Oklahoma Gamebook: OU Close, but Unable to Make Enough Plays in Bedlam
STILLWATER — A host of streaks came to an end Saturday night in Boone Pickens Stadium.
With No. 7 Oklahoma State’s 37-33 Bedlam victory over the No. 10 Oklahoma Sooners, OU will not extend their Big 12 Championship streak to seven straight.
The Cowboys also snapped a six-game losing skid to their bitter rivals, and Mike Gundy finally notched his first victory over Lincoln Riley.
The result wasn’t shocking. Oklahoma State entered as a 4.5 point favorite, the higher ranked team and with by far the best unit on the field in their defense.
But the manner in which the game unfolded was quite stunning.
Tied 24-24 at halftime, the teams shot past the point total set by Las Vegas in the first half, and true freshman quarterback Caleb Williams had plenty of success against Jim Knowles’ defense in the firs half.
The Sooners then sprinted out to a 33-24 lead in the third quarter, but the offense completely stalled, paving the way for a classic Bedlam comeback.
Oklahoma State held off not one but two late Sooner drives to secure the victory, putting the final nail in the OU coffin and sending the Sooners into bowl season with plenty of questions about how their regular season unfolded.
Key Lawrence’s Crucial Drop
OU almost put the game away with 10:36 remaining in the third quarter.
The Sooners had just recovered Brennan Presley’s muffed punt for a touchdown, and kicked the ball back to Spencer Sanders with a chance to give the ball back to Williams to build on the nine point lead.
After an offsides penalty set OSU up in first-and-5, Sanders almost gave away the game.
Sanders locked in on Presley, but Key Lawrence jumped the route.
Had he hauled in the interception, Lawrence could have walked into the end zone to put OU up 40-24 before anyone really got warmed up in the first half.
Instead, the ball slipped right through his hands, falling harmlessly to the cold turf.
Ultimately, the Cowboys drive would end with a missed field goal, but the points gained from the pick six alone would have been enough to lift Oklahoma over OSU’s 37-point scoring output.
Still, linebacker Brian Asamoah said the dropped pick wasn’t the moment when momentum shifted in the second half.
“(We had a) next play mentality,” Asamoah said of the dropped pick after the game. “A lot of guys got another opportunity to make a play. Some guys probably excited that happens because someone on the defense gets an opportunity to make a play.”
Ultimately, nobody stepped up to make the play, and the dropped interception proved to be back breaking.
No Disgruntled Sidelines
The defense played about as good as anyone could have wanted during the third quarter, holding the Cowboys to zero points and just 54 total yards of offense.
But just as it has all year long, the inability for the team to play complimentary football bit OU in the butt.
While the defense held strong, the offense couldn’t get anything going. The offense themselves only had 96 total yard of offense in the quarter, with penalty after penalty wiping away positive plays and insuring that all the Sooner drives in the quarter would end in Michael Turk punts.
Defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas said there were no stern words from the defense in the offense’s direction on the sideline, however, and that Williams himself actually went over to talk to the defense.
“Caleb initiates those conversation,” Thomas said after the game. “If you pay close attention, you’ll see Caleb come to the defensive huddle. He’ll be like, ‘just get me the ball back, and we’ll do the best we can to get the job done.’ That’s all we can ask for.
“Yeah, defense, we were playing pretty phenomenal. Got a safety, special teams got a touchdown. Offense was just stagnant in the second half. It’s just part of the game. The conversation is just Caleb asking to get the ball back because we know what he’s capable of.”
Both the OU offense and defense have taken turns propping each other up this season, and Saturday was no different even though the Sooners came up short in their regular season finale.
Growth in Defeat for Caleb Williams
Williams’ night, much like the entire offense, was a roller coaster.
The true freshman phenom showed flashes of his incredible talent in the first half. He completed 14-of-21 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns, matching the highest point total OSU had surrendered all year long.
He was unable to carry his hot start out of the halftime intermission.
Williams finished 6-for-18 for 48 yards through the air in the second half, but not before he almost brought the Sooners back for a miracle game-winning drive at the death.
Once again producing a little magic with his legs, Williams tucked the ball and set off on a 56-yard scamper. Once he burst into the open field and sent a Cowboy safety the wrong way with a little hip wiggle, it almost felt like he was going to find a way to make it to the end zone and win the game right there.
Ultimately, he was pulled down at the 24-yard line, and had four chances to push the ball to the end zone.
On first down, he found Jadon Haselwood in the back of the end zone, but Tanner McCalister stepped in to break up the touchdown pass. Trevon West was probably interfered with on second down, but there was no call on the field, and Mario Williams caught Caleb Williams’ third down toss, but landed about a foot out of bounds.
The Cowboys hit home, sacking Williams on fourth down the end the game, but the true freshman was so incredibly close to putting it all together and willing his Sooners into the Big 12 Championship game.
“Caleb did all he could today,” running back Kennedy Brooks said after the game. “And Mario, even trying to make a great catch, just inches. Just inches. It's all this game takes, just inches. It was close, but at the end of the day it didn't happen so we've just got to go back and just do better.”
It didn’t feel like it in the moment, Jeremiah Hall said, but the senior captain was confident Williams will come back even better for the performance he put in on Saturday night.
“His game was full of highs and full of lows,” Hall said after the game. “He’s emotional right now. I told him to keep his head up. He’s having a tough time right now. A lot of pressure on a young guy, the weight of the world is on his shoulders.
“People on Twitter probably will be talking to him. I know you guys are writing some stuff about him. And everybody else has something to say. I’ll get my words on the back half, definitely. We’ll take it from there. I’m hope that he learns and grows from it.”
Wherever OU’s bowl fate ultimately sends them in one weeks’ time, Williams will have a chance to rebound and head into the offseason on a high note, ready to prepare for the 2022 campaign.
