Oklahoma's defensive efforts against the run not enough to overcome Ole Miss' explosiveness through the air

I continue to be blown away by how much better Oklahoma's defense has played this season. This defense even just two years ago was constantly out-gapped, couldn't tackle, was abysmal in their run fits, and got bullied routinely at the line of scrimmage. Now, it's a completely different unit on the opposite of that spectrum.

Their efforts in this area shined against Ole Miss. Oklahoma's defensive line bullied Ole Miss's offensive line, creating a 13% havoc rate, generating nine tackles for loss, and holding Ole Miss to a whopping 11th percentile EPA/Rush.

Related: Oklahoma Sooners offense shows signs of life in 26-14 loss against Ole Miss Rebels in Week 9

Ole Miss tried to get the ground game going, running 31 times on the day. Yet, the Rebels were only able to muster just 69 yards on those carries, averaging just 2.2 yards per rush. The Sooners held Ole Miss to their lowest rushing total on the season, with nearly 30 fewer rushing yards than they had in their loss to Kentucky earlier this month.

The Rebels even tried shifting their run game and personnel to try and create wins on the ground. They played their highest 12-personnel rate of the season at 39%, but even that failed to produce results.

Yet, all their efforts against the run were for naught, as Ole Miss was able to take advantage of a couple of busted coverages to create enough through the air to put the Sooners away 26-14.

As has been the case all season, Oklahoma's defense did their part for most of the game. Ole Miss had just a 55% success rate through the air and a negative EPA passing. The Sooners' defense held Ole Miss to its lowest EPA/play of the season.

Still, Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart threw for 311 yards and a touchdown. The Rebels offense did just enough to win.

At the end of the day, the Sooners not forcing a single turnover and turning just one pressure into a sack proved to be the difference maker. They are getting better at pressuring the quarterback, but they have to continue improving at finishing plays up front in the pass game for the team to take that next step.

Still, the turnaround and effort of this defense are to be commended and is starting to become the biggest feather in the cap of Brent Venables.