 74 snaps, while safety Peyton Bowen and linebacker Owen Heinecke each played 73. Defensive end Taylor Wein (67), linebacker Kip Lewis (66), safety Robert Spears-Jennings (61) and linebacker Kendal Daniels (59) were the only others with more than 50 snaps. David Stone led the interior defensive linemen with 46 snaps, while Gracen Halton (43) and Jayden Jackson (38) were right behind him.

Star edge rusher R Mason Thomas played only 17 snaps and predictably was the top overall performer with a PFF grade of 85.5. Thomas turned in the biggest play of the night, a 71-yard fumble return for a touchdown on which he stiff-armed a tackler for 25 yards and fought off a hamstring injury to set the school record for longest fumble return.

Not far behind Thomas was free safety Peyton Bowen, who posted an 82.1 overall defensive grade.

Among the regular rotation, Halton (74.4), Stone (72.6), Wein, Heinecke (71.3) and Daniels (70.0) all posted grades of 70.0 or better.

Against the run, Stone posted the team’s best grade with a 77.9, while Heinecke was next with 77.6, followed by Lewis with a 74.6. 

Heinecke had the Sooners’ best grade on pass rush plays with a 79.1, while Lewis was next among the regulars at 72.5. Thomas scored 72.4 and Halton 70.9.

Read More OU-Tennessee Coverage

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Three Takeaways from OU's Massive Win in Knoxville
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OU struggled to cover Tennessee receivers downfield at times, although it didn't show up in the PFF pass coverage grades.

Peyton Bowen posted a ridiculous 82.4. Jacobe Johnson scored 65.1 on 17 snaps, while Eli Bowen had a 61.8. Among the six other DBs who played, only Spears-Jennings played more than 25 snaps, and he scored a 50.8 in coverage — and that includes his interception right before halftime. 

It’s worth noting that Oklahoma had by far its best tackling game of the year with an overall tackling grade of 87.6 (the previous high was 70.6 against Kent State).

While the Vols broke free in coverage for big catches, they didn’t get many yards after contact as OU defender combined for just three missed tackles all night, according to PFF. That showed in the run game, too, where Tennessee managed just 63 net rushing yards and averaged just 1.8 yards per carry.

The Sooners' other single-digit missed tackle efforts came against Illinois State (six), Temple (seven) and Kent State (six). Every other Power 4 opponent forced at least 11 missed tackles by OU defenders, with a high of 18 last week against Ole Miss.

Here are the Sooners’ defensive snap counts and PFF grades:

• CB Courtland Guillory: 74 defensive snaps (54.6 overall grade)
• CB Eli Bowen: 74 snaps, 66.1 grade)
• FS Peyton Bowen: 73 snaps (82.1 grade)
• LB Owen Heinecke: 73 snaps (71.3 grade)
• DE Taylor Wein: 67 snaps (71.3 grade)
• LB Kip Lewis: 66 snaps (63.0 grade)
• SS Robert Spears-Jennings: 61 snaps (56.8 grade)
• LB Kendal Daniels: 59 snaps (70.0 grade)
• DE Marvin Jones Jr.: 49 snaps (61.4 grade)
• NT David Stone: 46 snaps (72.6 grade)
• DT Gracen Halton: 43 snaps (74.5 grade)
• DT Jayden Jackson: 38 snaps (62.0 grade)
• DT Damonic Williams: 32 snaps (69.3 grade)
• LB Sammy Omosigho: 29 snaps (54.9 grade)
• SS Reggie Powers: 25 snaps (51.8 grade)
• DE Adepoju Adebawore: 25 snaps (63.3 grade)
• FS Michael Boganowski: 18 snaps (62.3 grade)
• CB Jacobe Johnson: 17 snaps (65.9 grade)
• DE R Mason Thomas: 17 snaps (85.5 grade)
• SS Jaydan Hardy: 11 snaps (55.1 grade)
• DE Danny Okoye: 10 snaps (72.9 grade)
• DT Markus Strong: 9 snaps (61.6 grade)
• FS Omarion Robinson: 5 snaps (61.6 grade)
• CB Devon Jordan: 3 snaps (74.4 grade)