Oklahoma played its best defensive game of the Big 12 season at the perfect time Saturday in 38-20 victory over No. 6 TCU. The Sooners also did so starting a pair of true freshman at corner – Tre Norwood and Tre Brown.

And you know what? The pair was great.

Oklahoma, which actually started three true freshmen in the secondary (along with safety Robert Barnes), surrendered just 269 yards passing and held Kenny Hill to just a 46 percent completion rate. That’s a season low for Hill, and a huge boon for an Oklahoma defense that ranks 109th nationally against the pass.

Norwood and Brown were a big part of that effort, and for that reason they’re co-247Sports True Freshman of the Week.

Brown finished the day with three tackles and Norwood with one, but that doesn’t show how effective the pair was.

Per PFF College, Norwood was targeted six times on the evening. In those six opportunities, Norwood had two pass breakups and three forced incompletions. PFF College graded Norwood as Oklahoma’s top overall defensive player at 82.3.

I see you @trenorwood_3 ! Made huge plays like this at Northside all the time! pic.twitter.com/lEQOPSdHyC — Brooke Grimsley (@5NEWSBrooke) November 12, 2017

Brown was almost as effective at a 75.7 grade. In the four occasions Brown was targeted, he had one pass breakup and a forced incompletion.

Add in the play of starters like Barnes (four tackles) and true freshman middle linebacker Kenneth Murray (five tackles), and the Sooners rolled with youth in the most important game of the season. It worked, too. The freshmen defensive backs were inserted into action because of injuries to starting safety Kahlil Haughton and cornerback Jordan Thomas. Safety Will Johnson also missed the first half due to a targeting call that carried over from the Oklahoma State game.

"I don't know if it's ever been done here at Oklahoma, but that's the position we were in," Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said postgame. "We felt it was the best thing for our team, and we went and did it."

Norwood is proving to be a steal out of Arkansas. While 247Sports ranked Norwood as a four-star prospect, the 247Sports Composite slotted Norwood as the nation’s No. 800 overall player. Brown, an Oklahoma native, was much more highly-touted as the nation’s No. 142 overall player per the 247Sports Composite.

Both Norwood and Brown enrolled this summer and have 12 tackles on the year.

Norwood and Brown are two of many members of Oklahoma’s eighth-ranked 2017 class that are playing right away, and the pair contributed at the most critical time against TCU.