Oklahoma’s offensive line made history against Mississippi for all the wrong reasons

OXFORD, MS – For the second week in a row, Oklahoma’s offensive line set a program record.

And it’s not a history anyone in the Crimson and Cream wants to remember.

The Sooners allowed 10 sacks on Saturday 26-14 loss to No. 18 Mississippiwhich is the most OU has allowed since the NCAA began tracking sacks as an official statistic in 2000. Three of those sacks were allowed in the first half, and seven came after intermission.

“First half, really good. Second half, not so good,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said about the unity after the game. “We’re down two scores, part of that is that. It doesn’t help that Jacob Sexton gets hurt.

“… I sometimes thought that we were indeed doing a good job with chip protection. You can’t do that the whole game, not for what we had to do to win the game. It must be better there. That’s terrible, you know that. The first half was a little cleaner in that respect. Kept the quarterback upright. Had a very nice rhythm. Second half, not so much.”

A lot of the good that came out of the offensive line happened in the first half.

The Sooners (4-4, 1-4 SEC) rushed for 125 yards against the nation’s top rushing defense, a defense that allowed fewer than 70 yards per game over the weekend.

Oklahoma’s ability to open holes for running backs Jovantae Barneswho finished the game with 67 rushing yards on 16 carries, kept the Rebels defensive front guessing.

Interim play caller Joe Jon Finley moved the pocket for the quarterback Jackson Arnold also, which yielded positive results against Ole Miss (6-2, 2-2).

OU made two of its six longest drives of the season, including a 92-yard march at the end of the half that put the visitors ahead 14-10.

But the bottom fell out in the third quarter.

After 12 plays, OU could only gain 23 yards.

Ole Miss’ offense kicked into gear and the Sooners quickly found themselves in a two-possession hole.

From there, Mississippi picked up left tackle Logan Howland and left guard Heather Ozaeta while the two young pieces were then forced into action Jake Taylor was a late scratch from the trip to Oxford and Sexton left the match with an injury in the sectional quarter.

“Man, it’s just like playing in the NFL, when you use your left tackle it makes it a lot harder,” Finley said after the loss. “But my job is to help him and put him in a situation where he can be successful, and I didn’t do that well enough.”

However, Howland and Ozaeta are not to blame for OU’s struggles in SEC play.

Last week, Oklahoma’s offensive line allowed nine sacks to nine different South Carolina defenders.

In five SEC games, OU quarterbacks have been sacked 30 times.

A year ago, Oklahoma surrendered just 20 sacks over the entire 13-game season.

“It obviously sucks,” center Troy Everett said. “First half, go out there and play pretty decently, there’s obviously some things we need to work on. In the second half we go out, still with the ball, and we still do that. We just have to finish it, it just has to be better.”

Given enough time, Arnold played well enough to keep OU in the game.

He completed 22 of 21 passes for 182 yards and two scores. Before sack yardage was subtracted from his total, Arnold was also able to rush for 103 yards, although he only finished with 39 rushing yards after being dropped nine times.

Arnold’s only turnover, a fumble, as right guard Febechi Nwaiwu eased across the line. As a result, Arnold was erased at the mesh point with Barnes and the ball came out.

There are likely no real answers to OU’s problems ahead of time — at least not until 2024.

Even when healthy, the unit has struggled to give the offense a chance to execute with any kind of real efficiency.

In the coming games, offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh could choose to fully usher in the youth movement. This week, Venables said the coaching staff has gone back and forth on whether to keep freshman Eddy Pierre-Louis’ redshirt after he appeared in the season opener against Temple.

Transfers Michael Tarquin, Spencer Brown and Nwaiwu won’t factor into Oklahoma’s plans down the road.

A reprieve should be offered next week when OU welcomes Maine to Norman, though nothing is certain about how Bedenbaugh’s line has played in 2024.

While the results are historically poor, the Sooners may have to live with the youthful mistakes of the likes of Howland and Ozaeta because it’s the only way the duo can learn.

“Proud of Logan for how he fought, proud of Sexton for trying to fight through it,” Finley said. “I’m just proud of this group of guys because a lot of people wrote them off, didn’t give them a chance and came to work on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and came out swinging today. I am extremely proud of them.”