Caleb 'Superman' Williams Saves the Day as Oklahoma Avoids Massive Upset at KU

Williams' fourth-quarter heroics rescue the Sooners from certain doom in what would have been the college football upset of the decade.

Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

LAWRENCE, KS — Just when things seemed hopeless for Oklahoma, Superman saved the day.

Shut out in the first half for the first time since before Lincoln Riley arrived, and trailing most of the game against 38.5-point underdog Kansas, the Sooners looked headed for sure defeat.

That’s when freshman quarterback Caleb Williams, nicknamed Superman for his heroic football skills, swooped in and saved the day, leading the Sooners to a 35-23 victory at Memorial Stadium.

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After breaking away for a 40-yard touchdown run on fourth down to give the No. 3-ranked Sooners a double-digit lead, he then really saved the day by almost doing the unthinkable.

KU answered and trailed by just five when the Jayhawks defense forced another fourth down at midfield.

Just when it looked like Kennedy Brooks had been stuffed on a run off right tackle, Williams reached in and ripped the football away from Brooks, then spun through the KU defense for the first down.

He literally pulled victory from the jaws of defeat, and the longest winning streak in the nation was extended to 16 games in a row.

Brooks finished the drive with a touchdown with just seconds on the clock, but the rescue had already been performed by the Sooners’ impossibly good freshman quarterback.

Caleb Williams / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Williams finished 15-of-20 passing for 178 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed eight times or 70 yards and a score as Oklahoma (8-0) avoided what would have been the upset of the decade against a hapless Kansas (1-6).

Kansas showed fight early — the kind they haven’t shown all season — and never backed down.

KU hadn’t scored on an opening drive in 2021, but they did this time when Devin Neal punched in a 1-yard touchdown run at the end of a 14-play, 80-yard, nine-minute drive.

It was KU’s second first-quarter touchdown of the season.

Jason Bean gets sacked / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

After Oklahoma opened with a punt, the Jayhawks then went 69 yards in 12 plays, another 6 1/2 minutes off the clock, and got a 28-yard field goal from Jacob Borcila.

It was Kansas’ first double-digit lead against an AP Top 5 opponent since 2008.

Oklahoma went into halftime with a goose egg on the scoreboard for the first time since the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl, when they trailed Clemson 27-0.

A few months later, Bob Stoops hired Lincoln Riley to be his offensive coordinator, and the Sooner offense hasn’t had many problems since.

Not until Saturday.

Marvin Mims / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Kansas had a massive statistical edge in the first half: 195-78 in total yards, 132 to 7 in rushing yards (4.7 to 0.9 average), 7-of-9 to 1-of-3 on third-down conversions, and 22 minutes to 8 in time of possession.

Oklahoma opened the third quarter and got on the scoreboard with a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, capped by Caleb Williams’ 5-yard pass to Jadon Haselwood. The drive only survived after Jeremiah Hall recovered his own fumble early in the drive.

The Sooners finally got a big play and struck quickly on their next possession after Trevon West got it going with 66 yards with a reverse handoff. Two plays later, Williams threw to Hall to cut the Kansas lead to 17-14.

The Sooners got two more big plays on the next drive — a 24-yard check-down pass from Williams to Kennedy Brooks, and a 23-yard swing pass from Williams to Eric Gray — and Brooks scored on a 1-yard plunge to give the Sooners their first lead.

It looked like Oklahoma’s rally might be complete after Key Lawrence forced a fumble and Justin Broiles recovered. On fourth down after the turnover, Williams broke three tackles at the line of scrimmage and sprinted away for a 40-yard touchdown that put the Sooners ahead 28-17.

Kansas wasn’t done, however, rallying for a 75-yard drive in just five plays. Jason Bean’s 14-yard TD throw to Luke Grimm made it 28-23 with 5:56 left, but the Jayhawks’ 2-point conversion failed.

Williams then made his impossible, unprecedented play on fourth down of the Sooners’ next drive, and iced the game.