Oklahoma football: Five takeaways from a Sooner season-opening smackdown
By Chip Rouse
There couldn’t have been a better opening to the 129th Oklahoma football season as the 20th-ranked Sooners showed impressive depth in steamrolling to a 73-0 victory over visiting Arkansas State.
For the first time in a long while, Oklahoma played a complete complementary game on both sides of the line of scrimmage. The Sooners scored on 10 of their 11 offensive possessions, including nine touchdowns. The margin of victory was OU’s largest in a season opener since a 99-0 victory over Central Arkansas in 1917.
The 73 points tied for the fifth most in program history. Oklahoma ran 32 more plays than Arkansas State and outgained the Red Wolves by over 400 yards (642 to 208). OU led 45-0 at halftime and rested most of its starters on offense and defense in the second half.
The Sooners 45 first-half points were the third most in a season opener in school history and the 437 first-half yards were the second most in a season opener.
The Oklahoma defense played one of its best games in several seasons, pitching the shutout and limiting Arkansas State to just 208 yards of offense.
Attendance at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium was announced at 83,221, the 147th consecutive sellout at a regularly scheduled OU home game. That is the second longest active streak ib college football.
All in all, a terrific start to the 2023 season by an Oklahoma team with a lot to prove. The competition will ramp up from here. The Sooners will host SMU, a 38-14 winner over Louisiana Tech on Saturday, next weekend.
Quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel/Jackson Arnold were brilliant
Dillon Gabriel was 19 of 22 for 308 yards and two touchdowns, Jackson Arnold was even better, going 11 of 11 throwing the football for 114 yards and one touchdown in a little over a quarter of play. Combined the two QBs, completed 30 of 33 passes for a .909 completion percentage, a new school record.
Drake Stoops suffers shoulder injury
Drake Stoops was a frequent target early in the game. He was targeted four times and hauled in all four. The sixth-year Sooners was on the receiving end of the Sooners first touchdown, a 10-yarder from Dillon Gabriel. Stoops’ final catch of the quarter was a 14-yard gain inside the Arkansas State 5-yard line. He injured his shoulder on the play, however, and did not return for the remainder of the game.
Sooner defense aggressive, physical and lockdown
The Sooners held Arkansas State to just 10 first downs and 56 yards rushing, an average of 2.1 yards per attempt. The tackling was stellar, with multiple bone-rattling hits. The Red Wolves were just 2 of 12 on third down and averaged just 4.2 yards on 50 offensive plays (23 runs, 27 passes). Overall, an outstanding defensive performance.
Young wide receivers shine
True freshman Jaquaize Pettaway led the Sooners with nine catches on 10 targets for 56 yards and sophomore Gavin Freeman caught four passes, including one for a touchdown. Freeman also returned a punt 82 yards for the Sooners’ second touchdown with just two minutes gone in the game. It was Oklahoma’s longest punt return since Dede Westbrook returned a punt for a 71-yard TD in 2016. In all, 11 different receivers caught passes in the game for Oklahoma.
Oklahoma’s participation went deep into the roster
The great thing about a blowout win like the one on Saturday is that a lot of players get to see action. The Sooners used six different running backs, 11 different receivers and went several levels deep in the depth chart on the offensive and defensive lines and also at linebacker and in the secondary. Thirty-nine first-year Sooners saw action in the game. The OU coaches were able to get a good look at a large number of players in game action. The deep rotations were also beneficial because it was a very hot day in Norman with temperatures well over 100 degrees on the field.