Oklahoma football: Sooners sputter early, late but hold on for scary win

The Oklahoma football team opened the 2021 season in underwhelming fashion with a victory by the skin of its teeth over an inspired Tulane team that easily could have pulled off a huge upset.

Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt was pulled down a yard short of the first-down marker on a fourth-down play that would have given the Green Wave the ball at their own 45-yard line, a fresh set of downs and just under two minutes to go in the game. Oklahoma took over possession and ran out the clock to hold on for a narrow 40-35 victory.

That final Tulane possession was set up by an 80-yard Tulane touchdown drive following a missed 31-yard Oklahoma field goal by Gabe Brkic that brought the Green Wave to within five points of the Sooners. A two-point conversion try failed that would have cut the OU lead to three.

Tulane tried an on-side kick that bounced off of two Oklahoma defenders before it was successfully recovered by the Green Wave, setting them up close to mid field at the Tulane 47 with 2:18 remaining.

Although the game was played at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, this was a designated home game for Tulane, and the Green Wave played like it throughout the second half, turning what at halftime appeared to be a rout in process into a contest much too close for comfort for the OU home faithful.

The game was moved from the originally scheduled site, New Orleans, because of the damage and power outages left in New Orleans the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.

After a rattled (pun intended) start by the much-hyped Oklahoma football defense, the No. 2-ranked Sooners found their footing midway through the opening quarter and into the second, scoring 30 unanswered points to erase a 14-7 Tulane advantage and take a 37-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Tulane opened the second half with an 11-play, 52-yard drive that ended with a failed 41-yard field goal.

On the possession exchange, Kennedy Brooks lost four yards on a fourth-and-one attempt, turning the ball back to Tulane at the OU 42. Tulane made OU pay for that failed fourth-down try, scoring on an 11-play touchdown, followed by  a successful two-point try to cut the Sooner lead to 37-22.

Brikic connected on a 55-yard field goal on the ensuing possession to widen the OU advantage to 40-22. That would be the Sooners’ final points of the game as Tulane refused to quit, outscoring Oklahoma 21-3 over the final 30 minutes.

On the second play of the game, OU quarterback Spencer Rattler threw an interception that, eight plays and 52 yards later, Tulane turned into a touchdown and a surprising 7-0 lead just under four minutes into the contest.

The Sooners responded with an 11-play, 75-yard TD drive of their own, with Rattler scoring on a one-yard run to draw even at 7-7. The Green Wave offense hit the OU defense in the, mouth on a second straight possession, going 75 yards in just four plays to go back up 14-7.

Rattler did not have his best day as a Sooner quarterback. He completed 32 of 39 passes for 304 yards and a touchdown, but he threw two costly interceptions that Tulane ended up converting into 14 points, and he should have had a third pass picked off but that one was wiped off by defensive pass interference call (which should have been an offensive pass interference call but was blatantly missed by the official).

In addition to outscoring the Sooners by 21-3 in the second half, Tulane also outgained OU 233 yards to 118 in the final two quarters.

There were a lot of thing not too like in this game from an Oklahoma perspective. Although Brooks gained 87 yards and averaged 6.2 yards per play for the Sooners, the OU running game, which they are counting on to help fuel the offense, produced just 116 yards.

Sophomore wide receiver Marvin Mims caught seven passes for 117 yards. Brkic made three of four field goals, with all three of the makes exceeding 50 yards, a new NCAA record for a single game.

The OU defense looked shaky for a good part of the game, especially in defending the pass. There were too many open Tulane receivers, although Pratt’s accuracy was noticeably accurate despite facing constant pressure by the Sooner front seven.

It looked like the same old song for the Sooner defense, giving up big pass plays and poor tackling.

One bright spot for Alex Grinch’s defense was four quarterback sacks and three forced fumbles.

No question Oklahoma did not perform like a No. 2-ranked team in the season opener. At the very least, head coach Lincoln Riley can use this as a teaching tool to clean up  and correct the myriad of problems that easily could have cost the Sooners an embarrassing home loss and a potential national championship season.

There’s still a long way to go in the 2021 season, but the Sooners are going to have to get much better and quickly if they want to be a legitimate contender for a seventh Big 12 championship, let alone a national title. How they respond in the next two games against Western Carolina and Nebraska, both at home, will tell us a lot about what the Sooners learned from the Tulane game.