There were big plays by the OU offense but our D was able to catch and tackle them before they scored. Last couple years those plays are TD's and we are getting blown out. Our defensive speed is finally getting back to where it needs to be. I thought it might be there in the first two games but the opponents were not SEC caliber like OU.
Sutton's speed allowed him to stop two scores, though on the 2nd the gain would have been much shorter if McNeil had taken a better angle (pursuit angles have been much better this year, this was an anomaly)
Tackling is also much improved over the past few years.
The DL may be thin but those we have are playing at a very high level. Barnett and Vereen at the ends are playing very well. The DTs are playing solid. One thing I noted was we were getting consistent pressure on their QB, both from the ends and tackles. At least three incomplete passes in the 2nd half were directly due to pressure, whether the commentators acknowledged it or not.
The D Staff is not afraid to try different looks. Saturday night we played at least the following: 4-3-4, 4-2-5, 3-3-5, 3-4-4 (yes, we played a 3-4 defense with Maggit and Barnett as the OL and AJ/R-M as the inside backers - surprised we didn't use Weatherd as one of the OLBs in that alignment)