Oklahoma Overcomes Slow Start To Trounce OK State
Boone Tillman // Sooner Born • Published: October 25th, 2031
It wasn't always pretty, but in the end, the Oklahoma Sooners showed who ruled Oklahoma with a 37-7 trouncing of in-state rival Oklahoma State. The win moved Oklahoma to 3-0 since the rivalry was restarted following a five year hiatus, but more impressive than the win streak is the fact that Oklahoma continued to roll without star quarterback Markelle Nickey.
AJ Hatchett, replacing Nickey as the starting quarterback, wasn't sharp early. He went 0/3 on the Sooners' opening drive of the game, throwing an interception at midfield to end the opening drive.
Leo Hawkins and the Cowboys took full advantage, marching 66 yards before Hawkins tossed a three-yard touchdown to Joel Signer to put the Cowboys up early.
Unbeknownst to anyone, those would be the last points of the contest for the Cowboys. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for Hatchett, who threw another interception and fumbled on a scramble late in the second quarter, but the Sooners' offense did enough to buoy the swarming defensive effort in the win.
Hatchett would finish the day with 309 passing yards and three touchdowns, but the story of the day was the defensive effort put forth by Cole Leo and Co. Leo led the charge with four tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in the game, over a third of the Sooners' nine sacks in the contest. Add in the Oklahoma defense's 21 tackles for loss, three interceptions, and a fumble recovery and the Cowboys never had a chance.
In fact, they gained more yards on their first drive of the game (66), than they did for the remainder of the contest—after calculating sack yardage—as the Cowboys finished with a meager 124 total yards of offense in the dismantling.
•••
Question One - James McDavid (OU Daily): "Hatchett looked a little shaky early with a pair of interceptions. What did you see after halftime that gives you confidence for the upcoming showdown in College Station?"
Armando Leon: "The first interception was ugly, AJ knows that. The second was just a miscommunication. Receiver went one way, AJ thought he was going the other. Overall, though, I think he did a great job of staying within himself, shaking off the mistakes, and taking the necessary precautions to make sure the mistakes didn't compound."
Question Two - Hank Oiler (The O'Colly): "Coach, what changed for your defense after that first successful drive by the Cowboys offense? Because it seemed like they had wide open throwing lanes and Leo couldn't miss for those first 66 yards, then the wheels came off."
Armando Leon: "Pressure is a wonderful thing, Hank. Bursts pipes or makes diamonds. We sent the pressure, almost every play, and Leo burst like a pipe. Once he got hit the first time, he got shifty. Second time? He was scared. Once the quarterback starts playing scared, he second-guesses himself, doesn't trust his eyes, and once that happens? We got him."
Question Three - Meg Semental (SEC Network): "Tyler Ryder was mostly absent from the game plan with the return of Isaac Adcock. Is that going to be the plan going forward, or is he going to have an expanded role as the season reaches its climax?"
Armando Leon: "We wanted to make sure that Isaac got plenty of PT to knock the rust off. We had some packages for Ty if the situation came up; they didn't. He knows his value and will continue to prepare so that when we need him, he's ready."
•••
I started to wonder something during this game, folks, as AJ Hatchett was having a meltdown like Markelle Nickey. I don't recall Nickey having stretches like this last year. Yet now, here we are, with two different QBs having the same struggles.
Is it the quarterbacks, or the offense?
Don't kill the messenger, I'm just saying. Where there's smoke, there's usually fire. Maybe we've been barking up the wrong tree this whole time? Just a thought.
But, not to cast a shadow over another rivalry win. For now, all we have to worry about is how we're going to remind the Cowboys who runs this state for the next year!
#BoomerSooner
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Oklahoma State | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Oklahoma | 7 | 9 | 14 | 7 | 37 |
| Q | Team | Time | Play | Oklahoma State | Oklahoma |
| 1st | Oklahoma State | 5:00 | Joel Singer, 3 Yd Pass From Leo Hawkins | 7 | 0 |
| 1st | Oklahoma | 3:21 | Isaac Adcock, 50 Yd run | 7 | 7 |
| 2nd | Oklahoma | 7:52 | Isaac Adcock, 7 Yd Run | 7 | 14 |
| 2nd | Oklahoma | 6:40 | Safety | 7 | 16 |
| 3rd | Oklahoma | 6:47 | Maurice Lucky, 2 Yd Pass From AJ Hatchett | 7 | 23 |
| 3rd | Oklahoma | 0:54 | Maurice Lucky, 12 Yd Pass From AJ Hatchett | 7 | 30 |
| 4th | Oklahoma | 8:16 | Dillon Slye, 3 Yd Pass From AJ Hatchett | 7 | 37 |
Oklahoma State Oklahoma Passing | Stats Passing | Stats ----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ Leo Hawkins | 19/32, 189 Yds, TD, 3 INT AJ Hatchett | 26/41, 315 Yds, 3 TD, 2 INT Rushing | Stats Rushing | Stats ----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ Leo Hawkins | 10 Att, -63 Yds Isaac Adcock | 10 Att, 107 Yds, 2 TD Dorian Mercer | 6 Att, 4 Yds Dillon Slye | 5 Att, 12 Yds Receiving | Stats Receiving | Stats ----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ Miles Talbot | 4 Rec, 52 Yds Dillon Slye | 7 Rec, 74 Yds, TD Joel Singer | 3 Rec, 20 Yds, TD Maurice Lucky | 7 Rec, 75 Yds, 2 TD Terrance Blizzard | 3 Rec, 22 Yds JaMichael Buggs | 3 Rec, 51 Yds Defensive | Stats Defensive | Stats ----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ SS Larry Salaam | 8 Tkl, INT MLB Gordon Paul | 9 Tkl, 5 TFL, Sack LB Eric Sabri | 6 Tkl, INT CB Antwan Phung | 7 Tkl, 2 TFL, 2 INT DT Marco Landry | 3 Tkl, 2 TFL, Sack DT Cole Leo | 4 Tkl, 4 TFL, 3.5 Sacks, 2 FF
SEC Week Nine Results
35 Texas A&M (5-3) @ Missouri (6-3) 34
14 Vanderbilt (2-5) @ #14 Auburn (6-2) 35
24 #7 Tulane (8-0) @ LSU (4-4) 10
31 South Carolina (1-8) @ #5 Tennessee (7-1) 35
59 #13 Georgia (5-2) @ Mississippi State (4-4) 21
21 Kentucky (3-4) @ #11 Alabama (6-1) 31
43 #15 Texas (5-2) @ Ole Miss (4-4) 41
38 #16 Florida (7-1) @ Arkansas (4-3) 31
Notable Week Nine Results
17 Michigan (5-2) @ #2 USC (8-0) 59
34 #4 Duke (6-1) @ #10 Clemson (6-2) 27
