Sooner defense saves day from another 2nd-half offensive meltdown

The Oklahoma offense survived a Jekyll and Hyde performance on Saturday, aided by another stellar defensive performance, to record the Sooners' third win of the season, a 34-19 home victory over a resilient Tulane team.

After building a 21-0 first-half advantage, the 15th-ranked Sooners had to hold on for dear life in the fourth quarter amid a second-half Tulane rally that narrowed the Oklahoma margin to just five points early in the final period.

The Sooner defense came up big for the third straight game on Saturday and came close to pitching a first-half shutout. Tulane scored with 19 seconds remaining in the second quarter on a seven-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Ty Thompson to Reggie Brown. The extra-point try failed, and the Sooners took a 21-6 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

A Tyler Keltner 29-yard field goal on the opening drive of the third quarter stretched the Sooner lead to 24-6, but Tulane stormed back with 13 unanswered points on a touchdown late in the third quarter and an interception of a Jackson Arnold pass deep in OU territory for a touchdown just 30 seconds into the fourth quarter.

The Sooner offense went dormant for two consecutive possessions after the interception, totaling minus-one yards on successive three-and-outs. Fortunately the OU defense picked up the slack.

Faced with a third down and one yard to go at the Tulane 35-yard line, the Green Wave surprisingly opted to throw for the first down, and Darian Mensah's pass was deflected and picked off by the Sooners' Billy Bowman at the 45-yard line. Four plays later, on third-and-11, Arnold took off with the shotgun snap from center, broke a couple of arm tackles and ran it in for a 24-yard touchdown.

After Tulane turned the ball over on downs on its own side of the field on its next possession, the Sooners added a 39-yard field goal by Keltner to finish off the scoring and seal the 34-19 victory.

So Oklahoma heads into Week 4 with a 3-0 record and its first showdown with an SEC opponent as a member of that conference with sixth-ranked Tennessee rolling into town for a nationally televised primetime game on Saturday night. Before we get into all that, however, there are several things we can takeaway from the win over a good Tulane team.

Jackson Arnold can't do it all by himself

Arnold accounted for 266 of Oklahoma's 349 yards of offense against Tulane, 97 of that using his legs. He also accounted for two of the Sooners' four touchdowns, both runs. With the exception of the interception he threw in the fourth quarter, his decision making was improved from a week ago. Unfortunately, Arnold is under pressure far too often when he drops back to pass, and because of the inconsistency of the offense, he may be trying to do too much at times instead playing within himself.

Arnold's 97 rushing yards led the team in rushing. That speaks to the trouble the OU running backs are having establishing the run. Arnold had a 47-yard run in the second quarter that set up the Sooners' second touchdown and was the longest running play of the season. Arnold ran the ball 14 times against Tulane. I don't think the OU coaches want him doing that on a regular basis.

Defense shows it is SEC ready; the offense, not so much

The OU defense had two more takeaways against Tulane, giving the Sooners 10 for the season, tied for the most in the nation. For the third straight game, the Sooners have held their opponent under 20 points, and for the second time under 300 total yards of offense. After the game, Tulane coach Jon Sumrall paid the Oklahoma defense a compliment, calling it a "very legitimate SEC outfit, defensively. They've got good players and their defense is really good."

Oklahoma looked much improved on offense in the first half, moving the ball through the air and on the ground and converting six of eight third downs, more than they had in the first two games combined. A different offensive unit came out to play the second half, however. The Sooners failed to score on four straight possessions between the third and fourth quarters. They generated just one first down during the span, which opened the door for Tulane's second half rally.

The mix and match Oklahoma offensive line is struggling in run blocking and, in particular, in pass protection for Jackson Arnold. The Sooners entered the Tulane game ranked 89th nationally, allowing pressure on nearly 31 percent of quarterback dropbacks and tied for 89th in sacks allowed with six. They allowed three more against Tulane, which sparks some serious concern as the Sooners head into a difficult SEC schedule against some very good defensive teams.

R Mason Thomas having breakthrough season in Year 3

If there was a defensive player of the game award, it would be a close call between LB Danny Stutsman and DE R Mason Thomas. Thomas entered his third season at Oklahoma with 1.5 career sacks. He had three against Tulane for 17 lost yards and was a dominant force defensively in the final six minutes of the game. On Tulane's next to last possession in the fourth quarter, Thomas recorded two sacks and a pass breakup. On their last possession, he forced a fumble on a quarterback sack and recovered the fumble. All three of his sacks came in a span of nine plays in the fourth quarter.

OU's depleted, anemic passing games features one reliable receiver

The Sooners are missing four of their leading receivers from last season with injuries, two of which are lost for the season. Largely because of this, along with poor pass protection by the banged-up offensive line, the once explosive Oklahoma passing game is in serious decline. The Sooners have not thrown for over 200 yards in any of their three games this season after averaging 250 passing yards per game last season.

With all the injuries in what was once a deep wide receiving group, Purdue transfer Deion Burks appears to be the only reliable receiving target. Burks was targeted 12 times against Tulane and caught a team-high seven. He was the only OU wide receiver to catch more than one pass in the game. This is not a sustainable outcome for success against SEC teams.