Tag: R Mason Thomas

3 stars from Oklahoma’s electric comeback win on the road

It took a team effort to earn a comeback win on the road against the Auburn Tigers, but three Sooners earned this weeks 3 stars of the game.

Oklahoma showed tremendous grit on Saturday. It’s safe to say the win against Auburn will probably go down as one of the best wins of the Brent Venables era to this point.

Oklahoma looked dead in the water when Auburn extended its lead to 21-10 early in the fourth quarter. The Sooners appeared well on their way to back-to-back losses and an 0-2 start in its foray into the SEC. However, Venables’ team never stopped competing and did whatever was possible to make it a game. It eventually completed the comeback, and the Sooners returned to Norman for a much-needed bye week with their first SEC win.

As one would expect, the game had peaks and valleys. There was a long stretch in which Oklahoma’s offense looked lifeless or drives were killed by penalties. Auburn just imposed its will on a few defensive possessions by running the ball straight at Oklahoma’s strength in the front seven. Pair that with big plays allowed in the passing game, and the Sooners were ripe for defeat until several big plays in the fourth quarter turned the tide on the Tigers.

It took a team effort to pull out the win, but a few players stood out with their game-changing performances. Here are this week’s three stars from the win.

R Mason Thomas, Edge

R Mason Thomas is undoubtedly a star on the Oklahoma Sooners defense. He has filled a pass-rushing void that dates back to the departure of Nik Bonitto after the 2021 season. Brent Venables has a go-to pass rusher this team can rely upon come crunch time to end a drive or end a game.

His two sacks in the fourth were vital. Auburn was down three late in the game when it faced third-and-5 just after the two-minute timeout. There was plenty of time to mount a comeback. Oklahoma’s defense was worn out, but it was running on pure adrenaline and a will to win.

Off the snap, Thomas ducked around the left tackle and was on quarterback Payton Thorne in a hurry, recording the sack and setting up a fourth-and-11. On the next play, coming off the left side of the defense, Thomas brought the pressure to Thorne once again. The Auburn quarterback eluded the initial pressure, but Thomas hustled like crazy and circled back. With assistance from Gracen Halton, who kept Thorne in the pocket, Thomas brought the thunder for the sack and forced the turnover on downs.

Oklahoma killed some clock and kicked a field goal to extend its lead to six. But the game could have been far more stressful in the final two minutes without Thomas’ late-game heroics. For the second time in three weeks Thomas was the closer for the Sooners.

Up Next: Defender Saves the Game

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Tennessee will be without key offensive player against Oklahoma

According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, the Tennessee Volunteers will be without one of their best players when they take on the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Oklahoma Sooners have been on the wrong side when it comes to injury luck early in the 2024 season. OU has been down multiple starters at key positions, most notably offensive line and wide receiver. It’s been a major talking point around the early portion of the year, as the Sooners have struggled on offense for the first three games.

But Oklahoma may finally be getting a break regarding the injury bug, as it’ll be affecting their opponent this week at a key spot.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the Tennessee Volunteers will be without starting left tackle Lance Heard when they face the Sooners. Thamel’s report is confirmed by the updated injury report from the SEC that lists Heard as out.

It’ll be backup Dayne Davis making the start in Heard’s place as one of Tennessee’s best offensive linemen battles a leg injury. Davis is experienced and will be making his eighth start.

 

As the Sooners try to pull the upset at home, they look like they’ll be getting back some key players of their own. OU hopes to have [autotag]Nic Anderson[/autotag], [autotag]Branson Hickman[/autotag], and [autotag]Troy Everett[/autotag], among others, on the field against the Vols.

The chess match between Tennessee head coach [autotag]Josh Heupel[/autotag] and offensive coordinator Joey Halzle and Oklahoma head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and defensive coordinator [autotag]Zac Alley[/autotag] gets a little bit more interesting with Heard not in the game.

The biggest beneficiary might be defensive end [autotag]R Mason Thomas[/autotag], who took over late in OU’s victory last week over Tulane. He’s become the best pass rusher the Sooners have, and he’ll look to gain an edge on the blind side of Nico Iamaleava.

The Sooners and the Volunteers will kick things off at 6:30 p.m., a primetime audience for a highly-anticipated contest on ABC.

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3 keys that could lead to an Oklahoma victory over Tennessee

Three keys to the game as the Oklahoma Sooners get set to take on the Tennessee Volunteers.

It’s safe to assume Oklahoma’s preparation has intensified over the last week. The Sooners are preparing for a much more talented foe than they have seen at any point this season. No. 7 Tennessee presents an incredible challenge for OU on Saturday night, but that’s to be expected with the Sooners entering the SEC. The conference games will be more challenging than they were in the Big 12.

The rest of the college football world doesn’t give the Sooners a real chance to win this game. Brent Venables, a master motivator and no stranger to coaching in high-profile matchups over the last 20 years, knows what it will take for his team to come out on top Saturday night.

While Tennessee is the higher-ranked team, it is not invincible. Oklahoma has a path to victory. We took the time to highlight that path with our three keys to the game below.

1. Start Fast

It’s such a cliche statement, but it does hold a lot of weight in a football game. Especially in a game where one team has heard they were the underdogs and didn’t have a chance at winning. It’s a confidence thing that can boost one team and psychologically damage the other.

Oklahoma has had some decent starts to their games this season, but they’ve yet to carry it into the second quarter. And that’s where Oklahoma needs to hone in on Saturday. Play a complete first half, take a breather, and gear up to scrap in the second half because Tennessee will not go away if you come out swinging.

Oklahoma offensive coordinator Seth Littrell must get his young quarterback into a rhythm. Maybe start out with the short passing game and mixing in designed QB runs along with the regular run game to ease him in. As the results show and his confidence grows, Littrell can then start to open up the playbook even wider.

Up Next: More Keys to the Game

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R Mason Thomas earns Nagurski Trophy National Defensive Player of the Week award

After a strong performance against Tulane, R Mason Thomas named Bronko Nagurski Defensive Player of the Week.

The breakout was coming at some point for [autotag]R Mason Thomas[/autotag]. And it came in a big way against the Tulane Green Wave on Saturday.

It wasn’t simply that it was a three-sack day for defensive end R Mason Thomas. It was when that three-sack day occurred that was so special.

With just over six minutes to play in the Oklahoma Sooners win over Tulane, the Green Wave were attempting to mount a comeback. But on their second-to-last drive of the game, Thomas put a stop to that.

The junior edge rusher came up with two sacks and batted down a pass on third down to set up his fourth-down sack. Then, on the Green Wave’s final drive of the game, Mason closed up shop for the Tulane offense, getting to Darian Mensah, stripping the quarterback of the ball, and recovering his own forced fumble.

Thomas was named the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.

It was an epic performance that showed off the ability that’s flashed over the last couple of years. During his weekly press conference, Brent Venables said of R Mason Thomas, “Been a long time coming for him from an injury standpoint.”

The Sooners needed someone to step up to create a consistent pass rush, and Thomas showed up in a big way. With Tennessee’s prolific offense coming to town Saturday night, the Sooners need more from R Mason Thomas and the rest of the defensive line to be able to slow down the Volunteers.

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3 Stars from the Oklahoma Sooners 34-19 win over Tulane

Which Sooners earned one of our 3 stars from Oklahoma’s 34-19 win over the Tulane Green Wave?

Saturday was a more significant win than it should have been for the Oklahoma Sooners, not because of the opponent or because the game had some stakes tied to it. However, internally, the Sooners had to answer a few questions.

The Sooners won 34-19 at home to wrap up this portion of their nonconference schedule. Now OU begins SEC play when they host the No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers next week.

Several players stood out from the Sooners win and here are this week’s three stars of the game.

1. R Mason Thomas, EDGE

On Saturday, the best player on the field was R Mason Thomas.

Thomas has spent his first two years in Norman, adding mass to his frame while fighting injuries. His development has impressed coaches, but we’d yet to see it come to fruition.

Coming into the season, it felt like now or never for him, and in this third game of the 2024 season, Thomas stepped up and provided good pressure throughout the game, coming up with three pivotal sacks and a forced fumble and fumble recovery in the most critical time of the game.

His calling card is winning with speed and he did just that on Saturday afternoon. He showed good awareness, being able to change his rush approach after the snap to go from working outside to working inside. He has added a few other tricks to his bag to win more regularly.

Thomas was Pro Football Focus highest-graded Power Four edge rusher among players with at least 15 snaps for week three.

OU has been desperate for a star-caliber pass rusher, and Thomas has the ability to fill that void.

2. Jackson Arnold, QB

When you think about Jackson Arnold,  it’s important to know his performances week in and week out will be compared (fairly or unfairly) to his predecessors.

OU’s last decade of QB play is an unreal group of players to live up to. If a guy playing that position struggles in the slightest, it feels underwhelming to the fan base. In a nutshell, that’s where parts of the OU fanbase are at with Arnold. But on Saturday, he played his best game as the Sooners’ QB to this point.

No gaudy numbers were amassed as he had under 200 yards passing, but he also carried the ball 14 times for 97. He was efficient, on target, and largely made good decisions. The one big strike against him was the pick-six he threw.

He looked comfortable out there, and even when the game got tight late in the third and into the fourth, he helped calmly orchestrate a couple of drives to ice it. His biggest test of the season and his career comes next week against OU’s first SEC foe, Tennessee.

3. Heath Ozaeta, OL

Oklahoma’s much-maligned offensive line needed to put together a solid performance as starters Branson Hickman and Jake Taylor continued to nurse injuries.

Heath Ozaeta had a good offseason dating back to the spring. With the aforementioned injuries, an opportunity for him to showcase his skills opened up, and alongside Jacob Sexton, he owned it.

There were some really encouraging moments and also some snaps where he missed a linebacker blitzing that he and offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh will have to clean up, but the run game was more productive than it was a week ago.

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OU’s R Mason Thomas took over in game’s biggest moments

R Mason Thomas erupted in the fourth quarter to help secure the win for the Oklahoma Sooners.

It was January of 2022, just before [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ first national signing day as Oklahoma’s head coach. The Sooners’ staff scrambled to recover the remnants of a 2022 recruiting class that had fallen apart in the wake of [autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag]’s departure.

When the dust settled, the Sooners came away with the No. 8 recruiting class in the country, according to 247Sports. The group included key homegrown defensive backs like [autotag]Robert Spears-Jennings[/autotag] and Gentry Williams, a trio of linebackers that have become integral for the Sooners defense, and offensive linemen like Joshua Bates and Jacob Sexton, who were key in yesterday’s win over Tulane.

One of the more intriguing additions to that class was initially headed to Iowa State to play for Matt Campbell. But Miguel Chavis and Brent Venables worked their magic and flipped a talented, fast, and athletic edge rusher to come to Norman.

That was [autotag]R Mason Thomas[/autotag].

Thomas played sparingly in his first two seasons with the Sooners, battling injuries that kept his developmental trajectory from taking off. But the Sooners coaching staff knew what they had him.

And on Saturday against Tulane, the potential that we’d seen over the last two seasons may have fully realized itself.

After an interception by Billy Bowman gave the Sooners great field position, Jackson Arnold ran it in from 24 yards out to give the Sooners a 12 point lead with 6:05 remaining in the game. Plenty of time for the Tulane offense to put together a late push.

But on the Green Wave’s ensuing drive, R Mason Thomas took over.

On first and 10, R Mason burst off the left edge of the defense and brought down Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah for his first sack of the game. Two plays later, the Green Wave were attempting to set up a wide receiver screen to create a more manageable fourth down attempt. Thomas felt the screen being set up and when Mensah went to throw, Thomas jumped up to knock down the pass, setting up a 4th and 13. On the next play, he came off the right side of the defense, first working upfield before countering the offensive tackle and beating him inside for his second sack of the day.

That forced the turnover on downs and Oklahoma kicked a field goal. Down 15 and needing to throw, the Sooners’ pass rusher kept the heat on.

Tulane picked up a first down. But Adepoju Adebawore drew a pivotal holding call to make it first and 20 with 1:53 remaining. Feeling the pressure, Mensah scrambled and picked up six yards. And on the next play, R Mason Thomas moved back to the left side, beat his man and hit Mensah, forcing the fumble and had the awareness to scoop the ball up and begin to take it the other way.

Social media exploded with Thomas’ breakout performance.

It was a monster way to finish the day for a guy who had been getting pressure for much of the game. Big players come through in big moments, and R Mason Thomas was unblockable in the final stages of the game.

Pro Football Focus credited him with five total pressures and the highest grade for any Sooners defender. His strip-sack also ensured that the Sooners won the turnover battle for the third game in a row, but more importantly, sealed the deal for Oklahoma.

It has to be a huge confidence boost for Mason and the Sooners are going to need more from him as SEC play begins. Oklahoma will get Tennessee’s explosive offense next week and getting pressure on former five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava will be paramount.

Could this be the breakout game the Sooners needed to unlock their pass rush moving forward? R Mason Thomas and the Sooners defensive line faces their toughest test of the season next Saturday night.

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Best Photos from Oklahoma Sooners win over Tulane Green Wave

A look at some fantastic photos from the Oklahoma Sooners 34-19 win over the Tulane Green Wave.

The Oklahoma Sooners moved to 3-0 on the season with a 34-19 win over the Tulane Green Wave.

Oklahoma jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first half before Tulane began to find some offense at the end of the first thirty minutes. But Oklahoma’s defense found their footing after Tulane opened the second with a touchdown drive.

It wasn’t pretty, but Oklahoma came away with the win and they looked a lot better on offense than they did a week ago against Houston. Jackson Arnold and R Mason Thomas helped seal the deal late in the fourth quarter and the Sooners stay undefeated to start the 2024 season.

There’s still a lot to clean up before Tennessee comes to town.

Here are some of the best photos from the Oklahoma Sooners win over Tulane.

Oklahoma Sooners captains for week three vs. Tulane

Oklahoma Sooners captains for week three against Tulane Green Wave

The Oklahoma Sooners have spent the week getting ready to take on the Tulane Green Wave in week three of the 2024 college football season.

After a 48-point victory over Temple in week one, the Sooners struggled in a four-point win over Houston in week two. As OU inches closer to [autotag]SEC[/autotag] play, [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ team needs to show marked improvement on Saturday, especially on offense.

The team has announced the five game captains for this week’s matchup with the Green Wave. Representing the offense are running back [autotag]Gavin Sawchuk[/autotag] and offensive lineman [autotag]Jacob Sexton[/autotag]. Representing the defense, OU has defensive lineman [autotag]R Mason Thomas[/autotag], linebacker [autotag]Kobie McKinzie[/autotag] and defensive back [autotag]Robert Spears Jennings[/autotag].

Sawchuk has served as Oklahoma’s starting running back since the final third of last season. After a breakout last five games of 2023, he’s struggled so far in 2024, but there’s still time for him to find his rhythm.

Sexton is one of OU’s only healthy starting offensive linemen, as has been solid no matter where the coaching staff has him lined up. Capable of playing guard or tackle, he’s grown into one of the better players up front on an offensive unit that needs him to continue to lead this week.

Thomas has become a starter at defensive end this season, finally getting to show off his skills as a push rusher after dealing with injuries to begin his Sooners’ career. He’s been a reliable bookend up front on the OU defense early this season.

McKinzie is part of Oklahoma’s rotation at inside linebacker and is growing better and better with the more reps he gets on the defense. The Sooners are deep in the middle of their defense, but McKinzie’s presence has a hard hitter and run stopper have been felt, as OU has been good against the run so far in 2024.

Spears-Jennings is one of OU’s three excellent players at the safety position, also serving as the run stopper and enforcer of the group. He’s had an excellent start to 2024 with a forced fumble and an interception and is Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded safety in college football heading into week three.

The Green Wave will be ready to play against the Sooners, led by new head coach Jon Sumrall, formerly of Troy. Tulane is gunning for the Group of Five’s automatic bid into the new expanded 12-team College Football Playoff, and can make a major statement with a road win over No. 15 Oklahoma.

The Sooners will have to be on their toes and ready to take the win, as opposed to letting it come to them. These five players are the group that the coaching staff has decided are best suited to lead the way as captains this week.

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‘There’s always a story behind it’: Brent Venables on the low sack numbers

The lack of sacks is not a worry for Brent Venables and Co.

The 2023 season for the Oklahoma Sooners was about improvement. Across the board, there has been improvement in just about every area.

But one area that has not seen much improvement is the defense’s inability to create sacks. The Sooners had 28 sacks a season ago and currently sit at 18 sacks with one game remaining in the regular season.

Often sacks are used to determine if a defensive line has had a good season or not. However, while it’s a good thing to have a lot of sacks, it’s not always indicative of the play of a defensive line. Run defense can be more telling of a team’s ability up front.

But still, they’ve clearly taken a step back in the sacks department. A big reason is they just don’t have a true difference-maker on the defensive line.

Brent Venables spoke about some other reasons as to why that number might be as low as it is. “There’s always a story behind it,” Venables said. “I think the easy one is ‘Oh look this final stat sheet there are no sacks, they must suck.’ Or you just watch the game, and oh I see either we are not stopping the run, so it’s a lot of 3rd and short, or it’s 4th and short, so you aren’t going to get a lot of seven-step drops. Or maybe it’s a team that’s committed to running three-man routes and seven-man protections. Last I checked, seven against four is hard because people respect things that we do. We are not getting a bunch of five on four.”

Combine that with a lot of teams getting the ball out quickly and more athletic quarterbacks and it makes it harder to get home.

When you watch a game, the other team will generally tell you what they think about the Sooners. No, Oklahoma doesn’t have crazy sack numbers, but with teams keeping seven men into block, they are telling you how much they respect Oklahoma as a pass-rushing team.

There’s always more to the story than meets the eye.

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Oklahoma Sooners name captains for Week 12 against the BYU Cougars

The Oklahoma Sooners have announced who the captains will be for this week’s game against the BYU Cougars.

The Oklahoma Sooners head to Provo, UT for the first time in program history to take on the [autotag]BYU Cougars[/autotag]. The Sooners and Cougars have met only two times before.

The first meeting came in the 1994 Copper Bowl, which saw a 31-6 Cougars win in a decade that was one of the worst in program history. The other matchup occurred at the start of the 2009 season in Arlington, TX. It’s a game many Sooner fans remember. That 2009 team had a ton of national hype before the season, but Heisman winner [autotag]Sam Bradford[/autotag] got injured in that game and essentially missed the rest of the season. The Cougars won 14-13.

Now the Sooners head to Utah for their one and only meeting as conference foes. In the build up to the game, the Sooners have announced their captains as Oklahoma attempts to get on the board in the all-time series.

This week’s captains will be [autotag]Kendel Dolby[/autotag], [autotag]Cayden Green[/autotag], [autotag]Gavin Sawchuk[/autotag], [autotag]Jacob Sexton[/autotag], [autotag]Da’Jon Terry[/autotag] and [autotag]R Mason Thomas[/autotag].

It’s a young group with three freshmen and a sophomore. You also get a true freshman in that group.

Green has become a mainstay at guard since coming into the game in the Sooners Red River win in the Cotton Bowl.

Terry has been a force for the Sooners defensive line, eating up blocks to allow the linebackers to fly around. He’s been a key player in the Sooners’ goal-line stand success this season.

Thomas is someone who came in to the season with a lot of hype but has battled injuries for much of the season. He seems to finally be healthy getting his footing. [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] mentioned Thomas was their best EDGE defender in the offseason before getting injured.

Sexton has played as a role player on the offensive line since coming back from injury. But last week, with the injury to [autotag]Tyler Guyton[/autotag], Sexton got the start and played really well. Guyton’s status is one of the key injuries to watch this week, but Sexton could be in line for another start.

Sawchuk has really found a rhythm the last few weeks and has given Oklahoma stability at the running back position. He’s rushed for more than 100 yards in back-to-back games.

Dolby has been one of the mainstays on the defensive side of the ball. He’s taken over Justin Harrington’s role as the defensive back version of the cheetah and become an impact player as one of the Sooners’ best cover guys.

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