All Sooners

Oklahoma-UCF Observations: LIVE In-Game Blog

John Hoover, Ryan Chapman and Tim Willert offer their real-time observations from Norman as No. 6 Oklahoma takes on the UCF Knights for the first time in program history.
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Oklahoma-UCF Observations: LIVE In-Game Blog
Oklahoma-UCF Observations: LIVE In-Game Blog

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Oklahoma Sooners

NORMAN — AllSooners offers real-time observations throughout today's contest at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium as the No. 6-ranked Sooners return from the bye week to meet the UCF Knights for the first time ever. Newest posts are at the top. Just keep your browser open and refresh often.

2:30 p.m.

Two incomplete passes by Plumlee brings up third-and-10 at the OU 12. Plumlee finds Javon Baker in the corner of the end zone for a TD, but CB Kendel Dolby spoils the try for two to tie the game with a tackle of Xavier Townsend. OU recovers the onside kick and the Sooners will take a knee. OU overcomes 23-17 deficit to remain undefeated. Final score: 31-29.

— TW

2:27 p.m.

UCF facing third-and-15 from its own 30 with 1:58 left, but Plumlee finds TE Randy Pittman over the middle for 49 yards and a first down at the OU 31. Plumlee connects with Javon Baker for 19 yards to the 12-yard line. It's getting interesting.

— TW

2:20 p.m.

Sooners on the move, Gabriel finds Nic Anderson for 19 yards and a first down on the UCF 30-yard line. Sawchuk scores on the next play and all of a sudden the Sooners are up 31-23 with 3:13 left.

— TW

2:09 p.m.

Incredibly important stop from the defense there.

True freshman Peyton Bowen hits home on the blitz, sacking John Rhys Plumlee and forcing UCF to punt, and now the Sooners will have a chance to extend their lead.

OU finally got something going on the ground on its last touchdown drive, and will need to keep moving the ball on the ground to close out this game.

— RC 

1:58 p.m.

Gavin Sawchuk with four runs for 27 yards, sets up catch-and-run by Marcus Major to the UCF 24. Major carries for 11 yards to the 13 and then Gabriel finds Drake Stoops on the next play for the touchdown. Sooners back in front, 24-23, with 9:16 left in the fourth quarter.

— TW

1:53 p.m.

Big defensive stop for Sooners, three and out for the Knights, who punt the ball back to OU. Sooners' offense starts this drive on their own 35-yard line with 11:31 remaining, down 23-17.

— TW

1:48 p.m.

A promising drive by OU is derailed when QB Dillon Gabriel is sacked by UCF defensive end Malachi Lawrence, who hit Gabriel so hard Lawrence lost his helmet. Sack loses nine yards and Sooners punting back to Knights, trailing 23-17 with 13:01 left in the fourth quarter.

— TW

1:42 p.m.

Third quarter stats:

1:41 p.m.

Oklahoma trails for just the third time this season going into the fourth quarter.

— JH

1:31 p.m.

Gavin Freeman didn’t turn upfield on third-and-2 and Brent Venables elects to punt from his own 34-yard line. The Boo Birds were out in Norman for that decision. Plenty of frustration with how poorly OU’s offense has played. Great punt by Elzinga again though to force the Knights to start from their own 14-yard line.

— RC 

1:26 p.m.

I will reiterate, Oklahoma only trailed for 12 of a possible 360 minutes coming into today. So far this game, as an 18-point favorite, the Sooners now trail 23-17 after a 46-yard field goal by Colton Boomer. 

OU has trailed for 9:57 so far today, and faces their largest deficit of the season at six points ... and just punted it away.

— JH

1:19 p.m.

The Sooners are now 3-of-9 on third downs today. Facing an average of 6.6 yards to go, they’ve run the football three times and have gained four yards. Getting stuffed on that last 3rd-and-1 was against a run defense that ranks 121st nationally in rushing defense.

— JH

1:17 p.m.

Maybe not the kicking change Sooners fans are hopping for right now, but Luke Elzinga took that punt. He’s been primarily used to try and pin teams deep near midfield to start the year, but he cooly booted that last punt 48 yards.

Elzinga has punted three times for a 50.3-yard average today.

— RC 

1:12 p.m.

Oklahoma has 69 yards rushing today and is averaging 3.3 yards per carry.

Kansas ran for 399 against these same Knights back on Oct. 7.

— JH

1:10 p.m.

Oklahoma’s defense did well to hold UCF to a field goal, but OU forfeited the possession advantage to start the second half.

Feels like the Knights will be able to hang around most of this second half even though the success for UCF has been a bit disjoint.

Sooners offense just hasn’t found any rhythm for the first 35 minutes of this contest. Have to get into gear.

— RC 

1:07 p.m.

Dillon Gabriel deserved better than an interception on that throw. Drake Stoops leaped and tried to catch it in his gut, but the ball bounced in the air and was picked and returned 27 yards.

A 48-yard field goal by Colton Boomer — an absolute missile of a kick — gives the Knights a 20-17 lead.

This game is getting weird.

— JH

12:42 p.m.

Halftime. Woof.

— JH

12:35 p.m.

We haven’t seen that kind of defensive bust from the Sooners yet this year. Trick play, but still, somebody didn’t read their keys.

Javon Baker blew a kiss on his 86-yard touchdown catch and gets assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, but UCF gets to keep the TD. That wouldn’t have stood a few years ago, when officials were instructed to apply such fouls to the live-action play.

Sooners ball, trailing 17-14, with 1:24 til halftime.

— JH

12:35 p.m.

Gus Malzahn just reached into his bag. Misdirection gets the best of veteran cornerback Woodi Washington and John Rhys Plumlee hit Javon Baker for an 86-yard touchdown, virtually untouched.

Very disorganized half of football.

The Knights take a 17-14 lead with 1:24 left until halftime, but OU should have good field position due to an unsportsmanlike penalty against UCF after the touchdown.

— RC 

12:32 p.m.

Somewhat insane stat given what we saw in the Cheez-It Bowl: Gavin Sawchuk’s 7-yard run on OU’s final drive is tied for his longest run of the year. Sawchuk also had a 7-yard carry against Iowa State.

Oklahoma has only run for 47 yards so far in the first half. UCF ranks 120th in the country in rushing defense. The Sooners simply have to find a way to move the ball on the ground coming out of halftime.

— RC 

12:28 p.m.

That’ll play well in the third-down conversion chart. Dillon Gabriel finds Nic Anderson for a 42-yard touchdown on third-and-3, and the Sooners lead UCF 14-10, 1:51 til halftime.

OU started 1-for-6 on third downs, and their average yards to go was 7.3. Can’t go into every third down facing long yardage.

A couple notes on that TD: Caleb Shaffer sustained some kind of injury and was helped off the field, and McKade Mettauer took his place at guard on the extra point.

— JH

12:23 p.m.

Oklahoma has had plenty of chances to create some separation in this game, but for a myriad of reasons it hasn’t happened.

Instead, it’s UCF who cashes in their second straight scoring drive, a 12-play, 76-yard drive that wraps with a 21-yard field goal and a 10-7 UCF lead. There’s 4:01 til halftime.

— JH

12:20 p.m.

Oklahoma defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis was doing a lot of the talking initially during that timeout.

Went straight over to both Trace Ford and Adepoju Adebawore to tighten up some of the work on the edges this drive.

Vibe in the stadium has gotten very odd as the offense continues to sputter.

— RC 

12:17 p.m.

Credit Gus Malzahn for scheming the Sooners on this drive, but a desperation shovel pass for a first down, a 24-yard quick slant and a reverse that was fumbled and stumbled and still gained 20 yards is 100 percent on the players — from both teams.

I look forward to seeing what adjustments Brent Venables and his staff make at halftime, because there have been times this first half where the Sooners clearly weren’t ready to play this game.

— JH

12:08 p.m.

Oklahoma’s first four drives started at the OU 45, the UCF 40, the UCF 45 an the OU 48. The Knights are averaging 33 yards per punt. Of the Sooners’ first 22 snaps, 18 came in UCF territory.

Of course it’s 7-7.

Navigating success can be a tougher challenge that navigating failure, Brent Venables says.

Add in a bye week and maybe that makes it all worse.

— JH

12:03 p.m.

RJ Harvey ran 54 yards to set UCF up on the goal line.

UCF has 22 yards on its other 21 offensive plays so far today.

— RC 

12:01 p.m.

Correction, the officials gave UCF the timeout instead of the delay of game.

John Rhys Plumlee cashes in, and ties the game with a 1-yard touchdown run.

Sooners get the ball back with 11:49 in the second quarter. Offense needs to wake up.

— RC 

11:58 a.m.

Just when it looked like Oklahoma was about to stage a goal line stand at the 1-yard line for the second straight week… OU’s emotions got the best of them.

Jaren Kanak got in the face of a Knight laying on the ground after the third down stop and was spotted by the officials, an easy unsportsmanlike conduct call.

Thankfully for the Sooners, UCF bailed Oklahoma out with a delay of game immediately after resetting to first down.

Little bit of a reset off a media timeout. Knights will try again on first down from the OU 6-yard line.

— RC 

11:53 a.m.

First quarter was ugly.

— JH

11:51 a.m.

It takes UCF until the end of the first quarter to pick up its first first down of the ball game. Nice start by the Oklahoma defense. After one quarter, the Knights have 15 total yards of offense on 15 plays.

-- TW

11:50 a.m.

First quarter stats:

11:46 a.m.

I'm not one for piling on college kids. Schmit isn't trying to miss those. But it's time for Brent Venables to call this one and see what Gavin Marshall can do. This year's body of work might not be enough to pull the trigger (he was 8-of-10 coming in), but the fact that Schmit missed one-third of his 18 field goals last year, including five high-pressure kicks in games the Sooners lost by 3 points, should give Venables assurance that it's time to move on.

— JH

11:44 a.m.

Dillon Gabriel sacked on third down. Not sure with minimal replays, but looked like that pressure came right up the middle, possibly on Green or Byrd. Will look for that later.

Sooners need to burn a timeout, and Zach Schmit misses a 43-yard field goal.

Did the bye week hurt this team? Don’t know. Did it hurt the kicker? Seems so.

— JH

11:42 a.m.


With Tawee Walker unavailable, Jeff Lebby has gotten creative.

Gavin Sawchuk didn’t instill much faith on the first drive and Marcus Major is dealing with a shoulder injury that has him a bit limited.

Lebby has deployed wide receivers Jalil Farooq and Gavin Freeman in the backfield already alongside Major.

Sawchuk coming back in now to get a second crack at things.

— RC 

11:41 a.m.

OU going for it on fourth-and-1, but UCF needs a timeout as the Sooners have reached the red zone. 

The guards on this drive are Savion Byrd and Cayden Green.

Also, Nic Anderson has two catches and no TDs on third drive.

— JH

11:38 a.m.

UCF has 3 yards on 12 plays. Four 3-and-outs. No first downs. Hardly a pulse. Clearly, the No. 4-ranked scoring offense in the nation has not had a good day so far. Maybe we just all overestimated what the Knights were capable of.

— JH

11:38 a.m.

Oklahoma’s defense got a ton of praise after the Texas win, and the question all throughout the bye week was just how the Sooners would deal with the extra praise.

Through 12 plays, OU has allowed just three total yards and no first downs. Just a reminder — UCF’s offense entered the weekend fourth in yards per game. Impressive start.

— RC

11:36 a.m.

With a  7-0 lead, Kani Walker is back on the field after missing the last two games with injury. He and Kendel Dolby are the corners.

— JH

11:33 a.m.

Finally, Oklahoma finds the end zone. UCF defenders point at each other as Nic Anderson strolls to another touchdown, this one from 29 yards out. It’s Anderson’s seventh touchdown of the season — on just 12 catches.

Also, Savion Byrd was in at guard on that drive.

— JH

11:30 a.m.

So far this has been one of the most underwhelming kicking displays I’ve ever seen.

And my friends and I consistently drink beer and attempt to play soccer on Sunday nights.

UCF punter Mitch McCarthy is averaging 33.7 yards per punt. Yikes!

— RC 

11:24 a.m.

So after all that funky offensive stuff didn't work, neither did Zach Schmit, who pushes a 38-yard field goal wide right.

"Fix the Kicks" was one of my keys to the game today. Looks like that hasn't happened.

— JH

11:21 a.m.

Jeff Lebby’s scheme so far has featured a direct snap to Sawchuk, a bubble screen to Freeman, a jet sweep pass to Farooq and an option keeper by Gabriel.

Is UCF coach Gus Malzahn calling plays by proxy for the Sooners?

— JH

11:18 a.m.

Horrific punt by UCF has Oklahoma set up in enemy territory at the 40-yard line… but still Brent Venables is incensed.

The OU head coach was upset with the officials and letting them have it in the time out. It looked like he thought the Knights had an illegal shift by his hand motions.

He strives for perfection in every facet of the game, clearly!

— RC 

11:14 a.m.

That first offensive series probably wasn’t how Jeff Lebby scripted it. Gavin Sawchuk drops a direct snap and gets stuck for a 5-yard loss on second down, then drops a wide open pass from Dillon Gabriel on third down.

So yeah, the Sooners really miss Tawee Walker — especially early. 

— JH

11:11 a.m.

Oklahoma’s offensvie starters:

Rouse - Green - Raym - Shaffer - Guyton

Anderson - Stoops - Stogner - Farooq

Gabriel - Sawchuk

— RC 

11:09 a.m.

Oklahoma’s defensive starters:

Downs - Terry - Lacey - Bothroyd

Kanak - Stutsman - McCullough

Williams - Lawrence - Bowman - Washington

— RC 

11:06 a.m.

For the first time this year, Oklahoma loses the coin toss.

The Knights are gonna take the ball.

John Rhys Plumlee and UCF’s explosive rushing attack up first.

— RC 

11:00 a.m.

Oklahoma has trailed for a grand total of 12 minutes this season, out of a possible 360.

— JH

10:59 a.m.

Gavin Sawchuk was the running back that was announced as the start on the video board before the intro video played.

— RC 

10:50 a.m.

In addition to Tawee Walker’s reported personal absence and Reggie Grimes in street clothes, senior guard McKade Mettauer is here and dressed out, but didn’t go through warmups.

— JH

10:39 a.m.

Without Tawee Walker, it was running back Gavin Sawchuk who took the first team “snaps” in the pregame warmups before the Sooners headed toward the locker room. Marcus Major also rotated with Sawchuk and the rest of the starters.

— RC 

10:35 a.m.

And then there’s this concerning Oklahoma’s running game:

Walker rushed for 46 yards on 15 carries and scored twice against Texas.

— RC 

10:30 a.m.

Oklahoma is expected to be pretty healthy today coming off the bye week, but defensive end Reggie Grimes is in sweatpants in warmups.

Grimes has been credited with playing 49 snaps this year per Pro Football Focus.

— RC 

9:53 a.m.

I haven’t seen Zach Schmit miss a field goal yet in pre-pregame warmups. Good rotation on the ball, too. That’s gotta be a good sign that he put the last two weeks to good use.

— JH

9:38 a.m.

There’s 90 minutes to kickoff and the SoonerVision crew is showing a replay of the final minutes of the Texas game. Bert Auburn just made his field goal. Sark pumped his fist. Dillon Gabriel said something to his teammates.

Wonder what’s gonna happen next?

— JH

9:38 a.m.

Walking around the stadium before the game it stuck out just how many UCF fans made the trek to Norman. First ever meeting between the two sides and the only time they'll meet in the Big 12. Looks like the Knights wanted to see what the game day experience at Oklahoma is all about. 

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