Oklahoma football: Three telltale takeaways from a record-setting Sooner win

Inconsistency has been the main enemy of the 2021 edition of Oklahoma football this entire season.

Despite a 9-0 record, one of just seven undefeated teams that remain at the FBS level, the Sooners have had more close calls this season than Houdini. Five of Oklahoma’s nine wins this season have been by seven or fewer points.

Just one week ago, the Sooners allowed lowly Kansas to masquerade as world beaters and nearly pull off what would have been the biggest college football upset in recent memory. Who knows what was going on last week against the Jayhawks, but the Oklahoma teams that showed up at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium against Texas Tech on Saturday was no resemblance of the Sooner team that opened the game at Kansas.

The Sooners showed up in force against Texas Tech — and in all three phases of the game — something we haven’t seen from Oklahoma this entire season. The Sooners struck early and often, rolling out to a 28-7 lead midway through the second quarter on the way to a 52-21 victory, OU’s second largest winning margin of the season.

Another brilliant performance by freshman quarterback Caleb Williams

It’s impossible to say where the Sooners would be right now had Lincoln Riley not made the gutsy decision to change starting quarterbacks six games into the season. But what we can say with certainty is that the Oklahoma offense has hiked it up a notch and is operating at a different level with Caleb Williams at quarterback. With the exception of the first half of the Kansas game, Williams has been nothing short of sensational.

For the first time in the last four games, Williams did not reel off a long touchdown run. Against Texas Tech, he used his arm to bring down the hammer on the Red Raiders, throwing for 402 yards and six touchdown passes with no interceptions. Williams’ 402 passing yards was a season best and set a new single-game passing mark for a true freshman at Oklahoma. His six TD passes tied Landry Jones (2009 vs. Tulsa) for the most by an OU true freshman in a single game and were the most by an OU quarterback since Kyler Murray threw six TDs in 2018 against Baylor.

Williams also set a couple of other OU freshman records. His 1,189 passing yards in six games (three as a starter) is a new high for a Sooner freshman quarterback. The previous record was held by current Sooner assistant coach Cale Gundy (904 in 1990). Williams’ 14 touchdown passes is also a new freshman record.

Sooners most complete game of the season

Lincoln Riley has been telling us for weeks now how close the Sooners were to putting it all together and playing up to the true capability. Saturday’s decisive win over Texas Tech was the closest to a complete and complementary football game we’ve seen from OU so far, and the timing of that performance is hopefully a good sign with the most difficult and critical stretch of the season coming in November.

Not only did the Oklahoma offense roll, scoring eight consecutive possessions following a punt on the opening series, producing 541 yards of offense and averaging a season-best 9.8 yards per play, but the defense stepped up its game as well.

The Sooners held the Red Raiders to 3 of 14 on third-down conversions and registered three takeaways (two interceptions and one fumble recovery). In addition the 21 points scored by Texas Tech was its lowest point total in nine games this season. Another defensive plus: The much-maligned OU secondary didn’t give up a play longer than 23 yards.

The Sooners punted just one time in the game and settled for a field goal just only one time in eight scoring drives out of nine total possessions (not counting the final possession during which OU simply ran out the clock).

Return of injured players makes a noticeable difference

For several weeks, the Sooners have been missing as many as four starters from the defensive unit and several key contributors on offense. The OU defense welcomed back S Delarrin Turner-Yell and cornerback D.J. Graham, as well as DL Jalen Redmond, and their presence definitely lifted the OU defensive performance.

The Sooner offensive unit also got a big boost with the return of true freshman Mario Williams, who has been nursing a hamstring injury. You wouldn’t have known it, though, on Saturday. Williams had five catches against Texas Tech for 100 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown catch.