Sooners’ offense lacked first half rhythm — then exploded with 24 points in the 3rd quarter
If the Oklahoma-Kent State game was a forecast of the Sooners’ 2022 season, we can expect the best of times and the worst of times from this team.
Their 33-3 win before flashing stadium lights on Saturday night was a Tale of Two Halves (apologies to Charles Dickens).
The offense in the first half was flat. And that is being generous.
Perhaps we should have known the game would be surreal when earlier on Saturday the computer system relied upon by the athletic ticket office crashed and prevented half the fans from downloading their digital tickets for the game.
That error was corrected a few hours before kickoff.
The offense’s errors took a little longer — until the last minute of the second quarter, with three straight Dillion Gabriel passes to Marvin Mims — the last being a 36-yarder to give the Sooners their first score to take the 7-0 lead going into halftime.
.@ScoopHD highlights #Sooners touchdowns vs. Kent State pic.twitter.com/uqwM2t9fYu
— SoonerScoop.com (@SoonerScoop) September 11, 2022
“I don’t like how we started but I liked how we finished,” said offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby.
“There are a ton of things for us to clean up, but I’m proud of our guys for sticking together.”
And while the defensive bent for much of the game — allowing Kent State 20 first downs, largely due to an effective zone read game by KSU’s QB Collin Schlee (he rushed for 55 yards) — the D did not break, and held the Golden Flashes to only three points.
“I think it’s huge that we’re able to go win the football game 33-3 with the way that Kent State played. They did an unbelievable job in the first half. I’m frustrated that we didn’t play the way we needed to play,” said defensive coordinator Ted Roof.
Much of the Sooners’ offensive struggles in the first half seemed to arise from the offensive line’s inability to control the line of scrimmage, stymying any effective run game.
The Sooners had only 74 yards in offense before the scoring drive that closed the first half.
That all changed coming out of the halftime locker room.
FROM THE OU DAILY: Stutsman becoming leader of Sooners’ defense
“We told the offense, you guys are going to come out and score, we’re going to have a three and out, then you guys are going to score again and its going to be a completely different ball game,” sophomore linebacker Danny Stutsman said about the halftime discussion.
And he proved prophetic.
Gabriel again targeted Mims, throwing the first two plays of the second half to his go-to receiver.
Mims finished the game with seven catches for 163 yards.
Gabriel completed 21 of 28 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns.
Marcus Major capped that first scoring drive of the second half with a quick move run for 16 yards, giving the Sooners a 14-3 lead. They never looked back.
Later, Billy Bowman, Jr. recovered a Kent State fumble, leading to a 25 yard field goal by Zach Schmit.
On the next OU drive, Gabriel tossed a short pass to Drake Stoops who made a spectacular run-after-catch to the goal marker and the Sooners were then up 24-3, with 5:31 remaining in the third quarter.
The Sooners were then firmly in control. And the first half stumbling was soon forgotten.
Mims grabbed another touchdown pass in the third quarter. All in all, the Sooners had a 24-point third quarter.
The Sooners defense also seemed to get stronger as the game progressed.
The defense made 14 tackles for loss and three sacks. That was the most tackles for a loss in a game since recording 15 in the Big 12 championship game against Baylor in 2019.
Running back Eric Gray was effective both running. He led rushers with 71 yards. His 44-yard run in the third quarter was his career longest.
“We had some things that didn’t go our way on many occasions, but we buckled down and responded within drives to either execute and put the ball in the end zone, or on defense, we found a way to get off the field and get a stop when we needed to,” Coach Brent Venables said.
Meanwhile, the new LED stadium lights show — flashing on and off while fireworks erupt after Sooner scores — was a hit.
Here’s the Drake Stoops TD with the light show. A massive fan of these lights!!!! #Sooners #football #oufootball @soonergridiron @OUBarstool pic.twitter.com/QgMAdrhAsy
— Brandon Sullivan (@btsullivan91) September 11, 2022
“We didn’t have that before, so it was good to just add something on to the crazy fans out there. It was kind of cool with the light show when everybody turned their flashlights on,” cornerback Justin Harrington said.
“I feel like further down the road, our next five home games that’s going to be a factor with the opponents coming in.”
Kent State is the only Football Bowl Subdivision team that will play three nonconference games against Power 5 schools. The Golden Flashes lost their opener to Washington and will travel to play the Georgia Bulldogs in two weeks.
NEXT: At Nebraska. 11 an Saturday on Fox.
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