All Sooners

Oklahoma-Navy Armed Forces Bowl: LIVE In-Game Observations

John Hoover and Ryan Chapman offer their real-time observations as the Sooners play the Midshipment in a postseason game Fort Worth.
John Hoover|
Oklahoma linebacker Danny Stutsman
Oklahoma linebacker Danny Stutsman | John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI

In this story:

Oklahoma Sooners

FORT WORTH — Sooners on SI offers real-time observations throughout Friday's Armed Forces Bowl matchup between Oklahoma and the Navy Midshipmen. Newest posts are at the top. Just keep your browser open and refresh often.

2:18 p.m.

Hawkins got sacked on the attempt. Navy is going to win this game 21-20.

— RC 

2:16 p.m.

Wow! Excellent drive from Hawkins. He hit Jake Roberts in the back corner of the end zone for a 10-yard score, and now the Sooners are lining up for a two-point conversion. 

Timeout Navy, Sooners down 21-20 with six seconds left. 

— RC 

2:11 p.m.

Jake Roberts gets the first down. Still some life. 

— RC 

2:10 p.m.

Well, the result of the review is that the call on the field will stand.

It stays at fourth-and-6. 

— RC 

2:08 p.m.

Looks like Jake Roberts caught that pass, but he’s still short of the sticks. 

Sooners looking at likely a fourth-and-2 to try and extend the game.

— RC 

2:06 p.m.

Navy punts. 

Oklahoma’s ball with 1:47 left and two timeouts, starting off at OU’s 35. 

— RC 

1:58 p.m.

Hawkins’ third down pass is incomplete and the Sooners are punting the ball back. 

Have all their timeouts, and pinned Navy down at its own 5 with 2:56 left on the clock.

— RC 

1:54 p.m.

Here we go, let’s see what Michael Hawkins Jr.’s got. 

Sooners getting the ball back with 4:34 on the clock and all three timeouts down by a touchdown. 

He’s not been helped out by his receivers, who have dropped seven passes, but it’s a high-pressure situation for the true freshman quarterback. 

— RC 

1:36 p.m.

Another drop, this one by Gavin Sawchuk, set OU up for a 52-yard field goal. 

And of course the Sooners missed it. 

Game stays level at 14 with 12:06 left. 

— RC 

1:27 p.m.

Michael Hawkins Jr.’s 56-yard touchdown run is wiped off the board by a holding call on Febechi Nwaiwu. 

I mean… 

— RC 

1:20 p.m.

And now Oklahoma turns the ball over. 

Michael Hawkins fumbled, and the Midshipmen have the ball on the Oklahoma 25. 

This is the third Navy drive to start in OU territory. 

— RC 

1:12 p.m.

And there it is. 

Navy quarterback Blake Horvath had plenty of open water up the middle, and he raced 94 yards. 

He was ruled down at the 1, but it certainly looks like this review is going to give him the 95-yard score. 

The Midshipmen are about to tie it at 14-14 with 3:49 left in the third quarter. 

Oklahoma messed around for the entire second quarter, and they’re about to find out. 

— RC 

1:07 p.m.

Oklahoma’s drive stalls just as the Sooners crossed the 50 and Elzinga is back out to punt. 

OU has refused to put the Midshipmen away today. Navy just one play away from knotting it back up in Fort Worth. 

The punt pinned the Midshipmen down at the 4-yard-line. 

— RC 

12:32 p.m.

Well, that second quarter was a mess. 

The final possession was disjoint, and ended with a check down to Xavier Robinson instead of a true Hail Mary. 

Oklahoma only leads by a touchdown at halftime, and Navy will get the ball back. 

The good news? OU’s defense has really only allowed three big plays. But the offense stalled and let the Midshipmen back in this thing. 

— RC 

12:17 p.m.

Elzinga shanks the punt and Navy gets the ball on the right side of the 50.

The Sooners had this game won 45 minutes ago and now the Midshipmen can level the game and get the ball to start the second half. 

No turnovers, but an awful second quarter from the OU offense. 

A defensive stop would be huge here for the Sooners to exhale and regroup. 

— RC 

 12:11 p.m.

Navy is on the board.

Alex Tecza took advantage of some good blocking to go 11 yards for the score to pull the Midshipmen within a touchdown, down 14-7, with 3:40 left in the first half. 

— RC 

12:02 p.m.

For the second time today, Oklahoma is stuffed up the mixcdli on fourth and short. So there’s that.

— JH

12:00 p.m.

So far Oklahoma has run out nine true freshmen on offense: QB Michael Hawkins, WRs Jacob Jordan, Zion Ragins, Zion Kearney and Ivan Carreon, RBs Xavier Robinson and Taylor Tatum and now RG Eddy Pierre-Louis. Probably more coming.

— JH

11:58 a.m.

Eddy Pierre-Louis is starting this offensive drive at right guard for the Sooners. 

— RC 

11:56 a.m.

Sooners force a three-and-out after a big line change. 

Jaren Kanak, Trace Ford, David Stone and Michael Boganowski all got in for those three snaps. 

Kanak ended up leading a crowd on the second down stop, and it looked like Ford got a hand on the third down pass. 

Then Navy punter Riley Riethman booted it 70 yards to flip the field and set OU up on its own 8-yard-line. 

— RC 

11:51 a.m.

I’m not sure Ivan Carreon didn’t pick up that first down, but it was marked short and its a moot point. 

Navy blew up the fullback dive on fourth-and-1, and the Midshipmen will take over on their own 20-yard-line. 

— RC 

11:47 a.m.

What a moment for cornerback Woodi Washington: sixth-year senior sticks around, sticks around, and here he is in his final game catching a 28-yard pass on a punt fake from Luke Elzinga. That’s a play you draw up for a guy as a thank-you to him for his selfless career.

And Elzinga’s passer efficiency rating for the 2024 season is now 335.2.

— JH

11:42 a.m.

Just about everything you could ask for out of that first quarter. 

The OU defense allowed a pair of big plays, but immediately got off the field both times. 

Oklahoma’s offensive line had its way on the first drive and then a pair of nice plays by Michael Hawkins powered the second drive. 

If the Sooners get points here to start the second quarter, Navy’s offense will be in a world of hurt. Just have to clean up a few things here and there. 

— RC 

11:37 a.m.

Blake Horvath overthrew his receiver under pressure on fourth-and-5, and OU takes over at its own 25-yard-line.

Michael Tarquin has come in at right tackle in place of Spencer Brown, and the OU freshmen Taylor Tatum and Xavier Robinson are working at running back to start this drive. 

— RC 

11:36 a.m.

Navy QB Blake Horvath has hit the Oklahoma defense for a 32-yard pass and a 37-yard run and I feel like this is no way an indictment on the Sooner defense.

— JH

11:29 a.m.

Such an impressive effort there by Michael Hawkins. Rolled all the way to the left and didn’t like his options (a short throw to Ivan Carreon), so he reverses field and rolls right and floats a perfect strike — on the run — for a 56-yard touchdown to Zion Kearney.

Maybe John Mateer is going to have to beat out Hawkins after all.

— JH

11:28 a.m.

Hello Michael Hawkins. 

The third-and-7 play was designed to roll the pocket to the left, and Navy had both receivers near the boundary covered up. 

Hawkins rolled back to his right, found Zion Kearney and the true freshman broke a tackle to complete the 56-yard touchdown. 

Nice work after the initial plan didn’t work out. Great improv a couple of times by Hawkins, and the Sooners have an all-important two-score lead on Navy. 

OU up 14-0, 5:56 left in the first quarter. 

— RC 

11:26 a.m.

A pair of nice blocks by Jacob Jordan and Zion Ragins sprung Michael Hawkins Jr. on third-and-10.

Moved the chains and erased a bad situation set up by a pair of Sam Franklin drops. 

Sooners currently on the move on drive No. 2.

— RC 

11:24 a.m.

Before the kickoff, I told Ryan that the Sam Franklin Experience has been “interesting” this season.

Franklin just dropped back-to-back perfect throws from Michael Hawkins, and then the OU offense needed to burn a timeout as the play clock was running down.

— JH

11:21 a.m.

Andy Bass is on the OU sideline, is in full uniform, and is not wearing a knee brace. Just FYI.

— JH

11:17 a.m.

Great start for the OU offense, with Gavin Sawchuk rushing for 37 yards, including the 21-yard touchdown — his first score of the season and by far his longest run.

Then a not great start for the OU defense, with Peyton Bowen and Sammy Omosigho charging in on a run fake on third-and-8 and it’s a 32-yard pass completion. Bowen was in man-to-man coverage and didn’t even look at the receiver as the ball was snapped.

OU later gets a third-down stop and forces a Navy punt.

— JH

11:14 a.m.

Oklahoma’s starters on defense:

Downs - Jackson - Halton - Thomas 

Lewis - McKinzie - Omosigho 

E. Bowen - Spears-Jennings - P. Bowen - Malone 

— RC 

11:09 a.m.

Gavin Sawchuk loves playing in bowl games. 

His 9-yard rush earlier on the opening possession was a season long, and then he topped that with a 21-yard touchdown run. 

Hawkins only had to throw three passes, all short and easy, and OU marched 65 yards in 3:27 to open the scoring and take a 7-0 lead. 

Was it the scripted drive? Sure. But Oklahoma’s size advantage up front made everything look smooth. 

Perfect start. 

— RC 

11:06 a.m.

Oklahoma’s starters on offense:

Howland - Ozaeta - Everett - Nwaiwu - Brown 

Carreon - Ragins - Jordan - Roberts

Hawkins Jr. - Sawchuk 

— RC 

11:05 a.m.

Navy’s opening kickoff goes out of bounds. Penalty on the first play. Not what I expected from the Middies.

— JH

11:01 a.m.

Navy won the toss, the Midshipmen deferred to the second half. 

Michael Hawkins Jr. and the OU offense will be up first. 

Let’s football. 

— RC 

10:51 a.m.

It's 58 degrees with a 10 mph south wind at Amon G. Carter Stadium. I'd call that football weather.

— JH

10:23 a.m.

Oklahoma’s offensive line is warming up with how it closed the regular season:

Left to right: Logan Howland, Heath Ozaeta, Troy Everett, Febechi Nwaiwu and Spencer Brown.

— RC

10:17 a.m.

Both of the Jake’s, Taylor and Sexton, are also out, but that is no surprise. So really it’s just Burks missing from the non-portal entrants today. 

— RC 

10:10 a.m.

OU receiver Deion Burks is in street clothes in warmups. He’s a scratch today. 

— RC 

9:30 am

An hour before kickoff, there are no new roster surprises. It’s been rumored that freshman running back Andy Bass — listed fifth on the two-deep and a legit option as an emergency quarterback — suffered a knee injury in practice last week on the scout team. That was confirmed by a source. Bass was playing the role of Navy QB Blake Horvath for the Sooner defense when it happened. 

A source also confirmed that Bass, a preferred walk-on from OKC Heritage Hall, has been placed on scholarship for the upcoming semester.

— JH

Published | Modified
John E. Hoover
JOHN 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.

Share on XFollow johnehoover
Home/Football