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How Three Turnovers Fueled Oklahoma Past BYU in Gritty Road Performance

The Sooners converted three turnovers into 21 points to beat BYU 31-24 in Provo on Saturday.
Ryan Chapman|
How Three Turnovers Fueled Oklahoma Past BYU in Gritty Road Performance
How Three Turnovers Fueled Oklahoma Past BYU in Gritty Road Performance

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Oklahoma Sooners

PROVO, UT — Oklahoma’s defense has made a living forcing turnovers this year.

The Sooners entered the weekend with a nation-leading 17 interceptions, and Brent Venables’ team ranked No. 10-nationally in turnover margin.

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But takeaways hand’t been kind to the No. 14-ranked Sooners in their last two road trips.

OU gave the ball away a combined six times in losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State, which contributed to Oklahoma’s only two defeats of the season.

Saturday, the Sooners flipped the script.

Traveling to BYU for the first time in school history, Venables’ team forced three tunnelers — which were converted into 21 points — to escape LaVell Edwards Stadium with a 31-24 victory.

“We made some mistakes that we’ve got to clean up, that we’ve got to get fixed,” Oklahoma defensive coordinator Ted Roof said after the game. “But at the same time, made a lot of game-changing plays when we needed to the most… Made a bunch of big plays there in the second half that kept the game and obviously helped us win.”

Nestled into the Wasatch Mountains, OU (9-2, 5-2 overall) had to battle the elevation, 63,714 fans and a resurgent BYU (5-6, 2-6) rushing attack to keep its Big 12 title hopes alive.

Jake Retzlaff, the Cougars’ backup quarterback, and running back Aidan Robbins helped rack up 217 rushing yards Saturday, but three mistakes proved costly for the hosts.

First, Retzlaff fumbled a snap in the first half, and Oklahoma defensive end Rondell Bothroyd fell on the ball to set the OU offense up on its own 43-yard line.

Seven plays later, Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel connected with Jayden Gibson for a 27-yard score to put the Sooners up 14-7.

But the winds appeared to change out of halftime.

With the game tied 17-17, Gabriel never emerged from the locker room with what Venables termed as an “upper body injury.”

True freshman quarterback Jackson Arnold was thrust into the center of the action, tasked with leading keep the Sooners in the Big 12 title hunt.

He was far from alone, however.

Safety Billy Bowman changed the game in the middle of the third quarter.

BYU took control of the field position battle out of halftime, and looked to take its first lead of the game after three straight rushes set the Cougars up with first-and-goal from the 2-yard line.

As Retzlaff dropped back to pass and looked to his left, the picture in front of him rapidly changed.

Retzlaff rifled a quick pass to receiver Kody Epps, but Bowman stepped in front of Epps, catching the ball on the goal-line and heading off to the races in the other direction.

Retzlaff gave chase, diving for Bowman in the opposite end zone, but the OU safety tumbled across the goal-line to finish off the 100-yard pick six.

“I was supposed to blitz and I seen a man for BYU wide open, so I just said forget it,” Bowman said. “I’m not gonna blitz. Then I went to cover him. Got my eyes back and the ball was right there.”

After the game, Venables said Bowman was supposed to check out of the blitz — exactly into what he did during the play — but Oklahoma’s coach was more focused on the outcome than how Bowman ultimately got there.

“I’m glad he didn’t because there was three of them out there,” Venables said with a smile, “… so he did what he’s supposed to do accidentally.”

The pick six didn’t just swing momentum — sending LaVell Edwards Stadium into a stunned silence — but it provided a reset for OU’s offense.

For each of Arnold’s first two possessions, the Sooners took over inside their own 20.

Bowman’s score gave the offense extra time to regroup, but he knew the defense’s work wasn’t done.

“We knew that after I scored we were gonna have to go back out there,” Bowman said. So we were just trying to get everybody together… we were just trying to catch our breath as fast as possible, because we knew we had to get back out there.”

BYU immediately tied the game back on the next possession, but the OU defense wasn’t done chipping in big plays.

With the Cougars once again on the move in the fourth quarter, star linebacker Danny Stutsman came up huge once again.

On third-and-4, Stutsman flew off the edge, dislodging the football from Retzlaff with a hit that defensive tackle Jacob Lacey recovered.

“We had a blitz called,” Stutsman said. “It was a backer-backer check. Kobie (McKinzie) communicated. Honestly, I wasn’t gonna go, but Kobie took control over there, got me in the right position and everyone executed and we got off the field.”

Three plays later, OU running back Gavin Sawchuk cashed in what became the game-winning touchdown on a hard-nosed 16-yard run.

BYU’s offense had plenty of success, finishing with 390 total yards and averaging 5.7 yards per carry. But the Sooner defense flipped momentum when it mattered most.

“Turnovers are a really big key factor in winning games,” Stutsman said. “You gotta create those plays. With everything that happened with Dillon, the defense had to step up big.”

Now, Oklahoma will race home to prepare for the TCU Horned Frogs on a short week.

The Sooners’ regular season finale is slated for 11 a.m. on Black Friday. And if OU can get help around the Big 12, its path to the Big 12 title game remains open.

“I’m really proud of, again, the two (second half) turnovers,” Venables said. “We did play a little better in the second half. So I recognize that… But the two turnovers were huge… Super proud of the guys.”

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Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is co-publisher at Sooners On SI and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK. 

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