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Oklahoma is Never Going to Win a National Title Without Even an Average Defense

By Chris Pyo

Oklahoma v Kansas
Oklahoma v Kansas / Jamie Squire/Getty Images

A college football team ought not be able to win a national title without stellar defense. In No. 5 Oklahoma's case, however, a rip-roaring offense at their disposal ought to be able to get things done with even a marginal defense backing it. However, as we learned once again today in the Sooners' upset loss to Kansas State, fielding an average D would be an upgrade.

Jalen Hurts had another amazing game for OU, going 19-26 with 395 passing yards and a touchdown, plus 96 yards on the ground and three rushing scores. But somehow, the Oklahoma defense allowed unranked Kansas State to score 48 points and grind out drive after drive when it truly mattered. Kansas State!

This 48-41 loss will almost certainly scuttle the Sooners' chances at snagging a College Football Playoff berth. But based on what we saw today -- and what we have seen time and again in big games in Lincoln Riley's tenure -- they probably wouldn't have been able to compete with high-powered all-around squads like Alabama and Ohio State regardless.

Riley might be an offensive savant for Oklahoma, but his defense sure could use a lot of help right about now. While the Sooners' defense has been solid enough to preserve their undefeated record until today, Kansas State exposed a lot of their holes-- especially on the ground, as K-State rushed for 219 yards and QB Skylar Thompson scored four times himself.

It must be noted that we've seen this before. After all, this is a team that surrendered 45 points to Alabama in the Playoff semifinal last season, and 54 points to Georgia in the semifinals a year before.

If Oklahoma can win the rest of their games on their schedule, they might just have a slight chance at nabbing one of the four coveted CFP spots, However, it'll be up to their defense to determine whether they have a realistic shot at doing so. Based on what we've seen since Riley took over, the odds will be against them when the chips are truly down.

I guess the "Sooner Schooner" flipping over really was a bad omen for this team.