Oklahoma's OL faces underrated challenge against New Mexico

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There is no question: if the Oklahoma Sooners want to make a run at another College Football Playoff berth, they need better play from their offensive line. The Sooners' offensive line struggled in the loss to Michigan, allowing 3.4 yards per carry and giving up three sacks and eight tackles for loss.

They now face a New Mexico Lobos team that ranks No. 3 in total defense, No. 16 in rushing yards allowed and is tied for No. 22 in sacks. While the Lobos will be outmatched from a size standpoint, they are very well coached and use tons of stunts and movement to cause disruption. They also play a similar style of defense to what the Michigan Wolverines played last weekend.

In that game, head coach Brent Venables revealed the performance was too uneven.

"They did some things that were really good," Venables said via Sooners Illustrated. "There were moments when we messed things up. We didn't block the right guy or target the right guy. Just the wrong fundamentals at the point of attack… When we got the numbers right with the safety 15 yards deep from the A gap, we left a zero technique unblocked, and they got us minus one in the second half when we needed to get a drive going… those are things you can't do. Those are some non-negotiables."

For an Oklahoma offense that already struggled to consistently sustain drives against Michigan, those details become even more important against New Mexico. The Sooners don't necessarily need a perfect performance from the offensive line, but they cannot afford repeated assignment errors that put the offense behind schedule.

With the Georgia Bulldogs waiting next week, Saturday gives the unit an immediate chance to prove the Michigan performance was a setback rather than a sign of a larger problem.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Oklahoma's OL faces underrated challenge against New Mexico

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