Oklahoma-Kansas State Observations: AllSooners LIVE In-Game Blog
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NORMAN — No. 6-ranked Oklahoma opens up Big 12 play with the Kansas State Wildcats under the lights at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Saturday. AllSooners has four reporters on site to cover the game.
This live blog will be updated throughout Saturday's contest. Newest posts appear at the top. Simply refresh your browser to see the latest posts.
10:45 p.m.
Final stats:
— JH
10:30 p.m.
More “SEC” chants pouring in from the Kansas State contingent after the Wildcats recover the onside kick. K-State has now toppled Oklahoma five times since 2000, continuing a great run against the Sooners.
— RC
10:23 p.m.
Final score. It ain't pretty.
— JH
10:01 pm
Even OU’s TDs are ugly. That Dillon Gabriel pass to Brayden Willis almost never got off the ground thanks to another bad snap
Sooners cut it to 34-27 and have all three timeouts with 4:36 to play.
— JH
9:45 p.m.
Hate to keep harping on Gabriel but he just missed Marvin Mims open on a third-down throw.
Don’t get the idea this is all his fault, however. Before that punt just trickled into the end zone for a touchback, the Sooners were flagged for their ninth penalty, which have amounted to 57 yards.
This is a team letdown.
— JH
9:34 p.m.
Third quarter stats:
— JH
9:33 p.m.
Third quarter is over as a draw after OU outscored its first three opponents 52-0.
— JH
9:32 p.m.
Didn’t look like Gabriel stepped into that throw and it drifted wide of Stoops.
Another missed play by the Oklahoma quarterback at a costly moment. Missed Stoops on a walk-in touchdown to close the first quarter otherwise this thing would already be tied.
Shows just how high the standard has been over the past decade for quarterback play in Norman.
— RC
9:30 p.m.
The fan base has officially turned on Dillon Gabriel — for the time being.
The Sooners rushed to the line to execute a fourth-and-3, and his pass to a diving Drake Stoops sails wide, eliciting an angry roar that sounded a lot like 80,000 people screaming “come on!” all at the same time.
It’s the second time tonight Gabriel has missed badly on a big throw to Stoops.
— JH
9:24 p.m.
That’s the first points allowed in the third quarter by the Sooner defense, a short field goal after an 11-play, 69-yard drive.
OU trails 27-20 (3:24 left in the third quarter) after another drive in which the defense failed to stop what looks like a routine inside zone running play.
— JH
9:21 p.m.
OU’s defensive adjustments lasted about one drive in the second half.
Deuce Vaughn back to carrying defenders and gashing the Sooners. Big pass play to Knowles sets the Wildcats up in a good spot to score the first points of the year against the Oklahoma defense in the third quarter.
— RC
9:14 p.m.
Oklahoma wanted to go for a fourth-and-4, but there was dysfunction on the offense. A late substitution allowed K-State to sub, and then the Sooners tried to sub again. Dillon Gabriel got the snap a second late, and the result was another delay of game penalty and a punt on fourth-and-9.
That wasted 25- and 10-yard runs to start the drive by Eric Gray.
The synchronization we’ve seen from this team in its first three games just isn’t there tonight.
— JH
9:10 p.m.
Two really big plays by Jalen Redmond to disrupt the K-State drive: one a deflected throw by Adrian Martinez and now a pressure on a Martinez incompletion.
That’s the Jalen Redmond we’ve all been expecting to see for so long.
— JH
8:59 p.m.
Another nice offensive possession to open the third quarter for the Sooners ends in a Schmit FG, and K-State leads 24-20.
Things got fairly chippy at the end of that drive as OU’s play ended up in the K-State bench. Lots of jawing (including a K-State staffer getting in OL McKade Mettauer’s face and Mettauer punching his own helmet in response) but not much action and no penalty flags. Brace yourself for the final 21 minutes.
— JH
8:35 p.m.
Tackling hasn’t really been an issue for OU this season… until tonight. Everyone knows the Kansas State skill position players are slippery, but too many times the Oklahoma defense has been content to just try and lay a big hit.
Have to button that up at halftime. Wrap up and tackle first, let the second guy try and strip the ball carrier. Those fundamentals need to return to the OU defense in the second half.
— RC
8:33 p.m.
Halftime stats:
— JH
8:32 p.m.
Halftime. Sooners have been good in the third quarter so far this year. They may need to be great tonight.
— JH
8:27 p.m.
Can we all just take a moment and admire Deuce Vaughn’s elusiveness? The guy is like trying to swat a fly.
— JH
8:25 p.m.
After two false start penalties, Zach Schmit’s 41-yard field goal cuts Kansas State’s lead to 21-17 with 2:47 to play until halftime.
No doubt K-State deserves credit for playing to this level. But I think those penalties represent OU’s overall lack of focus and readiness. Maybe I’m wrong.
OU’s best quarter of the season through three games was the third quarter. They outscored UTEP, Kent State and Nebraska 52-0. If that holds up, the Sooners will put up some points after halftime.
— JH
8:23 p.m.
Not how the Sooners wanted to end the drive, but a nice response from Zach Schmidt to nail the field goal after missing one in the first half last week against Nebraska. Had to work through a couple of false starts before he got to boot that 41-yard attempt.
— RC
8:17 p.m.
After six Kansas State possessions, the Wildcats have had the football for 18 minutes. The Sooners, now starting their sixth drive, have had the football for 5:44.
— JH
8:14 p.m.
All of that stems back to a big special teams play for the Wildcats.
Malik Knowles set Kansas State up in OU territory and gave the Wildcat offense much-needed life after the Sooner defense came up with three straight stops.
— RC
8:12 p.m.
Kansas State straight Belldozed the Sooner defense on a fourth-and-1 and first-and-goal from the 3.
Sooner fans might recall it was at Kansas State that the Belldozer was born.
Anyway, Adrian Martinez is a clever short-yardage runner, quick and explosive and decisive. Drive took more than 5 minutes even after that 58-yard kickoff return by Knowles.
Kansas State takes a 21-14 lead with 6:15 til halftime.
— JH
8:08 p.m.
Adrian Martinez has been well drilled to take off at the first sign of pressure or if his first read is covered. He’s quick and savvy with his feet, and he’s really made the OU defense pay today.
Wildcats threatening again on the OU goal line.
— JH
8:05 p.m.
After Malik Knowles’ big kickoff return, Deuce Vaughn runs for 8, then slashes through an overeager OU defense for a first down. The Sooners keep overrunning his angle, and he is an absolute master at the cutback.
— JH
8:02 p.m.
Said all week K-State has a pronounced advantage on special teams. Malik Knowles just brought back the kickoff 58 yards. K-State is in good position to start this drive.
Said all week K-State has a pronounced advantage on special teams. Malik Knowles just brought back the kickoff 58 yards. K-State is in good position to start this drive.
— JH
7:59 p.m.
What a response from Gabriel.
Stands in the pocket and delivers an absolute strike to Marvin Mims for a 50-yard bomb.
And in the blink of an eye, the Sooners have tied the game up 14-14 with 12:24 left in the first half.
— RC
7:53 p.m.
Dillon Gabriel flat-out missed two passes in the first quarter, one a first down to Theo Wease and then that play to Drake Stoops that likely would have been a touchdown. Has been a trend through the opening parts of the season. Can’t keep leaving touchdowns on the field. Gave up a chance to be tied at the end of a first quarter where the defense played about as poorly as they have all year.
— RC
7:52 p.m.
First quarter stats:
— JH
7:51 p.m.
End of first quarter. Wildcats off to a fast start.
— JH
7:50 p.m.
Gabriel had Drake Stoops wide open on a quick go route to the left but overthrew him by three yards.
Would have been an easy touchdown with a decent throw.
— JH
7:46 p.m.
After a tackle for loss by Isaiah Coe, Billy Bowman had a clean interception but K-State wideout Malik Knowles broke up the pass. Great instinctive play.
— JH
7:45 p.m.
A couple of miscues stalled out the first two drives, but Jeff Lebby has had a nice game plan to start things here. Not really testing the interior of the Kansas State defensive line. Leaning on the pass game and getting to the perimeter. Patient work there by Dillon Gabriel to wait on Theo Wease to break open. Sooners finally have some momentum in what has been an unexpectedly chippy game so far with plenty of trash talk after the whistles.
— RC
7:43 p.m.
That’s more like it. Theo Wease catches back to back throws from Gabriel, the second one covering 56 yards for a touchdown, and it’s K-State 14, OU 7.
Wease found wide open space in between K-State zones and the Wildcat defense flowed to Gabriel’s action in the backfield. Wease simply caught a corner route throw, turned up and sprinted to the end zone.
— JH
7:39 p.m.
OU is getting obliterated in the field position battle right now. And Kansas State attacked Andrew Raym at the point of attack to great success last drive. Things not going to get any easier for the interior of the OU offensive line, regardless of if the defense gets a stop or not.
— RC
7:37 p.m.
Oklahoma’s second possession is a whimper: blocking bust, can’t break a tackle and a bad throw from Gabriel.
Sooners look dreadfully out of sorts as they punt off their own goal line, down 14-0 and trailing 148-18 in total yards.
— JH
7:35 p.m.
It's early. Oklahoma's second possession coming up.
7:32 p.m.
Kansas State, which didn’t have an offensive pulse last week in losing at home to Tulane, just took a 14-0 lead on No. 6-ranked Oklahoma.
Seven plays, 80 yards on that drive. Adrian Martinez threw a quick slant behind the blitz and K-State is making this look easy.
— JH
7:29 p.m.
Deuce Vaughn bursting through the line of scrimmage, Justin Broiles and Billy Bowman trying to strip the ball instead of tackling the tight end and underneath routes uncovered with plenty of grass out in front to run. Sound familiar?
Can confirm, Alex Grinch is in Corvallis tonight.
— RC
7:27 p.m.
Suddenly, Adrian Martinez can’t miss on a throw. He’s 6-of-7 now for 87 yards, with good patience throwing across the middle, clever check-downs and a dart on an intermediate post.
The o-line is blocking up the Sooners, the receivers look faster than Sooner DBs and the K-State coaching staff so far is out-scheming OU.
— JH
7:21 p.m.
And just like that, after one quick first down, Oklahoma is forced to punt. Jalil Farooq with a dropped pass and Dillon Gabriel with a ball tipped at the line of scrimmage.
Can’t have small mistakes against a fundamentally sound team like Kansas State.
— JH
7:20 p.m.
Oklahoma’s offensive starters against the Wildcats:
Harrison - Mettauer - Raym - Murray - Morris
Willis - Mims - Wease - Farooq
Gabriel - Gray
— RC
7:17 p.m.
Last week Tulane held Kansas State to a combined 3-of-20 on third and fourth downs.
On the first drive tonight, the Wildcats went 3-of-4. Even worse, one of the conversions was on a third-and-12 and another on a third-and-5. Got Kansas State behind the chains and it didn’t matter. Adjustments needed just as they were last week in Lincoln after the first scripted drive.
— RC
7:14 p.m.
That was all too easy for the Wildcats. Adrian Martinez cashes in (untouched) a 68-yard touchdown drive with a 6-yard touchdown. He looks fast, confident and in control.
OU’s defense was pretty basic on that drive. Expect changes immediately.
— JH
7:07 p.m.
The starters for the Oklahoma defense (back in the four-man front):
Grimes - Johnson - Redmond - Downs
White - Ugwoegbu - Stutsman
Washington - Broiles - Bowman - Davis
— RC
7:05 p.m.
Sorry folks, been covering the Selmon statue story. You should see it at the top of our home page, and the video from today's ceremony is at the top of this blog.
Kansas State wins the toss, elects to receive, and quickly grinds out a third down conversion followed by a big pass completion.
I get the feeling this game is gonna be an all-day sucker.
More to come.
— JH
7:03 p.m.
Kansas State calls tails… and wins the toss. The Wildcats opt to take the football.
The Brent Venables defense will go to work first.
— RC
6:32 p.m.
Former Oklahoma H-back Jeremiah Hall is on the sidelines hanging out with the OU SOUL Mission crew. Must be expecting a big night from his podcast partner, Brayden Willis.
— RC
6:28 p.m.
True freshman defensive end R Mason Thomas is also in street clothes yet again this week.
— RC
6:25 p.m.
True freshman wide receiver Nic Anderson is dressed out and going through warmups tonight.
— RC
6:23 p.m.
Wide receiver J.J. Hester is also in street clothes with a protective boot on his left foot. He’s got one crutch with him, but he wasn’t using it to walk. Just to lean on as he stood watching the team stretch.
— RC
6:21 p.m.
Defensive back Joshua Eaton is in street clothes with a protective boot on his left foot during warmups.
— RC
5:50 p.m.
The Selmon Brothers statue has been unveiled. Gates are open and fans are pouring into the stadium. Both teams have filtered onto the field to start warmups. It's about time for the Sooners to open up their 2022 Big 12 slate in Norman.
— RC
