Tag: Austin Stogner

Stock Report: Offense finding second win as season heads into final stretch

Taking a look at who is trending up and down for the Sooners after they beat the West Virginia Mountaineers 59-20.

Oklahoma’s domination of West Virginia was a welcome sight on the heels of two frustrating losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State. The losses put a trip to Arlington in doubt for the Big 12 title game.

After back-to-back losses, the Sooners had to dust themselves off, get back up, and fight. They did just that on Saturday.

They came out swinging and never looked back.

The offense looked as cohesive and explosive as it has all year and the defense put a stranglehold on a physical West Virginia rushing attack. From a coaching perspective, Venables looked comfortable, and his coordinators, in particular Jeff Lebby, were in sync the entire game.

As Oklahoma prepares for a trip to Provo, Utah, to take on BYU in its final regular season road trip of 2023, we look at how the team is trending heading into the game in the week’s stock report.

Takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners impressive win over West Virginia

The Oklahoma Sooners played one of their better games of the season in their win over West Virginia and here are our takeaways from the game.

In Saturday’s 59-20 win over West Virginia, the Sooners were able to exorcise their demons from the last two weeks.

The offense was explosive through the air and on the ground. They attacked down the field as opposed to working at or behind the line of scrimmage.

Defensively, they looked like a better tackling team this week than either of the previous two weeks.

There are always going to be things to clean up from a game, but when you win 59-20, a lot of things went really right for the Oklahoma Sooners.

Here are this week’s takeaways from the game.

Dillon Gabriel, Drake Stoops have huge nights; Sooners dominate West Virginia 59-20

The Oklahoma Sooners got back to their winning ways with a huge 59-20 win over West Virginia.

The Oklahoma Sooners entered their primetime matchup with the West Virginia Mountaineers on a two-game losing streak. The OU team that showed up on Saturday night looked nothing like we’d witnessed in their road losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State in their 59-20 win over West Virginia.

On the opening drive of the game, the [autotag]West Virginia Mountaineers[/autotag] marched down the field on an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that took a little over four minutes off the clock to take a 7-0. And then it was all Oklahoma from then on out.

The Sooners put together their own eight-play, 75-yard drive, culminating in Dillon Gabriel’s first touchdown of the night, a two-yard run to tie the game.

After the opening drive, the Sooners’ defense locked in and shut down the Mountaineers’ offense until their final drive of the first half. Oklahoma’s defense forced three punts, two turnovers on downs, including one at the goalline, and WVU missed a field goal. By the time West Virginia scored their second touchdown of the game, it was 31-14 Sooners.

In the first half, [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] threw touchdowns to [autotag]Austin Stogner[/autotag] and [autotag]Jayden Gibson[/autotag] and ran for two scores to stake Oklahoma to a big halftime lead.

In the second half, Oklahoma kept the pressure on West Virginia, and [autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag] started to take over the game. On another career day for the veteran wide receiver, Stoops caught three touchdown passes in the second half to leave no doubt in the Sooners win.

On one of those scores, Stoops was hit hard in the end zone on a play that was reviewed for targeting. That play led to a skirmish under the strobe lights inside Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. No penalties came of it, but on the ensuing point after attempt, [autotag]McKade Mettauer[/autotag] went after Anthony Wilson for his hit and taunt of Drake Stoops and was ejected from the game.

But by that point in the game, the outcome was academic, as the Sooners had run away with the game.

In the win, Gabriel passed former Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan for 10th all-time in passing yards and had eight total touchdowns in the Sooners’ win. Gabriel finished the day completing 64% of his passes for 423 yards and five touchdowns and added 50 yards and three rushing touchdowns in the huge win. His eight total touchdowns are the most combined passing and rushing in the history of Oklahoma Football.

[autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag], who had a career game a week ago in the loss to Oklahoma State, was dominant for the Sooners in the passing game. He had 10 receptions for 164 yards and three touchdowns.

Getting his second consecutive start, [autotag]Gavin Sawchuk[/autotag] carried the ball 22 times for 135 yards, showing great patience and explosiveness.

[autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] returned for the Sooners defense and recorded eight total tackles and two tackles for loss. [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag] had seven total tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss.

The Sooners held West Virginia to 330 total yards, 4 of 16 on third down, and 2 of 4 on fourth down. Oklahoma was able to keep Garrett Green in check running the football, holding the dual-threat quarterback to 24 yards on 10 attempts.

Oklahoma recorded two interceptions in the win. One from [autotag]Reggie Pearson[/autotag] and the other from true freshman [autotag]Jacobe Johnson[/autotag]. As they had done during their 7-0 start to the season, the Sooners won the turnover battle.

With the win, the Sooners move to 8-2 on the season and 5-2 in Big 12 play. They received a bit of help from UCF who dominated Oklahoma State, opening the door a bit more for a trip to the Big 12 title game.

Oklahoma took care of their end of the bargain and will travel to Provo next Saturday to see if they can beat the BYU Cougars. BYU holds the all-time series lead at 2-0 over the Sooners.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

Week 11 captains announced for the Oklahoma Sooners vs. West Virginia Mountaineers

The Oklahoma Sooners have announced who their captains will be vs. the West Virginia Mountaineers.

The Oklahoma Sooners are coming off back-to-back losses, but it’s now time to move forward. There’s still an outside chance the Sooners can make the [autotag]Big 12 Championship[/autotag] game. That starts this week as the Sooners return home to play the [autotag]West Virginia Mountaineers[/autotag].

On Monday, the Sooners announced who would be representing them as captains for the Week 11 conference game. That would be [autotag]Isaiah Coe[/autotag], [autotag]Jacob Lacey[/autotag], [autotag]McKade Mettauer[/autotag], [autotag]Austin Stogner[/autotag] and [autotag]Tawee Walker[/autotag].

Coe and Lacey are two of the key reasons the Sooners sit at No. 48 in the nation in run defense. They’ll be tested once again against a really good West Virginia rushing attack on Saturday. Coe has 22 tackles and two tackles for loss. Lacey has 15 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and one sack on the season.

Mettauer has been big all season long for the Sooners. Since his return from injury, it looks like the Sooners running game is finding its groove. We’ll see if that continues this weekend.

Stogner has had an up-and-down season. He has 10 catches for 91 yards but has been asked to be a key blocker for this team. After a rough first half, he seemed to play a much better second half this past Saturday.

Walker has been a pleasant surprise in 2023. The walk-on leads the team in rushing with 444 yards and is second in rushing touchdowns with six. He returned from injury last week and had a great day in limited action.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Bedlam Stock Report: Sooners 2022 signees making an impact

Taking a look at what’s trending up or down right now in Oklahoma’s program following their lost to Oklahoma State.

Oklahoma is in a tailspin. If things don’t improve quickly, they could begin to resemble the 2022 team that started fast but fell apart against some of the better teams in the Big 12.

There are still three games for the Sooners. They can go out and finish on a high note. While slim, Oklahoma still has a chance to make the Big 12 title game. They would need some help, but they’re not completely eliminated from the conference championship game.

In the interim, it’s all about improving as a team and letting the rest fall into place.

It’s time for this week’s stock report as we look at how things are trending up and down for the Oklahoma football team.[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media]

Report Card: Offense’s dysfunction dooms Sooners chance to end Bedlam on top

Grading the Oklahoma Sooners by position group in their loss to Oklahoma State.

If Saturday was the last time Bedlam is played, the Oklahoma Sooners will always regret how things went in their final game against their in-state rivals. The Sooners will walk away from this game knowing they have dominated this series. There’s no debating that the Sooners have owned the Cowboys. But on Saturday, Oklahoma had the chance to put one final bow on this lopsided series, and they didn’t get it done.

Oklahoma State came out swinging, and the Sooners responded. But the most common theme was Oklahoma’s offense stalling on four different possessions once they got to the Oklahoma State side of the field. Most notably on the Sooners’ final drive of the game.

Defensively, Oklahoma played well enough to win. After getting bullied early, the defense found its footing and locked in the remainder of the contest.

In the end, the dysfunction and mistakes on offense put Oklahoma in a near-impossible spot. When it mattered most, they couldn’t rectify their own mistakes.

Oklahoma will move on and turn their attention to West Virginia. Before that, it’s time to pass out grades for Oklahoma’s performance against Mike Gundy’s Oklahoma State Cowboys.

5 takeaways from the Sooners’ 27-24 loss to Oklahoma State

Oklahoma lost 27-24 in the last Bedlam game. Here are our five takeaways from the loss.

Oklahoma, for the first time since last year, finds itself on a two-game losing streak. OU lost the final matchup of Bedlam on Saturday, 27-24, in controversial fashion.

The Sooners entered the game looking to bounce back quickly after losing a close game on the road against the Kansas Jayhawks.

Oklahoma played much better collectively this week. Ultimately, the result was the same. Now, Mike Gundy and his Oklahoma State Cowboys will have the distinction of owning the last win in the Bedlam series before it takes an indefinite pause.

The Sooners had every chance to put themselves in a position to win the game but failed multiple times to either extend their lead early in the fourth quarter or avoid big mistakes. As the dust settles, it’s time for our five takeaways from the game.

Late game coaching mistakes bring back memories to a season ago

Oklahoma’s late game management put the Sooners in a tough spot vs. Kansas.

With 2:23 left in the game, the Oklahoma Sooners’ offense took over after a great interception by [autotag]Ethan Downs[/autotag]. The Sooners led by one and were at the [autotag]Kansas Jayhawks[/autotag]’ 38-yard line needing one, maybe two first downs to ice the game away.

The Sooners ran it three straight times gaining a total of three yards before punting it through the end zone giving Kansas 1:56 to go win the game. Eventually, [autotag]Jason Bean[/autotag] led them on an 80-yard touchdown drive in just over a minute converting one huge 4th Down play to win the game.

That drive for the Sooners has drawn many questions about playcalling. [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] has been someone the coaches have touted should be in the Heisman conversation. [autotag]Jovantae Barnes[/autotag] is someone who hadn’t had a carry since the game against the [autotag]Tulsa Golden Hurricanes[/autotag]. But instead of putting the ball in Gabriel’s hands to win the game, Jeff Lebby put the ball in Barnes’ hands on two of the three plays including the 3rd and 12 play that would have won the game with a first down.

Gabriel was asked about that drive after the game. “We need to get a first down there,” Gabriel said. “We got to help out d (defense) out right there.”

Gabriel threw the ball only 19 times the whole day. Six of those passes came on the final drive to win the game. Gabriel’s day started shaky with a wildly inaccurate pass to [autotag]Austin Stogner[/autotag] on the first play of the game and a pick-six on the third play of the game.

There were also times guys were open but Gabriel didn’t throw them the ball and looked like someone not seeing the field. Still, with the game on the line, you need to trust your quarterback to make the play.

Lebby talked about his mindset going into that drive after the game. “We wanted to make sure they used all three but we were trying like heck to get a first down,” Lebby said. “Felt like running the ball, having the ability to pin them there without any timeouts, make them go the length was the right thing to do. That’s why I ran it there on 3rd Down. Got to execute better. Got a chance to win the game if we stay on the field.”

While we understand the thought process of making Kansas use their timeouts, that’s coaching to not lose the game instead of coaching to win the game. Usually, coaches who coach not to lose the game end up losing the game.

Running it on first down made a lot of sense. But after losing a yard, the plan should have changed. At that point, there was too much time left in the game to worry about Kansas’ timeout situation.

It brought back memories of a year ago and how Oklahoma lost so many close games late because of coaching blunders. Last year, one loss became multiple losses in a row. The Sooners had multiple losing streaks.

We’ll see if this year is any different when they take on Oklahoma State this Saturday in Stillwater.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Report Card: Sooners sleepwalk on offense in UCF scare

Oklahoma took on UCF for the first time Saturday. UCF hung tough but the Sooners pulled it out late. Here is this week’s report card.

Saturday’s performance was an aberration for Team 129. The team we saw on Saturday was eerily reminiscent of the team that took the field 13 times last season to not-so-fun results. Yet, they knuckled up and found a way when it mattered most.

If we’re being honest, last year’s team would not have won that game. But despite the miserable team performance, it never felt like they wouldn’t make the necessary plays to win. That is a true testament to the wholesale changes in mentality, effort, talent, and coaching from last year to 2023.

Let’s get to the bottom line here with the dust settled. Oklahoma won, but it might have been the worst they looked on offense all year. It’s time to pass out grades in this week’s report card.

Oklahoma Sooners survive, beat the UCF Knights 31-29 to stay unbeaten

It wasn’t pretty but the Oklahoma Sooners remained unbeaten with a 31-29 win over the UCF Knights.

The Oklahoma Sooners hung on to beat the UCF Knights 31-29 in a game that came down to the wire.

The Sooners’ defense started it off with a three-and-out but after a dropped direct snap and dropped pass by [autotag]Gavin Sawchuk[/autotag], the Sooners’ offense also went three and out.

The Sooners’ defense forced another three and out after a 3rd down sack by [autotag]Ethan Downs[/autotag]. UCF shanked the punt, and the Sooners started their next drive at UCF’s 40-yard line.

The Sooners offense couldn’t get anything going after a first down and [autotag]Zach Schmit[/autotag] missed a 38-yard field goal. While Sooners’ offense has looked out of sync, the defense has looked solid again as they forced another three and out. After another bad punt, the Sooners’ offense started the drive at the UCF 45-yard line.

Oklahoma cashed this time as [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] found [autotag]Nic Anderson[/autotag] for a 29-yard score. The defense forced another three and out and had great field position again. But the offense couldn’t capitalize once again and Schmit once again missed the 43-yard field goal.

The Knights responded with a big run that put the ball first and goal on the Sooners’ one-yard line. Oklahoma’s defense came up big again and forced the Knights into a 4th and goal at the 2, but [autotag]Jaren Kanak[/autotag] was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty giving the Knights a first down.  [autotag]John Rhys Plumlee[/autotag] tied it up at seven with his touchdown run.

After an Oklahoma punt, the Knights had a 1st and goal from the six but the Sooners’ defense held and forced a field goal. The Knights took a 10-7 lead late in the second quarter.

The Sooners finally got something going on offense as Gabriel hit Anderson again this time for a 42-yard touchdown pass.

[autotag]Woodi Washington[/autotag] got caught playing the run instead of the run-pass option, and UCF threw an 86-yard touchdown pass to regain the lead.

Gabriel led a great drive before the half, where Schmit finally cashed in with a field to tie it up at 17 going into halftime.

The Knights outgained the Sooners 232 to 226 in the first half.

The Sooners started with the ball, and Gabriel threw it to [autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag], who got hit as he was trying to catch it, which resulted in an interception. The defense forced a three-and-out, but the Knights were already in OU territory and kicked a field goal to take the 20-17 lead.

For a lot of the second half, the Sooners couldn’t get much going on offense.  Their first four drives of the second half ended with an interception and then three straight punts.

UCF added another field goal to make it 23-17 going into the fourth.

With 11:24 to play in the game, the Sooners finally got something going in the run game. Gavin Sawchuk picked up 23 yards on three carries and Marcus Major had two carries for 26 yards to help the Sooners get down the field before Drake Stoops took the screen pass from Gabriel for a touchdown.

With the score 24-23, the defense would get a stop after a huge sack by [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] to force a UCF punt.

The Sooners’ offense would take over and bleed the clock before Sawchuk busted it for a 30-yard touchdown run to put the Sooners up 31-23 late in the 4th Quarter.

UCF marched down the field and scored on a 4th down pass but the Sooners held on the two-point conversion to stay up 31-29.

The Sooners survived to remain unbeaten. The offense gained 442 yards of offense and held UCF to 397 total yards.

Dillon Gabriel had another solid day in the win, throwing for 253 yards and three touchdowns. He completed 66% of his passes and ran for 22 yards. Nic Anderson led the Sooners in receiving with five catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Drake Stoops caught seven passes for 60 yards and the go-ahead score.

On the ground, Marcus Major, who was apparently dealing with a shoulder injury coming into the game, carried the ball 18 times for 80 yards. Gavin Sawchuk, who got the start, rushed 10 times for 60 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Danny Stutsman led the way with 12 total tackles and a forced fumble. Key Lawrence had nine total tackles, including seven solo tackles in the win. Ethan Downs continued his strong 2023 season with six total tackles and a sack. In total, Oklahoma had three sacks and 13 tackles for loss.

Against one of the best run games in the country, the Sooners held the Knights to just 3.6 yards per carry and 149 yards rushing on the day.

It wasn’t a clean win, but the Oklahoma Sooners stayed undefeated. Now they get ready for a pair of road games in Lawrence to face the Kansas Jayhawks and then in Stillwater to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.