Oklahoma-Ole Miss Video Review: The Sooners Showed Life, and Then Wilted

OU lost 26-14 in Oxford on Saturday, but led 14-10 at halftime before the offensive line imploded and the Rebels flexed their muscles.
Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jackson Arnold
Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jackson Arnold / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
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There was a glimmer of hope in Mississippi. A moment of new life for Oklahoma.

Ultimately, it was another double-digit loss — OU’s third in a row, and that hasn’t happened … say it together … since 1998.

The Sooners’ 26-14 loss to the No. 18-ranked Rebels was not what they wanted out of the week. Lane Kiffin’s squad was coming off a bye week and OU was a 20-point underdog. 

But firing Seth Littrell as offensive coordinator sure looked like the right move after OU posted an SEC season-high 329 yards total offense. The Sooners scored two offensive touchdowns in the first half and that hasn’t happened since non-conference play. 

New play-caller Joe Jon Finley acquitted himself well with four drives of 60 yards or more, and five possessions that lasted at least eight plays, and new quarterbacks coach Kevin Johns seemed to have a good grasp on how to elevate Jackson Arnold’s play, as Arnold had his best game since early September despite somehow enduring a new program record 10 quarterback sacks (topping last week’s mark against South Carolina).

The Oklahoma defense wasn’t bad and had a tremendous day stopping the Ole Miss run (69 yards, 2.2 per rush), but simply couldn’t hold up against Jaxson Dart and the Ole Miss passing game — even though the Rebels were missing the nation’s leader in receiving yards, Tre Harris.

Now OU turns its attention to Saturday’s home game against Maine before heading to Missouri next week. The Sooners are 4-4 overall and 1-4 in SEC play, and need to win two more games to extend the nation’s second-longest bowl streak (25).

Here’s Sooners On SI’s video review of the Ole Miss game.

FIRST QUARTER

OU comes out in a four-man front with one high safety, and Jaxson Dart immediately lobs a pass to tight end Caden Prieskorn for a 16-yard gain. It’ll be a common theme. Henry Harris is dumped for a 1-yard loss by Kip Lewis. On second-and-11, Dart hits tight end Dae’Quan Wright up the right sideline behind Lewis in coverage. Damonic Williams goes down with an “injury” — another recurring theme for the Oklahoma defense. Faking injuries is an effective way to slow down the Ole Miss tempo, but it’s really just ugly football and reeks of desperation. Billy Bowman gets called for a facemask as he’s taking down Parrish for a short gain, setting up the Rebs with first and 10 at the 11. The direct snap to Parrish is well defended for a gain of 2 as the Sooners gang-tackle him at the sideline. On second-and-8, the OU coaching staff gets the call in late and the defense isn’t lined up at the snap — yeet another recurring theme for the Sooners. Parrish cuts inside Danny Stutsman’s tackle attempt at the line of scrimmage and runs over Dasan McCullough and Eli Bowman at the goal line. 

Billy Bowman’s kickoff return ends with a head-over-heels flip, but he gains 24 yards and he’s OK. Arnold keeps up the middle for 8 as OU pulls two blockers around from the left side and lines up quickly, but on second-and-2, Arnold gets immediate pressure and throws it away, and Ole Miss gets hit with a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty on Jared Ivey, who grabbed Arnold around the neck and slung him down. Jovantae Barnes gets 5 yards behind a bunch formation and a pulling Michael Tarquin, and on second-and-5, Arnold slips a flat throw to Bauer Sharp out of the backfield — a new play this season — and Sharp gains 20 yards. Now it’s first-and-10 at the Ole Miss 28, and OU is trying to go tempo, but center official Eddie Allbritton stops play to allow the Rebels to sub on defense — even though Oklahoma didn’t sub on offense. It’s a gross misapplication of the substitution rules, but Oklahoma coaches don’t seen to be complaining. Still, 20 seconds run off the clock and Ole Miss is allowed to bring in a defensive lineman, who beats his man and stuffs Barnes for a loss of 2. But two plays later, the exact same thing happens again. After Arnold scrambles for a 9-yard gain, OU tries to run tempo to catch Ole Miss in a personnel mismatch, but as the Sooners are lined up and Arnold is signaling for the snap, Allbritton rushes in to stop play with 32 seconds on the play clock so Ole Miss can sub on defense. Head referee David Smith announces, “The officials did not stop the play for the substitution process,” which makes zero sense because that’s exactly what they did. The ESPN crew is clueless, thinking that Oklahoma’s offense subbed, even though they clearly did not. The OU coaching staff seems bewildered, but Brent Venables isn’t complaining. Venables either needs to be more assertive that he’s not substituting, or just more dialed into what the offense is doing. Arnold’s pocket is clean, but he can’t find anyone open so he pulls it down and scrambles for 10 yards. This is where you’d like to see a little more effort out of Arnold, who slid down and gave himself up at the 11, rather than staying in bounds and fighting for more yards to at least the 5-yard line. Now it’s a full-house backfield with two tight ends flanking Arnold and Barnes smashing the handoff up the middle for 2 yards. On second-and-8, Taylor Tatum motions behind Arnold, then counters back and takes the handoff up the middle for 6 yards. More tempo, but on third-and-2 from the 3, Tatum gets stoned at the 2. Brent Venables tells me after the game that he wanted to be aggressive here, and it’s probably the right call to go for it instead of kicking a chip-shot field goal. But the Sooners come away with an empty possession on another first-time call: Arnold takes the snap and half-heartedly fakes like he’s going to keep it, then pops up and rifles a pass into traffic to either Bauer Sharp or Brenen Thompson, and it’s incomplete. Sharp’s route was stuffed at the line, and Thompson had a defender draped all over him in the end zone, so the only chance the play had of working was if Arnold ad-libbed and kept it to the outside. 

R Mason Thomas gets too far upfield and allows Parrish a 6-yard gain coming off the goal line, but Gracen Halton smothers Parrish for a 2-yard gain. Dart’s third-down swing pass to Wright is high and off Wright’s hands, and the Rebs have to punt.

OU takes over at the 40, and Arnold’s rollout throw to Thompson is broken up. Arnold starts in an empty backfield but two players motion in as Arnold keeps up the middle for a gain of 4. Zion Kearney is in at wide receiver, and on third down, Arnold finds Sharp at the sticks for a 6-yard gain. Barnes’ 3-yard rush is wiped out by a holding penalty against Jacob Sexton, and things get sideways with a first-and-20 upcoming. Sharp runs out and comes back in to catch a middle screen from Arnold for a gain of 7. On second-and-13, Arnold motions Jacob Jordan across the formation and has a clean pocket when he drops a short throw across the middle to Barnes for 7 more. On third-and-6, Arnold rolls right and tries to lob a deep ball to Jordan, but it’s incomplete. The stop is negated, however, as blitzing linebacker Chris Paul grabs Arnold with an illegal horse collar tackle and gives OU a first down. On first down, Arnold hands to Barnes, who tosses to Thompson on a reverse. Thompson gets hit but rights himself and throws to the end zone, where Zion Ragins is covered. Thompson’s facemask is grabbed by J.J. Pegues, however, and OU gets another first down. It’s now first-and-10 from the Ole Miss 16, and Arnold floats a pass to Taylor Tatum on a wheel rout, but Trey Amos intercepts the football out of bounds. On second down, Tatum takes a direct snap as Arnold scoots to his right like he’s taking a pitch — another new play. Tatum keeps to the left for 5 yards, and color commentator Louis Riddick says, “This is really good, creative play-calling on the part of Oklahoma. They’re pulling out all the stops, all different types of ball handling. … They’re giving Ole Miss a lot to think about.” On third-and-5, Sharp works his way through traffic, creates some separation with a subtle push and drifts wide open to the back of the end zone, where Arnold steps up in the pocket and hits him for a touchdown as Sharp executes a deft toe-tap on the end line. OU has benefitted from two big defensive penalties by the Rebs, but the Sooners have 134 yards total offense on 18 plays and nine minutes off the clock, while Ole Miss has 83 yards on nine plays in just 3:36 of possession time.

Kip Lewis drops Ulysses Bentley for a gain of 3, and on second down Dart can’t connect down the left sideline with motion man Prieskorn as cheetah linebacker Trace Ford has him well covered. Dart checks down to Prieskorn over the middle, and Robert Spears-Jennings can’t keep him from the first down. Ole Miss tries tempo, but this time it’s Halton who goes down with a fake injury. Now, thanks to the subterfuge, the highlight of the game happens: a squirrel has been spotted at the 17-yard line. The squirrel eventually breaks away from pursuit and bounds dramatically into the end zone, but his celebration is cut short as he apparently needs to get back home, and he disappears under the stadium as the crowd cheers. Caiden Woullard applies some pressure from the right and Thomas hits him clean from the left as the pass falls incomplete. On second-and-10, Jayden Jackson bats Dart’s throw incomplete. On third down, OU brings more pressure with Stutsman twisting up the middle as Dart throws high and incomplete. On fourth down, Peyton Bowen gets crunched on the punt return by Chris Graves, who’s initially called for targeting. But the targeting foul is picked up and it’s OU’s Jaren Kanak who’s called for holding. Upon viewing multiple replays, the broadcast crew is in agreement that it looks like targeting, but the officiating crew apparently saw something else and there is no targeting foul as Graves is allowed to stay in the game.

From the OU 10-yard line, Barnes hammers up the middle twice for 8 yards as the quarter comes to an end.

SECOND QUARTER

On third-and-2, Barnes gets thumped in the backfield, but he runs through the contact, spins away and bursts upfield for a 2-yard run and a first down. Arnold scrambles away from pressure and slides down for a gain of 7, and on second-and-3, Barnes slashes through traffic and plows ahead for a 13-yard run. But it’s a costly play as left tackle Jacob Sexton gets his right ankle rolled up on by an Ole Miss defender. With Logan Howland now at left tackle, Barnes takes a handoff and sweeps to the right for a gain of 4. Arnold hasn’t been sacked yet today, but that changes on second-and-6 as Howland whiffs on Princely Umanmielen and Arnold is dropped for a 7-yard loss. On third-and-13, Barnes takes the handoff up the middle for 5 yards, but the Sooners are finally forced to punt. Luke Elzinga’s 38-yard punt is muffed by Micah Davis, but is recovered by Graves — the player who was allowed to stay in the game after officials changed their targeting call on the last punt. The ball was nearly recovered by OU’s Jaydan Hardy, but he can only get his right hand on it as he falls to the ground.

Parrish goes nowhere on first down as Halton slams him down for a gain of 1. Dart throws wide for a gain of 4, and on third-and-5, Dart finds Clayton Lee on an over route in front of Billy Bowman for a gain of 28 yards. Ole Miss’ tempo catches OU in a soft zone coverage, and Jordan Watkins turns out for a 17-yard catch in front of Dez Malone. Dart strikes to Juice Wells for 5 yards, and Wells stiff-arms Eli Bowen to the ground. After Parrish gets a first down with a 6-yard power run into the heart of the OU defense, he then takes a direct snap and slams ahead for 4. On second-and-6, Benley gets 5 yards when he pops outside, but Stutsman and Woodi Washington drop him short of the marker. On third-and-1, Bentley runs power up the middle, but there’s nowhere to go and as he tries to back out of trouble, Stutsman and Kobie McKinzie drop him for a loss of 2. After Ole Miss thinks about going for it, Lane Kiffin calls timeout and opts for a 35-yard field goal rom Caden Davis as Ole Miss takes a 10-7 lead.

After spending the last two drives in the injury tent, Jacob Sexton is back at right tackle and looks OK. On first down, with three receivers wide to the right, Arnold fakes a handoff to Taylor Tatum, who gets obliterated in the backfield, and keeps it off right tackle for a gain of 6. Arnold reads the zone to the right and keeps to the left for a gain of 3. But it’s another costly play as right guard Febechi Nwaiwu rolls into Sexton’s right leg — his knee this time — and sends Sexton to the sideline for the rest of the game. Arnold looks frustratingly to the sky as Sexton struggles to get to his feet and is helped off the field by the medical team. With Howland back at left tackle, Tatum hits a hole created by Howland’s kickoff block — but then fumbles at the end of a 14-yard run. Chris Paul scoops it up and tries to run, but OU wideout J.J. Hester comes in and puts his shoulder on the football, jarring it loose. Hester then scrambles to recover the loose ball and save the Sooners’ possession. “The way this season has gone for Oklahoma, that could be a game-saving play by J.J. Hester,” says play-by-play man Bob Wischusen. Only, that momentum is wasted when OU slide protects to the right and tries to pull Nwaiwu across the formation to block Jared Ivey, but Nwaiwu’s pull is disrupted when Howland is blown backward into his path. That allows Ivey to come unblocked into the backfield, where he slams into Arnold and Tatum, dislodges the football and recovers at the OU 37. The play isn’t only poorly blocked, but it’s poorly conceived, betting that a 6-3, 340-pound guard can pull across the formation and form a shield before a 6-6, 284-pound edge rusher can get to the quarterback untouched. 

Ole Miss takes over with 6:03 on the clock, and Dart scrambles into contact for an 8-yard gain. Bentley gets stuffed by Jayden Jackson for no gain on second down. On third-and-2, after an Ole Miss timeout, Pegues runs up the middle and gets dropped for a loss by Halton and Lewis Carter — but Stutsman is flagged 15 yards for what looks like incidental contact on Pegues’ facemask. From the 14, Dart hits Wright on a rollout for 7 yards, but Bentley gets dropped for a loss of 1 as Kip Lewis and Ethan Downs get him to the ground. Dart scrambles for 3 yards to the right side as Stutsman scares him into a slide short of the first down. Ole Miss calls timeout again, then on fourth down Dart tosses a reverse to Wells to the right side, but Downs and Kip Lewis force him back inside, where Stutsman and McKinzie bring him down for a loss of 3. 

OU takes over at the 8 yards like with 2:40 on the clock and the Sooners are about to embark on their best offensive possession of the season. Arnold rolls right looking for a receiver, but keeps for a gain of 3. Arnold checks down to Barnes on a swing pass to the left, and Barnes cuts it up through contact for a 12-yard gain. After the 2-minute timeout, Arnold has a clean pocket and time to throw, but he takes off around the left edge  for 12 yards as Kiffin and Ole Miss fans scream for an obvious holding call on Howland. Barnes takes it up the middle behind a thunderous lead block from Sharp for 12 more yards, but on first down can only pick up 2. On second-and-8, Arnold checks down to Barnes on a swing pass to the right, and Barnes jukes one defender and squirts forward for a gain of 19. From the Ole Miss 32, Arnold scrambles to his left for a 4-yard pickup to the sideline. Arnold finally connects with Jordan from the left slot for a quick out that gets 5 yards. On third-and-1, Tatum bursts up the middle behind Tarquin and Nwaiwu for 5 yards, and OU calls timeout with 40 seconds left. Out of the timeout, Arnold connects again with Jordan on a slant over the middle for 14 yards to the OU 5. Barnes gets lassoed for a loss of 1, and after OU calls its second timeout, Arnold tries a variation of the earlier fake-run and pop-pass, but this time he scrambles right and gets sacked by Suntarine Perkins at the 9 with 20 seconds left. On third-and-9, Arnold gets immediate pressure, steps up in the pocket, gets his undershirt grabbed and spins out of the grasp of Umanmielen, rolls right and finds Jordan in the front corner of the end zone after Jordan had come all the way across from the left side of the field. Oklahoma takes a 14-10 lead on Zach Schmit’s PAT — its first lead in SEC play since the fourth quarter of the Auburn game on Sept. 28.

THIRD QUARTER

OU won the coin toss and then scored on a late touchdown, so the Sooners have all the momentum going into the third quarter — and a chance to actually create a little separation. But that momentum is quickly extinguished as OU goes three-and-out. Barnes has nowhere to go on first down and is held to 2 yards, and Arnold keeps up the middle for 4 yards — and nearly breaks it big. But then on third-and-4, the Sooners’ never-ending stream of mistakes through the first half of the season finally crop up in Oxford. Sharp commits a false-start penalty to make it third-and-9, and when Arnold hits Sharp with a short throw across the middle, Sharp drops the football, forcing a punt.

Kiffin and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. come out of halftime with a plan, and the Rebs execute. After a 13-yard punt return by Micah Davis, Dart starts the possession with a 20-yard completion to Cayden Lee between Spears-Jennings and Eli Bowen to the OU 45. Parrish picks up 3 and Dart escapes pressure from Jayden Jackson and slides for a gain of 6, and on third-and-1, Dart keeps right on a speed option for 2 yards. Dart then scrambles and hits Watkins for 14 yards, but that play is negated by a holding penalty against Diego Pounds. On first-and-20, Dart finds Lee for 13 in front of Woodi Washington. Parrish gets just 2 as he’s stuffed by Stutsman, Halton and Da’Jon Terry. Then on third-and-5, Parrish runs into a light box and drags the OU defense for 5 yards to a first down. Then, a gut punch: Dart fakes a screen to the right, then finds Prieskorn wide open over the middle for a 24-yard touchdown. Davis’ PAT hits the left upright, and Ole Miss led 16-14 with 9:34 left in the quarter.

A holding penalty on the kickoff return by Lewis Carter sets up the Sooners at their own 10-yard line. Arnold keeps up the middle and spins forward for a gain of 7, but Tarquin can’t hold the edge on a toss sweep to Tatum and it goes for no gain. On third-and-3, Arnold throws over the middle to Sharp, but he doesn’t secure the catch as Trey Washington separates him from the football, bringing on Luke Elzinga for another punt.

Dart starts the drive with a 12-yard hookup to Wright over the middle in front of Stutsman. Thomas and Caiden Woullard pressure Dart, but Dart gets away to flip a completion for 6 yards to Parrish. But replay shows that Woullard got Dart to the ground before he let loose the pass, so it’s a 4-yard loss. Dart’s deep throw down the right sideline to Watkins on second down is incomplete, setting up third-and-14. That’s when Dart avoids pressure in the pocket, leaks out to the right and, just as Stutsman and McCullough wrap him up, floats a pass to Davis behind Kani Walker for a 26-yard pickup and a back-breaking first down for the Sooner defense. From the OU 49, Dart finds Prieskorn again wide open over the middle — in front of Thomas in coverage this time — and then Dart and Watkins get Walker to bite on a jab-step to the inside as Watkins releases uncontested up the left sideline for a 34-yard completion to the 1. At first it’s a touchdown, but replay shows Sammy Omosigho came over from the center of the field and got Watkins down before he reached the goal line. On first-and-goal, Pegues lines up behind a jumbo formation and spins out of a tackle by Trace Ford and stretches through the OU defense for a 1-yard TD run. After Davis’ PAT, Ole Miss now leads 23-14 — an outcomes that feels very much final.

With three wides to the left, Barnes slashes behind Howland and Heath Ozaeta for 8 yards. On second own, Arnold gets good protection and unloads a deep ball for Thompson, who ran a double move up the middle, but can’t adjust to the throw. On third-and-2, Barnes hits it off right tackle for a gain of 5. Tatum takes a direct snap and tries to get outside to the left, but can only pick up 2 yards. That’s 153 on the ground for the Sooners against a defense that leads the nation by allowing only 66 yards per game. On second-and-8, Ozaeta is flagged for holding behind a handoff to Tatum. On second-and-8, Finley makes his first oddball call: an inside screen to Sharp, who decides to run backward and tries to outrun the entire Ole Miss defense, but ends up with an 8-yard loss. On third-and-26, Arnold gets pressured and his only play is a dump off to Sharp, who gets wrapped up for a 3-yard gain. Elzinga’s punt gives Ole Miss the football at its own 33 with 1:53 on the clock.

Kip Lewis doesn’t let Parrish go anywhere on a 1-yard run off right tackle. But on second-and-9, Wells beats Malone deep down the right sideline for a 34-yard completion and Dart hits him with a safe throw. Dart throws quickly to Parrish on the left side, but McCullough extends and brings him down for a loss of 2. On the final play of the period, Dart rolls right and executes a throwback screen to Prieskorn for a 10-yard gain over the middle.

FOURTH QUARTER

On third-and-2, Dart-to-Prieskorn falls incomplete as Thomas hits Dart before he can release the throw. On fourth down, Davis knocks through a 42-yard field goal, and Ole Miss takes a 12-point lead.

Arnold opens the next drive with a late throw to Ivan Carreon, but it’s deflected away and ends up in Jake Roberts’ hands for an 8-yard completion. Then, another odd play as Arnold takes the snap, looks back at Barnes and fakes a throw, then rolls right and releases a short throw to Jordan dragging across the middle — a poorly timed play that nets a 3-yard loss as Chris Paul is all over Jordan. On third-and-5, in a tight formation from the right hashmark, Arnold scrambles away from danger but only picks up 2 yards. It’s fourth-and-3, and Brent Venables has the offense on the field in an apparent attempt to go for it from their own 32. But Venables burns a timeout as the play clock winds down, then comes back from the timeout and plays it safe with a punt. It’s a curiously cautious decision by Venables that is questioned and even derided as his team faces a 12-point deficit with 12:55 to play. Much of the criticism comes from the uncertainty Venables showed in arriving at his decision, rather than knowing right away what he wanted to do.

It turns out to be the right decision as Oklahoma’s defense forces another three-and-out as Woullard chases down Lee for a 2-yard loss on first down, Terry and Stutsman chase down Dart for a gain of 8 on second down, and Dart throws it away on third down thanks to an all-out blitz by Venables and Zac Alley and a heavy pressure by Stutsman. Dart somehow isn’t penalized for intentional grounding as he’s in the pocket, doesn’t get the ball to the line of scrimmage and doesn’t have a receiver anywhere in the area. The Rebels’ reward for another favorable officiating call is a punt by Fraser Masin that bounces out of bounds at the OU 2-yard line.

From deep in his end zone, Arnold rolls right and finds Jordan for a gain of 8. On second down, Arnold play-actions to Barnes, then drops a swing pass to Barnes for 15 yards up the right sideline. Thompson gets free down the left sideline, but Arnold, perhaps not trusting his protection, throws a short curl route to Jordan but leads him too much. Barnes gets another check down and gains 4 yards, and on third-and-6, Arnold throws a quick-hitch to Jordan to pick up 5. On fourth-and-1, Venables doesn’t hesitate this time from the OU 34 as Arnold hands off to Barnes, who slams ahead for a 2-yard gain. On first down, Tatum gets 3 yards, and on second-and-7, Arnold dumps it Sharp, who comes off a pass block, for a pickup of 9. Thompson again gets free deep, but Arnold goes to J.J. Hester over the middle for a 19-yard gain to the Ole Miss 33. OU sends three receivers deep from a trips left formation, and Arnold scrambles away before throwing an overhand lateral to Tatum for a 6-yard gain. That play is added to when Paul is flagged 14 yards for a late-hit out of bounds to the Ole Miss 13-yard line. Arnold a quick hitch lateral left to Sharp — a converted quarterback at Southeastern Louisiana — for a double pass. But there’s only one receiver in the route, and he’s covered, so Sharp eats it and takes a 1-yard loss. On second-and-11, Arnold tries to take off on a QB delay, but he’s thrown for a 4-yard loss. On third-and-15, Arnold is sacked by Pegues for a 6-yard loss, but a penalty flag comes out and Ole Miss gets a “sideline warning” for having coaching and players on the field. A warning isn’t an actual penalty, but in today’s game, it’s the second time the Rebels have been warned. The second sideline infraction should be a 5-yard penalty, but the Rebels skate by again — and no one on the Oklahoma sideline has the awareness to remind the officials that it should be a penalty instead of a warning. It probably wouldn’t matter as instead of fourth-and-16, OU now faces a fourth-and-21. But on that fourth-and-21, Arnold is sacked again by Umanmielen, who blows past Howland for a loss of 6.

Ole Miss fans start a chant of “S-E-C! S-E-C!” just to remind the visitors what conference they’re playing in now. Jayden Jackson drops Dart for no gain, and Ford takes down Henry for a gain of 3 before Venables calls his second timeout with 4:42 to play. Dart’s third-down throw to Watkins picks up for before Malone stops it short, and Masin punts it away.

Peyton Bowen breaks his return 24 yards up the middle and OU takes over at its own 40 with 3:52 left. Arnold throws incomplete to Hester on first down, and on second down, Arnold finds Sharp for 5 yards on the right sideline. On third-and-5, Perkins blows past Howland to sack Arnold for a loss of 6, and on fourth-and-11, Akelo Stone breaks free past Troy Everett and drops Arnold for a loss of 8.

Ole Miss gets the ball at the OU 31 with 2:43 to play, and after Dart keeps for a yard, Venables burns the Sooners’ final timeout. Dart’s throw to Wells is cut down by Bowman and McCullough for no gain. After the 2-minute timeout, Parrish gets stoned for a loss of 2 by Bowman and Thomas. After an Ole Miss timeout, Dart’s fourth-and-11 throw to Parrish gains only 5 and OU gets the ball back one more time.

With the clock at 1:07, the Sooners have almost no chance. But Arnold and the offense gives it a try as he checks down to Sam Franklin for 7 yards on first down and Pegues is flagged for roughing the passer. But Arnold is sacked by Perkins for a loss of 3, and then he’s brought down for a loss of 9 by Pegues, who bullrushes past Ozaeta. Arnold then throws incomplete to Jake Roberts on third-and-22, and he scrambles for a first down on a gain of 24 as the game clock mercifully expires.


Published
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.