That the Oklahoma Sooners led at halftime of their loss to Ole Miss made the outcome even more disappointing. Even though the third quarter was a punt fest for the Sooners offense, late in the game, OU had a chance to pull within one score after moving the ball inside the red zone.
But a failed trick play on first down led to the Sooners facing a second-and-11. And from there, the Ole Miss defense simply teed off on Jackson Arnold.
On Oklahoma’s final three drives, Arnold was sacked seven times.
“It was good to have a lead, going great, and make it two [possessions], Kiffin said after the game. “We’ve been in that position with both our losses, with the ball, ahead one score, and not pushing it to two scores. Because when you push it to two, now they’ve got to throw more, and now our pass rush can come alive. And that’s really what I was hoping was happening when we had the ball in the last game [against LSU]…I think that helped getting to two scores [ahead], and they were able to pass rush more.”
It made all the difference in the ball game. For the first three quarters, the Sooners could maintain their offensive balance, using the run game to keep Ole Miss’ pass rushers from being able to simply rush the passer. But when Oklahoma got down 12 points and had to throw, the offensive line didn’t have an answer when they got into obvious passing situations.
When Oklahoma drove the ball into the red zone with about five minutes left to play, they failed to create a positive gain on first-and-10, and that allowed the Rebels to get after Jackson Arnold.
What had been a solid day upfront was blown up in the final moments as Ole Miss collected sack after sack en route to a record 10 sacks allowed by the Oklahoma Sooners.
It was a disappointing end of the game for the Sooners offensive line. A good defense was able to make OU one-dimensional. When that happens, it will be hard on any offensive line, but especially one that’s been struggling in 2024.
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