Oklahoma football: Can you hear us now! Sooners go 6-0 with a win over Texas

Some had predicted that this year’s Oklahoma football rivalry game with Texas would come down to the last possession. It actually came down to the last three possessions with the Sooners coming from behind in the final minute to pull off a 34-30 upset over the No. 3-ranked Longhorns.

With 1:11 to go in the game and Oklahoma out of timeout and trailing 30-27 after a 47-yard field goal by Texas kicker Bert Auburn, quarterback Dillon quickly moved the Sooners downfield all the way to the Longhorn 20-yard line, covering 55 yards in three plays and a total of 20 seconds.

On first down from the 20, Gabriel tried to connect with redshirt sophomore wide receiver Nic Anderson. The pass fell incomplete but on perhaps the most critical call in a game filled with questionable calls and no-calls, the Texas secondary was called for pass interference, setting up the Sooners at the Longhorn six-yard line with a new set of downs and 42 second left on the game clock.

Gabriel ran for three yards to the Longhorn three, and on the next play with the game clock down to 15 seconds, Gabriel found Anderson in the back corner of the end zone for what proved to be the winning score. All of a sudden, the Texas jubilance of just a minute before turned to bitter disappointment.

The game was not over, however, especially the way the entire game had gone back and forth over the previous 59 minutes. Texas, needing a touchdown to pull out the win, was able to move the ball to the OU 44-yard line, but on the final play of the game, a Hail Mary pass by QB Quinn Ewers was batted down in the end zone ending the game and preserving the upset win for the Sooners.

Texas fought back from a 27-17 deficit in the third quarter to tie that game 27-27 on a 29-yard touchdown run by freshman Jonathan Brooks of Texas with 6:10 to go in the game. Oklahoma’s Zach Schmit had missed a 41-yard field on OU’s previous possession, setting up the Texas touchdown drive that tied the game.

Both teams failed to convert on fourth-down possessions in the final quarter that might have changed the outcome of the game. The Sooners were stopped on a fourth-and-one from the Texas 48-yard line. On the OU turnover on downs, Texas marched 47 yards to the Sooner 1-yard line but failed to reach the end zone in four tries on the defensive stand of the game by Oklahoma.

In the long history of this rivalry, we’ve come to expect the unexpected, and the chaotic way in which this game started was a bizarre as any of the previous Red River battles. Oklahoma interceptions on the first two Texas possessions, a fake punt on fourth down resulting in a Longhorn first down on Texas’ second offensive possession and a blocked Oklahoma punt recovered in the end zone for Texas’ first touchdown, tying the game at 7-7. All of that in the opening eight minutes of the game.

The Sooners led 17-14 at the break, despite being outgained 208 yards to 173 in total offense.

Oklahoma scored on a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to open the second half. Tawee Walker finished it off with a 1-yard run. That put the Sooners up by 10 at 24-14., applying more pressure.

Gabriel completed 23 of 38 passes for 285 yards and also led the Sooners in rushing with 113 yards on the ground, including a 9-yard run for OU’s opening touchdown, set up by an interception of Ewers at the Texas 15 on the second play of the game. In all, Gabriel accounted for two touchdowns and 398 of the Sooners’ 486 yards of total offense.

Oklahoma improves to 6-0 on the season and jumps into the driver’s seat in the Big 12 title race. All season long, the word has been, yeah, Oklahoma is looking great, but the Sooners really haven’t played anybody. Well, they have now, and they met the test.

The Sooners now enter a much-welcome bye week before returning to action at home on Oct. 21 to host UCF.