Young standout players silence critics of key Oklahoma Sooners position room in season-opening with record-setting performances

Oklahoma's Cornerbacks Silence the Crowd

With Bowen up, the Sooners started Gentry Williams and true freshman Courtland Guillory at cornerback, starting a true freshman early in the season for two seasons in a row.

The pair dazzled for the Sooners. On a combined 65 snaps, the duo was targeted five times, allowing just three catches for three yards. Yes. Three. The two combined for three defensive stops and didn't miss a single tackle, an area of struggle for Oklahoma's cornerbacks over the past several years.

Obviously, competition matters, as the Sooners were playing Illinois State. However, that doesn't diminish the quality of the reps. Oklahoma allowed nothing through the air all game. Illinois State had an ADOT (average depth of target) of just 2.2 and completed half of their attempted passes for just 34 yards. The Redbirds got one first down all game, and their leading receiver finished with just ten yards.

Oklahoma has won games by bigger margins in the past, but I have rarely seen this team pitch a statline like that, and I've been following/around the program for all 26 years of my life. Even in last year's 51-3 win against Temple, Oklahoma still allowed 128 yards through the air.

I did some digging after the game: this was the first regular-season game the Sooners have allowed under 100 passing yards since allowing just 81 yards in 2020 against Missouri State. Additionally, this is the first time the Sooners have held a team under 50 yards since a 2012 victory over UTEP

This is the first regular-season game the Sooners have allowed under 100 passing yards since allowing 81 yards in 2020 against Missouri State. Illinois State had just 34 combined between two quarterbacks. The last time OU held a team under 50 passing yards was a 24-7 victory over UTEP all the way back in 2012. According to ESPN, these 34 yards are the fewest the Sooners have allowed since allowing -10 (!!) in a dominant 57-2 win...in 2008, their last national championship game.

I get that everyone will be skeptical because of the opponent, and I get it. Yet, Oklahoma has played FCS teams before and hasn't dominated them quite like this. Oklahoma hasn't posted performances like this since their dominant days under Bob Stoops (and coincidentally, Brent Venables).

For a defense with as many youngsters as the Sooners played in their season-opener, this was a jaw-droppingly dominant performance. Kudos to this cornerback room for completely smothering their opponent.