This is the Depth Dossier: the Oklahoma Sooners, Week 7.

Oklahoma put up more yards than Kentucky, turned the ball over four times, and lost anyway, falling 21 to 13 in a game that should have gone the other way.

A week after knocking off the number one team with almost nothing working, the Sooners had almost everything working here and still found a way to blow it. Oklahoma led 13 to 7 and was controlling things behind a clean first half from quarterback John Mateer, a touchdown catch from Rocky Beers, and a defense that kept Kentucky off the board in the third quarter for the fifth time in six games. Then it all came apart. Mateer threw three interceptions in the second half, the last one a 41-yard pick six to defensive back Jordan Castell with just over a minute left that sealed the loss. A fake field goal interception in the second quarter had already cost Oklahoma points earlier. The one bright spot was freshman defensive lineman Jake Kreul, who set a school record with two and a half sacks.

Here's the thing about the stat sheet: Oklahoma outgained Kentucky by over a hundred yards and still lost by eight points, and the turnover column tells you exactly why. Four Oklahoma giveaways, zero from Kentucky. That kind of gap almost never happens without turnovers deciding it, and three of Oklahoma's four came in the fourth quarter alone.

The special teams miscue set the tone early. Up 7 to 3 at Kentucky's 14-yard line, holder Jacob Ulrich tried a jump pass on a fake field goal that got picked off in the end zone. That's three guaranteed points traded for nothing, in a game Oklahoma lost by exactly eight.

Mateer's day splits right down the middle. In the first half, he was sharp: 15 of 21 passing, 167 yards, a touchdown, no turnovers. In the second half, three interceptions, capped by that back-breaking pick six. That collapse lines up almost perfectly with Oklahoma's offensive line giving way, which we'll get to.

And the third quarter stall might be the quieter story here. Oklahoma shut Kentucky out in that period but only managed three points itself across three possessions, missing a real chance to put the game away before things fell apart.

A few other notes worth keeping. Kreul's two and a half sacks are the most by an Oklahoma true freshman in school history, and the most by any Sooner freshman since Brian Bosworth back in 1984. Running back Manny Choice, in his first career start, caught five passes for 98 yards, both career highs. And this one stings a little: former Sooners Nic Anderson and Jovantae Barnes played spoiler for Kentucky in Norman. Kentucky's head coach, Will Stein, became the first Kentucky coach to beat Oklahoma since Bear Bryant in 1951.

Now to the depth chart, because this game shuffled a lot of it.

The offensive line was already shorthanded coming in, missing three regular starters and trotting out Oklahoma's fourth different starting combination of the season. It got worse during the game. Left tackle Ryan Fodje got hurt in the third quarter, tried to play through it, got taped up, but allowed two more sacks before giving way to Peyton Joseph at tackle and Caleb Nitta at guard. Fodje's health is a real question now, and if he's limited going forward, Joseph looks like the next man up at left tackle with Nitta holding down a guard spot. That line breakdown explains a lot of Mateer's second-half trouble. It was pressure, not decision-making, doing the damage.

At receiver, Choice's big day wasn't a fluke. He's now in the starting rotation alongside Isaiah Sategna the third, who remains the high-volume underneath target. Those two look like the top of the receiver chart going forward.

On defense, expect Kreul to see more snaps on the edge immediately. A true freshman putting up a school-record sack total doesn't stay buried in a rotation for long.

And special teams needs an answer at holder after Ulrich's fake-kick interception. Whether that changes who holds for kicker Tate Sandell hasn't been addressed yet. Keep an eye on Fodje's practice reports and whatever line combination Oklahoma rolls out next week.

This was the depth dossier. For everything college football, be it depth charts, data or dossiers, head over to C F B Depth dot com. We will be back next week. This was an AI-generated podcast from content developed by real human beings passionate about college football.