The Oklahoma Sooners came into the season expecting their defense to be a strength of the team. And through four games, that’s met expectation. At the point of the spear for the OU defense has been the defensive line. They’ve been downright dominant as a run defense and have been stacking up pressures and sacks along the way as well.
SEC college football analyst Cole Cubelic believed the Oklahoma Sooners had the best defensive line heading into the season, and through four weeks, they’ve lived up to the hype.
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In Oklahoma’s win over Auburn, the Sooners’ four-man defensive tackle rotation of Damonic Williams, Jayden Jackson, Gracen Halton, and David Stone combined for 14 total tackles, 4.5 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, and nine total stops from Pro Football Focus. The defensive end rotation that featured Taylor Wien, Marvin Jones, Jr., R Mason Thomas, Adepoju Adebawore, and Danny Okoye combined for nine total tackles, three sacks, seven total pressures, and seven stops.
PFF defines a stop as a play that constitutes a loss for the defense.
More: Snap counts from Oklahoma-Auburn via Pro Football Focus
Defensive tackle Jayden Jackson had a career day with 2.5 sacks. In his true freshman season in 2024, Jackson had two sacks. He currently leads the Oklahoma Sooners in sacks with three. Jackson was a starter and true freshman All-American last year, so this year hardly feels like a breakout. However, he’s taken his game to the next level and has been a force in the middle.
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“He was fantastic,” head coach Brent Venables said. “I don’t know what he has in his very young career. He may not have two-and-a-half sacks in his career so far. He’s caused a lot of sacks, I know that. He was so good. Played vertical all day, physical all day. Unblocked a lot. Really affected the game, interior-wise.”
Jackson has taken his game to another level in 2025, but so has the rest of the defensive line.
It’s just four games into the season, but the Sooners’ defense is allowing just 207 yards per game this season, good for No. 4 in the nation. They’re allowing just nine points per game.
There’s room for the defensive line to continue to improve, but against two good running teams like Michigan and Auburn, the Sooners have held up well at the point of attack. But so far, they’ve lived up to expectations as one of the best defensive lines in college football.
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And they’ve set the tone for the rest of the defense.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Oklahoma Sooners defensive line leading the way
