SOONERGUYS Blog

Early on Saturday the offense looked like a team without any drive.

But coming out of the locker room at halftime the Sooners completed their best offensive drive of the season.

Former-backup-now-starting QB Landry Jones launched a nine-play 75-yard drive in which he completed six passes – the last for a 9-yard touchdown – and, most surprisingly, found a sure handed receiver who had been the goat of the early season: Adron Tennell.

The Sooners went up 21-6 and never looked back, going on to defeat Kansas 35-13 and dispelling any naysayer notions that the three-loss Oklahoma would fold their tent after last week’s loss to Texas.

And in so doing Offensive Coodinator Kevin Wilson called plays that capitalized on a height mismatch – Tennell’s 6-4 frame against much shorter Kansas secondary men.

Jones had the hot hand. And Wilson called the hot plays, culminating in another impressive scoring drive later in the third quarter. Jones found Senior RB Chris Brown for an 8-yard touchdown and the Sooners went up 28-6.

And, this game was over.

Tennell finished the game with six catches for 47 yards. But this is what the coaches had expected of Tennell all year long.

“It’s been pleasing to see him make some plays that we’ve known he is capable of making,” Coach Bob Stoops said after the game. “It’s exciting to see him do that today and make some big plays for us.”

It helped that Ryan Broyles had another great game. His 11 catches for 121 yards placed the Norman High grad firmly among the ranks of recent Sooner receiver greats like Mark Clayton.

And, it helped that the Sooner defense has developed into a championship calibre unit.

Oklahoma is now 4-3. Although it seemed unlikely the Sooners would have any chance to play in the Big 12 Championship this season – after the Red River Rivalry game – stranger things have happened. Like, for instance, Texas A&M defeating Texas Tech 52-30 in Lubbuck. Or, lowly Iowa State beating Nebraska 9-7 in Lincoln.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma just needs to take care of its own business.

“We just need to be making improvement,” Stoops said. “Keep chopping wood and getting better. And I thought we did. It was a huge game. Our back was against the wall.”

– Mike

For the benefit of Soonerguys outside the TV coverage region, here’s our live game comments, watching the Sooners play on ABC regional up in Lawrence: (Recent posts at the top — hit refresh to see latest)

FINAL SCORE

OKLAHOMA 35  KANSAS 13

4th Quarter

8:36  OK, we’re outta here!

10:57  Celebration time!

Oklahoma 35  Kansas 6 

11:41  Brown runs to the KU 22.  Trent Williams hurt, but stays in the game. Brown runs to the end zone for score!  Eldridge great block, with a push from Brown. Ha!  Boomer! Way PAT.   I actually heard one of the OKC sports talk radio guys saying this morning he expected OU to fall flat and get blown out by Kansas today (what a loser he is). I knew that wasn’t going to happen, but expected it might be a close Oklahoma win.  At least there is one guy who is more of an idiot than me.

13:07  On 3rd and 17. Sooners backed up. Not a good possession for Sooners? Jones passes middle screen to Broyles who breaks it to Kansas 45!  Wow.  Broyles has placed himself squarely in the Mark Clayton Club at OU.  What the O-line has really done nicely in this game is they’ve avoided penalties.

14:10  Ed Cunningham at ABC/ESPN: “I think really, as i look across Bob Stoops era, i’m not sure this defense isn’t playing the best of any group they’ve had there.”  Yeah, I agree.  And it’s a good thing too, considering how our offense sputters.

14:54  Kansas on 3rd and 10 from OU 31.  Reesing gets sacked again back at the 40 by Austin English!  3rd sack for OU.  And this was from OU just rushing 4 down linemen.  Punt time again — into the end zone. Touchback.   Sooners to start from their 20.

15:00 Gerald: Our defense is doing pretty well. Keeping us in this game.

3rd Quarter

Oklahoma 28  Kansas 6 

The stadium clock broke.  3rd quarter ends. 

2:05 Another pass to Tennell.  Tennell has now official shucked any “pass dropping” affliction he had at the beginning of the season.  Sooners held on 3rd down. Punt.

2:47  This KU possession can be a turning point in the game.   On 3rd down 6 from KU 40, Reesing throws the ball out of bounds.  Defense holds (again).  Right now Oklahoma has this game under control.

3:40  Oklahoma sets up on own 20.  Slant pass on 3rd down incomplete to Caleb. Caleb just isn’t catching anything and it really hampers this offense.  Oklahoma has to punt.

5:58  KU gets help from penalty to the KU 47.  Reesing tries the draw, but gets nowhere.  McCoy smothers him.  KU puts Pick in at QB for one play. Hmmmm. Not sure what that was about.  Jayhawksk punt to OU 20.

ABC Commentator: “It’s hard to argue that this (Oklahoma) isn’t the best group (defense) in the country” 

Oklahoma 28 Kansas 6 

6:55 Brown run sets up Sooner first and goal from KU 9. What do we run now? (we’ve had trouble in the red zone all year).  From shotgun Jones hits pass in flat to Brown for TD, but flag is down.  Off sides defense! Touchdown Oklahoma!  Phew!  OK, this entire series was excellent play calling by Wilson and excellent execution by Landry Jones, receivers and the O-line giving good protection. About the best drive of the year. 

7:53  Tennell gets interfered with again on deep sideline pass attempt.  This is a great call by Kevin Wilson to go to Tennell here.  Jones has a hot hand now.  OU at KU 19.  Brown runs to the 10.  Nice misdirection run here.  Good play calling.  Jones hit last 6 passes in a row.

8:10 GREAT pass and catch to Broyles to KU 33! 

8:24  Sooners back on offense from own 29.  Start out with nice sideline pass to Brandon Caleb to 43.  Next play is short pass to Dejuan Miller (need more passes to him). 

9:50 Jeremy Beal tips Reesing pass.  Good pass rush on 2nd down and good coverage deep by Brian Jackson to deflect Reesing pass on 2nd down.  On 3rd down Reesing completes, but Jackson holds receiver short of first down. KU punts.  Stoops gives big praise to Jackson to halting KU drive. 

11:29 KU starts at their own 20. Let’s see if the defense can continue their intensity in the second half.   On first play KU throws sideline pass for 9.  KU running a hurry up offense and McCoy drops KU runner for loss. On 3rd down, Reesing runs option pitch and barely gets first down.

Oklahoma 21 Kansas 6 

11:29  Slant pass from Jones to Tennell for OU Touchdown!  Kevin Wilson sees the height advantage Tennell has on the KU corner.  Way hits PAT.  Very nice offensive production to start the second half — thanks to some Kansas errors. 

12:14  Nice pass to Tennell and the Sooners get a first. The offense is moving the ball to the Ku 10.   Then run the ball with Brown to the 8.  Hurry offense! 

12:41  KU flagged for roughing the passer.  Is everyone trying to knock out all the OU quarterbacks? 

13:26  Jones throws incomplete deep and Tennell is interfered with — obviously.  Oklahoma set up on KU 43.  Then Jones sacked on zone read play.

14:14  Oklahoma starts the half with the ball. 3rd down and 1 at 35.  And Sooners get first penalty. Ouch.  Try again. 3rd down and 6.  And Caleb catches the pass and gets the first down!

15:00   Sooners didn’t have a penalty in the first half!  Amazing. But also only converted one third down in the first half. Not so good.  Sooners have only 28 yards rushing in the half.  Both defenses have kept their respective teams in this game.

Oklahoma 14  Kansas 6   END OF HALF

2nd Quarter

:02  4th down.  KU set up for 57 yard field goal.  With wind.  It’s good!  Well, that worked out for KU, but this whole first half has just been ugly by both teams (with exception of Sooner defense).

:21  KU runs shoft shuffle pass.  Jayhawk fans start booing. Oh, boy. Nobody is too happy about this game.  Then Kansas calls timeout with :02 left.  Poor clock management by the Jayhawks.  Good pass rush by the Sooner D. 

1:02  The D sacks Reesing back to the 48.  Ryan Reynolds.  Clock is running.  Not sure why Kansas is letting clock run.   

1:07  Jones on third down throws deep (wha!), hits an open Kinney in the hands.  Tips the ball up and intercepted by Kansas. OK, why did we run the football if the plan was to run the clock?  Then throw the football. And why does a wide open Kinney not catch a perfectly thrown ball? 

1:15  Brown runs the ball – but he runs out of bounds!  Wha!  That kinda defeats the purpose of running. 

2:03  Sooners start at their own 20.  Would be nice guys to score some points (finally).  Draw play loses yardage.  Looks like coaches are content to run the clock.  Maybe not a bad idea in this game.

Mike L: Put Jeremy Beal on the injured player pile. 

Oklahoma 14 Kansas 3

2:55 Timeout Sooners.   On 4th down at OU 23, KU lines up for field goal.  Makes 39 yard attempt.  Sooners are lucky to just give up 3 points after that turnover.  Beal limps off the field.

3:51  Tres Way fumbles the good punt snap and is drilled.  He must have thought he was an OU receiver and dropped the ball. Turnover gives KU chance to get back into game right before half.  Four miscues in this series in a row.  Way had the same sort of butter fingers that Caleb and Kinney seem to have. Does anyone besides Broyles (and Dom Franks) catch a ball for OU?

4:03   On 3rd down a short screen pass falls incomplete. Offense troubles continue.  Three miscues in a row. Mostly receiver problems are killing the OU offense. 

4:40  Sooners start on own 18.  Here, we have to get some offense going.  Two quick passes for first down to 33.  Nice pass to Caleb, who drops it (yeah, I said that — he dropped it).  On next play receiver fell down and Jones has to throw the ball away. So, here we are in a 3rd and long again. 

Hunter just sent message.  His fall ball baseball team won first game of state tournament.  He went 2 for 2.  It’s Steak N Shake time in Edmond right now.  Next game at 4:30.

4:40    Adrian Taylor sacks Reesing back to KU 39!  Good pressure.  Good coverage downfield.  On next play, good pass rush again and Reesing throws errant pass.  KU must punt. This was an important series for the D — to keep Kansas from getting back into this game.

7:50 KU will get the chance to score before the half and maybe get some momentum. So far the OU defense has played well. Offense not so much. 

9:10 Sooners sputter running the ball (their bug a boo). Third down pass is short of the first down. Must punt.  This is the sort of problem the offense has had.  Can’t sustain a drive because unable to run the football.  Short punt to KU 36.  Jones is 10 of 15 for only 67 yards passing.

10:41 Sooners get out from shadow of own field goal. Nice pass to Broyles to 15; then another pass to Broyles to the 29.  Sooners need a good drive here — run some clock and get some points.

10:56  KU driving down the field.  Jayhawk crowd out of the game, but their team is moving the ball. On 3rd and five on OU 32, Reesing throws ball out of bounds.    KU, strangely punts rather than kicks field goal. Ball is downed inside 5, so that will back Oklahoma up.  Still, an interesting “field position” call by Mangino.  Not sure I’d agree with it. But time will tell.

Oklahoma 14 Kansas 0

13:41  Dom Franks gets pick for touchdown — he read that play from the get go.  This is the play that we almost had against Texas (twice).  Really nice to see the D finally get one.  We could have used that last week.  Sooner D now has three interceptions — with points off of two of them. Sooners go up:  14-0.

14:48 Reesing gets first down. He is clearly KU’s biggest threat — his running.  Most effective running QB Oklahoma has seen this year.

15:00  KU has had one really good play — the shuffle pass. Otherwise the OU defense has done well. But now the Jayhawks are in the red zone.  We will see if Mangino pulls some trickery to score here.  KU had to call timeout coming out of the quarter break because OU defense was jumping around and play clock winding down.

1st Quarter

1:16  KU shuffle pass gets 56 yards.  Jayhawks threaten.  Poor tackling by OU.  End of Quarter.

1:30  Sooner offense blahhh… Jones overthrowing passes.  This may turn into a defensive game.  Punt back to KU.

2:45  Jayhawks forced to punt. Good defensive stand by Sooners.  Sooners receive punt at own 25.

3:49  KU first and 10 on own 30.  Gerald McCoy drops KU runner for loss of 3.  Awesome play there.

5:05  Nice pass by Jones, but Kinney drops the pass.  Imagine that. A Sooner receiver dropping a pass.  OU punts.

Mike L:  Wow, that was lucky.

5:32 Well, offensive line miscues let pass rusher cause Jones fumble. Fortuantely, KU defender was offsides.  Sooners keep the ball.

6:22  Intercepted by Jeremy Beal!  Adrian Taylor tipped the pass.  Fantastic.   The KU quarterback until then was being effective scrambling.

7:09  Goodness. Nebraska lost to Iowa State. That doesn’t help Oklahoma that much, although maybe it doesn’t matter.  Shows the weaknesses of any team that has eight turnovers. 

Oklahoma 7 Kansas 0

12:50 Touchdown Sooners! Jones QB keeper. VideoTouchdown review calls back TD, but it’s a first down.ow. A QB keeper? Cool. Sooners to the 11.

11:54 Another keeper. Short by les than a foot. A most unimaginative calling of plays.

 11:15 4^th and goal. Off left gtackle. Clapp lead blocker Brown scores TD! That was close. Tres Way kicks PAT, instead of Stevens.

Mike L : That’s a good start!

14:55 on first play, quinton carter intercepts! Good read by Carter. Sets up OU with short field on KU 47.

Kickoff. Nice day in Lawrence, it looks like.

Gerald:  Sooner!

Boomer!