Greg McElroy: ‘Oklahoma is back, folks’

In primetime on Saturday, No. 18 Oklahoma won by double-digits over No. 15 Michigan. That showed a lot to McElroy about what the Sooners are this season.

McElroy shared ten takeaways from this past week in college football during ‘Always College Football’ on Monday. His first one of the episode was that Oklahoma was back coming off a playoff-type victory that he thinks is now the biggest win of their four years under Brent Venables.

“Takeaway #1 – Oklahoma is back, folks,” McElroy stated. “Oklahoma is back, ladies and gentlemen.

“Only matchup this past weekend that featured two ranked teams. Oklahoma wins the game, 24-13, over Michigan in what was a physical – that game just felt like a playoff setting, didn’t it? Like, just two heavy weights going toe to toe.

“This was the biggest win of Brent Venables’ tenure. That arguably, at the end of the game there in the fourth quarter? That was the biggest drive of Brent Venables’ tenure as the head coach.”

As far as breaking down the game, McElroy was most impressed with the defense for OU. That’s as they held the Wolverines, albeit led by a true freshman quarterback making his second career start, to 288 yards in total, at an average of 3.7 yards per play without the one-snap score allowed to open the second half, while getting eight tackles for loss and holding their offense to just 3-15 combined on third and fourth down.

“Looking at the Sooners’ defense, revisiting that? Man, they were really impressive. I really liked what I saw from that group, but that should not come as a huge surprise,” McElroy said. “Did give up a couple plays but there was relentless pressure. That group up front defensively is outstanding. And, while, yes, their aggressiveness did get gashed the one time by Justice Haynes on that 75-yard play on the first play of the second half, they really did a good job of corralling this Michigan group across the board – 71 rushing yards on 30 attempts if you remove that one 75-yarder.

“If you look at just kind of the key stats, it was defensive stops, control, power – all this stuff. And, to go against a team that is known for their physicality, says an awful lot about the evolution that this program has endured over the last few years.”

QB John Mateer was then also of note as he, in his second game at Oklahoma, posted 344 yards overall for three total touchdowns and an interception, which went on to earn him SEC Offensive Player of the Week and tie him for first in the current odds to win the Heisman Trophy per BetMGM. Watching him play in his first big spot with the program, McElroy liked the swagger he had at the position.

“I love how hard John Mateer runs the football…He plays with some reckless abandon that you have to appreciate,” added McElroy. “The way he’s able to fit the ball into tight windows downfield, the way he’s able to manipulate snap count to get guys to jump offsides and throw it on a free play? He just has a savvy and a moxy to him that just takes good quarterback play to the next level to elite quarterback play.”

Most of all, McElroy really respected all the varying ways that he thought they could play at Oklahoma. The Sooners are no longer just the offensive outfit we’ve often known them to be, with them being more of an overall team making them even more formidable to have to play.

“What I liked too is how Oklahoma can adjust their play based on what the game needs,” said McElroy. “For example, if Oklahoma needs to be a crazy, high-tempo, fast, speedy operation, they can do that. We know they can do that. They’ve done it in the past. But, if they need to be a methodical, grind it out-type of team because they have the lead and they want to take some time off the clock, they want to extinguish any chances that the other team might have, they can go on a 16-play drive late in the fourth quarter and take eight minutes off the clock.

“What I liked so much is just the transformation that we’ve seen from Oklahoma’s program. We have long known Oklahoma to be a group that has had high octane, record-setting offenses there in the 2000s, Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks. But, this was a game that was won because of the defensive approach and the physicality across the board, which, by the way, we have long known Brent Venables to have teams that were super physical, that were grind it out-type of units…They are absolutely built and prepared to win in the SEC along the lines of scrimmage with their defensive line.”

Oklahoma got one of the biggest wins of the weekend in one of their more important victories in recent history. That’s why, for week two, McElroy named the Sooners as the Team of the Week.

“Our team of the week, and it should come as no surprise, is the Oklahoma Sooners,” McElroy proclaimed. “Tip your cap. Boomer Sooner. Amazing performance against, I think, a really good Michigan football team.”