Oklahoma Finally Harnessed Momentum to Outpace Kansas

NORMAN — Since Oklahoma opened up its conference slate, playing football had felt more like pulling teeth.

Devoid of any momentum, the Sooner offense and defense often felt like two opposing forces trying to win each game out of their own volition.

Finally, as the Sooners (4-3) returned home to host the No. 19-ranked Kansas Jayhawks (5-2), OU found a way to play complementary football.

Neither side of the ball played perfect in Oklahoma’s 52-42 win on Saturday.

Dillon Gabriel turned the ball over three times, and Brent Venables’ defense still showed plenty cracks by allowing Kansas backup quarterback Jason Bean to move up and down the field.

But in the first half, OU came up with four straight defensive stops to allow the offense to extend the lead and keep the Jayhawks at bay.

“We showed toughness and resolve as a football team,” Venables said after the game. “We complimented each other really well for a big part of the game. We put ourselves in tough positions as well.”

Gabriel’s first turnover was a fumble when the Sooners and Jayhawks were tied 14-14.

To that point in the game, Kansas had scored on each of its first two possessions, and Bean appeared to be in control of the offense.

But after the fumble, the OU defense stood tall.

Bean threw a pair of incompletions that led to a three-and-out, and it took the Sooners just five plays to regain the lead.

Led by a spectacular 41-yard diving catch by true freshman wide receiver Gavin Freeman, Jeff Lebby’s offense found a groove.

Things happen when Gavin Freeman touches the ball.#OUDNA | #BoomerSooner | @TheGavinFreeman pic.twitter.com/3ZpiL4mdxV
— 𝕺𝖐𝖑𝖆𝖍𝖔𝖒𝖆 𝖛𝖘. 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉 (@soonergridiron) October 15, 2022

Oklahoma’s defense then forced another two punts and cornerback C.J. Coldon produced a dazzling interception of his own, giving the offense the ball back over and over, and the Sooners reeled off 21 unanswered points to take a 35-14 lead with 2:40 left in the first half.

The offensive barrage ensured the Sooners never trailed on Saturday, and the touchdown on the opening drive of the game gave OU its first lead since the Nebraska game. Working together on both sides of the ball to mount the lead, the Sooners momentarily wiped away the struggles of the last three weeks and played with confidence against the Jayhawks.

“I think that just as far as a team today and playing team ball, we started really fast,” OU linebacker DaShaun White said. “… That momentum is no joke. I think we kind of ,the last few weeks, we had the worst of it. But today we kind of got the best of it.”

Seven games into the season, Lebby is pleased with how his offense has gelled together with Gabriel returning to the lineup.

The growing comfort in his system played a role in the performance on Saturday, as OU was able to cash in both of Kansas’ turnovers into touchdowns on the ensuing drives.

“(We had) the awareness to feed off each other, play complementary football and find ways to take advantage of certain situations,” Lebby said. “We were able to do that. Again, the mishap right before half, not scoring, and then the turnovers — outside of those four plays, I thought we played pretty good.”

Things could have easily gone much different for the Sooners.

On the heels of three straight losses, Oklahoma could have pressed and made mistakes in the effort to topple the high-flying Jayhawks.

Gabriel never felt that kind of pressure, however, and he instead just trusted that the team’s hard work would finally pay off.

“I don’t think it’s a moment of stress or a moment of being over the top with it and trying to do too much,” he said. “Just continue to play within the system and doing our job to the best of our ability. The moment you try to do too much, you just end up forcing things and not having good things happen. I just tried to come back. Do what I’m asked and do it to the best of my ability. Likewise for everyone.”

Brimming with confidence, the Sooners will now have the bye week to continue and make gradual improvements.

But Saturday showed that the team can get results even in an imperfect performance, so long as both sides of the football can find moments to raise their levels of play together.

“I think (the win) was pretty important,” White said. “It's one of those things like we've been really committed to just kind of getting out of the mud. And we always felt like as soon as we got it back on track, like, we would be able to kind of continually build from that.

“And so I think that everyone's on the same page. Everyone's really excited about the win today. But I think everyone's kind of on the same page of this is just step one. We've got to get back. We know what type of team that we can be. And so we're kind of all committed to that.”

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