Late comeback sparked by Hawkins pass and Lewis pick six
A 61-yard interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Kip Lewis was the late fourth quarter magic needed by the Sooners to overcome what had previously looked like an Auburn victory, marking a 17-point fourth quarter comeback for the Sooners’ 27-21 win at Auburn — it’s first Southeastern Conference win.
“First experience with Sooner Magic as a head coach. Boy was that an amazing last four drives for our offense and defense. Great example of kind of sticking together,” OU Coach Brent Venables said.
“We didn’t play very good, but we played amazing when we needed to.”
Most of the game was a struggle for Oklahoma, but with two bookends of success — first being true freshman QB Michael Hawkins’ spectacular 48-yard TD run on his first series as a starting quarterback, giving OU a 7-0 lead.
The last was the late fourth quarter play from a resilient Oklahoma defense, that had given up 144 yards rushing and 338 passing, but managed important sacks by R. Thomas Mason of Auburn QB Payton Thorne, whose errant throw under pressure dialed up by defensive coordinator Zac Alley put Lewis in the spot to grab the pass and run to the Tiger end zone to give the Sooners a late lead they would not relinquish.
In between those high points, Auburn seemed to have Oklahoma’s number. In the first half, half of the Sooner offense was Hawkins’ TD run. The Sooners only managed 111 yards offense in the first half.
Penalties haunted the Sooners at inopportune times. An offensive pass interference call late in the first quarter stymied what looked like a promising Sooner drive.
The Sooner defense kept the Tigers out of the end zone in the first quarter. Then, with 12:52 left in the second, Auburn QB Thorne threw a 31 yard touchdown pass to cap a 72-yard drive to tie the game 7-7.
Thorne’s passing (21 of 32, for 338 yards and three touchdowns) and run ability seemed to keep the Sooners defense off balance for much of the game — until late.
Auburn missed a field goal at the end of the second quarter. Frankly, OU was fortunate to only be down by 7 at the half.
An illegal shift penalty on a third and goal play negated a Hawkins touchdown pass to Barnes, leaving the Sooners to settle for a Zach Schmitt field goal to cut the Tigers lead to 14-10 with 2:26 left in the third quarter.
Then in the fourth quarter, Oklahoma came back. Hawkins threw a 60 yard bomb to J.J. Hester and the Sooners completed the drive with a two-yard Jovantae Barnes touchdown run to cut the lead to 21-16.
Then with 4:01 left in the game, Kip Lewis’ pick six and a Barnes two-point conversion run gave Oklahoma the lead, at 24-21. The defense stayed strong, keeping the Tigers from responding. The Sooners would add a Schmitt field goal and get their first SEC win, 25-21.
Hawkins finished the game 10 of 15 passing for 161 yards. His pass to Hester was his first deep pass of his career. He had 69 yards rushing on 14 carries.
After the game the Sooners fans who had traveled to Auburn began chanting, “Michael Hawkins” as the freshman quarterback left the field. They also chanted “BV” when Venables exited.
Next up: Oklahoma vs. Texas. Dallas. October 12.
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