Statistically Speaking - A statistical analysis of the 2024 Red River Shootout - Football

Oklahoma is fresh off its first off week of the season, and now it's time for the biggest game to date.

That's right. It's Red River Rivalry week, as Oklahoma (4-1, 1-1 SEC) and Texas (5-0, 1-0) are set to square off in the Cotton Bowl for their annual rivalry game. Both teams are coming off a bye week, so the Sooners and Longhorns will both have had an extra week to recover, regroup and plan for Saturday's showdown in Dallas, which is set for a 2:30 p.m. start on ABC.

Oklahoma heads into the game with its best defense in years but an offense that ranks toward the bottom of the SEC and in the bottom tier of FBS teams in several statistical categories. The Sooners hope the offense can start trending in the right direction coming out of the bye, as Michael Hawkins Jr. settles in as the team's starting quarterback after a promising first start at Auburn a week ago and a tenacious second-half showing against Tennessee's defense in the SEC opener.

The Sooners will need to get their offense up to par heading into the teeth of their SEC slate, which begins with Saturday's matchup against the Longhorns. In this week's edition of Statistically Speaking, we check in on how Oklahoma stacks up in the SEC and nationally in various statistical categories coming off the bye week…

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

RUSHING OFFENSE		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	219.4 yards per game	1st in Big 12	*10th*

2023 :	182.2	7th in Big 12	*34th*

After Temple :	220	5th	*38th*

After Houston :	147.5	12th	*79th*

After Tulane :	159	11th	*67th*

After Tennessee :	128.3	15th	*101st*

After Auburn :	128.6	16th	*103rd*

After 1st bye :	128.6	16th	*100th*

PASSING OFFENSE
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	254.6 yards per game	5th in Big 12	*41st*

2023 :	324.8	1st in Big 12	*6th*

After Temple :	158	13th	*106th*

After Houston :	166	12th	*109th*

After Tulane :	166.3	13th	*114th*

After Tennessee :	171.3	14th	*111th*

After Auburn :	169.2	15th	*114th*

After 1st bye :	169.2	16th	*118th*

PASSING EFFICIENCY OFFENSE
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	147.95	3rd in Big 12	*30th*

2023 :	167.53	1st in Big 12	*6th*

After Temple :	156.8	11th	*58th*

After Houston :	137.19	12th	*72nd*

After Tulane :	129.69	13th	*90th*

After Tennessee :	122.35	15th	*103rd*

After Auburn :	126.05	15th	*96th*

After 1st bye :	126.05	15th	*100th*


TOTAL OFFENSE
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	474.0 yards per game	1st in Big 12	*13th*

2023 :	507	1st in Big 12	*3rd*

After Temple :	378	11th	*82nd*

After Houston :	313.5	14th	*108th*

After Tulane :	325.3	14th	*108th*

After Tennessee :	299.5	16th	*119th*

After Auburn :	297.8	16th	*122nd*

After 1st bye :	297.8	16th	*121st*

SCORING OFFENSE
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	32.8 points per game	5th in Big 12	*31st*

2023 :	41.7	1st in Big 12	*4th*

After Temple :	51	8th	*22nd*

After Houston :	33.5	11th	*57th*

After Tulane :	33.7	9th	*49th*

After Tennessee :	29	15th	*103rd*

After Auburn :	28.6	14th	*73rd*

After 1st bye :	28.6	13th	*69th*

SACKS ALLOWED
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	31; 2.38 per game	9th in Big 12	*80th*

2023 :	20; 1.54 per game	6th in Big 12	*35th*

After Temple :	3; 3.00 per game	14th	*103rd*

After Houston :	6; 3.00 per game	15th	*109th*

After Tulane :	9; 3.00 per game	14th	*114th*

After Tennessee :	12; 3.00 per game	14th	*116th*

After Auburn :	14; 2.80 per game	13th	*112th*

After 1st bye :	14; 2.80 per game	13th	*110th*


THIRD-DOWN CONVERSIONS
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	40.50%	4th in Big 12	*49th*

2023 :	49.20%	2nd in Big 12	*7th*

After Temple :	8.30%	16th	*132nd*

After Houston :	19.20%	16th	*131st*

After Tulane :	31.00%	14th	*109th*

After Tennessee :	28.10%	16th	*124th*

After Auburn :	26.90%	16th	*127th*

After 1st bye :	26.90%	16th	*129th*

RED-ZONE OFFENSE
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	84.00%	7th in Big 12	*66th*

2023 :	89.60%	2nd in Big 12	*26th*

After Temple :	100%	1st	*1st*

After Houston :	100%	1st	*1st*

After Tulane :	100%	1st	*1st*

After Tennessee :	94.10%	5th	*26th*

After Auburn :	94.70%	2nd	*14th*

After 1st bye :	94.70%	5th	*20th*

RUSHING DEFENSE
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	187.5 yards per game	9th in Big 12	*105th*

2023 :	138.6	3rd in Big 12	*42nd*

After Temple :	69	8th	*37th*

After Houston :	63.5	6th	*13th*

After Tulane :	77.7	6th	*22nd*

After Tennessee :	96	7th	*27th*

After Auburn :	105.6	7th	*30th*

After 1st bye :	105.6	4th	*27th*


PASSING DEFENSE
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	273.5 yards per game	10th in Big 12	*117th*

2023 :	250.8	10th in Big 12	*109th*

After Temple :	125	6th	*40th*

After Houston :	194	11th	*67th*

After Tulane :	187	10th	*58th*

After Tennessee :	188.8	8th	*51st*

After Auburn :	218.6	12th	*78th*

After 1st bye :	218.6	12th	*75th*

PASS EFFICIENCY DEFENSE
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	128.2	5th in Big 12	*58th*

2023 :	118.62	1st in Big 12	*17th*

After Temple :	75	4th	*12th*

After Houston :	124.32	13th	*77th*

After Tulane :	116.31	10th	*54th*

After Tennessee :	123.94	12th	*61st*

After Auburn :	136.63	13th	*91st*

After 1st bye :	136.63	12th	*91st*

TOTAL DEFENSE
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	461.0 yards per game	9th in Big 12	*121st*

2023 :	389.4	6th in Big 12	*77th*

After Temple :	197	8th	*25th*

After Houston :	257.5	10th	*35th*

After Tulane :	264.7	8th	*27th*

After Tennessee :	284.8	9th	*28th*

After Auburn :	324.2	10th	*48th*

After 1st bye :	324.2	10th	*42nd*


SCORING DEFENSE
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	30.0 points per game	8th in Big 12	*98th*

2023 :	23.5	4th in Big 12	*46th*

After Temple :	3	7th	*14th*

After Houston :	7.5	6th	*15th*

After Tulane :	11.3	7th	*23rd*

After Tennessee :	14.8	8th	*26th*

After Auburn :	16	8th	*26th*

After 1st bye :	16	6th	*19th*

SACKS
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	28; 2.15 per game	3rd in Big 12	*63rd*

2023 :	24; 1.85 per game	10th in Big 12	*86th*

After Temple :	6; 6.00 per game	1st	*6th*

After Houston :	8; 4.00 per game	2nd	*8th*

After Tulane :	11; 3.67 per game	2nd	*10th*

After Tennessee :	14; 3.50 per game	1st	*7th*

After Auburn :	18; 3.60 per game	1st	*3rd*

After 1st bye :	18; 3.60 per game	2nd	*5th*

THIRD-DOWN DEFENSE
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	40.90%	7th in Big 12	*87th*

2023 :	31.10%	3rd in Big 12	*14th*

After Temple :	30.80%	8th	*51st*

After Houston :	28.60%	7th	*36th*

After Tulane :	30.20%	7th	*36th*

After Tennessee :	30.60%	7th	*27th*

After Auburn :	30.30%	8th	*22nd*

After 1st bye :	30.30%	6th	*17th*


RED-ZONE DEFENSE
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	86.20%	7th in Big 12	*88th*

2023 :	81.00%	5th in Big 12	*43rd*

After Temple :	100%	14th	*76th*

After Houston :	100%	15th	*86th*

After Tulane :	100%	14th	*101st*

After Tennessee :	100%	16th	*110th*

After Auburn :	80%	9th	*50th*

After 1st bye :	80%	6th	*45th*

NET PUNTING
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	43.08 net yards per punt	1st in Big 12

2023 :	39.6	7th in Big 12	*44th*

After Temple :	43.8	7th	*34th*

After Houston :	43.15	10th	*25th*

After Tulane :	41.61	9th	*35th*

After Tennessee :	43.72	6th	*13th*

After Auburn :	43.97	6th	*12th*

After 1st bye :	43.97	6th	*11th*

KICK RETURNS
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	19.79 yards per return	6th in Big 12	*71st*

2023 :	43	7th in Big 12	*50th*

After Temple :	0	N.A	*N/A*

After Houston :	10	12th	*119th*

After Tulane :	15.5	13th	*106th*

After Tennessee :	15.5	14th	*108th*

After Auburn :	17.33	15th	*101st*

After 1st bye :	17.33	15th	*103rd*


KICK RETURN DEFENSE
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	24.94 yards allowed per return	10th in Big 12	*122nd*

2023 :	18	2nd in Big 12	*37th*

After Temple :	18.33	10th	*72nd*

After Houston :	18.5	11th	*71st*

After Tulane :	18.5	11th	*71st*

After Tennessee :	14.8	4th	*21st*

After Auburn :	16.83	8th	*37th*

After 1st bye :	16.83	7th	*34th*

PUNT RETURNS
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	14.08 yards per return	1st in Big 12	*12th*

2023 :	6.52	10th in Big 12	*95th*

After Temple :	13	7th	*30th*

After Houston :	8.75	10th	*57th*

After Tulane :	11.8	5th	*39th*

After Tennessee :	8.9	11th	*67th*

After Auburn :	8.09	11th	*74th*

After 1st bye :	8.09	11th	*73rd*

PUNT RETURN DEFENSE
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	2.83 yards allowed per return	3rd in Big 12

2023 :	4.69	5th in Big 12	*25th*

After Temple :	minus-5.00	1st	*2nd*

After Houston :	minus-3.75	1st	*4th*

After Tulane :	minus-3.00	1st	*3rd*

After Tennessee :	minus-0.43	2nd	*6th*

After Auburn :	1	6th	*13th*

After 1st bye :	1	5th	*11th*


TURNOVER MARGIN
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	plus-6; 0.46 per game	2nd in Big 12	*24th*

2023 :	plus-6; 0.46 per game	3rd in Big 12	*23rd*

After Temple :	plus-6; 6.0 per game	1st	*1st*

After Houston :	plus-7; 3.5 per game	1st	*1st*

After Tulane :	plus-8; 2.67 per game	1st	*2nd*

After Tennessee :	plus-7; 1.75 per game	1st	*3rd*

After Auburn :	plus-8; 1.60 per game	1st	*6th*

After 1st bye :	plus-8; 1.60 per game	1st	*3rd*

PENALTY YARDS PER GAME
		SEC rank	*FBS rank*
2022 :	50.15	9th in Big 12	*53rd*

2023 :	58.46	14th in Big 12	*97th*

After Temple :	62	13th	*93rd*

After Houston :	64.5	12th	*95th*

After Tulane :	58	7th	*77th*

After Tennessee :	51.5	4th	*60th*

After Auburn :	56.8	6th	*76th*

After 1st bye :	56.8	7th	*75th*