Joel Klatt encourages Oklahoma fans to 'sit tight' after Week 1 win

Oklahoma posted one of the more eye-popping final scores of week one, if not the most eye-popping, with a 73-0 win over Arkansas State in their opener. Still, while it was impressive and FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt believes in the Sooners, he wants everyone in Norman to hold their horses for another minute.

Klatt discussed OU’s fanbase and their reaction to their second season opener under Brent Venables on his show this week. He said that they clearly have a reason to feel good, as he has been saying for the duration of the offseason, but added that a shutout of the Red Wolves does not mean too much in the grand scheme of things.

“Sit tight, Oklahoma,” Klatt said. “I get it. Like, 73-0 feels good. I get it, I get it. Arkansas State was picked second to last in the Sun Belt West, alright? So just sit tight, just sit tight.

“You can tell me all you want about how the defense looked better. And, you know what? I hope it did. And I have been singing your praises during the preseason and in the offseason, saying Oklahoma is one of those teams that I could see, if they were to fix a few of the things that they needed to get fixed, winning some of those close games that were close losses last year and easily be a 10-win team this year. That can happen. Absolutely,” Klatt said. “But they’ve got to just keep playing, in particular on that defensive side. They’ve got to continue to get better.”

Again, a 73-point win is something noteworthy in any fashion in which it comes.

On offense, Oklahoma put up 642 yards of offense with 422 of those coming through the air by way of Dillon Gabriel and Jackson Arnold. Six of their 10 total touchdowns also came by way of their run game. Meanwhile, on defense, the Sooners held Arkansas State to just 208 yards and only 48 on the ground. They also forced a fumble and held the Red Wolves to 2-12 on third down.

Even so, Klatt is only going to take so much away from this particular outing. What he wants to see now from the 18th-ranked Sooners is progress as they build their season up to the start of October with their date in the Red River Rivalry.

“Arkansas State doesn’t make you a good defense. You know that, I know that, okay?” reasoned Klatt. “Sit tight and get that defense ready to go so that you can play well defensively against Quinn Ewers and Texas in Dallas. That’s the main objective.”