Sooner coaches knew Saturday's WR hero had it in him, just didn't know when we'd see it

Injuries have put major limitations on Oklahoma's offensive effectiveness through the first five games of the 2024 season, although you wouldn't readily know it by just looking at the record.

Despite having key personnel out in every game because of injuries, the Sooners have managed to find a way to win in all but one of their five outings this season. OU was down by 11 points in the fourth quarter at Auburn on Saturday, and with the exception of their opening possession in the first quarter, about the only thing the Sooner offense had going for it was a hope and a prayer.

Someone upstairs must have been listening, though, because an answer to the prayer came in the fourth quarter in the form of two unlikely heroes. Some are inclined to call it Sooner Magic, but whatever it was, two explosive plays, one by the offense and one by the defense completely turned the Auburn game on its head.

Oklahoma has been largely ineffective in third-down conversions all season (just a 26 percent success rate). With just over 10 minutes left to go in the game on Saturday and trailing 21-10, the Sooners were faced with third down and 15 yards to go on the Auburn 45-yard line.

It was an obvious passing down, but instead of looking intermediate to pick up the first-down yardage, OU quarterback Michael Hawkins, Jr. did something the Sooners have had virtually no success with all season and connected with redshirt-senior J.J. Hester streaking down the right sideline on a 60-yard completion to the Auburn five-yard line. Two plays later, Oklahoma was in the end zone for its second touchdown of the game. That score narrowed the Sooners' deficit to five points at 21-16, but more importantly it provided momentum that carried over to the ensuing Auburn possession.

"What a ball -- we had been waiting dog years for an explosive play and finally got one," said head coach Brent Venables postgame about the deep throw to Hester. "And cool for J.J. too. He's had a lot of hiccups, like a lot of guys, in the first part of the season. Good for him."

Redshirt-sophomore linebacker Kip Lewis stepped in front of an Auburn pass four minutes later and returned it 63 yards to the house, and in a span off six minutes the Sooners had scored 14 unanswered points to surge into the lead and flip the scoreboard. Sooner Magic to the rescue!

With so many wide receivers out injured the OU coaches have been looking for others to step up and take advantage of the playing opportunity, and Hester was one of the receivers they thought best suited to meet the challenge. Until this season, though, he hasn't been healthy enough to fully show what he was capable of.

The Tulsa, Oklahoma, native is in his third season at OU, but he began his career at Missouri as the highest-rated recruit in Mizzou's 2020 class. He transferred to Oklahoma after the 2021 season, but has been plagued with injuries that have kept him off the field practically the entire time he has been on the OU roster.

"A lot of people know my story, some don't" Hester said in the postgame interview session on Saturday. "I've been battling injuries, and I just wanted to contribute to the team and I finally got to."

OU offensive coordinator Seth Littrell knows how important a vertical passing game is to the offensive arsenal. Unfortunately, that is not something the Sooners have had much success with so far this season. "You gotta be able to stretch the field vertically," Littrell said after the Auburn game. "There was even a couple more opportunities we missed (on Saturday), and so we'll get better at that."

Entering the Auburn game, Oklahoma had 11 players ruled out of the game with injuries, including the Sooners five leading wide receivers. Only two wide receivers who had caught more than four passes on the season were available to play. Further compounding the issue, the OU quarterback was a true freshman who was starting his first game, and in a hostile SEC road environment. And there was also the offensive line that had not started the same combination in any game this season.

The odds were clearly stacked against the Sooners from an offensive standpoint.

Ironically, during the offseason the Oklahoma wide receiver corps was believed to be one of the deepest and most talented in the country with all but one of the Sooners' leading receivers from last season returning in 2024, plus the addition of Purdue transfer Deion Burks and several highly touted freshmen receivers in OU's 2024 recruiting class.

Burks has been Oklahoma's prime receiving target this season with 26 catches for 201 yards, but he was hurt in the Tennessee game the week before and was not available at Auburn.

The Sooners are off this week with the first of two bye weeks in the 2024 schedule. The hope is that the extra days between games will allow the team to get a little healthier overall and especially at the wide-receiver position.

Until then, guys like Hester, Brenen Thompson and Jaquaiz Pettaway are going to have to continue to step up and fill the void. The Sooners are definitely going to need a stronger and more sustainable offensive performance against the SEC teams that remain on the schedule. The ability to be successful in the vertical passing game is an important part of that.