No. 15 Oklahoma (2-0) defeated Houston (0-2) 16-12 on Saturday in Norman.
Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ win:
Arnold, offense out of sync
Sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold and the Oklahoma offense struggled against Houston’s defense, which allowed 31.5 points per game in 2023.
Arnold completed 19 of 32 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns along with one interception. He struggled to connect with his receivers in the absence of Jalil Farooq, Nic Anderson and Andrel Anthony due to injury. OU’s leading receiver was Purdue transfer Deion Burks with nine receptions for 53 yards.
The Sooners struggled just as much in the run game, where they accumulated 75 yards on 29 carries for an average of 2.6 yards per carry. Arnold was sacked three times for a loss of 11 yards and OU was tackled behind the line of scrimmage seven times.
Third down still an issue
After going 1 for 12 on third down conversions in the season-opener against Temple, Oklahoma’s third down struggles continued in week two.
The Sooners went 4 for 14 on third down, and eight of their 12 possessions ended in a punt. Head coach Brent Venables said newly-hired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell had displayed a “vanilla” game plan last week against Temple, which seemingly carried over to this week.
Even after Gracen Halton had a potentially game-saving safety and gave OU’s offense the ball back with under two minutes left, they still stalled out and had to punt. This gave Houston one last chance to win before the clock ran out.
Defensive lapses
Despite only scoring seven points against UNLV in week one, Houston moved the ball well against the Sooners’ defense.
The Cougars totalled 318 yards of offense to Oklahoma’s 249 yards. The Cougars were helped by five OU penalties, one of which negated an interception by redshirt senior Woodi Washington.
Houston’s second touchdown of the game came via a blown coverage by the Sooners, allowing for a wide-open 44-yard touchdown reception.
“We deserved to lose,” Venables told SEC Network after the game. “We did everything you could possibly do to give somebody (else) a chance to win.”
The Sooners will face Tulane at 2:30 on Saturday, Sept. 14, in Norman.
