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Oklahoma Closes Non-Con by Pounding Tulsa

Big numbers by the Sooners' wide receivers and five interceptions by the OU defense set some things right as Big 12 play begins next week.
John E. Hoover|
Oklahoma Closes Non-Con by Pounding Tulsa
Oklahoma Closes Non-Con by Pounding Tulsa

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Oklahoma Sooners

TULSA — And now, for one last time, let Big 12 Conference play begin.

The Oklahoma Sooners closed non-conference play on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Chapman Stadium with a mostly emphatic 66-17 victory over Tulsa.

Now the No. 19-ranked Sooners (3-0) turn their full attention to their nine-game Big 12 schedule — their last go-round before heading off to the Southeastern Conference next year — beginning with next week’s league opener at Cincinnati.

OU closed out non-league play against TU with a blazing-fast start, jumping to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter on three touchdown passes from Dillon Gabriel and a pick-six interception by Danny Stutsman, and wideout Nic Anderson finished the day with three touchdowns.

Jalil Farooq returned the opening kickoff 62 yards, but fumbled at the end of the run — the Sooners’ first turnover of the season. The versatile Farooq was explosive all day, adding 126 receiving yards in the first half alone, and finished with 231 all-purpose yards.

Gabriel also threw his first interception of the year in the second quarter, but he was good on just about every other throw, completing 19-of-22 to start the game and had 315 yards by halftime. Gabriel finished 28-of-31 for 421 yards and five touchdowns — two to Anderson, two to Drake Stoops and one to Jalil Farooq.

The real star of the first half for Oklahoma, however, was a defense that collected three interceptions — one by Stutsman for the touchdown, one by Tulsa native and co-captain Gentry Williams on TU’s opening drive, and one by junior college transfer Kendel Dolby. Key Lawrence and Trace Ford added interceptions in the second half.

Tulsa started its third-string quarterback, Roman Fuller, but he was pulled after the three picks. That brought on Cardell Williams, who began the season as the No. 2 behind Braylon Braxton. Various injuries to both necessitated the shuffling, but Williams’ appearance invigorated the Golden Hurricane, who immediately scored two touchdowns and outscored the Sooners 14-10 in the second quarter. Braxton did not play Saturday.

Williams also engineered a field goal drive to start the third quarter and cut it to 38-17, but Gabriel parried with a 5-for-5 passing performance on another touchdown drive that was capped off by Nic Anderson’s sideline tip-toeing 42-yard TD grab that put OU up 45-17. It was Anderson’s second touchdown of the day — his first was his first time in the end zone as a Sooner.

Anderson’s third touchdown catch of the day might have been even better, a 50-yard strike from Jackson Arnold on which Anderson dragged a tackler five yards across the goal line for a 59-17 lead.

Anderson finished with three catches for 120 yards and reached the end zone all three times.

The Sooners had three 100-yard receivers on the day, with Farooq (126) and Andrel Anthony (112) also breaking the mark. The only other time the Sooners had three 100-yard receivers was 2012 against Oklahoma State.

Tulsa’s game at Cincinnati next week has been scheduled for an 11 a.m. kickoff and will be broadcast on Fox.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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