Oklahoma TE Rocky Beers’ Big Plays Outweighed His Miscues vs. Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, MS — Rocky Beers had a couple of low moments in Oklahoma’s game against Mississippi State on Saturday.

But Beers’ big plays outshined his lowlights.

Beers, a sixth-year tight end playing his first season at Oklahoma, caught four passes for 66 yards and a touchdown as the Sooners defeated the Bulldogs 23-15.

His final catch went for 13 yards and a first down with 1:06 left in the game. Mississippi State had no timeouts left to use, and quarterback John Mateer took a knee to seal OU’s eight-point win.

A conservative coach would have run the ball on the third-and-11 that OU faced in the final two minutes. But offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle had the utmost trust in Mateer and Beers to move the chains and ice the game.

“I thought about just winning the game, you know?” Arbuckle said. “Just knowing how aggressive that DC can be in certain situations … gave an option for John to get the ball to one of our best players. He and Rocky made the play.”

OU led 10-0 at halftime, and Beers helped extend the Sooners’ lead shortly into the second half.

On the third play of the third quarter, Mateer hit a wide-open Beers in stride in the middle of the field for a 32-yard touchdown. That score made it a three-score game, and fans started to slowly trickle out of the stadium afterward.

But later in the quarter, Beers logged a few plays that were uncharacteristic of the veteran tight end.

Beers attempted to hurdle a MSU defender near the OU sideline on the Sooners’ second drive, but Bulldogs safety Jardin Gilbert forced him to fumble. Mississippi State’s Kendel Dolby was there to recover the loose ball, and the Bulldogs scored on their ensuing drive.

On the next drive, Mateer found a wide-open Beers in the end zone for what should have been his second touchdown. But Gilbert stripped the ball from his hands after he had seemingly completed the catch. The officials determined that he did not have control of the ball, meaning that the Sooners would have to settle for a field goal instead of a touchdown.

Beers made no excuses for either of those forgettable plays.

“I shouldn’t have tried to jump over that guy,” Beers said. “I should have run out of bounds. I should have secured the ball in the end zone.”

Beers’ decision to take accountability for his miscues paid off. He was there to make the win-clinching catch in the final two minutes.

Even with his fumble and his drop in the end zone, Beers did much more to help his team than to hurt it, per Arbuckle.

“I ain’t mad at him,” Arbuckle said.

Beers was one of several standouts on Oklahoma’s offense on Saturday. The Sooners logged 467 offensive yards, their most in a conference game since joining the SEC, and Beers’ fumble marked OU’s only turnover.

Beers said that he plans to “learn from” his mistakes against Mississippi State. But he believes that there is plenty for him and his teammates to build on from their performance in Starkville.

“Gain some confidence going into Monday and then just continue to work hard, Monday through Thursday,” Beers said. “I thought everybody was just executing their job at a higher level today.”

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