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Oklahoma Football: Will Sooners overcome national semifinal woes in 2019?

By Kyle Grondin

FORT WORTH, TX - OCTOBER 20: CeeDee Lamb #2 of the Oklahoma Sooners celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the TCU Horned Frogs in the first half at Amon G. Carter Stadium on October 20, 2018 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TX - OCTOBER 20: CeeDee Lamb #2 of the Oklahoma Sooners celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the TCU Horned Frogs in the first half at Amon G. Carter Stadium on October 20, 2018 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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Oklahoma Football
NORMAN, OK – NOVEMBER 10: Cornerback Parnell Motley #11, cornerback Tre Brown #6 and linebacker Kenneth Murray #9 of the Oklahoma Sooners celebrate stopping the Oklahoma State Cowboys on their last series of the game at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated Oklahoma State 48-47. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /

Alex Grinch faces tough task of turning defense around

Where to begin. The defenses of the Big 12 as a whole has been well documented, as they haven’t quite caught up to the high-octane offenses of the conference, and Oklahoma seemed to suffer the most from it last season.

Despite being a top-four team in the country, the Sooners finished last season with the worst pass defense in the country, ranking No. 130. They also had a terrible time creating turnovers last season, as the secondary only intercepted six passes last season. It was clear that change is welcome to the defensive unit.

Enter Alex Grinch, the former co-cordinator at Ohio State, as he comes to Oklahoma for a major rebuilding project. And he seems to me making a drastic change in the level of accountability to the defense, and has stressed accountability during practices.

Now to the good news for Grinch and Co.

Despite the miserable 2018 season, it’s behind them now, and the defense does return nine starters.

Linebacker Kenneth Murray is a machine, racking up nine games with double-digit tackles, including 28 against Army last season. His numbers will be huge again in 2019. Parnell Motley returns to the secondary, and his size will allow him to play all over the field for the Sooners. He led the team with three interceptions and is a major difference maker for the Sooners.

The pieces are there for Oklahoma and Grinch looks to turn around the defense with a major culture change.

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