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Five Takeaways from Oklahoma’s dominating win over in-state foe Tulsa

Oklahoma brought the hammer down on in-state foe Tulsa on Saturday as they won 66-17. We have our five takeaways from the game.

Oklahoma wrapped up their nonconference schedule for the 2023 regular season on Saturday with pure domination of their in-state foe, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Oklahoma blew the doors off Tulsa 66-17.

From the outset, the Sooners had a weird start as starting receiver and kick returner Jalil Farooq fumbled the opening kick to Tulsa. But from then on, the Sooners were in control.

The week there was a lot of focus on Oklahoma’s offense and the conservative approach against SMU.

Jeff Lebby answered those concerns quickly, and the defense continued their improved and inspired play on the way to a runaway victory.

With the game fresh on our minds, here are our five takeaways from Oklahoma’s win.

Oklahoma Sooners roll pass the Tulsa Golden Hurricane 66-17

Dillon Gabriel threw five touchdowns and the Sooners had five interceptions on defense to beat Tulsa 66-17 to close nonconference play.

The Oklahoma Sooners ended their nonconference slate undefeated for the seventh year in a row. The Sooners knocked off in-state opponent, the [autotag]Tulsa Golden Hurricane[/autotag] to the tune of 66-17.

The first quarter started off with a massive kick return before [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag] was stripped, resulting in the first turnover of the season for the Sooners.

But five plays later, Tulsa took a deep shot that was picked off by [autotag]Gentry Williams[/autotag]. Two plays later, Gabriel found Farooq for the 34-yard touchdown.

The Sooners then forced a punt before the offense went on a methodical 11-play drive resulting in a touchdown pass from Gabriel to [autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag]. On the ensuing Tulsa possession, [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] intercepted quarterback Roman Fuller and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown.

On the following drive, [autotag]Kendel Dolby[/autotag] picked off Fuller for the third time, resulting in a short field for the offense. They cashed in with another touchdown pass to Stoops to go up 28-0 to end the first quarter.

The Golden Hurricane finally got something going after [autotag]Cardell Williams[/autotag] came in to replace Roman Fuller. He was able to convert several third downs before finding [autotag]Marquis Shoulders[/autotag] in the end zone after [autotag]Makari Vickers[/autotag] got caught peeking into the backfield.

The Sooners responded with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Gabriel to [autotag]Nic Anderson[/autotag] on a 3rd and 11.

Williams went back to work, picking apart several soft spots in the Sooners coverage. Tulsa got back into the end zone when Williams found Devan Williams on an out-and-up, beating Reggie Pearson in coverage.

On the following possession, Dillon Gabriel threw his first interception of the year trying to take a deep shot to [autotag]Gavin Freeman[/autotag].

The Sooners ended the half with a great drive that chewed up the clock but couldn’t punch it in, settling for a field goal. After it was a masterful first half for the Sooners, their inability to score a touchdown after getting to the Tulsa 23 yard line with more than a minute to play and all three timeouts left a lot to be desire. Oklahoma settled for a field goal to go into the break 38-14.

The Sooners outgained Tulsa 371-200 in the first half. The Sooners also didn’t punt in the first half. The only blemish on what was a fantastic first half were the two turnovers.

Tulsa started the second half with a great drive but Oklahoma stoned them once they got to the two-yard line forcing a field goal.

The rest of the quarter belonged to the Sooners, who scored 21 points, including two 40+ yard touchdown passes to Nic Anderson. One of those came from Gabriel, his fifth of the day, and the other from [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag].

[autotag]Key Lawrence[/autotag] came away with the Sooners fourth interception of the day in the third quarter to run away from the Golden Hurricane.

The fourth quarter was much like the third as [autotag]Trace Ford[/autotag] picked off Williams and took it to the four-yard line before [autotag]Gavin Sawchuk[/autotag] capped off the scoring with his first touchdown of the season.

The Sooners outgained Tulsa 596-292. The Sooners continued to find success on third-down success, going 7 of 9. Dillon Gabriel had another impressive performance, completing 28-31 attempts for 421 yards and five touchdowns. The 421 yards passing are the fourth most in Gabriel’s career and this is the fourth time in his career with five or more touchdowns.

Three wide receivers went over 100 yards on the day. Jalil Farooq led the way with six receptions for 126 yards and a touchdown. Farooq also had three kick returns for 105 yards, including the 62-yard return to open the game. Andrel Anthony continued his strong 2023 season, catching four passes for 112 yards, while Anderson tallied three receptions for 120 yards and three touchdowns.

Drake Stoops added a pair of scores and caught eight passes for 53 yards.

The defense was impressive yet again, holding the nation’s 26th-ranked rushing attack to 75 total yards on 1.6 yards per carry. The Sooners also created five interceptions and were credited with three sacks in the contest.

Danny Stutsman led the Sooners with nine total tackles, two tackles for loss, and the interception. Tulsa native and one of this week’s captains, Gentry Williams was second on the team in tackles with six. He also had a tackle for loss and an interception in his homecoming.

The Oklahoma Sooners are 3-0 to start the season and will face their first true test when they travel to Cincinnati to open Big 12 play. The Sooners take on the Bearcats at 11:00 a.m. CT as part of Fox Big Noon Kickoff.

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.

3 keys for the Oklahoma Sooners offense to come away satisfied vs. Tulsa

What do the Oklahoma Sooners need to do offensively to not simply get a win but come away satisfied with their performance agains the Tulsa Golden Hurricane?

At least offensively, Oklahoma’s path to victory on Saturday is reasonably straightforward. The obvious things are executing situationally, dominating the line of scrimmage, and not turning the ball over.

Oklahoma has the talent advantage. That should be enough as long as they execute.

However, things aren’t that simple because Oklahoma isn’t just trying to scrape by. This is an opportunity for them to continue to refine themselves as an offensive unit so that they are firing on all cylinders in preparation for the Big 12 portion of their schedule.

Offensively, if they play like they did against SMU, the Sooners may have some problems on their hand that wouldn’t bode well for the remainder of their season.

With that in mind, let’s look at the three offensive keys to a Sooners victory in which Oklahoma fans and the offensive unit can walk away feeling like they accomplished something.

Up Next: 3 Keys on Offense vs. Tulsa

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Time for a bounce back: Some Sooners on offense to keep an eye on vs. Tulsa

After a poor showing on offense against SMU, we’ll be looking at these Sooners to have better games or get more playing time.

Oklahoma’s performance on offense against SMU was head-scratching. The playcalling felt disjointed, especially after the first quarter. Poor blocking was the main culprit, but it also felt very conservative.

Whether that was by design, it needs to be better.

The entire offense needs to be better. The blocking took a step back after dominating Arkansas State. The running backs weren’t particularly explosive or impactful until later in the game. The receivers were essentially a non-factor outside of [autotag]Andrel Anthony[/autotag] and a late fourth-quarter touchdown catch from [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag].

This Saturday will give Oklahoma one more tune-up before they embark on a journey to start their Big 12 schedule. After this week’s matchup with Tulsa, the Sooners will go on the road again to face Cincinnati. The Sooners will want to feel better about their offensive performance before making the trip in week 4.

With a unit that struggled against SMU, there are a number of candidates in need of bounce-back performances. Here are the three players we’ll be watching closely on Saturday.

Up Next: 3 Sooners to Watch on Offense

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Sooners wide receiver Nic Anderson hoping to build off a strong Week 1

Nic Anderson flashed his big play ability in the Sooners win this past Saturday. Now he hopes to build off of it.

Early in the second quarter, just after the [autotag]Arkansas State Red Wolves[/autotag] missed a field goal, the [autotag]Oklahoma Sooners offense[/autotag] trotted onto the field. Out wide right was [autotag]Nic Anderson[/autotag].

The redshirt freshman is someone fans and the staff have been high on for a while, but now was his chance to make an impact. [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] took the snap on first down and slung it over to Anderson on an out route for 16 yards.

The very next play, Gabriel sat in the pocket before firing a deep ball down the opposing sideline to Anderson for a huge 52-yard gain to set up a first and goal. The Sooners eventually punched it in for a touchdown.

Anderson told reporters it was good to make some plays during a game.

“Honestly, just being out on the field was a blessing,” Anderson said. “Just being out there with my teammates. Gabriel gave me a beautiful ball. I didn’t have to do much. Just being out there with my teammates making plays means everything to me.”

With offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby saying the Sooners want to play 6-7 wide receivers this year, Anderson seems to factor into that equation. If he continues to make plays like he did on Saturday, he definitely will find a role in this offense.

Anderson and 2022 classmate Jayden Gibson bring something unique to the offense with their size. The Sooners just haven’t had that in a while. They’ll both have another chance to build off of their Week 1 performance this Saturday versus the [autotag]SMU Mustangs[/autotag].

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 breeze through Arkansas State with big-time performances

The Oklahoma Sooners were fantastic in their win over Arkansas State, but how did they grade in this week’s Report Card?

Saturday allowed us to see team 129 in Oklahoma’s illustrious football history for the first time this season. This team entered the day with cautious optimism, but a cloud of last season’s disappointment still hungover over the program. Year two of Brent Venables’s tenure needed to start off with a bang, and his team did just that as they dismantled the Arkansas State Red Wolves 73-0.

The Sooners are on another level regarding raw talent than the Arkansas State Red Wolves. That is abundantly clear, but Oklahoma had to show it could dominate an inferior opponent. They also needed to showcase the improvements in recruiting and among their returning players.

Saturday was a fun, stress-free showcase of domination. Now that the first game is behind us, it’s time to dive deeper and hand out our first grades of the year in this week’s report card.

Oklahoma Sooners offense with an efficient Week 1

Oklahoma’s offense looked efficient in Week 1 after making it a focus all offseason.

The [autotag]Oklahoma Sooners'[/autotag] offense was firing on all cylinders versus the [autotag]Arkansas Red Wolves[/autotag] on Saturday. The Sooners scored on 10 out of 11 possessions, nine of which were touchdowns.

Dillon Gabriel and Jackson Arnold both put on a show combining to go 30 of 33 for 422 yards, three touchdowns through the air and a pair of rushing touchdowns. The running game was pretty good as well. Oklahoma ran for 220 yards on 4.5 yards per carry.

Overall you couldn’t ask for a much better performance from the offense who went for 642 yards and went 11-14 on third downs. Last year the Sooners went a combined 6-20 versus the [autotag]UTEP Miners[/autotag] and the [autotag]Kent State Golden Flashes[/autotag]. That ended up being a sign of what was to come in 2023.

Offensive Coordinator Jeff Lebby told reporters after the game it was nice to see so many receivers step up.

“That’s what we want,” Lebby said. “We talked about it on Monday about playing a bunch of guys and a bunch of guys getting an opportunity to make plays. All of those guys in that room did it. Again, there’s going to be a ton of stuff we have to clean up and we have to be better at without a doubt but proud of that entire group.”

Several wide receivers got involved in the passing game whether it was [autotag]Andrel Anthony[/autotag] who looks like he might be Gabriel’s favorite target, [autotag]Nic Anderson[/autotag], or [autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag] before his injury. The two catches of the day might have been made by [autotag]Jayden Gibson[/autotag]. He made two acrobatic contested catches and looks like a guy who just needed to see one go in his hands to gain confidence.

The biggest takeaway was how efficient the Sooners were in this game. That wasn’t the case a year ago. even early in the season. It’s what they preached all offseason and for Week 1 they checked that box.

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.

5 takeaways from Oklahoma’s dominant 73-0 win over Arkansas State

Oklahoma tossed a complete game shutout of the Arkansas State Red Wolves. Here are five takeaways from the dominant performance.

Oklahoma started its 2023 campaign with a bang, scoring 73 points on the Sun Belt’s Arkansas State Red Wolves.

The Sooners pitched a shutout in the process, and this start is a welcome sight for the program, considering how rough they looked at times last year. While the opponent makes it difficult to make any definitive statements, there were some notable performances from the Sooners’ win.

For the first time this season, here are five takeaways in the aftermath of a fun and stress-free Sooners win.

Oklahoma Sooners shutout the Arkansas State Red Wolves in 73-0 win

Oklahoma Sooners open the season in dominant fashion with a 73-0 win over Arkansas State.

The Oklahoma Sooners kicked off the season versus the Arkansas State Red Wolves in Norman on Saturday.

The Sooners started the first quarter strong as they took the ball first, and after a deep ball from [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] to [autotag]Andrel Anthony[/autotag], Drake Stoops took a short pass for the score.

The defense answered with a three and out.

After the three-and-out, it was special teams that joined the party. Gavin Freeman took the punt return 82 yards to the house to put the Oklahoma Sooners up 14-0 just a few minutes into the game.

The Sooners were dominant in every phase of the game in the first quarter.

The Red Wolves connected on a 28-yard pass on a slant to Corey Rucker that came after a face mask on [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag]. That drive ended in a missed field goal after the Sooners stymied the Red Wolves offense.

[autotag]Marcus Major[/autotag] added to the Sooners’ lead with a two-yard run after a 10-play 80-yard drive. Oklahoma went up 21-0 midway through the first quarter. Closing off the scoring in the first quarter was [autotag]Gavin Freeman[/autotag], who scored his second touchdown of the day on a pass from [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] to make it 28-0.

The only negatives of the quarter were the injuries suffered by key Sooners.

[autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag] went off holding his shoulder and came back out with a sling and ice on it. [autotag]Dasan McCullough[/autotag] limped off and eventually went to the locker room with a bad limp as well.

The second quarter went much like the first. On defense, the Sooners gave up a chunk of play when quarterback J.T. Shrout threw a nice touch pass over Jaren Kanak to Courtney Jackson for a long gain. The Sooners’ defense bowed up and held Arkansas State to another missed field goal.

Arkansas State had opportunities to make plays in the passing game, but several drops stalled drives and bailed the Sooners out.

The offense was great again in the second quarter, completing the half with a score on every drive.

Gabriel threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns and carried the ball twice for 15 yards and another score. Gabriel completed 81% of his passes. He was decisive and accurate, getting the ball out quickly to his wide receivers and connecting with Sooners at every level of the passing attack. [autotag]Tawee Walker[/autotag], [autotag]Marcus Major[/autotag], and Jovantae Barnes played well, running physical and picking up big runs throughout the half.

After 30 minutes of play, Oklahoma was up 45-0 with zero signs of slowing down.

The second half continued to favor the Oklahoma Sooners. The first-team defense came out and forced a three-and-out, paving the way for the debut of [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag].

On Arnold’s debut drive, he helped lead the Sooners on an eight-play 65-yard scoring effort that was capped off by a Tawee Walker one-yard run.

Arnold’s next drive saw the Sooners open up the passing game a bit. The former five-star quarterback was 4-for-4, leading Oklahoma on a four-play scoring drive that was capped off by Arnold’s first touchdown pass of his OU career on a beautiful play from Jayden Gibson. That score made it 59-0. Arnold helped the Sooners cash in just a few players later, taking advantage of an Arkansas State fumble.

Arnold showed off his legs, carrying the ball for a seven-yard touchdown to put the Sooners up 66-0.

The Sooners capped off their scoring on Arnold’s final drive of the game. Oklahoma went 11 plays and 67 yards spanning 7:22 of game time. The drive culminated in a seven-yard touchdown run by Kalib Hicks.

Offensively, Oklahoma spread the ball around. 10 Sooners had a reception. The Sooners slot trio of [autotag]Drake Stoop[/autotag]s, [autotag]Gavin Freeman[/autotag], and [autotag]Jaquaize Pettaway[/autotag] combined for 17 receptions for 131 yards and two touchdowns. [autotag]Andrel Anthony[/autotag] showed off his downfield ability in his debut for the Sooners. Anthony caught three passes for 66 yards and drew a pass interference call.

[autotag]Jayden Gibson[/autotag] and [autotag]Nic Anderson[/autotag], Oklahoma’s 2022 signees, also came up big in the win. Gibson had two receptions for 56 yards and a touchdowns and Anderson secured two catches for 66 yards.

Though there’s room for improvement, the running game was really good on Saturday. They ran for 220 yards and averaged 4.5 yards per carry. They were picking up chunk yards, but there were times that they were dropped for losses, putting them behind the chains. Walker was the most efficient on the day, averaging 5.5 yards per carry in the game and finishing with 44 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries. [autotag]Jovantae Barnes[/autotag] carried it 13 times for 49 yards.

It was a fantastic performance by the defense despite a lack of pass rush. Arkansas State couldn’t sustain any offense, and the Sooners held them to 208 total yards and just 4.2 yards per play.

After struggling on third and fourth down in 2022, Oklahoma was able to get off the field consistently, holding the Red Wolves to just 2-of-12 on third down and 0-1 on fourth down.

The Sooners were dominant from start to finish in this game, setting a tone early and keeping that edge for a full 60 minutes.

The shutout win provides some confidence for the Oklahoma Sooners as they get ready to face better offenses in the coming weeks starting with SMU in week two.

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.

Media weighs in on Oklahoma’s breakout player, toughest game in 2023

OU and College Football Media Personalities weigh in on which Sooners will have a breakout season for Oklahoma in 2023. Which game will be the toughest this season?

The 2023 college football season is nigh upon us. The Oklahoma Sooners open the season with the Arkansas State Red Wolves coming to town.

A new year creates new opportunities for players on both sides of the ball to experience breakout seasons.

While depth was an issue a year ago, the work of this coaching staff on the recruiting trail and through the transfer portal have helped create competition at a number of spots. The Sooners feel good about the “competitive depth” they’re carrying into the season across the board.

Oklahoma released its depth chart ahead of week one, which provided some answers to the position battles they’ve been working through this year. But how will that depth reveal itself on gameday and which players will experience breakout seasons in 2023?

We’ve gathered the opinions of a number of media personalities from across Oklahoma Sooners coverage. Here’s who they think will have a breakout year and which game will be the toughest in 2023.

From my days covering the Dallas Cowboys for Inside The Star, this has been one of my favorite pieces to create.

Hope you enjoy.