Oklahoma Football: 5 reasons the Sooners will beat Ohio State

3. Ohio State has struggles in the secondary

The loss of Malik Hooker, Gareon Conley and Marshon Lattimore was evident in the Ohio State Buckeyes’ secondary in Week One. The trio was responsible for a lot in the Ohio State pass coverage last season and it showed in their Week One matchup against Indiana.

Hooker, Conley and Lattimore were responsible for 21 pass breakups and 15 interceptions in 2016.

Indiana quarterback Richard Lagow threw for 420 passing yards and three passing touchdowns against the Buckeyes secondary in the season opener. On top of the passing yards, the Buckeyes gave up 25 first downs to an offense that focused heavily on passing the ball, one of the Sooners’ biggest strengths on offense.

Related Story: 5 reasons Ohio State could beat Oklahoma

The Ohio State Buckeyes defense did force three turnovers in the game, two of them were interceptions, but Indiana’s offense is nowhere near as good as Oklahoma is and they stuck with Ohio State for much of the contest.

Ohio State was able to make the adjustments, only trailing by a point at halftime last week. Replace the Indiana offense with Oklahoma’s and the Buckeyes are dead in the water.

The Sooners have the offensive line to contain the Ohio State defensive front. If they can do that and give Mayfield time to throw the ball, Oklahoma will win the game.