A Marine in full parade dress uniform and carrying an American flag sprinted out of the tunnel to lead the Sooners football team onto Owen Field on Saturday afternoon.
A 19-year-old freshman quarterback starting only his third game threw for 402 yards and six touchdowns.
A pre-season Heisman candidate benched at mid-season amid social media criticism came off the bench to a standing ovation and threw a 42-yard touchdown pass on only his second play in the game.
A team promised to be a playoff contender looked like it for the first time this season — nine games into the season.
Those were the takeaways from a 52-21 Oklahoma win over Texas Tech in Norman.
“Fantastic team win,” Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said.
“Just a complete performance all the way around. Offense, defense, special teams — huge contributions from everybody. Really loved the week of preparation. The guys did a really good job carrying it over from from the practice field to the game field.”
Williams’ performance at QB tied Kyler Murray and Landry Jones for the second-most TD passes in a game in school history. Baker Mayfield threw for seven against Tech in 2016.
Receivers shined. Marvin Mims had four catches for 135 yards and two TDs. Mario Williams had five receptions for 100 yards and one touchdown.
Kicker Gabe Brkic hit a 53-yard field goal in the third quarter. He has made five of six field goal attempts from more than 50 yards and is clearly one of the top kickers in the country.
Texas Tech’s 3-5-3 defensive line up challenged Oklahoma to run the ball. The Sooners did sparingly, getting only 72 yards. Coach Riley clearly opted to pass first, and again, and again, before falling for the Tech invitation to runt he ball.
With game well in hand, Rattler entered the field to run the offense. He threw a 42-yard spiral to WR Brian Darby for Oklahoma’s final touchdown. After the play, Rattler came to the sideline and was mobbed by teammates, including Williams.
“The cool thing is, those two are really happy for each other and have pushed each other,” Riley said. “On a great team, that’s what you gotta have.”
Williams became the first OU true freshman with five touchdown passes in a game and joined former Heisman Trophy winners Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray as the only Sooners quarterbacks with six touchdowns and no interceptions in a contest.
One of those touchdowns was a stretching catch by redshirt junior wide receiver Drake Stoops, who made his first start for the season.
Riley had high praise for his freshman quarterback.
“There’s some things just for him that he does at a young age that are really impressive,” OU head coach Lincoln Riley said.
“He’s got a good, calm demeanor about the game. He’s done a good job in scramble situations here early in the season. He does a good job not getting too high or too low. I think there’s a certain feel that he has on some things that are good, and I would expect to continue to get better.
Defensively, the Sooners held the Tech offense to converting only 4 of 13 third downs.
One notable roster change was evident on the field: Tennessee transfer Key Lawrence at cornerback. Lawrence’s size was evident in his key plays covering Tech receivers and batting away passes.
Oklahoma extended it’s nation-leading win streak to 17 games. It was at No. 4 in the Coaches Poll on Sunday morning.
The playoff committee meets this week to announce the first of that important poll.
Photo credits: Trey Young/ OU Daily
Up Next: At Baylor on November 13.
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