How Oklahoma Didn't Panic to Respond Against Kent State

NORMAN — The first half against Kent State went about as poorly as possible for Oklahoma’s offense.

Jeff Lebby’s offense only totaled 158 yards through the first two quarters, and 76 of those yards came on OU’s final drive of the half that resulted in a touchdown.

The Sooners only ran for seven yards in the first half, the lowest mark for the program since last year’s battle against the Kansas Jayhawks.

But while the offense was frustrated on drive after drive, starting the game with four straight punts, the team never panicked on the sideline.

Oklahoma’s defense responded with a great showing to only allow three points, allowing quarterback Dillon Gabriel to rally the troops and respond to adversity.

“He’s an assassin,” OU head coach Brent Venables said of Gabriel’s demeanor during the game. “This is not his first rodeo. He’s been around the game.

“… He’s the same guy every day, like non-stop. That’s what we said at halftime, be who we are. Nothing more than us. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We’ve gotta take what’s there, and his leadership is a big part of that, not pointing the finger or getting mad at the play call or getting mad at the O-line or getting mad at receivers. Pushing blame is easy under stress to do something like that, but he’s a great leader, got great qualities.”

Gabriel’s calm nature spilled over to the locker room as well.

There’s wasn’t any sense of trepidation while the Sooners made minor adjustments looking for offensive success. The message from the coaching staff was simple — keep chipping away.

“Coach Venables was just saying he was glad we didn’t panic,” said wide receiver Marvin Mims, “and just to embrace the challenge and run towards the hard and just continue to play our brand of football and eventually things will go our way if we just play with uncommon effort.”

Oklahoma’s patience was rewarded, as the offense exploded for 24 points in the third quarter.

Gabriel completed 11-of-15 passes after halftime, throwing for 145 yards while finding Mims and Drake Stoops for scores.

The scoring drive right out of half, punctuated by a 16-yard Marcus Major touchdown run, was validation for Oklahoma’s approach at the half.

“You just have to make the necessary adjustments,” Gabriel said. “You have to find ways to be more efficient, of course. And just find momentum. That score before half was really important, that two-minute drive, and then coming back after halftime, that drive was important too to go up 14-3.

“You have to continue to rally around the guys. We stuck together, which was important, and I loved how we responded.”

From there, the result of the game was never in doubt.

As the Sooners prepare to head to a hostile environment against Nebraska next week, Stoops said the team will be able to rally behind Gabriel’s leadership style as they face their first road test of the year.

“He’s very poised and just letting you know that it could hit at any one moment,” Stoops said. “He has faith in us and we have faith in him. Having a leader like that is definitely big in a situation where you’re going into half just up by four and then coming out and knowing that he can really bust the game open at any point.”

For Lebby, as long as the team continues to work together, he believes the team will be rewarded for their mentality.

“Proud of our guys for sticking together, staying together,” he said. “That’s what everybody said on the sideline and that’s what I told them after the game. Just how proud I was and we were that guys stayed together and knew that we just needed to play the next play and find ways to make plays. And then we were able to.

“… I think we learned a lot today from the standpoint of not playing the way we want to play... Understanding that man, just trust it. Play the next play. Take care of the football and we’re gonna be in a good spot.”

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