Great start for Hurts & defense
OU's 49-31 victory over Houston was a sensational debut for quarterback Jalen Hurts and a good debut for defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, though the Sooner defense lost its edge after opening the game with four straight stops. The grades reflect a mostly strong season opener:
Running Hurts
BPut aside any worry that Lincoln Riley might not play to Hurts' strength by limiting his running. Hurts ran early and often. His scrambles were well-timed and productive, his runs off zoneread options the same. Hurts finished with 176 yards on 16 carries; he had 103 yards on 11 designed runs and 73 yards on five scrambles off pass plays. The only quibble? Hurts might have run too much. The Sooners don't want to get a quarterback this good injured. And Hurts fumbled during a secondquarter big gainer.
Defensive discipline
DFor all the improvement the OU defense appeared to show, a number of needless penalties marred the performance. Linebacker DeShaun White drew an unnecessaryroughness penalty when he threw down UofH tailback Kyle Porter. And on Houston's thirdquarter touchdown drive, the Sooners committed three silly penalties – safety Pat Fields used his arm to restrict receiver Keith Corbin, drawing an interference penalty on a pass that was overthrown; nose guard Neville Gallimore committed a roughing-the-passer penalty; and Fields hit receiver Marquez Stevenson late after an incomplete pass.
Start
AIn the first quarter, the OU defense forced three Houston punts and allowed just one first down. Meanwhile, the Hurts offense started fast. Double-digit gains on its first five snaps and 12 in 17 firstquarter plays. The vaunted
quarterback matchup of Hurts and Houston's D'Eriq King was over early – King had 20 total yards (rushing and passing) in the first quarter, while Hurts had 125, en route to 508 total yards.
Hurts deep passing
AHurts' deep throws were a question, after what we saw in his two years as the Alabama starting quarterback. But Hurts looked good on five long balls Sunday. He completed just two, but two incompletions were on the mark, just well-covered. And Hurts' intermediate throws were excellent – he completed all six of those passes, for 155 yards, courtesy of two throws that receivers turned into crosscountry plays.
Videos
AAs usual, OU's SoonerVision produced excitement-generating videos. But Sunday, the staple “There's Only One Oklahoma” video was not the best of the night. Oh,
“Only One” was good. Barry Switzer kicked it off, talking about 125 years of Sooner football, and current receiver CeeDee Lamb soon joined him as a spokesman, and eventually Lincoln Riley capped the video with the “There's Only One, Oklahoma.” But OU's recruiting video was even better. It extolled the Sooners' NFL legacy, but the best part was six Sooner legends strolling stride by stride outside the stadium – Tony Casillas, Joe Washington, Greg Pruitt, Tom Brahaney, Billy Sims and Clendon Thomas.
Pass rush
BThe Sooner defense got after King, with three sacks in the first quarter. Neville Gallimore and Ronnie Perkins each had one, and Kenneth Murray and Jon-Michael Terry shared one. But the Sooners didn't keep containment on King, who took Houston to four touchdowns and a field goal on its final seven possessions. Still, Murray and Perkins looked like difference-making defenders, a far cry from 2018.