4 reasons why Texas football can dominate OU in Red River
Most missed tackles forced in the Big 12 this year by RBs per PFF:#Texas: 66
— CJ Vogel (@CJVogel_TFB) October 3, 2022
Bijan Robinson: 40
Kansas: 38
Oklahoma: 36
Baylor: 30
Iowa State: 29
Texas Tech: 28
WVU: 28
TCU: 27
Kansas State: 22
Roschon Johnson: 20
Oklahoma State: 18
Bijan Robinson finally has the chance to dominate a Big 12 foe in the running game
TCU and Kansas State were able to run all over the Sooners at times in the last two weeks. In the last two games, Oklahoma has allowed more than 600 rushing yards, more than six yards per carry, and a whopping nine touchdowns on the ground.
And it wasn’t like it was either Kansas State or TCU that did the bulk of that damage to the Oklahoma run defense in the last two weeks. They both hovered around 300 rushing yards in each game, with no fewer than four rushing scores for either team.
I will say that Kansas State has a very strong ground game led by star running back Deuce Vaughn. Add in the dual-threat nature of Nebraska transfer quarterback Adrian Martinez, and you get a pretty formidable rushing attack for Kansas State.
But the fact that TCU was able to muster more than 300 rushing yards and five rushing scores last weekend really goes to show some of the struggles that Oklahoma is having to defend the run right now.
Some of the problems that the Sooners are facing in run defense have to do with a lack of depth in the trenches, especially in the nose tackle rotation, and an abundance of missed tackles. Oklahoma missed a whopping nine tackles in run defense in the loss to TCU. Meanwhile, TCU only had four missed tackles in run defense last weekend.
The former senior transfer Isaiah Coe is a capable nose tackle, but he is a little bit smaller for someone playing a four-technique as an anchor to a three-man front. Fellow senior transfer Jeffery Johnson just isn’t the right fit to take a large number of live-game reps at nose tackle with just three down-linemen.
If Texas was looking for a player to be able to bully in the trenches to finally get the interior run blocking trending in the right direction, it looks like Johnson could be it. In general, Texas and star junior running back Bijan Robinson should be able to run all over this Oklahoma defense with the way they looked defending the run in the last two weeks.