OU football defense shows cracks in loss at Ole Miss, but can Sooners avoid crumbling?

OXFORD, Miss. — Billy Bowman and Danny Stutsman didn’t shrink.

Following OU football’s third consecutive loss Saturday — a 26-14 defeat at No. 18 Ole Miss — the Sooners’ defensive leaders held their heads high inside the visiting tunnel of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Disappointment was evident fresh off the loss but both guys have been here before, in 2022, when OU finished 6-7 and 99th nationally in team defense.

“A lot of these guys come from winning programs before since high school and aren’t used to taking tough losses,” Stutsman said. “It hurts. They have to learn how to handle that, how to grow.”

OU trailed Mississippi by two points with 5:44 remaining in the third quarter.

Mississippi quarterback Jaxson Dart pump faked, surveyed the field and found wide receiver Jordan Watkins, who had beaten OU cornerback Kani Walker one-on-one and was nearly 5 yards out of his reach, for a 34-yard completion. Up until that point, it was a game, but undisciplined mistakes in the secondary and an inability to rush the passer led to a 13-point Mississippi third-quarter outburst.

“Real frustrating game, had great opportunity going into halftime,” OU coach Brent Venables said. “We just really played poorly in the third quarter. They did some really good things at the end of the day, but I thought we beat ourselves with some explosive plays on defense.”

More: OU football drops to .500 as Ole Miss dominates Sooners in second half | 5 takeaways

OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI – OCTOBER 26: Henry Parrish Jr. #21 of the Mississippi Rebels carries the ball against Billy Bowman #2 of the Oklahoma Sooners during the first half at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on October 26, 2024 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)

A little over four minutes later, Dart hit the Sooners’ defense with another play-action, 34-yard gain. This time to…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ou-football-defense-shows-cracks-113101635.html

Author : The Oklahoman

Publish date : 2024-10-27 11:31:01

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