Film Preview: Attacking Mike Stoops' Sooner Defense
In my last two articles I gave a statistical view of OU and then went in depth on their offense from an x's and o's perspective. Now let's take a look at their defense.
Defense
Mike Stoops is their defensive coordinator and has been in that role since 2012 after initally coming to OU with his brother (then Head Coach) Bob Stoops as Co-DC from 1999-2003. Between his two stops at OU he was the head coach at Arizona where he coached Nick Foles, Rob Gronkowski, and others. He is a notable member of the Bill Snyder coaching tree who he served under from 1992-1998 with three years as Co-DC. During and after his first tenure at OU the Sooner faithful revered Mike but his struggles since 2012 has dramatically changed his local perception.
Scheme
The Sooners will use both three and four man fronts and their personnel is similar to what you would expect in an Under style defense. This first image shows OU lining up against Ohio State last year in their 3 man Tight front with their DE's in 4i alignments. (inside shoulder of the tackle) This front does a good job protecting the linebackers behind it and is used by a considerable portion of the Big 12. OU has used it a ton since 2013 and it's one front they like to use when they go with a 3 man alignment.
However they will use their strongside DE and their Jack positions like 4-3 DE's when they go with a 4 man front. Below we see them do this while they utilize an under front where the 3 technique is to the weakside of the formation. OU will also use Over Fronts where the line is shifted strongside.
The Sooners will also break out a Bear front with a man lined up over the Center with two 3 techniques as well. In pass rush situations I have seen the Sooners use this front that UTSA liked to use where no linemen are in the A gaps.
In Coverage I have seen a lot of Cover 3 & Cover 4 zone. They will still use Cover 2 and Cover 1 a fair among. Rarely do they play zero-man but will do so when they choose to dial up heavy pressure. I've seen them adjust to trips formations by placing their backside corner in man coverage in both Cover 3 and Cover 4 which allows them to push coverage to the three receiver side.
Personnel
As I mentioned before OU's personnel fits very closely with what you would expect from a typical under defense. Their biggest run defender will be the Nose Tackle where the massive #90 Neville Gallimore (6-2 330 RJr.) will provide a tough matchup for former TE and Baylor center Sam Tecklenburg. At the heavier of their DE positions they'll start #72 Amani Bledsoe (6-5 287 Jr.) who figures to be lined up in a 3 technique or a 4i most of the time. Their strongside end will usually be #55 Kenneth Mann (6-3 264 RJr.) who will line up outside and also in the B gap depending on the front. The Sooners have also rotated in athletic youngster #7 Ronnie Perkins (6-3 254 Fr.) who's mobility really impacted FAU. Their JACK position is a hybrid End/Linebacker and will usually be the edge rusher. Trying to replace last year's star at this position is #42 Mark Jackson (6-1 239 Jr.) who has 1.5 sacks so far this year.
At Linebacker OU has a very good tandem with #9 Kenneth Murray (6-2 238 So.) who started as a Freshman last year at Middle Linebacker and with #18 Curtis Bolton (6-1 218 RSr.) on the weakside who is the kind of quicker and lighter player you would expect from this style of defense. When OU decides to not go with a Nickel front I saw them replace their Nickel with #33 Ryan Jones (6-2 236 RFr.) against UCLA.
At defensive back the Sooners feature #11 Parnell Motley (6-1 177 Jr.) and #13 Tre Norwood (6-1 179 So.) at corner. They will use #8 Kahlil Haughton (6-1 197 Sr.) and #25 Justin Broiles (5-10 181 RFr.) at Safety while #44 Brendan Radley-Hiles (5-9 186 Fr.) will be the Nickel substitution.
What worked & didnt last year
Last fall Baylor was not very productive in the run game but Baylor was able to make a lot of plays in the passing game. Throughout the game they were able to use concepts like inverted smash, scissors, switch, dig & hitch, and others to get the ball moving. When OU used man to man coverage they also made the defense pay with a touchdown to Mims.
The Mesh one concept that worked well and Baylor dropped what likely would have been a touchdown on it. This concept is another Chip Kelly staple that I broke down in 2017 previewing this scheme.
One of the things that really worked for the Sooners was a field side blitz of their overhang defender. The Bears ran some bubble screens but rarely did they run them to the wide side of the field. As a result on many plays you had one extra defender that the Bears didn't have a blocker to account for. This isn't even half of my clips of this issue. Baylor didn't block them all perfectly but it would have been enough to be serviceable in many cases. This Saturday the Bears need to anticipate this and have some answers ready schematically.
Baylor was able to get a long touchdown to Chris Platt by faking a bubble screen which worked really well as they had run several early in the game.
One good wrinkle that OC Jeff Nixon added was this unbalanced formation. To his the credit of Mike Stoops, his defense was able to communicate well and not get fooled.
Questions & Answers
What type of offensive plays can/should we run?
I think the pass schemes will depend on what coverages OU leans on and I expect Baylor to be schematically fine there- it's just a question of if they can protect Brewer. I think you need to have different run schemes ready for all the fronts you expect to see. I do think reading their B gap defenders can help. Ohio State's running game was greatly helped by it in 2017.
Baylor has done that with Brewer before against WVU last fall and it can help get things going.
Can the Baylor Offensive Line hold up against this front?
That's going to be the matchup to watch. Getting Fruhmorgen and Valentin in the starting lineup has the potential to work well but as both are coming off injury and have little experience working next to each other it's going to be a work in progress at some level.
How much of an effect does Oklahoma's defense being on the field for 80+ plays have on this game? Are there any past examples to compare to?
I think OU has enough depth and a strong enough strength and conditioning program it shouldn't be a major factor unless the option scheme Army runs got somebody dinged up more than usual. As for comparisons? I think it's been almost a decade since OU faced the triple option.
Are you ready for OU?
Prediction?
Oklahoma will be the best offense the Bears have seen in 2018 and may end up seeing depending on how you view WVU and Tech. Defensively they are still trying to improve from a very poor 2017. They have improved some but so have the Bears on offense. I think the added mobility that Brewer brings to the table should help immensely both in extending plays and in getting at least some minimum production from the run game.
Kyler Murray is playing well and has a great scheme with weapons around him. The Sooners are outstanding but far from invincible. The Bears are clearly not yet to the point where they will be expected to take down top ten teams and a 20+ point spread is good evidence of that. IF Baylor is consistent protecting Charlie while not giving up big plays off mental busts they can give the Sooners the kind of game we saw last year. That remains a big IF though.
Oklahoma 48, Baylor 27
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