OU-OSU: Game Book
Dynamic Duo
NORMAN — Oklahoma State came into Saturday’s Bedlam with two of college football’s most dynamic playmakers in running back Chuba Hubbard and wideout Tylan Wallace.
But it was Oklahoma who once again had the two best players on the field in defensive end Ronnie Perkins and running back Rhamondre Stevenson.
Hubbard ran for more than 2,000 yards in 2019, and Wallace probably should have won the Biletnikoff Award in 2018. But they were held in check by an OU defense that turned in one of its most complete efforts of the season — keyed defensively by Perkins’ pressure on OSU quarterback Spencer Sanders, and offensively by Stevenson’s thunderous runs both early and late.
Ronnie Perkins
Pool photo / Ty Russell
Perkins sacked Sanders on the first play of the game, knocked him out of the game with another hard sack later in the first quarter, and repeatedly inflicted punishment on anyone wearing orange and white.
He said he felt like a starved lion just let out of a cage, and that set the tone for the entire defense.
“We love Ronnie,” said linebacker David Ugwoegbu. “Every time he makes a play early, the whole defense falls in right behind him as you can see that happened today. I think it just upped the tempo for us.”
Rhamondre Stevenson
Pool photo / Ty Russell
Same with Stevenson, who took a couple of hard hits, but also delivered more than his share of punishment to the OSU defense. He finished with a career-high 141 yards on 26 carries and also had 54 yards receiving, including a 45-yard catch-and-run on the Sooners’ opening drive.
Then, he finished the fourth quarter with runs of 25, 30, 5, 4 and 11 yards.
“He’s been a go-to back for us when we need positive yards,” said quarterback Spencer Rattler. “When we need a first down, he’s the guy we are going to go to. Giving him the rock is never a bad idea. He’s playing really well. He’s going to continue to work and play well for us.”
Touchdown Trickery
Although Saturday’s game was a wipeout from the very beginning — OU led 21-0 less than nine minutes into the first quarter and dominated down the stretch — the offensive play of the day is shared between Rattler and H-back Jeremiah Hall.
OSU was threatening a comeback, having cut the Sooners’ lead to 27-13, when Rattler started the fourth quarter flanked as a wing to the left side of the formation. Stevenson took the direct snap, and handed the ball to Rattler coming around to the right. Rattler faked a reverse pitch to Mims, then — as virtually everyone on the OSU defense chased the reverse action — he flipped a short pass to Hall on the sideline. Hall was so wide open he sprinted 30 yards up the sideline, untouched to the end zone.
Jeremiah Hall scores
Bryan Terry-USA TODAY Sports
“No. 1, we have the best offensive coordinator in the nation, I think,” Hall said. “When I came back to the sidelines, he was like ‘Good job, J,’ coach Riley was, and I was like ‘Good call, coach.’ That’s just the offensive mindset that he has — but also know that it’s not really surprising because we work on it all the time and we expect those type of results. So it’s a little bit of ‘Wow, did that just happen?’ … but at the same time, it’s supposed to happen.”
Rattler threw the ball on the run toward the OSU sideline, then continued his path and assured the Cowboys that they were about to give up another touchdown. It was a backbreaker that put OU ahead 34-13 as the fourth quarter began.
“That play,” said Rattler, “went just like we pictured it to go. That’s how you want it to go, 100 percent. The whole week at practice, we tried to run it against our defense and it just wasn’t working out. We called it in the game. Right when I pump-faked, pulled it down and got the corner to come in, I knew it was a touchdown.”
Riley was asked about the play, but as usual he played it coy.
“We’ve run it before,” he said. “I’ll let you guys go dig it up and see if you can find when. It was just as open (then). It wasn’t quite as successful. A little more successful this time. Guys executed it well. One of those moments where it felt like the right thing. But you have to have a lot of trust in the guys on those plays, and really execute them at a high level. Our guys did a good job.”
Amazing Interception
The defensive play of the day belongs to David Ugwoegbu who ended Oklahoma State’s second possession with an athletic interception.
Ugwoegbu crowded the line of scrimmage from the left side — a sort of shadow blitz — and when Sanders cocked his arm to throw, Ugwoegbu leaped. He batted the pass into the air, then located it and fully extended for the interception.
The ball touched the grass and was reviewed, but officials decided the contact with the grass didn’t help Ugwoegbu gain possession since it was already in his hands.
David Ugwoegbu
Pool photo / Josh Gateley
“I just read my keys,” he said. “My keys told me to get to the line of scrimmage. I saw the quarterback throw the ball, so I got my hands up. At first when I tipped it, I thought it was behind me and almost did a full 180. Then I saw the ball out of the corner of my eye.”
How did he feel during the replay review?
“When I dove on it, I knew for a fact it wasn’t going to get overturned,” he said. “My hands are sure.”
“We talk about ‘strain’ all the time,” said defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. “ … Guys straining to quarterbacks in terms of sack or caused fumbles, for instance. Getting there. And we’ve had those type of plays where the quarterback has to throw it before he wants to and it’s an errant throw that turns into a tip — Texas Tech a couple times. So it’s strain.
“What you saw with that play was strain. You want to look up the definition of it, watch that play. Is an unwillingness to say maybe I can get a finger on it or something like that, I wish it was a little easier for me. You see a guy just straining. And again, what the neat thing is now we’re starting to see what the impact is. You saw against Texas Tech, all of a sudden get that extra possession to the offense and see what they can do with it.”
Rattler and the OU offense took over at the OSU 20-yard line, and needed just four plays to build the lead to 21-0 on Rattler’s 9-yard TD throw to Theo Wease.
“Having a turnover on our side of the field is the best,” Rattler said. “The offense can just go out there (and) it’s a lot easier to score. The defense played amazing tonight. Shout out to them.”
From COVID to Crowns
Before the game, Stadium college football reporter Brett McMurphy tweeted that the Bedlam game had actually been in jeopardy as late as Thursday. McMurphy reported that OU and OSU consulted with the Big 12 about the possibility of postponing, and that OSU looked into playing Baylor.
“Yeah, I can clarify that,” Riley said, confirming the report.
Apparently, the Sooners were concerned they might not meet the Big 12’s threshold of 53 players, 7 offensive linemen, four interior defensive linemen and one quarterback.
“Yeah, I wouldn't know about Oklahoma State’s end,” Riley said. “Yep, on our end.”
How worried was he that one of the Sooners’ two most important regular-season games of the year might be pushed back?
Lincoln Riley
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
“I’m not gonna get too far into that,” Riley said. “I mean, it’s just a week-to-week deal that we deal with. We were either gonna play it now, or try to rearrange it. But luckily, things turned in a positive direction at the end of the week and we were able to play it.”
A handful of players were injured but attended the game in street clothes: tight end Austin Stogner, defensive tackle LaRon Stokes and safety Justin Broiles (he was on crutches with a walking boot on his foot).
But several others were not in attendance, which is a good sign of COVID precautions: wide receiver Jadon Haselwood, linebacker Jon-Michael Terry, cornerback Jaden Davis and safety Bryson Washington.
Riley acknowledged how much better this team is playing now that so many more players are healthy — in the season-opener, a total of 20 players were absent from the projected two-deep. Those absences and the process of coming back undoubtedly lingered into the Sooners’ two losses.
“Yeah, it’s more fun when you win,” Riley said. “They were fun to coach then. You know, we couldn’t catch much of a break. Kinda felt like everything against us, everything in those early games. We had a ton of guys out with COVID or suspensions, injuries.
“We really had something good in that locker room and if we would just kinda hang in there, that we could break through. I think we all felt that, even with the intense frustrations and disappointment we had from those two losses. For staff members, not saying it's easy, but that's our job. We get up and come to work the next day regardless of what happens. For our players, though, mentally, they had to get past that and they had to buy in and believe. They haven't flinched. I give them all the credit. They deserve it. It's exciting how this team is playing right now and what this team is capable of.”
And now the Sooners have a clear path back to the Big 12 championship game on Dec. 19.
“Everything’s tough,” said wideout Theo Wease. “We hit adversity early in the season. It brought the team together more. I’m actually excited how we responded to it. We’re not done. We’re still going, definitely.”
“We wanted to play tonight like we were the hunter and not the hunted,” Riley said. “It was kind of our mindset all week, the way we played, coached, the whole thing. You can't come into big games like this against a great opponent and play conservative. And not that we have. We really wanted to emphasize that with our players, that we had to play aggressive, we had to go take it if you're gonna beat a good team like this, and we certainly did that.”
Up next is a road trip to West Virginia, where the Sooners have never lost, then a home game with Baylor in the season finale on Dec. 5. Win those two and there’s a likely rematch ahead with Iowa State in Arlington.
“Yeah, I mean ... whatever,” Riley said. “We're just trying to win. We've been in this long enough that, I know y'all get tired of me saying this but if you just win, stuff takes care of itself. We don't talk at all about who else is playing who or where we stand. We just know if we win, good things happen.
“The more you win, especially this time of year, the bigger the games get and the bigger the opportunities get. I'm excited that we've been able to win and make these games mean something. They would still mean something, but mean even more and hopefully we can keep doing it.”
Said Rattler, “We don’t have a losing mentality at this program with our standard. Of course, we want to win. We’re used to winning around here. We knew we had to turn it up a notch and work harder in practice and do the little things more. Game-by-game, we just improved and improved. You could just see it keep going. We still have work to do and we’re going to get that done.”
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