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Sooners get what they needed — a 59-14 easy rider

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A career 203-yard day for running back Jovantae Barnes led Oklahoma to a 59-14 walloping of the Maine Black Bears to snap a three-game losing streak — a much needed easy day for the Sooners (5-4, 1-4 SEC), who moved a game closer to bowl eligibility with the win.

The non-conference matchup allowed Oklahoma to improve its rushing game, something plagued by injuries and poor performances along the offensive line much of this season.

“It feels good, but I can’t celebrate so much,” Barnes said. “I think it’s a good moment to build off of this as an offense, as a team, and go on to next week’s practice and just work. So it was a good start to something.”

Barnes erupted in the first quarter with a 74-yard run down the Maine sideline to set up the Sooner’s first touchdown, tying the game at 7-7. After that there was no looking back. He had 158 yards on 11 carries in the first half alone. The last time an Oklahoma back rushed for at least 150 in a half was Samaje Perine who had 222 in 2014 against Kansas.

Meanwhile, QB Jackson Arnold had a good day, especially finding WR J.J. Hester. Hester caught three passes in the first half, including a career-high 98-yard touchdown, his first since transferring to OU in 2022. He finished the game with four catches for 112 yards.

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Dave: Sooners need a game like Maine after second half collapse at Ol’ Miss

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Whether it was the new play caller or a new starting quarterback, the offense finally showed some life
against Ole Miss last Saturday. The offensive line opened holes for Javonte Barnes to have one of the
better games of his career, and Jackson Arnold was efficient, avoided turnovers and threw two
touchdown passes.

Jo Jon Finley’s play calling was more creative and I believe put his players in a better position to make plays. Especially Arnold, who was rolled out several times for passes to compensate for the offensive line’s struggles to protect against the Rebels pass rush.

All in all, it was a pretty good first half that saw the Sooners take a 14-10 lead into the locker room. Unfortunately, there was still a second half to be played.

And whatever worked in the first thirty minutes of the game, failed miserably in the second thirty minutes. Oklahoma was unable to score in the last two quarters and Ole Miss prevailed 26-14.

In my mind, one of a couple of things happened. Our coaching staff failed to adjust to the Rebel’s halftime adjustments. Or they tried to make those adjustments, but just don’t have the personal due to continuing injuries to implement them.

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Sooners make a game of it in Oxford

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This game will go down as an “L” in the win-loss column. But there was something different about it.

The 26-14 loss to Mississippi felt more like the loss on the road at Oxford that we expected pre-season instead of the humiliation we had recently expected (and Vegas predicted, making the Sooners a three-score underdog) after pitiful Sooner performances in October.

For the first time this year, we saw beginner QB Jackson Arnold look like a young quarterback — making some plays to show his talent and failing at some plays to show his inexperience — but, progressing in his development, rather than the young QB regressing into shell shock (which had been the case earlier in the year, resulting in his benching).

“I thought Jackson did a lot of really good things at times,” Coach Brent Venables said of Arnold.

So did the rest of the team. Given recent developments that has had fans in meltdown mode, it was possible this team could have tanked by now. But, their performance against Mississippi showed they have not.

“These guys aren’t going to flinch — I promise you… I think everyone on the outside might assume guys will give up or check out… Not these guys,” Coach Brent Venables said.

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