Three takeaways from the Sooners’ 28-21 overtime win over Army.
One, Lincoln Riley has some learning to do. With the game tied 21-21 early in the fourth quarter, and with the number of possessions dwindling he opted on fourth and goal to go for the touchdown instead of taking the seemingly sure three-point lead with a field goal.
That was a stunning decision. And one that almost cost the No. 5 Sooners the game, when the Army defense stuffed a run into the line and then proceeded to march their own offense down the field.
(Note to Lincoln: Always put the points on the board).
Second, the Sooners defense failed in the tackle drill this game. Except for Kenneth Murray, who set a school record for most tackles at 28, and Curtis Bolton who had 23.
Maybe they can show the rest of the squad how it is done.
(Note to self: Calm down before saying something about Mike Stoops’ employment status.)
Three, the Sooners fans are awesome in the clutch (the 87,177 in attendance was the fourth largest crowd in stadium history).
Assistant Coach Tim Kish, a former Army coach, said so in his post-game press conference. He said the fans yelling in that overtime were “willing” the Sooners to step up and win the game. And they did — in exciting fashion with an overtime interception by Parnell Motley to secure the game and take Oklahoma to 4-0 for the season.
Much credit should be given to Army, whose ground game ground out 44:41 minutes of possession and 87 plays, limiting the Sooners offense to only 40 plays and seven possessions the entire game in regulation.
That’s a recipe for beating the Sooners.
But the Black Knights came up a little short.
Kyler Murray threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to CeeDee Lamb in overtime.
“Our guys hung in there,” Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said. “They trusted that it was going to be a challenge. If there’s a couple plays that game that you don’t make, it’s going to be a close game against them. Those couple plays that we had a chance to separate, we didn’t do it.”
Lincoln Riley has some learning to do…note to Lincoln: Always put the points on the board.
Lincoln Riley has some learning to do…note to Lincoln: Always put the points on the board.
It was good thing that Oklahoma held the Black Knights offense in overtime. Their coach Jeff Monken said Army would have gone for two and the win if they had scored a touchdown on their overtime possession.
That was obvious. And most Sooners fans in my section knew the OU defense would have been hard pressed to stop them from converting. The Black Knights were 4 for 4 on fourth-down conversions until Motley’s interception.
The Oklahoma offense played a good game, considering it was more like only 1/4 of game time. Kyler Murray passed for 165 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 71 yards and another score and Trey Sermon added 119 yards on 18 carries for Oklahoma.
Oklahoma led 21-14 at halftime after Army had 16-play, 75-yard touchdown drives on its first two possessions. Kyler Murray passed for 123 yards and two touchdows and ran for 40 yards and another score before the break. Oklahoma only had the ball for 20 plays in the first half.
But a key game event happened early in the fourth quarter. Oklahoma drove to the Army 1, but the Black Knights got the stop on fourth-and-goal and took over with 12:23 to go.
“A lot of heart, a lot of toughness and playing really well fundamentally,” Monken said. “Pads down, hands where they’re supposed to be, in the gaps where they’re supposed to be. And that’s what it takes. So I was proud of our guys for that goal-line stand. It was a great, great effort.”
Army drove for the win, but Oklahoma’s Mark Jackson pressured Hopkins, and defensive end Kenneth Mann caught a deflection to give the Sooners the ball at their 38-yard line.
Kyler Murray ripped runs of 18 and 10 yards to get the Sooners into field-goal range. An option pitch to Sermon for 11 yards and an 8-yard run by Kyler Murray moved it even closer. The Sooners then took a knee to set up the field goal try, but the usually sure-footed Austin Seibert missed from 33 yards out as time expired to force overtime.
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