Oklahoma offense finally unloads with season-high eight TDs and 665 total yards

Although the Sooners got off to an inauspicious start, falling behind 7-0 midway through the opening quarter on Saturday, once they got things rolling it was like a runaway truck rolling unabated down a steep incline. That is what was expected, after all, and Oklahoma ended up the afternoon winning big in a 59-14 demolition of the Maine Black Bears.

Oklahoma has had a lot of difficulty getting the ball into the end zone against SEC opponents, but was able to make up for it, and then some, against a notably overmatched team that competes at a level one down from the Sooners. OU had scored a total of three touchdowns in its last three games combined, but exploded for eight touchdowns spread out over all four quarters against Maine.

Three of the Sooners five first-half touchdowns were scored in under a minute, including a 74-yard run from scrimmage by Jovantae Barnes that set up OU's first score of the game and a 90-yard touchdown reception by senior wide receiver J.J. Hester.

Paid attendance for the game at Gaylord Family--Oklahoma Memorial Stadium was announced at 82,831, establishing a 158th consecutive home sellout since the beginning of the 1999 season. In actuality, however, there were far fewer fans on hand because of the start time being moved up by two and a half hours due to expected inclement weather and the fact the Sooners were playing a far inferior opponent. The crowd was slow arriving because of the early window and began leaving early with the game well in hand after the third quarter and OU going deep into the roster.

Here are some of the other notable numbers as the Sooners avoided a fourth consecutive loss, something that hasn't happened since the 1998 season, when OU lost five games in a row.

3 -- Three of Oklahoma's most productive quarters this season in terms of total offensive yards came in this game. The Sooners had 145 yards in the first quarter, 257 in the second and 174 in the third quarter.

8.5 -- Average yards per play by the Oklahoma offense vs. Maine, a season best.

28 -- The Sooners had three sacks against Maine and now have 28 sacks for the season, tied for ninth most among FBS teams.

83 -- This was the 83rd time in program history that Oklahoma has had at least 600 yards of offense in a game.

71 -- The Sooners converted 71 percent of their third-down conversion tries, a team that has converted just 35 percent of their third-down attempts this season (111th out of 134 teams).

90 -- J.J. Hester's 90-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter was the longest by an Oklahoma receiver in the history of Gaylord Family--Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

100 -- This was the first game this season that OU has had a player rush for more than 100 yards in a game (Jovantae Barnes) and a receiver post more than 100 receiving yards (J.J. Hester).

203 -- Jovantae Barnes set a career and season high with 203 rushing yards. His previous best game was 108 yards in Oklahoma's 2022 Cheez-It Bowl loss to Florida State. It also was the most rushing yards by a Sooner running back since Samaje Perine set an NCAA record with 427 yards in a single game against Kansas in 2014.

224 -- Jackson Arnold threw for a season-best 224 yards against Maine.

665 -- Oklahoma's 688 yards of total offense was almost double its previous 2024 high-water mark. The Sooners had 378 yards of total offense in the season-opener against Temple. The last time OU gained more than 665 yards of offense was in the 2022 regular-season finale at Texas Tech (672).