Lincoln Riley criticizes offense following win over West Virginia

On3 imageby:Steve Samra09/26/21

SamraSource

The Oklahoma Sooners may be undefeated, but their offense has provided less answers than wins so far this season. For seemingly the first time under Lincoln Riley, the Sooners offense can’t figure things out.

Following his team’s hard-fought victory over West Virginia, Riley told ESPN’s Holly Rowe that his unit simply isn’t playing well.

“It’s fun to see us respond. We’re not playing very good offensively right now. We know we got to get better. I think we will,” Riley told Rowe after the game.

Additionally, Riley stated that the Sooners didn’t do a good job in the run game throughout the matchup. Combined, Oklahoma ended the game with just 58 yards.

“Yeah, we didn’t do a good job,” Riley said when asked about the trouble n the run game. “I could have stayed with it more at times — a couple of things schematically. We kind of just took turns. Listen, offensively we gotta get better everywhere but I believe in this group.”

In 2021, the Oklahoma offense has been disappointing, to say the least. After becoming a trendy pick to win the national championship, the Sooners have been in close contests with teams like Tulane, Nebraska and now West Virginia.

The Sooners are supposed to have one of the nation’s best offense, but they’ve been pedestrian. Additionally, the most surprising part of the Oklahoma slump has been the play of quarterback, Spencer Rattler.

Rattler: ‘I don’t worry about that at all. I don’t listen to it.’

Although the Sooners found a way to win last night, Oklahoma fans voiced their displeasure with Rattler’s play during the game. Following an interception in the second quarter, the Sooner faithful booed him — then, they chanted “We want Caleb!” as a reference to Oklahoma back-up quarterback Caleb Williams.

After the game, Rattler was asked about what he thought of the chants.

“I don’t worry about that at all. I don’t listen to it. They’re not on the field,” he told ESPN’s Holly Rowe when asked about hearing the crowd booing at home.

In victory, Rattler completed 26 of his 36 attempts for 256 passing yards. Moreover, he tossed one touchdown and one interception. After touching on the chants, Rattler then spoke about the offensive struggles.

“Just finding a way. These past couple of weeks, we’ve had to do that a couple games. And I think it’s going to be positive for us in the long run,” said Rattler. “We just got to play cleaner, do a couple things better and just finish and we’ll be good. We’re going to put it together. I have no doubt in that.”

While Rattler may not have convinced his fanbase, Riley mentioned he was proud of the way he played.

“I was proud of him,” Riley told Rowe when asked how he felt Rattler did amid the criticism. “I thought he hung in there and trusted it the whole way, gave us a chance right there at the end. He’s going to get better. He’s going to get coached better.”

Lincoln Riley and Spencer Rattler are 4-0 on the season, but the Oklahoma Sooners need to hit their stride before it’s too late in 2021.