OU's startlingly bad D gets Kansas' high-powered offense next

Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables talks with Oklahoma Sooners defensive back Trey Morrison (6) during the Red River Showdown college football game between the University of Oklahoma (OU) and Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. Texas won 49-0. BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

Oklahoma's startlingly bad defense gets Kansas' high-powered offense next

By Brandon Cavanaugh | Last updated 10/10/22

Several questions surround Oklahoma (3-3, 0-3 in Big 12) following its humiliating 49-0 loss to Texas. The biggest is: Can the awful defense be fixed?

“We were bad, but we’re not that bad,” OU coach Brent Venables told reporters after the loss to Texas.

Venables seemed like an easy hire following Lincoln Riley’s departure to Southern Cal. His success as Clemson’s defensive coordinator and past ties to OU made the call a no-brainer. During his 10-year stint with the Tigers, they only fell out of the top 25 in defense once and finished in the top 10 seven times.

However, Oklahoma's current defense ranks No. 117 nationally (450 yards per game) and is tied for 88th in scoring (29 points per game).

History for the Texas Longhorns in the Red River Showdown, which has been going on since 1900.

Texas scored 49 points, its most in series history.

It was Oklahoma's largest shutout loss, and 3rd largest loss of any kind in school history. pic.twitter.com/8XaAXcemBA
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 8, 2022

This weekend, the Sooners face a 5-1 Kansas squad no doubt itching to do some damage after TCU edged the Jayhawks, 38-31. Oklahoma has home-field advantage against a Kansas team that is averaging nearly 40 points, but the Sooner clearly need the defense to play far better to have a chance vs. the Jayhawks.

There’s not much room for Venables’s defense to fall on the stat sheets, but at this rate, it may hit rock bottom far sooner than anyone thought possible.

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