Making the case for Oklahoma to 'open' up Sooners offense for Dillon Gabriel
Not too many Oklahoma fans are thrilled with Jeff Lebby at the moment. There was certainly some confusion and frustration following the Kansas game, especially in the latter stages. Oklahoma could have wrapped things up with a first down in the fourth quarter but instead, got conservative and ran the ball three times. Sure, 3rd and 12 would have been a tough task but Dillon Gabriel should be the guy you trust in those situations.
In the end, another run play was called and Oklahoma wound up punting. Kansas then went down the field to score the go-ahead touchdown and eventually, pulled off the upset win. Reflecting on the game, Brent Venables knows the offense needs to get more aggressive and open up for Gabriel to have sustained success.
“They’ve had a talking with Jeff Lebby,” Eddie Radosevich of On3’s Sooner Scoop said during Tuesday’s episode of Andy Staples On3. “They need to become more aggressive, they need to let Dillon Gabriel do what he’s done all season. When they’ve had success, Dillon Gabriel has played in an open offense.
“I think that’s why Saturday was so out of this world shocking. To see that was the game plan they went with.”
As George Stoia pointed out, this has been a theme throughout the season, not just the Kansas game. There have been opportunities to put games out of reach in the past — with Stoia mentioning Texas and SMU as two examples — but conservative play calling has kept teams in games.
“You’ve just seen in time and again this year where they get a lead, they kind of start getting a little too cute on offense,” Stoia said. “Or they get very conservative. They don’t throw the ball down the field and I think that’s where the anger comes from
“They need to be more aggressive and put more teams away and attack some, honestly, not-great defenses the last couple of weeks.”
The last time we truly saw Gabriel in full-on attack mode was with under a minute remaining in Dallas. He led Oklahoma down the field for a drive nobody in Norman will forget for a long time. That’s where the Lebby offense is at its best.
But there cannot be the luxury of waiting until a game-winning drive is required. Oklahoma should be ready to go from the get-go against Oklahoma State, playing in a hostile environment.
“I would expect them to be very aggressive,” Radosevich said. “Maybe even probably too aggressive to a certain extent if you look up and you turn the ball over because you took so many chances in the first quarter. Maybe that’s where it could backfire on you.”
Last season’s Bedlam finished with a final score of 28-13 in favor of the Sooners. All 28 of those points were scored in the first quarter, as Gabriel threw for two touchdowns. That kind of aggressiveness is going to be wanted but hopefully, it’s throughout the entirety of the game, not just the first quarter.