Brooks runs wild, backup Williams steps in to grab wild 55-48 win
The Sooner train left the Norman Depot on Friday morning at 8:45 am. The train crashed early in the first quarter in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
And then the Sooners (a/k/a the “Cardiac Kids”) got off the train and beat Texas 55-48 in the biggest comeback win in Red River Rivalry history.
The comeback was marshaled by true freshman QB Caleb Williams and energized running back Kennedy Brooks.
When the Sooners were down 28-7 the prospects of an Oklahoma victory on a blue-sky day in Dallas’ Fair Park seemed improbable.
But, OU Coach Lincoln Riley, had seen starting QB Spencer Rattler throw one interception and cough up a fumble too and decided enough of that, let’s go with the true freshman backup Williams — the fan favorite until, at least, he loses a game.
The Sooners overcame the 21-point deficit. It was the second-largest comeback in program history. And it was the first time in recent memory that OU students in the sell out crowd stormed the field to celebrate with the team.
Kennedy ran for 217 yards and two touchdowns, including the last one in the closing seconds of the game to give Oklahoma the victory.
He outplayed Texas’ star ball carrier Bijan Robinson, who entered the game as the NCAA’s second leading rusher, and delivered the game-winning touchdown for Oklahoma, which came on a 33-yard rush with three seconds remaining.
“I’m trying to think of the moments in my career that I’ve been prouder of a team,” Sooners coach Lincoln Riley said. “If there’s any, it’s not many. … We were poised and I think we all felt like our confidence didn’t change and it didn’t get rocked by the fact that we didn’t play well early.”
And so, Oklahoma wins yet another by the thinnest of margins, advancing the season to 6-0 and likely to move up some in rankings after two losses for teams ranked ahead of them.
Oklahoma now holds the longest active winning streak in the college football, at 14.
Although the outcome can be credited to Brooks and a tenacious Sooners defense that stifled Longhorn QB Casey Thompson in the second half, much attention will be given to the decision by Riley to replace Rattler with Williams.
After that substitution Williams ran for a 66-yard score on a fourth-and-1 and completed 15 of 24 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns after replacing Rattler.
Riley did put Rattler back into the game to throw the tying 2-point conversion after Williams’ 52-yard TD pass to Marvin Mims in the fourth quarter.
It was a SportsCenter highlight. Mims made a leaping grab and managed to get a toe inbounds before falling into the pylon for that touchdown. He finished with five catches for 136 yards and his first two touchdowns of the season.
“That was a hell of a fight,” Riley said of OU’s victory, which came after trailing by 18 points at halftime. “It really was. … I think there was a strong belief with our squad that if we could right the ship a little bit, and if we’ll just cut out a couple of simple mistakes we felt like we were making, we can absolutely get back in this thing.
“What an epic comeback. This one’s really, really special.”
Feature photo credit: Trey Young/OU Daily
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