Oklahoma football:cornerback Parnell Motley ejected

The Sooner boast a 28-4-1 all-time record as the Associated Press’ No. 5 team, including a 9-3 mark in true road settings. They’re 18-1 overall against unranked foes with that ranking and have never lost a road meeting in that scenario 7-0.

This team definitely has that, said head coach Lincoln Riley of the team’s togetherness. “We’ve got a good group of leaders that spearhead that, and then, yeah, you do. You definitely sense it with this team. And we’ve had, the way the season has played out up to this point, so many guys have played and so many guys on all three sides of the ball have gotten opportunities, and at times that’s cut into somebody getting an opportunity cuts into your opportunity. And as a team you either see that selfishly or are disappointed about it or you’re excited about other guys continuing to get opportunities and grow and help the team, and this team has been about that. So it’s been exciting to see, and that’s going to be really important for us going forward

And so I would say personality wise, no, he’s not the easiest guy to figure out in the beginning. I’ll give you that. But I think we’ve gotten to a point where we understand each other pretty well.

OU continues to excel on t hihe other side of the ball as well, unlike in recent years. It ranks seventh in third-down defense (27.8%) compared to 118th in 2018 (46.4%), 23rd in scoring defense (19.4 points per game) and 28th in total defense (326.3 yards per game). The numbers are simply staggering in defensive coordinator Alex Grinch’s first season.

“Well, I mean, first, I had a lot of people that I trust that had worked directly with him and had been in the fire with him, and that was a good start,” Riley said. “And then when I talked to him I didn’t really ask him or tell him much about what I was looking for. I was interested in, ‘If you come take this thing over, what does this look like?’ And I knew I had a pretty good idea schematically with what it looked like. It was more interested in the other stuff. And his answers just fit what basically exactly I would have said had I started the conversation or had I laid it out, and so I thought that was a [good sign].

“I didn’t want somebody that was just going to give me answers because they thought that’s what I wanted to hear. I wanted somebody that was about that, whether they were coaching at Oklahoma or anywhere else, and he was. I don’t know. It just every part of it made sense. I mean, just I couldn’t find anything that I didn’t like about the whole situation.

And so I would say personality wise, no, he’s not the easiest guy to figure out in the beginning. I’ll give you that. But I think we’ve gotten to a point where we understand each other pretty well.

OU continues to excel on the other side of the ball as well, unlike in recent years. It ranks seventh in third-down defense 27.8% compared to 118th in 2018 46.4% 23rd in scoring defense 19.4 points per game and 28th in total defense 326.3 yards per game. The numbers are simply staggering in defensive coordinator Alex Grinch’s first season.

“Well, I mean, first, I had a lot of people that I trust that had worked directly with him and had been in the fire with him, and that was a good start,” Riley said. “And then when I talked to him I didn’t really ask him or tell him much about what I was looking for. I was interested in, ‘If you come take this thing over, what does this look like?’ And I knew I had a pretty good idea schematically with what it looked like. It was more interested in the other stuff. And his answers just fit what basically exactly I would have said had I started the conversation or had I laid it out, and so I thought that was a good sign

I didn’t want somebody that was just going to give me answers because they thought that’s what I wanted to hear. I wanted somebody that was about that, whether they were coaching at Oklahoma or anywhere else, and he was. I don’t know. It just every part of it made sense. I mean, just I couldn’t find anything that I didn’t like about the whole situation.