5 takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners 41-34 loss to the Kansas State Wildcats
The Oklahoma Sooners got off to a poor start and could never recover in their 41-34 loss to the Kansas State Wildcats on Saturday night. From the opening drive, the Wildcats had the upper hand.
Though Oklahoma would tie it up in the second quarter and mount a furious comeback in the second half, inconsistent offense and an inability to get off the field for the defense caused the comeback to fall short.
It was a disappointing and frustrating night as Adrian Martinez and Deuce Vaughn put on a show on the Owen Field turf. Here are five takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners first loss of the season.
Where'd this guy come from?
Sep 24, 2022; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Kansas State Wildcats quarterback Adrian Martinez (9) runs past Oklahoma Sooners defensive back Billy Bowman (5) to score a touchdown during the second half at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
The Oklahoma Sooners defense had few answers for Kansas State quarterback Adrian Martinez. Even when they’d make the plays to put the Wildcats in long down and distances, his athleticism would provide opportunities to convert on third and fourth down to sustain drives.
Martinez averaged 3.64 yards after contact, rushing for 148 yards and four touchdowns. He picked up a huge chunk of his rushing yards on a 55-yard draw play on a 3rd and 16.
It wasn’t necessarily surprising that Martinez could run the ball, but coming into the contest, he hadn’t shown that he could throw the ball as he did on Saturday night.
The Kansas State quarterback averaged less than five yards per passing attempt coming into the game. On Saturday night against the Sooners’ defense, he averaged 6.88 yards per attempt. From the first drive on, he had the Sooners off-balance, hitting players down the field, forcing Oklahoma to respect his arm. That opened up opportunities for him to use his legs.
He put on an incredible performance, but at the same time, we have to ask the question…
Where'd the defense go?
Sep 24, 2022; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Kansas State Wildcats quarterback Adrian Martinez (9) runs for a touchdown during the second half against the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
The defense had moments where they were able to get off the field, but for the most part, it felt like Kansas State could do whatever it wanted.
They missed 12 tackles, and the front seven got pushed around by Kansas State’s offensive line.
Just when it looked like the Oklahoma Sooners were getting a feel for what Kansas State wanted to do offensively, the Wildcats would come up with a big third or fourth down conversion to sustain the drive and score points.
The Wildcats scored on seven of their 12 drives, not counting the final drive where they kneeled on the ball to close out the game. They scored on every trip to the red zone and were 10 of 19 on third and fourth down.
Kansas State’s last scoring drive was a microcosm of the entire evening.
The Oklahoma defense stopped Deuce Vaughn for a two-yard loss, and the Wildcats followed that up with a false start penalty that made it 2nd and 17. The defensive front held up again, holding Vaughn to one yard leading to a 3rd and 16.
On the third down, the Kansas State offense showed an empty backfield, spread formation. Oklahoma rushed four on a stunt, and Adrian Martinez patiently bided his time, waiting for his receivers to get down the field to set up blocks for the quarterback draw. Once he took off, he picked up the first down and rumbled 55 yards to essentially put the game away.
There was no way Martinez was going to throw on 3rd and 16 as the Wildcats were trying to bleed the clock to put the game away. That was always going to be a quarterback draw, and Oklahoma didn’t see it coming.
There was very little pass rush
Sep 24, 2022; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Kansas State Wildcats quarterback Adrian Martinez (9) throws during the first half against the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
While Pro Football Focus had Adrian Martinez under pressure on 48.7% of his dropbacks, it rarely felt like he was actually under pressure. According to PFF, the Sooners generated 20 pressures but only three quarterback hits. They simply weren’t getting to him.
If they were getting pressure, it didn’t look like it fazed Martinez much as he bought time with his legs to make plays down the field. Often, it felt like the Sooners’ defense couldn’t get much push up front and were forced to blitz often.
When blitzed, Martinez was surgical, completing 64.7% of his passes for 133 yards and a touchdown. Were it not for three drops, his completion percentage against the blitz would have been 87.5%.
It didn’t seem to matter how many rushers the Sooners would send. Martinez looked to be in complete command of the game on Saturday night. He was easily the best player on the field.
inconsistent Offense
Sep 24, 2022; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Drake Stoops (12) reacts to being overthrown during the first half against the Kansas State Wildcats at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
The final point total for the Oklahoma offense looks decent, but this unit looked bad at times throughout this game. Whether it was a pre-snap penalty or Dillon Gabriel missing a wide-open Drake Stoops (twice), the Sooners looked out of sync offensively for much of the night.
In the first half, they didn’t do anything particularly well but got a pair of 50-yard touchdown passes from Gabriel to Theo Wease and Marvin Mims to tie the game up in the second quarter. Oklahoma was just 2 of 6 on third down and couldn’t really get anything going on the ground.
They averaged just 3.23 yards per carry in the first half, and when they didn’t get a big play in the passing game, the offense stalled. They didn’t score another touchdown until there were less than five minutes to play in the game.
The ground game improved in the second half, but penalties and Dillon Gabriel’s inaccuracy forced drives to stall out for much of the second half.
On three of their first four drives in the second half, the Sooners fairly easily worked their way past midfield only to be foiled by a penalty that would set them back. They couldn’t recover and would be forced to punt.
The other drive was the Gabriel throw that went wide of a diving Drake Stoops on 4th and 3.
Oklahoma shot itself in the foot on too many occasions. Playcalling, mental mistakes, or poor execution kept them from mounting a serious comeback.
Same song, different verse
This game looked a lot like games from years past. Kansas State was the tougher, more physical team. They were more fundamentally sound and, unlike Oklahoma, they didn’t make any mistakes.
Oklahoma looked like they were playing catch up all night. Not simply on the scoreboard, but from play to play, it appeared as if the Wildcats had the upper hand. It took big plays from the passing game to keep the game from being a complete blowout, but Kansas State was simply the better team in the win.
It’s a long season, and there are still plenty of opportunities to prove their worth, but this was a setback for the Oklahoma Sooners. The sky certainly isn’t falling, but the complexion of their season looks a lot different moving forward.
This game shouldn’t completely erase all of the good things they did the first three weeks of the season, but it revealed some glaring weaknesses that the Sooners must address if they’re going to rebound.
It may take some time for Brent Venables’ vision to be fully realized in Oklahoma, but in their first Big 12 test of the Venables’ era, at home under the lights, the Sooners couldn’t rise to the occasion.
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