The Oklahoma Sooners came out on fire in the first quarter, putting up a record-setting 28 points on the Oklahoma State defense. After the first 15 minutes of play, it looked like a Bedlam blowout was on the way, but from the second quarter on, the Sooners struggled to get anything going on offense and the defense made the plays necessary to pick up a win over the Cowboys to move to 6-5 on the season and gain bowl eligibility.
[autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] was hot in the first quarter, going 14 of 18 for 224 yards and two touchdowns, hitting [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag] and [autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag] on beautiful deep balls down the right sideline. Gabriel added a touchdown on the ground
But after the first quarter, the offense struggled to find any footing. Two turnovers in the second quarter took points off the board, and Oklahoma’s struggles on third down continued. After converting just one third down a week ago against West Virginia, the Sooners struggled again on third down against Oklahoma State, going 1 for 14.
While the offense struggled, the Sooners’ defense played one of their best games of the season. It wasn’t perfect, but they came up with big plays in big situations to limit Oklahoma State to 13 points despite [autotag]Spencer Sanders[/autotag] throwing for 381 yards.
Oklahoma collected four Spencer Sanders interceptions and, with how they were flying around the ball, had several more opportunities to take the ball away from Sanders and the Cowboys. The Sooners’ defense also collected six sacks and 13 tackles for loss.
The Sooners’ defense bailed out an offense that produced just 135 yards of total offense over the final three quarters and no points. Dillon Gabriel was 6 for 22 after his efficient first quarter, for 35 yards and one interception. Though the finish wasn’t great for the Sooners’ offense, that first quarter would be all they needed on the night.
Drake Stoops had an incredible game in what could be his final home game as a Sooner. He led the Sooners with six receptions for 89 yards and a touchdown and made two incredible catches. One put the Sooners inside the five-yard line before their first score of the game, and the second closed Oklahoma’s scoring outburst in the first half.
After his 211-yard performance in last week’s loss to West Virginia, [autotag]Eric Gray[/autotag] ran for 90 yards on 20 carries and picked up 30 yards on three receptions. Jovantae Barnes had a good game as well, carrying the ball six times for 59 yards.
Defensively, [autotag]David Ugwoegbu[/autotag] led the team with 10 tackles, but [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] (9), [autotag]DaShaun White[/autotag] (8), and [autotag]Woodi Washington[/autotag] (8) were right behind him. Washington made a couple of touchdown-saving tackles in the game. One on defense after [autotag]Braydon Johnson[/autotag] broke away from [autotag]C.J. Coldon[/autotag] for a big catch and run. The other came on special teams when [autotag]Brennan Presley[/autotag] was attempting a return. While blocked, Washington stuck his arm out to bring down the shifty playmaker to prevent him from getting into the open field.
In addition to his eight tackles, White added a sack and an interception to continue his strong play of late from the Cheetah position. [autotag]Jordan Kelley[/autotag], [autotag]Isaiah Coe[/autotag], and [autotag]Jalen Redmond[/autotag] each had great games from their interior defensive line positions. Kelley had two sacks and six total tackles. Coe had five total tackles, 0.5 sacks, and two tackles for loss. [autotag]Ethan Downs[/autotag] had a sack, while [autotag]Jonah Lau’lu[/autotag] had five total tackles, 0.5 sacks, two tackles for loss, and an interception.
The Sooners picked up a win over an in-state rival, and while it wasn’t pretty on offense for much of the game, the defense made plays in key moments to pick up a win and provide a glimpse of what a [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] defense could look like in Norman.
With some uncertainty about how many Bedlam games there are before Oklahoma moves to the SEC, picking up this win in Brent Venables’ first Bedlam matchup while keeping Mike Gundy from winning two in a row against the Sooners was a great way to finish off the home schedule for 2022.
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