OU vs. Tennessee Report Card

For over three quarters in the OU vs. Tennessee intersectional football showdown on Saturday night there wasn’t much offense or much too cheer about if you are a Sooner fan.

Trailing 17-3 against 23rd-ranked Tennessee six minutes into the final quarter, this would have been over if it were a year ago. But that may be the defining difference between last season’s version of the Sooners and the gritty, grind-it-out bunch that a national television audience and over 102,000 mostly Tennessee fans witnessed Saturday night.

Seemingly saving their best for last, the Sooners finally got their offensive engine started in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, going 80 yards in 14 plays in a scoring drive that took six minutes off the clock and pulled them within seven points of the Volunteers, who had led the game since the 9:51 mark of the opening quarter.

Sep 12, 2015; Knoxville, TN, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) rushes against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half at Neyland Stadium. Oklahoma won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

After forcing a three-and-out on Tennessee’s ensuing possession, Sooner quarterback Baker Mayfield led Oklahoma on an improbable second fourth-quarter scoring drive, going 60 yards this time in 13 plays, to tie the game at 17 with just 52 ticks left on the clock in regulation.

OU senior receiver Sterling Shepard took over the game late, snaring the touchdown toss from Mayfield to pull the Sooners even for the first time since the opening kickoff and then hauling in a 15-yard strike from Mayfield at the three in the second overtime session, alluding a tackle and tip-toeing the sideline before diving into the end zone for what turned out to be the game-winning score.

As good as the OU offense played over the final 14 minutes of the game, it was the stellar play of the Sooner defense in the second half, though, that put Oklahoma in a position to pull out the win in this game, a third straight for the Sooners over teams from the SEC.

Here is our report card on how the Sooners performed in capturing their second win of the 2015 season:

OU Offense

The Sooners produced two first downs in their first four offensive plays of the game, but didn’t make another first down in three other possessions the rest of the quarter. OU was held to 22 net yards in the first quarter and had only 144 total yards in the first half. Austin Seibert knocked through a 35-yard field goal at the 4:56 mark in the second quarter for the only Sooner score in the first half. The Oklahoma offense really couldn’t get anything going in the third quarter, either, against the Tennessee defense.

With hope of a win almost gone in the hearts and minds of OU football fans, a wave of Sooner magic took over the game in the final stanza. Quarterback Baker Mayfield, making his first start in a Sooner uniform had completed just 8 of 25 passes and had two intercepted as the teams switched ends of the field for the start of the fourth quarter. Over the next 15 minutes and in the two overtime sessions, Mayfield’s stat line read 11 for 14 for 103 yards, three touchdown passes and no interceptions. Oh, and he also ran for a touchdown in the first overtime session to extend the game. Grade: B+

OU Defense

Sep 12, 2015; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Josh Smith (25) runs the ball during the second quarter at Neyland Stadium during the game against the Oklahoma Sooners. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

For the first 18 minutes of the game, the Tennessee offense spent more time on the OU side of the field than on their own. Operating with outstanding field position, the Vols had the Sooner defense on it heels throughout most of the opening half. Just three minutes into the second quarter, Tennessee had compiled 157 yards of offense and held a 17-0 lead.

It looked like the Tennessee dominance was going to continue after the second-half kickoff. The Volunteers’ first two plays of the third quarter went for 31 and 24 yards. But that’s when momentum switched sides. From the 13:25 mark in the third quarter and for the remainder of the game, including the two overtime periods, the Sooner defense allowed Tennessee just 15 yards of offense on 29 plays, a complete shutdown performance. The Sooner defense deserves the game ball. Grade: A

Special Teams

Austin Seibert, the first true freshman at OU to handle both the placekicking and punting duties, made his only field goal attempt (from 35 yards) and went 4-for-4 on extra-point kicks. His punting average was down from a year ago, but he still averaged 43.4 yards per kick on eight punts. He had one punt that went for just 20 yards. Containment was good on both sides on kickoffs and punts. Grade B

Coaching

Sep 12, 2015; Knoxville, TN, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops celebrates with safety Steven Parker (10) after defeating the Tennessee Volunteers in double overtime at Neyland Stadium. Oklahoma won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

Bob Stoops wore a headset on the sidelines, something he did not do in the season-opener last week at home against Akron. Presumably the crowd noise generated by the 102,000-plus fans present at the game was the reason. As poor as the communication was for Oklahoma from the sideline to the quarterback and from the quarterback to the guys on the field, because of the huge crowd-noise factor, it had to have been an advantage to have defensive coordinator Mike Stoops in the press box, and not on the sidelines, directing signals to the field. Other than the opening quarter, the adjustments made by the coaching staff on defense were successful in turning the tide in the game.

The play calls on offense showed good balance. Execution was more of a problem than the play calls themselves, largely because of the enormous defensive pressure the Tennessee was putting on Mayfield and the Sooner running backs.

The Sooners were forced to use a time out in the early part of the game because of poor alignment on defense, but other than that instance, the coaching staff was not forced to burn unnecessary timeouts. Too many times last season, OU did not have its full complement of timeouts when it didn’t them most at the end of games. Grade: B+

Intangibles

The fact that Oklahoma did not give up in this game and played with everything it had till the happy end showed great resilience and team character, traits that are widely present in good teams and teams that win championships. That was sadly missing in the Sooners of a year ago. Sterling Shepard told reporters for the Oklahoma City Oklahoman after the win over Tennessee that this is what he and his teammates have been working so hard for all offseason, that he just wanted to keep fighting and keep fighting for his teammates. Last season, it seemed that when the Sooners got down in a game, they would just get down further. You didn’t see any of that on Saturday night at Tennessee. Grade: A+

Officiating

There were several officiating calls in the game that I felt went wrongly against the Sooners. In the opening half, I thought the Tennessee secondary should have been called for pass interference on several pass plays that went incomplete. But the most egregious missed call, in my opinion, was what appeared to be a fumble by Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs in the third quarter that was scooped up by safety Steven Parker and returned the other way for what would have been an OU touchdown. The officials, however, ruled that Dobbs’ forward progress had been stopped before the ball came lose. Grade: C