Despite a strong first half showing from the defense, the Oklahoma Sooners allowed 24 second half points and fall 35-32 to Florida State.
The Oklahoma Sooners and the Florida State Seminoles played a fantastic game in the Cheez-It Bowl, but the Sooners couldn’t get enough stops in the second half to avoid their first losing season since 1998.
Oklahoma came out with a clear game plan to run the football with their true freshmen [autotag]Jovantae Barnes[/autotag] and [autotag]Gavin Sawchuk[/autotag] leading the way. It was an effective plan as the Sooners jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the first half, and took a 17-11 lead into halftime.
Despite a running game that produced 260 yards on 59 attempts, averaging 4.4 yards per carry, the Sooners’ offensive line struggled to keep [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] clean throughout, allowing seven sacks. The most costly pressures came on the Sooners’ final drive.
After going down 35-32 on a go-ahead field goal from Florida State kicker Ryan Fitzgerald, the Sooners got the ball back with about a minute to play. However, their final drive was foiled by a false start penalty on Drake Stoops that pushed the Sooners from 2nd and 1 with about 38 seconds to play to 2nd and 6 with 28 seconds remaining after the ten-second runoff. Gabriel overthrew Brayden Willis on a downfield throw before hitting Gavin Sawchuk in the flat for a few yards. On the next play, Gabriel dropped back to pass and had no time to allow the play to develop. The Sooners’ offensive line folded, and the final seconds ticked off the clock.
Missing four starters along the offensive line, the Sooners’ passing game was unable to find much of a rhythm because of the Florida State pass rush. Gabriel hit a few deep balls to [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] and got Oklahoma on the board with a touchdown throw to [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag] to get the Sooners on the board.
Oklahoma’s defense played well in the first half, keeping the top-20 Seminoles offense mostly in check and coming up with huge fourth-down stops. The second half was a different story, though, as [autotag]Jordan Travis[/autotag] and Florida State began to hit chunk plays down the field in the passing game.
The Seminoles scored 24 second-half points, and the Sooners dropped another close game in a season where they weren’t very good in one-score games.
Coming into the game as double-digit underdogs against a top-15 team in the country, the Sooners received fantastic performances from Barnes and Sawchuk. Both running backs went over 100 yards rushing in the game to help lead the Sooners’ offense. Sawchuk suffered a costly fumble in the second half that led to Florida State points. It was an unfortunate moment for the former four-star running back, but one he’ll learn from moving forward.
Gabriel wasn’t very efficient in the game, but he didn’t have much time to sit back and scan the field. The Sooners’ quarterback was 14 of 24 for 243 yards and a touchdown. He also had 24 yards on 13 carries, including seven sacks. Marvin Mims led the Sooners in receiving with two catches for 77 yards, and Jalil Farooq had a solid game with four receptions for 59 yards and a touchdown. Farooq also had two carries for 14 yards to continue to cement himself as the Sooners’ dual-threat receiver heading into 2023.
Many of the problems that the Sooners dealt with on the defensive side of the ball reared their ugly head in the loss. The defense couldn’t sustain their level of play for four quarters. Tackling was an issue at times, and Oklahoma couldn’t get the necessary stops in crunch time.
Falling to 6-7, the Sooners still go into the offseason with positive momentum after securing the No. 5 recruiting class as of the early signing period. What cost Oklahoma in the Cheez-It Bowl were the same things that were going to be question marks this offseason anyway. Despite that, it’s still another disappointing loss in what’s been a disappointing first season for Brent Venables with the Oklahoma Sooners.
As Venables and his coaching staff go into the offseason, improving the defense will be priority number one for the program. They’ve made nice additions in the transfer portal and in the recruiting class, but those additions have to raise the overall talent and depth on the roster to help the Sooners play complete games in 2023.
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