Missouri and Oklahoma: a look at the defenses
Believe it or not, with as much as angst as there is in some circles about the Missouri defense, many of the Sooner faithful aren’t that sold on their team’s defense (at least according to a portion of talk radio I heard this morning on a Lawton, Okla., station).
So, just how do the defenses compare:
Category……… Missouri…..Oklahoma
Points…………..24.67……….24.83
Interceptions….13……………15
Total yards…….396.50……..359.50
Rushing yards..119.42……..109.83
Passing yards…277.08……..249.67
Sacks by………..2.33…………3.25
The real key is that last category: sacks. OU is third in the country and its pressure on Daniel will be a big factor. Daniel has thrown six interceptions and just one TD in his three starts vs. the Sooners and a lot of that is due to the pressure put on by the Sooners.
Tim Griffin, the Big 12 writer for espn.com, has some other insights into the Sooners defense.
OU’s defense is the worst they have had in several years; maybe ever. The early defections to the NFL and injuries has left some serious voids esp. at the linebacker spot. It’s official, this is the worst special teams OU has ever put on the field.
The defensive front is solid. But once you get past the front, the linebacking corp is below average esp. for a Sooner team. Secondary shows signs of greatness, but are inconsistent at best.
Thanks to a high-powered offense, and the best QB that OU has ever had, the defense can afford to give up points.
The 1rst Qtr is going to say it all in this game. If Mizzou can open up with a scoring drive and hang with OU early, I really think we could be in for a surprise and see a good game. I’m inclined to think bad weather would play in our favor too, so that could be a factor as well. I’d love to see Pinkel and Daniel get this win. Go check out the article on the OU newspaper website. They torch Chase D. pretty good. I’d like to see Chase win this game and get some respect back.
I am not a fairweather,but eberflus stinks! kansas winning on 4th and 7? seen it too many times since oregan st. if ur gonna blitz hit somebody!
lies, damn lies, and statistics. . . mizzou’s schedule with 3 cream puffs and the big 12 N - OU’s vs the big 12 S and only 1 cream puff and 2 non-conference top 15 teams