OU’s viral two-point trick play shocked everyone — even Jaren Kanak himself

Oklahoma tight end Jaren Kanak was apparently just as surprised as the rest of us by offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle’s wild playcall on a two-point attempt against the Temple Owls on Saturday.

The No. 13 Sooners got off to a rapid start in their 42-3 win over Temple on Saturday in Philadelphia to improve to 3-0. After forcing the Owls to a three-and-out, the Sooners scored on their first drive that was capped with a three-yard run from running back Jovantae Barnes.

That early 6-0 lead for the Sooners wasn’t enough, though, and maybe prompted by all that talk from Temple head coach K.C. Keeler, OU elected to go for two.

Ben Arbuckle surprises Jaren Kanak with playcall

Kanak, who played quarterback back in the day for Hays High School in Kansas, lined up behind the center in an empty backfield after the unit shifted from a kick formation. Kanak took the snap and immediately darted to the right. He then abruptly stopped and jumped to lob a pass over the line to punter Jacob Ulrich, who missed the last game with a hamstring injury.

The bizarre play was obviously a success and went viral on social media, but Kanak admitted after the game that he didn’t expect the play to actually get called after it didn’t go so well during practice this week.

“We practiced that all week and knew that it was in the game plan that we can call it,” Kanak said. “Actually, honestly, wasn’t expecting to call it, because it didn’t really work very well at the beginning of the week, but we kind of cleaned it up there at the end.

“But it’s cool to make a play like that happen.”

To go along with that pass, Kanak also had four receptions and 86 receiving yards against Temple.

Kanak, a senior, has emerged as an offensive star and fan-favorite this season after switching sides of the ball and converting from linebacker during the offseason. Through three games, he’s caught 14 passes for 245 yards as one of quarterback John Mateer’s top targets, but the two haven’t connected for a touchdown yet.

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