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Sep 7, 2024; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners tight end Jake Roberts (87) celebrates with Oklahoma Sooners tight end Bauer Sharp (10) after catching a touchdown pass during the second quarter against the Houston Cougars at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
The Oklahoma Sooners will welcome a tough Tulane Green Wave team to town for a Saturday afternoon kickoff. Oklahoma’s hoping to remain undefeated ahead of SEC play in week four but will have to survive a test from a Tulane team that nearly knocked off Kansas State last week.
The team will have to remain focused at the task at hand but OU has the talent to come through and pick up another win. But what do they need to do to earn a victory? Here are three keys to the game for the Sooners.
1. Win First Down
The Oklahoma Sooners haven’t been efficient enough on first down through two games in the 2024 season. Against Houston, the Sooners had a first-down success rate of just 38.4%.
Success rate is defined as gaining 40% of the yards to go on first down, 60% of the yards to go on second down and 100% of the yards to go on third and fourth down.
So, Oklahoma gained four or more yards on just 10 of their 24 first downs in the game. When you aren’t doing much on first down, it’s going to make second and third down a lot more difficult.
Teams with a high success rate on first down move the ball efficiently and score points. If Oklahoma wants to get right offensively, being more successful on first down would go a long way.
Against a good Tulane offense, the Sooners’ defense will be challenged. But one way to get to true freshman quarterback Darian Mensah is to force him into some longer down and distances.
Oklahoma’s run defense has been really good to start the 2024 season and if they can contain Makhi Hughes on first down to…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/3-keys-oklahoma-sooners-win-192307903.html
Author : Sooners Wire
Publish date : 2024-09-13 19:23:07
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