Saturday Blitz
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The fatal flaw with every College Football Playoff Top 10 team after first rankings

By Josh Yourish

Oct 28, 2023; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (18) celebrates a touchdown during the first half of the NCAA football game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium.
Oct 28, 2023; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (18) celebrates a touchdown during the first half of the NCAA football game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. /
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Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel (8) carries the ball during his team’s game against Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel (8) carries the ball during his team’s game against Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. /

No. 9 – Oklahoma – Dillon Gabriel’s supporting cast

There’s no question that Dillon Gabriel is the star of the show in Norman, but I’m not sure who would take home the award for best supporting actor. OU is still seventh in total offense but is 70th in yards per rush and 46th in yards per completion.

Last week against Kansas, the Sooners finally found their running game with Tawee Walker who ran for 146 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries, but their leading receiver was Drake Stoops (I wonder how Oklahoma found out about him?) who had four catches for 76 yards. The nepo baby receiver is actually pretty solid, but shouldn’t be leading a top-10 team in catches

For the year, Jalil Farooq is No. 1 on the team in yardage with 26 catches for 449 yards, but Stoops has just 394 yards on 40 grabs. There simply isn’t a lot of talent surrounding Gabriel on this offense and it caused the star quarterback to go 14 of 19 passing for just 171 yards and an interception in the team’s only loss.

Oklahoma’s schedule hasn’t been overly challenging other than the Red River Rivalry win. In that game, Gabriel did everything for the offense with 285 passing yards and a touchdown and led the team with 113 rushing yards and another score on 14 carries. He needs to be a superhero for the Sooners to compete with the best teams in the country, or even just beat Kansas.

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