Final Review: Last Look at Oklahoma's 34-30 Win Over Texas

One last not-so-quick look, via the ABC-TV broadcast, at Oklahoma's 34-30 takedown of No. 3 Texas on Saturday in Dallas:

First Quarter

After a big, emotional hit on the kickoff, Woodi Washington’s tackle of Xavier Worthy on the opening play reminded me of what was so bad about Alex Grinch’s defense two years ago, when Worthy took a similar play 75 yards untouched.

Gentry Williams’ anticipation on his interception on the second play of the game showed in both his pre-snap recognition and his realization that Adonai Mitchell was running a square-in route. He basically knew that throw was coming.

Jalil Farooq’s direct snap carry on the Sooners’ second snap foreshadowed a big day from him — but I thought it would be carrying the football. Instead, he delivered 130 yards receiving.

Great call by Jeff Lebby on the quarterback draw. The Texas defense was confused at what they thought they were seeing and had no idea it was a QB draw. Great job pulling by right guard McKade Mettauer and blocking the outside linebacker, and great job by cutting away from pursuit and running through an arm tackle for a 7-0 lead.

Former SEC defensive tackle Da’Jon Terry with the quarterback sack on Texas’ second possession. Powerful bull rush, then really skilled hand movement to create separation, then quick feet to close the gap as Ewers was trying to get away. He looks like he’ll be right at home in the SEC next year, assuming he chooses to come back. Rondell Bothroyd and Trace Ford got pressured on Ewers on the next play. Those guys, along with Jacob Lacey’s later contributions show how the Sooners hit some tape-measure home runs acquiring defensive linemen in the transfer portal this year.

Oklahoma’s punt return team simply got outflanked and didn’t see the fake punt coming. No awareness whatsoever. A backbreaking mistake, as the added field position eventually made the Sooners punt from their end zone, where their punt was blocked and produced a touchdown. Special teams was significantly one-sided in this game.

Savion Red’s wildcat throw to Gunnar Helm was another case where the Oklahoma defense bought the fake. Good call by Steve Sarkisian with the play-action fake to freeze the linebackers and safeties Key Lawrence and Billy Bowman, who had their eyes fixed in the backfield as Helm chugged past them.

Maybe that play helped Bowman to recognize in a split second the play-action throw to Ja’Tavion Sanders. Bowman popped Sanders and the ball ricocheted into the air, where Kendel Dolby came over and picked it off. From pre-snap to rocking Sanders, Bowman looked looked like an All-American on that play.

A toss sweep to Farooq coming off the goal line and a dive to Marcus Major show how tough it is for Oklahoma to have to come out of the Texas end. Jeff Lebby didn’t want to gamble with all that noise. Gabriel’s third-down throw to Drake Stoops looked too high, but it also looked like Stoops broke off his crossing route a little short of the first down marker.

More unawareness: Josh Plaster just took his time on the blocked punt coming out of the end zone. Took a standard two steps instead of realizing the situation and moving with haste. Punters need to know the situation when they’re backed up deep in the end zone. But wow, what an effort by Kitan Crawford to bounce off his blocker, shoot through the gap and extend his left arm to block Plaster’s punt.

With Texas’ 15-yard penalty on the touchdown, a really nice decision by Oklahoma’s kickoff return squad to try a reverse. But Farooq’s toss to Jaquaize Pettaway floated forward instead of backward, and Pettaway’s runback to the 44-yard line was wasted. A little more attention to detail there makes a difference.

Left guard Troy Everett played only 25 snaps Saturday. One reason might have been the way he was manhandled backward into Dillon Gabriel midway through the first quarter. T’Vondre Sweat, a 6-foot-4, 362-pound defensive tackle, bullrushed Everett into Gabriel’s path, then drove Gabriel into the ground as he threw the ball away.

Dolby’s tackle of Jordan Whittington on a screen pass after Whittington had slipped away from Bowman was another impressive play by the Sooners’ juco transfer corner. His aggressiveness and confidence has been fun to watch.

Four OU defensive linemen had their hands on Ewers on second-and-14, but he got away. Still, he was sacked by Jaren Kanak for a loss of 5 as Kanak absolutely tattooed Ewers on what might have been the hardest hit of the day. (After the game, Kanak and Stutsman got themselves tattooed, with Longhorns logos on their left thigh — pointed down, of course).

What an impressive 5-yard run on second-and-5 by Tawee Walker. Oklahoma opened in 2-2 personnel (two tight ends, two backs) and motioned Drake Stoops out of the backfield, then handed to Walker on a trap up the middle.He got two yards, then dragged defenders for the final three.

In maybe the most underrated play of the game, facing third-and-3, Gabriel chased down Andrew Raym’s errant snap, calmly scooped it up and threw it away — beyond the line of scrimmage and toward and OU receiver. That made it fourth-and-3 instead of fourth-and-long, and Texas ran into Plaster on the punt for a first down. Two plays later, Farooq hauled in a 43-yard deep ball from Gabriel. That sequence eventually produced Zach Schmit’s 27-yard field goal to start the second quarter.

ESPN just showed a closeup of Gabriel’s right pinky gushing blood and dripping onto his pants. Just part of the legacy.

What a catch by Andrel Anthony on the next-to-last play of the quarter. Stretched to get the ball but got his front foot down. And a bold throw by Gabriel to lead him that much past the defender.

Second Quarter

There’s something glitchy happening where Raym is firing the snap back a half-count too soon. It’s loud, so maybe Raym thinks he hears Gabriel’s clap. Or maybe the pre-snap timing is just off.

Gabriel dodges a bullet on the next play as he throws into the end zone and Jerrin Thompson dropped a sure interception. Schmit’s field goal makes it 10-7.

Jordan Whittington just caught a 13-yard pass on Woodi Washington. It’s been rare to see anyone throw the football in Washington’s direction, and even rarer to see anyone catch it in front of him.

Brent Venables’ would probably disagree with me, but there seemed to be no real blame or mistakes on Jonathan Brooks’ 31-yard run. Just the perfect call for the defense Venables was in.

Ethan Downs’ effort and twitch sacking Ewers was incredible, but R Mason Thomas made a good recognition play to prevent the throw and make Ewers hold it for another count, and if Downs hadn’t sacked Ewers, Jordan Kelley would have.

Some combination of Billy Bowman or Gentry Williams blew the coverage on Ewers’ TD throw to Helm. With Helm at tight end to the right, Texas lined up three receivers to the left, and motion by Whittington may have confused the coverage assignments, as both Bowman and Williams jumped Whittington in the flat as Helm strolled uncontested through the secondary and into the end zone for his first career TD.

Interesting formation with four receivers into the boundary, then motioning all four into the field before handing off to Tawee Walker into the boundary. Just a gain of 5, but seems likely Lebby will catch somebody off guard with a variation of that play later in the season.

Gabriel showed his toughness on back to back runs: he scrambled into he pile, where he took a hard helmet in the back, then drew the late-hit on Thompson while sliding at the end of a 15-yard run. He then took a read option into a pile of Longhorns and got pounded backward. He probably needs to protect himself a little better, but no doubt his teammates rallied around him as Raym and Cayden Green combine to open a massive hole for Tawee Walker to run through for a 17-14 lead.

It appeared that Peyton Bowen turned Xavier Worthy loose on the 39-yard catch from Ewers. Bowen may have been confused by a jet-sweep motion in front of him but ended up covering no one while Worthy ran unchecked down the middle. Key Lawrence saved a touchdown.

With OU in a 3-2-6 set on third goal from the 10, Ewers didn’t have anyone open and took off on a scramble. But Kanak stepped up and made a good tackle in space. Steve Sarkisian pleaded for a facemask penalty, but Kanak grabbed Ewers by the football and pulled him forcefully to the ground. That brought on Bert Auburn for a short field goal and a 17-17 tie.

Texas’ defense is good, but back-to-back passes to Farooq and Walker resulted in four missed tackles, two first downs and 46 yards.

OU might have produced a touchdown in this sequence, but two errors left it on the foot of Schmit for a 27-yard field goal that put Oklahoma back on top 20-17 at half. The first was Tyler Guyton’s false start penalty, which turned second-and-9 at the 15 into second-and-14 from the 20 and ran 10 seconds off the clock by rule. Then Walker dropped Gabriel’s pass on a clever scramble drill. Walker could have scored easily but couldn’t corral throw. It was two examples of the Sooners leaving plenty of meat on the bone in what became a close game.

Third Quarter

Another underrated part of this game: Oklahoma won the coin toss again. Incredibly, the Sooners are now 6-0 in winning the pregame coin toss. Texas chose to receive, so OU made the Horns start the game on the OU side of the field. The Sooners were able to finish the first half with a field goal, then opened the second half with a touchdown drive, turning a tie game into a 10-point lead.

Another direct snap to Farooq early on the TD drive resulted in a 13-yard run, giving him 17 for the day. He finished with 180 all-purpose yards.

Whether Farooq or Drake Stoops (nice play design to run him out of the backfield across the formation for a third-and-2 catch) or Anthony spinning and cutting upfield through traffic, Oklahoma’s receivers were fantastic on Saturday. They were targeted 26 times and came down with 16 receptions.

Easily Austin Stogner’s best game of the year. He caught two passes on the touchdown drive to open the half, then threw a key block to spring Tawee Walker on the short TD that put OU up 27-17. Stogner finished with a season-high three receptions and played 65 snaps.

It was somewhat shocking that Ethan Downs didn’t get flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after throwing J.T. Sanders to the ground and dragging Ewers down for another sack. Downs is the nicest guy on the roster, but his stop and prolonged flex over Ewers was pretty obvious.

A penalty on Downs might not have mattered as Bowen separated the football from Ewers with a massive hit on a scramble on the next play. Yes, it was a bigger hit on Ewers than the earlier thump by Kanak. Bowen is such an impressive freshman.

The fumble didn’t produce points, but OU’s possession did take 1:22 off the clock, and Luke Elzinga’s 42-yard punt to the 6 flipped the field. Texas could have used that time later in the game, and the distance of the entire field made them have to settle for a field goal.

Jonathon Brooks is really good. He made Gentry Williams and Reggie Pearson miss tackles while moving at full speed, then skipped away from Kanak to nearly pick up a first downs. Bijan Robinson was an all-timer, but Texas’ running game is in very good hands.

Da’Jon Terry and Dasan McCullough jump up again, combining on a tackle for loss of 4 yards on second-and-2. Transfer portal wins again.

The injury to Andrel Anthony was unfortunate. He was blocking on Gabriel’s third-down scramble, was shoved off balance and seemed to land awkwardly on his right leg. He was helped off the field after the medical team checked him out. After the game, while still in full uniform, he walked up the ramp under his own power.

The failed fourth-down pass to Drake Stoops was just an off throw by Gabriel. It was a bold decision and a good play call, but wasn’t executed. Gabriel needed to lead him for the 2-yard pickup, but threw it behind Stoops, who leaped and spun but couldn’t haul it in as his momentum carried him toward the sideline.

Fourth Quarter

Let’s break down the goal line stand one play at a time:

After the 28-yard catch by Whittington puts the football at the 1-yard line, Texas brings in the 362-pound Sweat as a blocker in the backfield. But Sweat’s block of Kanak doesn’t work as intended, and Lewis slices his 206 pounds through traffic to bring down Brooks for no gain.

On second down, it’s a toss sweep out of the I formation. But Dasan McCullough hits 308-pound Byron Murphy 3 yards deep in the backfield, then peels off the block and clamps down on Brooks for no gain. Meanwhile, Rondell Bothroyd, Kip Lewis, Danny Stutsman, Billy Bowman and Jaren Kanak arrive at the football to ensure the pile does not migrate across the goal line.

It’s third down, and with two jumbo fullbacks in the backfield, Brooks has no chance. Stutsman gets off a half-hearted block and stuffs Brooks for a 1-yard loss as McCullough arrives to help pull him down, then gets help from Downs, Kanak and Bothroyd help pull Brooks backward.

On fourth-and-goal from the 2, Sark finally abandons the jumbo package and tasks Ewers with throwing it in. Instead, his middle screen to Worthy, lining up behind Whittington and surging inside, collapsed by Bowman and McCullough just inches short.

That sequence will go down in OU history alongside any of the great defensive plays in the history of the program.

Tawee Walker’s hesitation and initial burst gave Oklahoma a little breathing room coming off the goal line. His patience and ability to accelerate in a short area is ideal for that scenario.

Jayden Gibson nearly put it away with a 50-yard catch, but what a play by Terrance Brooks to reach in at the last possible second (possibly a second early even) to pull down Gibson’s right arm.

Gabriel didn’t panic about the missed opportunity to Gibson. Instead, he rips off scrambles of 12 yards on third-and-11 and 44 yards on second-and-10. Gabriel is at this point willing the Sooners down the field, much like the defense willed Texas out of the end zone on the previous possession.

Couldn’t tell from TV what happened to McKade Mettauer, but he was engaged in a block on Stogner’s third catch and sustained a lower left leg injury. He hopped onto the injury cart with a protective boot on his leg, then was wheeled to the locker room.

On fourth down, Schmit misses wide right on an important, fourth-quarter kick from outside chip-shot range (this one was 45 yards). He missed too many of these last year, and his teammates weren’t up to the challenge as OU lost four three-point decisions. This year, however, better depth, improved fitness and talent additions through the portal and recruiting ensured the Sooners’ fourth-quarter field goal kicking wouldn’t cost them a win.

A pre-snap penalty on Texas would have wiped it out anyway, but wow, what a play by Dolby to apply a big hit over the middle and make sure Whittington didn’t come down with a fantastic catch.

Didn’t matter too much as Jonathan Brooks took one in for a 29-yard touchdown run to tie int 27-27 — the first rushing TD allowed by the Oklahoma defense all year. Also of note: Ewers just set the school record with his 19th straight completion.

Woodi Washington’s turn at the last second downfield against Worthy created an incompletion, ending Ewers’ string of 19 in a row.

Key Lawrence, who opened this drive at left corner as Ewers threw down the right sideline, gives up a completion to Whittington on a comeback route. Gentry Williams is injured (he took part in postgame interviews and seemed fine) and Dolby is on the sideline. That leaves Reggie Pearson and Billy Bowman at the safety position. Lawrence was recruited out of high school as a corner, and played the position some in his first year at Oklahoma before settling in last year full time at safety.

After Lawrence missed a tackle on a check down throw to Brooks, Dolby is back on the field at left corner.

The secondary just got a little thinner as Bowman came up to lay a big hit on Worthy on a quick slant, but Bowman seems to have gotten the worse of the collision and remained on the field for a minute before athletic trainers helped him to the sideline. It’s a key point in the game, tied 27-27 with 2:35 to play.

On one of the biggest plays of the game, Notre Dame transfer Jacob Lacey — another portal d-lineman — beat his blocker and sacked Ewers for a 3-yard loss. Sark said Texas was playing for a touchdown before that sack, but being thrown into a second-and-13 and third-and-10 changed his mindset to playing for a field goal instead. On third down, Brooks ran for 6 yards, Oklahoma called its final timeout, and after Sark faked going for it on fourth down, Texas called timeout and Bert Auburn came on to kick a 47-yard field goal that gave Texas a 30-27 lead with 1:17 to play.

P.J. Adebawore nearly blocked Auburn’s field goal, but lined up a little too far to the right. Adebawore will be heard from on again the Sooners’ final defensive drive.

Stoops across the middle. Who else?

Farooq on the outside. Who else?

Stoops across the middle. Who else?

Seriously, Stoops and Farooq came into the season as Oklahoma’s two most experienced receivers, so it just makes sense that Gabriel and the coaching staff trust them the most in this situation.

And yet, there’s Gabriel throwing to Nic Anderson down the sideline (pass interference) and, after ra 3-yard run, to Anderson in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. It’s Anderson’s sixth touchdown in six games.

Gabriel got pressure from both sides and up the middle, and he momentarily tucked the football and considered running. But in a split second, he recognized that Anderson, who had come across the formation in motion, got lost when he ran into Stogner and made it to the left back corner of the end zone. Anderson was wide open and Gabriel fired a snap throw to him for the game-winner.

Walter Rouse blocked two defenders at once on the throw as Texas blitzed, and Cayden Green — the only true freshman to play on offense — came over to help at the last second. Also, Miami-OH transfer Caleb Shaffer, filling in for Mettauer, blocked effectively throughout the game-winning drive.

After two quick completions puts the football at the 44 — in position for some unlikely long-distance heroics, Adebawore shows up again, forcing the issue on Ewers’ Hail Mary throw to the end zone. Despite contact from Adebawore, it’s a good throw, but Lawrence leaps and knocks it down — in the vicinity of two Texas receivers.

As Isaiah Coe runs around the Cotton Bowl with the giant OU flag (and plants it in the end zone rather than at the traditional 50-yard line), Gabriel is giving an interview to Holly Rowe.

“This is what OU football’s all about,” Gabriel says before finding family for a prolonged hug. “This is why I came here — this game right here.”

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