Oklahoma-Auburn: Everything You Need to Know

The Sooners drew on some Sooner Magic in the final minutes at Auburn, coming back from a 21-10 deficit to steal a 27-21 win, their first in the SEC.

Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. (9) throws the ball as Auburn Tigers take on Oklahoma Sooners at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

AUBURN, AL — Except for a 48-yard touchdown run on a scramble play by Michael Hawkins in the first quarter, not much changed for the Oklahoma offense on Saturday.

Until the game was on the line in the fourth quarter, that is.

That’s when Sooner Magic made its debut in the Deep South.

Last week it was a 10-point defeat to Tennessee. This week it was a 27-21 drama-filled victory at Auburn on a perfectly cloudy day on The Plains.

The Sooners’ first road game in Southeastern Conference play started out a lot like their first home game in the SEC: a very bad day moving the football, this time in front of a hostile crowd of almost 90,000 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

But needing two touchdowns in the final minutes, OU sparked to life with a stunning 60-yard Hawkins pass to J.J. Hester, a short TD run by Jovantae Barnes that cut Auburn’s lead to 21-16 with 8:32 to play — and then the knockout punch.

Kip Lewis intercepted Payton Thorne’s throw over the middle and returned it 63-yards for a touchdown with 4:06 to go — a play that’s already gone down in Sooner lore as the Kip Six.

That put OU on top 22-21, and Hawkins scrambled to the right pylon and launched himself through a tackler and into the end zone for a 2-point conversion that made it 24-21.

Thorne was then pressured by R Mason Thomas and Gracen Halton and ultimately sacked by Thomas on fourth down to all but end it.

Zach Schmit added a 39-yard field goal with 54 seconds left — his second of the day as Tyler Keltner’s injury replacement, to wrap up the Sooners’ first-ever SEC win.

And just like that, the No. 21-ranked Sooners are 4-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play with an open date next week and a trip to Dallas to face No. 1-ranked Texas in two weeks.

Here are three things, a quick postgame injury report and one crazy stat you need to know about the Sooners’ game at Auburn.

Today’s Star

Punter Luke Elzinga was going to win this one until Michael Hawkins got going in the fourth quarter.

In his first career start, the true freshman opened 5-of-6 for 41 yards and had that 48-yard touchdown run on the opening drive. 

His 60-yard thunderbolt to J.J. Hester started the rally, and his 2-point spinning flip into the corner of the end zone basically ended it.

He finished 10-of-15 for 161 yards through the air, ran for 69 yards and a touchdown (and a 2-pointer) on 14 carries, and did not turn the football over.,

His teammates rallied around him and followed his leadership. It was a stunningly impressive performance to come back from 3 1/2 quarters of more bland offense.

Play of the Game

No doubts here: Kip Lewis’ 63-yard interception return off the hand of Payton Thorne was a play that will go down in OU history and will be replayed for generations.

It was Oklahoma’s “Welcome to the SEC” moment — a game won with defense in a league that has been guided by it for years. 

Lewis finished with five tackles and one tackle for loss to go with his game-winner.

Stock Report

Michael Hawkins — UP: In his first SEC road game, Hawkins was solid, but also looked like a true freshman throughout. Then he hit the big-time and fully justified his call-up last week when Jackson Arnold was benched.

Jake Taylor — UP, then DOWN: OU’s starting right tackle was back, which was good. But he got overwhelmed at the point of attack repeatedly, which was bad. This might be OU’s best offensive line iteration: Tarquin, Sexton, Hickman, Nwaiwu and Taylor.

Danny Stutsman — DOWN: Stutsman finished with just four tackles and half a TFL, and he missed at least three tackles that could have resulted in third-down stops.

R Mason Thomas — UP: Thomas had four tackles and two more quarterback sacks in the fourth quarter. He delivered game-changing plays with the game on the line.

Jovantae Barnes — UP: Barnes had 18 tough carries for 61 yards and scored the touchdown that put OU ahead with four minutes left.

J.J. Hester — UP: Hester didn’t have any stock before today. But he had a bullish catch-and-run in the first half, then hauled in Hawkins’ deep bomb for a 60-yard completion that changed the game. He finished with three catches for 86 yards — all personal-bests at OU.

Injury Report

Right tackle Jake Taylor was back in his starting spot. 

And that was that.

Wideout Deion Burks, Oklahoma’s best offensive player, didn’t make the trip after he suffered a “soft tissue” injury last week when he fell on the football. 

Wideouts Nic Anderson, Jalil Farooq, Andrel Anthony and Jayden Gibson also remained out.

Running back Taylor Tatum, who appeared to take a hit to the back of the head-neck area last week, also didn’t travel.

Offensive lineman Troy Everett apparently returned to practice this week and was not listed on the injury report but didn’t play. Tight end Kaden McIntyre was back at tight end, wearing No. 86 (Jacobe Johnson wore No. 19 for the offense). 

Cornerback Gentry Williams and linebacker Dasan McCullough couldn’t get healed up and also didn’t travel. 

Kicker Tyler Keltner had an emergency appendectomy last week and missed the trip.

Crazy Stat

Auburn had the football for nearly 35 1/2 minutes and had more yards (482-291), more first downs (26-11), more third-down conversions (4-2), more plays (75-47) and fewer penalties (10-7), but the Sooners owned the final minutes.