Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma football: Sooners hold off TCU 69-45 in offensive shootout

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma Sooners running back Tawee Walker (29) runs for a touchdown beside TCU Horned Frogs linebacker Jamoi Hodge (6) during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Friday, Nov. 24, 2023.
Oklahoma Sooners running back Tawee Walker (29) runs for a touchdown beside TCU Horned Frogs linebacker Jamoi Hodge (6) during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. /
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Oklahoma football team 129 did what it had to do to stay alive in the Big 12 title chase with a 69-45 win over TCU in the Sooners final regular-season game as a member of the Big 12 game on Friday.

The Sooners entered the day in a three-way tie for second place in the Big 12 and needed a win to stay in contention for a spot in the conference championship game. Oklahoma did all it can do to stay in the hunt. But now it’s in someone else’s hands.

Now all OU can do is sit back and wait for the outcome of three other Big 12 games this weekend. Texas Tech is at Texas, BYU at Oklahoma State and Iowa State at Kansas State.  All three games have Big 12 Championship implications.

The 13th-ranked Sooners broke open a tight 14-13 game after one quarter, scoring 28 unanswered second-quarter points to take a commanding 42-16 lead into the locker room at the half.

815. Final. 45. 872. 69

No one told TCU, though, that this game was over after 30 minutes. The Horned Frogs came out after halftime, and after holding OU to a field goal after a 70-yard drive to open the second half, the Horned Frogs countered with touchdowns on three successive possessions to cut into the Sooners’ 26-point halftime lead and narrow the gap to 14 points, 52-38, with under heading into the fourth quarter.

The Sooners added a 40-yard field goal ti stretch the Oklahoma lead to 55-38 with just over 10 minutes to go. The backbreaker for TCU, however, came on the Frogs next possession. The TCU offense had been virtually unstoppable since the start of the second half. Faced with a 4th-and-5 from their own 30-yard line, the Horned Frogs elected to go for it. A fourth-down pass by QB Josh Hoover fell incomplete and Oklahoma took over possession on downs.

It took OU just three plays to turn the unsuccessful TCU fourth-down call into seven points for the Sooners. Dillon Gabriel’s eight-yard touchdown run made it 62-38 with 11 and a half minutes remaining and effectively ended the TCU comeback bid.

Both teams would add one more touchdown apiece as Oklahoma scored 63 or more points for the third time this season.

The two teams combined for 114 total points, 1,127 yards of offense and 55 first downs. It was the highest scoring game in the Big 12 this season.

Dillon Gabriel threw for 400 yards and three touchdowns. Two of his TD passes were for 59 to Brenen Thompson and 53 yards to Jayden Gibson. Redshirt freshman Gavin Sawchuk had his fourth straight game of over 100 yards rushing with 130 for the game and three touchdowns, and Drake Stoops recorded a career-high 12 receptions for 125 yards and a touchdown in his final game on OU’s Own Field after six seasons..

True freshman Hoover had a terrific game for TCU, completing, 38 of 52 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns. Running back Emani Bailey, one of the best in the Big 12, also had a big day with 150 yards rushing and an average of 7.1 yards per carry.

The Sooners end the regular season with a 10-2 record and 7-2 in the Big 12. Oklahoma’s will play at least one more game this season — in a postseason bowl location — and possibly two if it should make it into the Big 12 Championship next Saturday in Arlington, Texas.

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