Oklahoma football: Best thing I saw from kick-start to rest of season

It was far from a sensational performance by an Oklahoma football team, but it sure was a lot more gratifying than what the Sooner fan base had endured the previous three weeks.

Oklahoma got back in the win column on Saturday after a highly uncharacteristic three consecutive losses, winning in a 52-42 shootout against the 19th-ranked Kansas Jayhawks.

It was not a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination, but there were plenty of things to like in this one. Like head coach Brent Venables said in his postgame comments:

"“I’ll take any victory we can get right now and will take any little victories.”"

There were more positive than negatives to report, for sure, from the Sooners’ first Big 12 win of the season on Saturday and quite a few game balls to hand out.

Dillon Gabriel (403 yards passing and a couple of touchdowns throwing and one running), Marvin Mims (a career-high nine receptions and 106 receiving yards) and Brayden Willis (a career-high 102 receiving yards) all had terrific offensive performances, and linebackers DaShaun White and David Ugwoegbu both recorded a team-high eight tackles in the game, plus White logged his first career interception.

Perhaps the play of the game, however, certainly on the defensive side, was the one-handed, highlight-reel interception by defensive back C.J. Colden. On the ensuing OU possession, the Sooners drove 65 yards in seven plays to increase their lead to 28-14.

Those were all game-changing performances, but I’m going to go in a little bit different direction by saying the best thing I saw on Saturday was the play of the Sooner offensive line. Behind all of those big offensive numbers Oklahoma put up against Kansas — 701 offensive yards in total — were made possible because of the job done by the big guys up front.

Gabriel was sacked once in the game, but more importantly, the Sooner quarterback was pressured just three times, according to Pro Football Focus.

"“It’s been one of our best units all season,” Venables said after the game. “They played well again today.”"

Four of OU’s starting offensive linemen — Robert Congel, McKade Mettauer, Anton Harrison and Chris Murray — played all 101 snaps in the game.

The pass protection allowed Gabriel to stand comfortably in the pocket without undue pressure and pick apart the Kansas secondary. His 403 passing yards was his first 400-yard game of the season and fifth in his career.

Gray averaged 8.8 yards per carry, and the Sooners had eight runs of 10 yards or more, largely because of the gaping holes provided by the O-linemen.

Oklahoma did not have one three-and-out possession the entire game against Kansas and converted 16 of 21 third-down plays because of their ability to stay out of third-and-long situations. Again, this was all made possible by the pass protection and run-blocking provided by the offensive line.

The Sooners were able to stay on the field and sustain drives, something they drastically failed two due in their three-game losing streak. As a result, Oklahoma ran 100 plays to just 62 by Kansas, and for the first time all season, Oklahoma won the time of possession (30:19 to 29:41).

So hats off and helmet stickers to the unsung heroes of Saturday’s victory over Kansas: the Oklahoma offensive line and Sooner O-line coach Bill Bedenbaugh.