Oklahoma Bullies Tulsa In Rain Soaked Affair
Boone Tillman // Sooner Born • Published: November 10th, 2029
On a dreary rain-drenched afternoon at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, the Oklahoma Sooners shook off the rust of a late bye week to pummel the visiting Tulsa Hurricanes 45-7 behind a steady rushing attack, led by Heisman favorite Oscar Robledo, and a suffocating defensive front that notched six sacks and 20 tackles for loss, limiting the Hurricanes to just 231 total yards.
It wasn't the dominant start the Sooners faithful had in mind, as the contest entered halftime at 21-7 after Enrique Dahl led a spirited two-minute drill before finding senior receiver Josh Smith for the 21-yard score. However, it would be the last time the Hurricane's reached the end zone as the Sooners rattled off 24 straight points after the half to completely pull away.
Oscar Robledo finished the contest with 138 rushing yards, another 66 receiving yards, and one touchdown as he sat out most of the third and all of the fourth quarters in the contest.
In his postgame press conference Coach Leon acknowledged the impact the weather had on his offense while continuing to praise his defense's effort.
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Question One - James McDavid (OU Daily): "Coach, despite the lopsided final score your offense struggled mightily in the first half as Cole Welliver entered the tunnel with just 11 completions against 22 attempts. What had more of an impact on the rust the offense showed, the Hurricanes defensive scheme, or the weather?"
Armando Leon: "No slight to the Hurricanes, they came out and competed and never quit. I don't think anyone expected a 14-point game at the half. But I also can't sit here and dismiss the impact the weather had. We're predicated on speed and flow, two things the weather slowed down. Before anyone says it, I know—the Tulsa offense played in the same conditions. This is more a lesson for us that we need to be prepared to execute regardless of the weather. We can't have seven drops, period. The JUGGS machine is going to be getting some extra reps this week, that's for sure."
Question Two - Jason Neilhouse (The Collegian): "Enrique Dahl had a quiet night in the midst of a spectacular season. What was your defensive game plan to slow down one of the best quarterbacks in the American?"
Armando Leon: "Enrique is a great quarterback and I made sure to seek him out after the game and let him know that. He's got a ton of talent and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him at the next level after this season. It's hard to stay in rhythm and make plays when you're being constantly hit, and that's what Enrique was dealing with tonight. We sent pressure from everywhere and never let him get comfortable. The one drive where we were passive and dropped coverage, he punished us in the two-minute drill."
Question Three - Meg Semental (SEC Network): "With the final non-conference game out of the way, your team will now prepare for the final two conference games of the season, Senior Night against LSU then on the road against the Texas A&M Aggies. If you win, you're in the championship game. Did you think when you took this job that you'd be in a position to give the Sooners their first SEC Championship in year one?"
Armando Leon: "The only expectation I had coming here was to continue doing what I've done at every stop in my career. Build a culture that demands excellence, prepares the right way, and gives it their all on the field. If you do that and compete the right way, the wins are going to come. I didn't have a number of trophies, or conference championships in mind taking the job. I knew that if I won, those would come in time. So am I surprised? No. We expected to win from Day 1 and we're going to keep expecting to win until someone proves us wrong."
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There isn't much to say about this one folks. Tulsa, meet frying pan.
I will say, the rust and lack of execution in the passing game is concerning. You can tell Robledo didn't have the same burst he was showing earlier this season—could have been the field conditions, could be he's running on empty. You have to assume at some point one of our upcoming SEC opponents is going to stack the box and dare Cole to beat them.
I've seen Cole sling it with the best of them, but based on the showing we saw today, it would be hard to bet on him beating LSU or A&M on his own if Robledo is really running on empty.
For now, we move. Cautiously optimistic that the rust is merely rust, and not a foreshadowing of a bigger issue.
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Tulsa | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Oklahoma | 7 | 14 | 21 | 3 | 45 |
| Q | Team | Time | Play | Tulsa | Oklahoma |
| 1st | Oklahoma | 4:07 | Iosefa Topa, 38 Yd Pass From Cole Welliver | 0 | 7 |
| 2nd | Oklahoma | 8:53 | Chance Ojabo, 3 Yd Run | 0 | 14 |
| 2nd | Oklahoma | 2:20 | Oscar Robledo, 12 Yd Run | 0 | 21 |
| 2nd | Tulsa | 1:09 | Josh Smith, 21 Yd Pass From Enrique Dahl | 7 | 21 |
| 3rd | Oklahoma | 5:22 | Terrance Butcher, 4 Yd Run | 7 | 28 |
| 3rd | Oklahoma | 3:02 | Trynae Washington, 13 Yd Pass From Cole Welliver | 7 | 35 |
| 3rd | Oklahoma | 0:55 | Terrance Butcher, 5 Yd Run | 7 | 42 |
| 4th | Oklahoma | 8:06 | Brian Rowe, 23 Yd FG | 7 | 45 |
Tulsa Oklahoma Passing | Stats Passing | Stats ----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ Enrique Dahl | 13/24, 170 Yds, TD Cole Welliver | 15/27, 211 Yds, 2 TD Denzel Gardner | 4/7, 40 Yds AJ Hatchett | 2/6, 6 Yds Rushing | Stats Rushing | Stats ----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ Kelvin Washington | 8 ATt, 18 Yds Oscar Robledo | 16 Att, 138 Yds, TD Roy Starks | 8 Att, 29 Yds Terrance Butcher | 8 Att, 48 Yds, 2 TD Receiving | Stats Receiving | Stats ----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ Rob Robinson | 5 Rec, 49 Yds Oscar Robledo | 5 Rec, 66 Yds Josh Smith | 5 Rec, 55 Yds, TD Trynae Washington | 3 Rec, 52 Yds, TD Alex Green | 3 Rec, 70 Yds Iosefa Topa | 2 Rec, 40 Yds, TD Defensive | Stats Defensive | Stats ----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ FS Tre Holbrook | 9 Tkl MLB Kyle Brink | 6 Tkl, 5 TFL, Sack SS Isaac Covington | 8 Tkl, TFL DE Leon Britt | 4 Tkl, 3 TFL, Sack DT Jamie Paredes | 3 Tkl, TFL DT Karlos Vigil | 2 Tkl, 2 TFL, 1.5 Sacks
SEC Week Eleven Results
28 #6 Texas A&M (8-2) @ Ole Miss (5-5) 27
20 Kentucky (5-5) @ #9 Missouri (7-3) 31
35 #16 Auburn (7-3) @ Florida State (6-5) 32
49 South Carolina (7-3) @ Vanderbilt (3-7) 21
55 #25 LSU (7-4) @ Mississippi State (3-7) 49
44 #8 Tennessee (8-2) @ Alabama (6-4) 17
Notable Week Eleven Results
33 #22 Baylor (7-3) @ #19 TCU (7-3) 38
27 #14 UCLA (8-2) @ #23 Indiana (7-3) 24
