Sooner Magic rears its head as Sooners overcome 11-point 4th-quarter deficit to win at Auburn

Welcome to life on the road in the fan-passionate and all-powerful SEC, Oklahoma! By all measures but one -- the scoreboard -- this was a game the Sooners should not have won.

The bend-but-don't break OU defense capped a remarkable fourth-quarter comeback with a pick-six that literally flipped this game on it head and delivered an improbable Sooner victory from the jaws of defeat.

Call it Sooner Magic or fate or an accident waiting to happen, but the end result was that Oklahoma improved its record to 4-1 and walked away from Auburn's legendary Jordan-Hare Stadium, one of the toughest road environments in the SEC with the Sooners' first SEC victory.

Oklahoma quarterback Michael Hawkins, Jr., making his first career start, became only the second true freshman to start his first game at the quarterback position for OU on the road (Troy Aikman was the other in 1984 in a 27-11 loss at Kansas). Hawkins is the seventh true freshman in Sooner football history to start at quarterback.

For most of the game, the Oklahoma offense appeared lifeless and operating on empty. In 10 offensive possessions, the Sooners never had a possession longer than six plays and recorded only 11 first downs in the game.

Auburn, playing at home for the fifth straight game this season, dominated the time of possession, with its offense on the field for 10 minutes more than OU and running 30 more plays on offense than the Sooners.

The Oklahoma defense gave up almost 500 yards on offense, most of it through the air, but came up with the big plays when it needed them the most, including a goal-line stand in the opening quarter, stuffing the Auburn offense on a fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line.

The back-breaker as far Auburn was concerned was an interception by Sooner linebacker Kip Lewis that was returned 63 yards for a touchdown with 4:06 remaining in the game, giving Oklahoma a 22-21 lead.

On the OU possession just ahead of that, Hawkins connected with wide receiver J.J, Hester on a 60-yard bomb, setting up the second Oklahoma touchdown and narrowing Auburn's 21-7 advantage entering the fourth quarter to just 21-16.

The Sooners were missing 11 players in the game due to injuries, including the team's top five wide receivers. Oklahoma will now have an extra week of rest and recuperation, which hopefully will allow some of the missing-in-action to get more healthy, before taking on chief rival and No. 1-ranked Texas in the annual Red River Rivalry game in Dallas on Oct. 12.

Michael Hawkins Jr. shines early, late, passes his first test as starter

Michael Hawkins Jr.'s first start for Oklahoma began with a bang. On this third play from scrimmage as the OU quarterback, the true freshman dropped back as if to pass on third-and-five from the Auburn 48-yard line, then tucked the ball and darted and dodged his way for a 48-yard touchdown scamper to give the Sooners the early 7-0 lead.

Hawkins was held mostly in check the rest of the game, Having trouble locating open receivers and scrambling for his life throughout most of the game, the true freshman unloaded a deep throw early in the final quarter that found WR J.J. Hester streaking down the sideline for a 60-yard gain to the Auburn five-yard line. That set up the Sooners' second touchdown.

With his arm and his legs, Hawkins accounted for 230 of Oklahoma's 291 yards of offense in the game and probably did enough to earn the start against Texas in the Sooners' next game on Oct. 12. He was 10 of 15 passing for 161 yards and no interceptions or turnovers. Hawkins goes in the record books as the only Oklahoma freshman quarterback to win his first game as a starter on the road.

Two big plays account for a third of Oklahoma's total yards on offense

Two giant chunk plays accounted for one-third of Oklahoma 291 yards of total offense against Auburn: Michael Hawkins Jr.'s 48-yard touchdown run on Oklahoma's first possession in the game, and the 60-yard fourth-quarter pass from Hawkins to WR J.J. Hester in the fourth quarter. Other than those two plays, the Sooners' offense was operating on a hope and a prayer most of the afternoon.

Auburn had just one turnover Saturday, but that one changed the game

One of the biggest story lines coming into Saturday's game was the statistical contrast between the two teams in turnovers and takeaways. Oklahoma ranked No. 1 in the nation with 12 takeaways, while Auburn was tied for dead last among 134 FBS teams with 14 turnovers. The Tigers were turnover free for 56 minutes on Saturday before quarterback Payton Thorne, under a full-scale Sooner blitz, threw an errant pass that was picked off by OU linebacker Kip Lewis, who returned it 63 yards to the house for the winning Oklahoma score. That was the lone turnover of the game by either team, and it turned out to be the deciding factor.

Sooner defense gets the save in this big OU road victory

It wasn't a particularly pretty performance defensively, but it was gritty and good when it needed to be and it was the hard-nosed OU defense that delivered the deciding blow in the game turning Auburns one turnover of the game into seven points. The Sooners defense recorded eight tackle for loss (41 yards) and four quarterback sacks along with five pass breakups.