National Awards Rolling in For Oklahoma After Beating Alabama

Beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and the rewards are plenty.

Oklahoma found that out this week as a handful of national awards and major milestones have been given to OU players.

After three players were accorded SEC Player of the Week honors, two players advanced as semifinalists for national awards, and two more were named national players of the week at their position.

OU is prepping to face No. 23 Missouri on Saturday in Norman, but not before looking back one more time at the monumental victory in Tuscaloosa.

The Sooners’ 23-21 victory at Bryant-Denny Stadium over the previously No. 4-ranked Crimson Tide also pushed them up three spots in this week’s rankings to No. 8 in both the AP poll and the coaches poll.

Getting His Kicks

Kicker Tate Sandell, who earned his third SEC Player of the Week accolade, was named one of 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award as the best kicker in college football. It’s also his third weekly Groza award.

Sandell is putting together the best season in school history for a kicker, making 21-of-22 field goal attempts (95.5 percent) and all 28 of his PAT tries. He has made each of his last 21 field goals, which is the longest streak in program history. He tied Gabe Brkic’s previous mark of 18 in a row with four field goals at Tennessee, and he extended that with three more at Bama.

It’s the second-longest streak in SEC history, and is the league’s the longest over the course of a single season. Sandell has made a school-single-season-record seven field goals of 50-plus yards (7-for-7) to lead the nation so far this season (no other kicker has more than four).

The Port Neches, TX, product is one of just two kickers nationally since at least 1995 to make at least seven field goals of 50-plus yards without a miss. He has made a school-career-record four field goals of 55-plus yards and is one of two FBS kickers in at least the last 30 years, with four makes of 55-plus yards in a season (the only one to do it in a five-game stretch). He is 9-for-9 on field goal tries of 45-plus yards.

Sandell has made a nation-leading and OU-single-season-record 14 field goals of 40-plus yards (the previous school record was nine). He tied an OU single-game record at Tennessee with his four field goals (55, 51, 40, 55 yards) and tied the Neyland Stadium record for longest field goal (55 yards, twice). He is the first FBS kicker since 2021 to make three 50-plus-yard field goals in a game (which ties the FBS record) and the first FBS kicker since 2011 to make two 55-plus-yard field goals in a road game.

Sandell also leads the country with his average-make distance of 41.8 yards (min. 18 conversions). The next highest average nationally is 38.2 yards.

In his first year at Oklahoma after transferring from UTSA this summer, Sandell has scored 91 of the team’s 283 points (32 percent) this season. He has made at least one field goal in each of the last nine games and has made at least three field goals in each of the last four contests. He was responsible for 26 of OU’s 56 points (46 percent) in November road wins over Tennessee and Alabama.

Finalists for the Lou Groza Award will be announced on Nov. 25 and honored at the 34th annual Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Awards Banquet on Dec. 8. The winner will be announced live on ESPN at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Friday, Dec. 12.

It's a Snap

One of the reasons for Sandell’s success is his long snapper, Ben Anderson — who this week was named a semifinalist for the Patrick Mannelly Award as the best long snapper in college football.

Anderson is one of 10 semifinalists for the Mannelly Award, which is in its seventh year.

A fourth-year Sooner from Charlotte, N.C., Anderson has served as the long snapper on all of Oklahoma’s punts and placekicks over the last three seasons.

He has been the catalyst this season for a placekicking unit that has converted all 28 PAT attempts and 21-of-23 field goals (91 percent).

In addition to an ongoing streak of perfection on placekicks, Anderson also has been flawless with his snaps on punts, which has allowed transfer punter Grayson Miller to flourish. Miller ranks ninth nationally and second in the SEC by averaging 47.1 yards per punt.

Anderson was also a semifinalist for the Patrick Mannelly Award last year, as well as an All-SEC Third Team selection.

He has played in 36 career games as OU’s long snapper and has contributed to a kicking unit that has converted 52-of-64 (81 percent) field goals and 130-of-131 PATs (99 percent) over the last three seasons.

The Patrick Mannelly Award was first presented in 2019 and was established to recognize one of the most important but often overlooked players on the field. The award is named for former NFL long snapper Patrick Mannelly, who played 16 seasons for the Chicago Bears.

Three Mannelly Award finalists will be named Nov. 24 and the winner will be announced Dec. 13 in a live ceremony in Lake Bluff, IL.

The Royal Guard

Fifth-year senior offensive lineman Febechi Nwaiwu was named one of three finalists for the 16th Brandon Burlsworth Trophy, which is awarded to the most outstanding football player in America who began his career as a walk-on.

Nwaiwu is joined on the list of finalists by North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker and Texas defensive back Michael Taaffe.

Nwaiwu transferred to Oklahoma in January 2024 after spending his first three collegiate years at North Texas, where he initially walked on to the football team.

Since joining the Sooners, he has become Oklahoma's most consistent offensive lineman and is OU's only offensive player to start every game over the last two seasons.

The Coppell, TX, product has started all 10 games at right guard this season and is part of an offensive line that has paved the way for OU to average 130.7 rushing yards and 357.5 total yards per game and is tied for first nationally by converting all of its red zone opportunities into points (31-for-31).

He has allowed only two pressures and no sacks or quarterback hits on 374 pass blocking snaps and has recorded 20 knockdowns on 264 run blocking snaps this season.

Nwaiwu started all 13 games at right guard last season and was named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week for his performance in a Nov. 23 win over No. 7 Alabama as the Sooners rushed for 257 yards.

He redshirted his first season at North Texas, then started 12 of the team's 14 games in 2022 en route to freshman All-America honors. In all, he has started in 40 of his 47 career games.

Former Sooner quarterback Baker Mayfield, who went on to win the Heisman Trophy in 2017, won the Burlsworth Trophy in 2015 and '16.

The Burlsworth Trophy finalists will be honored and the winner of the 2025 Burlsworth Trophy will be announced Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. at Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, AR.

Defensive Hardware

Two Oklahoma defenders received recognition this week as national players of the week at their position following the Sooners’ takedown of Bama.

Fourth-year junior linebacker Kip Lewis was named the Chuck Bednarik Award Player of the Week, and sophomore cornerback Eli Bowen was named the Jim Thorpe Award Player of the Week.

Lewis recorded a game-high seven tackles, a career-high 2.0 sacks and a quarterback hurry against the Crimson Tide. His hurry came on a first-quarter play that resulted in an interception by Bowen, which he returned 87 yards for OU’s first touchdown of the game.

Lewis logged his first sack in the first quarter for a 7-yard loss. His second sack, which came on Alabama’s final drive, played a crucial role in closing out the game. Lewis brought down quarterback Ty Simpson for an 11-yard loss on first down before Alabama had a 15-yard completion on third-and-21. Then, safety Peyton Bowen broke up the fourth-down pass attempt, allowing the Sooners run out the clock on offense and earn the win.

The Carthage, TX, product leads the Sooners with 60 total tackles this season and has 8.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, four QB hurries and two pass breakups. He has registered 29 tackles and 6.0 TFLs over the last four games.

Lewis’ effort helped the Sooners snap Alabama’s 17-game home winning streak, which was the longest active FBS streak, and post the program’s highest-ranked road victory since winning at No. 2 Ohio State in 2017.

Bowen, who was also named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week, returned that interception for a touchdown and recorded a season-high five tackles (all solo) against the Crimson Tide.

The interception was the second of his career (his first was against Alabama last year in Norman) and he returned it 87 yards for a touchdown that gave Oklahoma a 10-0 first-quarter lead. It marked OU’s longest return play of any kind this season and the eighth-longest interception return in school history.

The Denton, TX, product has started all six games in which he has played this season and has registered 16 tackles and two pass breakups.

OU, which defeated the Crimson Tide 24-3 in Norman last season, became the first program to beat the Tide in consecutive regular seasons since Ole Miss in 2014 and ’15.

On Monday, Oklahoma was named the Pop-Tarts Crazy Good National Team of the Week.

OU Media Relations contributed to this report.