Oklahoma Football: 3 takeaways from Week 2 victory over UCLA

2. Oklahoma’s defense stood tall against the UCLA rushing attack

In Chip Kelly’s first season at the helm, UCLA looks like they are going to rely heavily on their backfield to generate the bulk of their offense. That has always been a hallmark of Kelly’s college offenses, but at the same time his best successes have been coupled with the passing prowess of players like Dennis Dixon, Darren Thomas, and Marcus Mariota.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson looks like he will become Kelly’s next great UCLA quarterback. He had a decent game against the Sooners secondary, throwing for 254 yards and a touchdown on 16-of-26 passing. But he failed to get the ball into the endzone, just missing on Theo Howard‘s catch in the fourth quarter that was ruled out just outside the goal line. That led to Bolu Olorunfunmi‘s second rushing touchdown of the day.

Besides those two short scores, though, UCLA’s running game did almost nothing else on Saturday. The Oklahoma defense stood firm against the Bruins when they chose to carry the ball, holding UCLA to 133 yards and those two scores on 50 carries.

If Oklahoma is going to make it to the College Football Playoff and move beyond the semifinals to play for the national championship this year, the defense will need to continue stepping up against the run. They passed a big hurdle against a skilled offensive mind in Week 2 play.