Oklahoma Football: Three Memorable Moments From Saturday’s ‘W’
By Chip Rouse
There was plenty to like about the Oklahoma football smackdown of Kansas State on Saturday. We’ve picked three that we believe to be the most memorable to relive with you:
Bring Out the Shovel
On Oklahoma’s second possession of the game, the Sooners mounted a seven-play, 63-yard touchdown drive that was capped off by a shovel pass from quarterback Baker Mayfield to Joe Mixon, who took it the final eight yards for OU’s second touchdown of the game and put the Sooners ahead by a score of 14-0 with just nine minutes gone in the game.
The nonconventional play resulted in Mixon’s fourth touchdown of the season and his first pass-receiving touchdown.
Early in the second quarter, Mixon was involved in another Oklahoma touchdown pass, only this time on the throwing end. On second down, with four yards for a first down, Mayfield handed off to Mixon, who started around the right side on what appeared to be a running play. Only, the Sooner running back pulled up and softly lofted a ball downfield to Dede Westbrook, who was left uncovered and trotted in for an OU touchdown that put the Sooners ahead 21-7.
Fourth-Down Defensive Stop Deep in Oklahoma Territory
Starting at their own 10-yard line, early in the third quarter, Kansas State drove 59 yards in eight plays before being faced with a fourth-and-two from the Oklahoma 31 yard line. The Sooners led at the time, 24-10, but a K-State touchdown would make it a one-possession game.
Oklahoma called a timeout to ensure that its defense was aligned properly to thwart the fourth-down attempt. Kansas State came into the game with the second-best fourth-down conversion rate in the conference (four out of six for a 67-percent success rate).
K-State backup quarterback Joe Huebner, who replaced injured Jesse Ertz in the second half, launched a pass targeted for wide receiver Byron Pringle in the end zone, but the pass was broken up by Sooner cornerback Jordan Thomas, preventing a Wildcat touchdown and turning the ball over to Oklahoma on downs.
One Play, 88 Yards and a Score
Three times in the Texas game, Baker Mayfield had connected with Dede Westbrook in stride on three touchdown passes of 40-or-more yards.
With the terror that Westbrook has been on the last couple of weeks, you knew that a some point in the Kansas State game the Sooners were going to take a deep shot with Westbrook.
Early in the game on Saturday, Westbrook broke free behind the K-State defense, but Mayfield threw the ball slightly behind Westbrook and the speedy Sooner receiver couldn’t come up with it.
A little more than halfway through the final quarter, Oklahoma forced K-State to punt, and the kick was fielded with a fair catch by Westbrook at the OU 12.
On the very next play – wait for it – the “launch” took place. Eighty-eight yards and a trail-of dust later, all in just 11 seconds. Westbrook ran by the K-State deep defenders and under a Mayfield pass and took off untouched to the house for the final Sooner score of the day, sealing a 38-17 victory.