Oklahoma-Oregon Observations: LIVE In-Game Alamo Bowl Blog

11:43 p.m.

11:41 p.m.

Final stats:

11:40 p.m.

Stoops gets the Gatorade bath, sees himself on the video board and hits the crowd with a few big OU’s with his arms. Just a walk in the park for the Hall of Famer.

— RC

11:26 p.m.

At the end of that third-down run by Eric Gray, freshman wideout Jalil Farooq got into a shoving match with an Oregon defender. Quarterback Caleb Williams — one of Farooq's best friends growing up — ran around the pileup and pulled Farooq out of the scrum.

More great leadership qualities shown by the Sooner quarterback.

— JH

11:22 p.m.

The real revenge for 2006. Jeremiah Hall recovers an Oregon onside kick without incident.

— RC

11:00 p.m.

Brent Venables was just shown on the video board and the Oklahoma crowd erupted. Safe to say the fans are ready for the new head coach to take over.

— RC

10:55 p.m.

Third-quarter stats

10:52 p.m.

Police have responded to a disturbance — OK, a fight in the stands, conveniently located directly in front of the press box. At least two people were taken away. Couldn't tell who the fans were rooting for or what they were mad about.

Probably an onside kick or replay review, who knows.

— JH

10:49 p.m.

Ethan Downs jumped offside but it didn’t matter. Looks like Woodi Washington just stopped and Anthony Brown probably tossed the easiest 34-yard touchdown of his life. Kris Hutson caught the pass to cap off the 11 play, 76-yard drive.

Sooners up 44-25 with 56 seconds left in the third quarter.

— RC

10:42 p.m.

That drive will be known in the history books as the “Jalil Farooq Drive.” The true freshman wide receiver notches a 30-yard catch and a 23-yard catch after basically outrunning the Oregon secondary.

A pair of touches for Kennedy Brooks finish it off for the Sooners, as Brooks cashes in his third touchdown of the game on an 8-yard rushing touchdown. The Sooners went 75 yards in five plays, only needing 2:13 to extend the lead to 44-18 with 4:49 left in the third quarter.

Since the disjoint opening drive, Cale Gundy is on fire. Seven straight scoring drives, six touchdowns and only one field goal.

— RC

10:35 pm.

D.J. Graham gets beat again vertically, and this time Oregon quarterback Anthony Brown connects with Dont’e Thornton for a 66-yard bomb. The Duck scoring drive lasted just four plays, going 80 yards in 1:30. Sooners lead 37-18 with 7:08 remaining in the third quarter.

— RC

10:34 p.m.

Anthony Brown launches a perfect throw deep down the left sideline to Dont’e Thornton for a 66-yard touchdown. Thornton burned D.J. Graham on a go ball for the second time tonight. The first time, Brown badly overthrew him. This time, the ball was on target, and the Ducks have cut back into the OU lead again, and it’s 37-18 with 7:08 to play in the third quarter.

— JH

10:32 p.m.

The announced attendance for the 2021 Alamo Bowl was 59,121, the 19th most attended contest in Alamo Bowl history.

— RC

10:30 p.m.

Eric Gray set the Sooners up nicely with a 48-yard rush, beating out his 38-yard catch against TCU for Gray’s longest play of the season. A few plays later, Williams finds Gray again in the flat to his left for a 6-yard touchdown. Immediate answer from Oklahoma and the Sooners are back on top 37-11 with 8:38 left in the third quarter.

— RC

10:21 p.m.

Massive impact on the kickoff return as there was a big coming together between multiple bodies at the point of impact.

Key Lawrence left down injured after the play.

— RC

10:18 p.m.

Oregon does what they probably should have been doing all game on the first drive in the second half: feed Travis Dye.

The Duck running back popped a 10-yard and a 33-yard carry on the first two plays of the drive to set Oregon up in plus territory. Oregon then turned to backup Byron Cardwell and the OU defense was able to stop him in his tracks behind the line of scrimmage.

Dye returns and sprints right up the gut for an 11-yard touchdown. Kris Hutson converts the two-point conversion for the Ducks to add some intrigue to the second half.

OU now leads 30-11 with 11:35 remaining in the third quarter.

— RC

9:54 p.m.

Key Lawrence has been talking relentless amounts of trash all game, and he let the Oregon bench have it as they funneled into the locker room at halftime.

Both teams have to use the same tunnel, and while the Sooners waited for the Ducks, the Sooner fans in the south end zone started a big "O-U-O-U" chant which got the players going.

Clearly one team wanted to be in San Antonio and one team is mentally checked out.

— RC

9:50 p.m.

9:49 p.m.

Halftime stats:

9:47 p.m.

Calling the two-minute offense gets really simple when Kennedy Brooks is making defenders look silly. Unreal performance by the Sooner running back in what is likely his last game for the Crimson and Cream, 127 yards on 10 carries in the first half with a couple of touchdowns.

— RC

9:46 p.m.

It's almost halftime and this thing looks over. Kennedy Brooks just carried for 16 and 29 yards — the second one a touchdown that puts Oklahoma up 30-3 — in the two-minute drill. That was way too easy.

— JH

9:43 p.m.

Here’s the difference between interim coaches Bryan McClendon and Bob Stoops.

McClendon burned two timeouts in the first quarter for really no reason. Stoops has all three in his back pocket for the two-minute drill.

— RC

9:41 p.m.

Only took one half, but the Sooners made Oregon quit (not that the Ducks really looked that energized to start with). Ducks showing frustration after failed fourth down attempt, a little pushing and shoving match between a couple of receivers and Turner-Yell and Broiles after the play.

— RC

9:31 p.m.

The Sooners have taken command thanks to Caleb Williams’ 55-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Mims. Mims got WAY behind the defense on a deep post and Williams executed what looked like an RPO (might have been a simple play-action), and Williams put the ball on the button.

OU leads it 23-3, 4:00 til halftime.

Well-called first half by Cale Gundy.

— JH

9:26 p.m.

Well this drive started interestingly: Jalil Farooq catches a short pass and pushes the pile for 11 yards and a first down, and on the next play, Marcus Major powers through a couple tackles for a 9-yard gain. Major pounds ahead again on second-and-1, but it’s called back by a holding penalty.

That’s more action than those guys have gotten at this stage of a game all season.

— JH

9:24 p.m.

Justin Broiles has played really well in this first half. Perhaps his fear of the dolphins at SeaWorld lit a fire under him?

— RC

9:17 p.m.

Caleb Williams throws a perfect fade pass to none other than Drake Stoops for a touchdown that puts the Sooners up 16-3 with 10:29 until halftime.

Fans started chanting “STOOOPS” while Williams’ throw was in the air, and of course, they stood and cheered as Bob Stoops and Drake Stoops both rushed over to give him a huge hug.

Cool moment for the Stoops family.

— JH

9:12 p.m.

Anthony Brown is 4-of-9 for 30 yards and Oregon must punt again. Mario Williams does something you didn’t see much of under Lincoln Riley: returns the punt. And hey, look at that, he actually breaks a 24-yarder, the longest of the season for OU.

— JH

9:11 p.m.

The youth have arrived on this defensive drive.

Clayton Smith, Ethan Downs, Jordan Kelley and Kelvin Gilliam played on the line, Danny Stutsman and Shane Whitter at linebacker and Billy Bowman played nickel. Some really fascinating lineup combinations so far in the Alamo Bowl.

— RC

9:04 p.m.

The personal foul penalty that left Mario Williams helmetless on his way to what should have been a 51-yard touchdown pass costs the Sooners points. The OU offense is assessed a holding penalty after the 18-yard completion, and then gains 1 more yard before Gabe Brkic kicks a 40-yard field goal to make it 9-3, 13:15 second quarter.

I get the need for stoppage of play when a player's helmet comes off. It's all about safety. But there ought to be some discretion added to that rule. There was no one within 25 yards of Williams. That rule needs to be amended to consider when a player is in no threat of being tackled.

— JH

9:01 p.m.

Ask and you shall receive. Oregon loads up all 11 players in the box and Caleb Williams hits Mario Williams for a 16-yard strike over the middle of the field. Mario Williams’ helmet got ripped off though and it ended up costing OU a touchdown because the ball carrier can’t advance the ball. Incredibly dumb rule. Why not just rip off a player’s helmet if you’re going to get beat otherwise?

— RC

9:00 p.m.

Plenty of checking down from Caleb Williams in the first quarter. No completions over 10 yards in the first quarter, with four of his six completions going for under five yards. Not necessarily holding the ball too long, but needs to test the Duck secondary downfield at some point. Still plenty of time though, and getting Kennedy Brooks going on the ground will help loosen things up further down the field.

— RC

8:58 p.m.

First-quarter stats:

8:55 p.m.

Another cool wrinkle Cale Gundy has added: running back Eric Gray lining up wide, coming in motion in front of the formation, then circling around behind. Drake Stoops and Mario Williams have done that this year, but that’s the first time we’ve seen Gray do it.

Alas, no play: Oregon was offsides.

Sooners lead Ducks 6-3 at the end of the first quarter.

— JH

8:51 p.m.

Right after I post about Oregon’s offensive line dominating up front, the Sooner d-line makes back-to-back plays in the Ducks’ backfield. The Sooners force an Oregon field goal.

I know one future Oklahoma coach (and his strength coach) who’s pretty impressed.

OU leads Oregon 6-3 with 1:57 to play in the first quarter.

— JH

8:50 p.m.

Brent Venables and Jerry Schmidt watching the game from the sideline near the north end zone. Been trying to watch Venables’ reaction to the defensive series, but his poker face has been pretty solid so far.

— RC

8:46 p.m.

I know it’s early, but gosh the Oregon offensive line looks physical. Very impressive blocking up front for Travis Dye, right into the heart of the OU defense.

Oregon probably ought to consider not throwing it again tonight.

— JH

8:43 p.m.

On the Sooners’ second defensive series, all the starters are back in except a line change on the defensive line — all backups. Two series in, and Alex Grinch’s odd substitution patterns are alive and well. I get the idea of keeping the big guys fresh, but it’s awful early.

— JH

8:40 p.m.

Oregon’s defense started the game off doing a nice job continuing OU’s running backs until they didn’t. Other than Caleb Williams’ scramble, had held the backs under 3 yards on each of their first three carries, and then Brooks pops off a 10-yard rush and a 16-yard touchdown run on back to back carries. Like riding a bike for the Sooner run game. But then Brkic misses his first career PAT. Can’t win ‘em all, I guess.

— RC

8:39 p.m.

Do we credit Ty Darlington for coaching Caleb Williams into taking the checkdown? All five of his completions on these first two drives were to the running back, and four of those were check downs.

Maybe all he needed was a little coaching.

It’s a joke, folks.

Anyway, Kennedy Brooks carries the final three plays on the Sooners’ first scoring drive, including the last 16 yards for the touchdown, and OU leads Oregon 6-0, 7:56 left in the first quarter.

By the way, that's Gabe Brkic's first career missed extra point.

— JH

8:35 p.m.

Out of the timeout, Caleb Williams (from the shotgun) dumps a short pass over the middle to Jeremiah Hall for the first down. Sooners are marching.

— JH

8:30 p.m.

One Cale Gundy-type wrinkle we’ve seen early is both Eric Gray and Kennedy Brooks in the backfield together. The Sooners did that some during the season, but it’s been an early feature so far.

Then, on fourth down, Gundy puts Caleb Williams under center, forcing Oregon into a timeout with 10:31 on the clock.

— JH

8:26 p.m.

Oregon starts fast with a defensive three-and-out that included a big hit on third down, then Travis Dye pops a 23-yard run.

But the first big play belongs to the Sooners when Justin Broiles intercepts an Anthony Brown throw and returns it to nearly midfield. The throw looked behind the receiver and was tipped into the air.

— JH

8:26 p.m.

Defensive starters were a little less surprising:

Reggie Grimes - Josh Ellison - Jalen Redmond - Marcus Stripling

David Ugwoegbu - DaShaun White

Woodi Washington - Justin Broiles (Nickel) - Pat Fields - Delarrin Turner-Yell - D.J. Graham

— RC

8:23 p.m.

Interesting group started the game for the OU offense, went three-and-out:

Erik Swenson - Marquis Hayes - Robert Congel - Chris Murray - Tyrese Robinson

Michael Woods - Mario Williams

Brayden Willis - Jeremiah Hall - Eric Gray - Caleb Williams

— RC

8:21 p.m.

Oklahoma starts Robert Congel at center and Erik Swenson at left tackle. Eric Gray at running back instead of Kennedy Brooks. Everybody else is pretty much the same.

— JH

8:18 p.m.

Really cool to see Caleb Kelly walk out with his teammates and then stand at midfield for the coin toss. Really wish for him he could play one more game.

— JH

8:15 p.m

It appears Caleb Williams is wearing a Sooner uniform tonight.

7:58 p.m.

Forgot to mention: Oklahoma’s pregame hype video focused — as it should — on the return of Bob Stoops. It was pretty cool, and OU’s multimedia team remains undefeated.

— JH

7:55 p.m.

Oklahoma’s next coach — Brent Venables — is on the sideline and just got done visiting with athletic director Joe Castiglione.

— JH

#Sooners coach Brent Venables talking with Joe Castiglione before the Alamo Bowl pic.twitter.com/qKn50rvshz
— Ryan Aber (@ryaber) December 30, 2021

7:50 p.m.

Now I can only see the lower bowl of the Alamodome, but Oklahoma fans may legitimately outnumber Oregon fans 85-15 tonight. Don’t know if they’re snowed in or just disappointed, but the Ducks did not make the trip south.

— RC

7:33 p.m.

During the traditional pregame stretching, Bob Stoops began his usual ritual of high-fiving every player on the field.

Just when Stoops got to the wide receiver group, where his son Drake Stoops was at the front of the line, the stadium PA began playing “My Hero” from Foo Fighters.

Great point by @johnehoover.

“There Goes My Hero” bumping during the Bob Stoops pregame handshake walk just hits a bit different pic.twitter.com/ylb4Y8f9oW
— Ryan Chapman (@_RyanChapman) December 30, 2021

— JH

7:30 p.m.

Bob Stoops took the field about 20 minutes ago and the pro-OU crowd didn’t quite know whether to simply cheer or serenade him with the “STOOPS!” chant. Either way, the newly minted College Football Hall of Famer soaked it in, waving to the Sooners fans who have swarmed the Alamo Dome.

— RC