Oklahoma run defense must improve

The inability to stop the run.

A flaw that almost doomed the Sooners in narrow wins over Air Force and Cincinnati.

A flaw that almost certainly will doom them in the Big 12 — if not corrected.

"Someone having the ability to establish the run is very concerning," said defensive coordinator Brent Venables. "They're issues that are very correctable, but some of our good players are making mistakes technique and fundamental wise ... very simple concepts. Plays that we just have to stay in our gaps and play with discipline."

Up until now, a staple of the Bob Stoops era at OU has been the systematic stuffing of the run.

Last year, the Sooners ranked eighth nationally in run defense. In fact, every Sooner defense since 2000 has been in the top 25 in run defense.

But through four games this season, OU is No. 93 in run defense while surrendering almost 178 rushing yards a game.

A week after Air Force's triple-option attack churned out 351 yards on the ground in Norman, Cincinnati's Isaiah Pead gashed the Sooners for 171 yards on 21 carries.

"I thought, first, he's an excellent player ... he was able to find spaces, cut back and break tackles," Stoops said Saturday night. "But I thought, for us, there were a few times execution-wise that we didn't squeeze him out when he was bending it back, and there were times we missed tackles. We had 'backers there to make tackles a time or two, and he'd either break the tackle or go right by us."