All Sooners

Oklahoma Goes Back To Work With Texas Victory In Rearview Mirror

Bye week doesn't mean time off for the Sooners, who are trying to keep things in perspective while correcting mistakes ahead of UCF

Tim Willert

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NORMAN — Back home following Saturday's impressive come-from-behind win over then-No. 3 Texas, now No. 5 Oklahoma went back to work Monday even though the Sooners (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) don't play again until Oct. 21.

A bye week doesn't mean a week off. Certainly not after head coach Brent Venables reviewed the video from the 34-30 win over the Longhorns (5-1, 2-1)

"They'll probably tell you they felt like they might have lost," he said after practice. "We've got a lot to clean up and a lot to get better from, and it's great to do that after a win."

Quarterback Dillon Gabriel etched his name in Sooner lore with a game-winning drive for the ages on Oklahoma's last possession, taking the team 75 yards in 62 seconds with no timeouts.

Gabriel moved the offense down the field in five plays, the last a 3-yard strike to wide receiver Nic Anderson in the corner of the end zone under heavy pressure from the Texas defense.

The Sooners registered season highs in rushing yards (201) and sacks (five), while allowing only one sack. Texas entered the game allowing just 94.6 rushing yards and 1.8 sacks per game and averaging 2.6 sacks per contest.

Defensively, the Sooners collected three turnovers, including interceptions on each of Texas’ first two possessions. Oklahoma also mounted a goal line stand early in the fourth quarter, keeping the Longhorns out of the end zone on four tries from the 1-yard-line.

But Texas scored 30 points — 7 on a blocked punt for a touchdown — and racked up 527 yards of offense. 

"Again, there's a lot more that was good than not, but man, we've got to focus on the things that we can get better at," Venables said. "And they'll be the first ones to tell you there's a lot, especially on defense. We just had too many busts, too many missed tackles, not enough urgency to execute with the precision, the timeliness that we have to have."

Left tackle Water Rouse, a redshirt senior playing in his first OU-Texas game, blocked two Texas defenders on the game-winning play.

"It's a bye week but it's not like a rest week," he said Monday after practice. "We're still going hard, we're being mentally focused, we're doing all of that.

"We really have two weeks to get ready for UCF, basically. That's how I'm looking at it. We still got to go 1-0 this week. Because if I go out eating McDonald's every day, until next week, that's not really being on top of my stuff."

Tight end Austin Stogner, also a redshirt senior, has played Texas four times and still hasn't lost to the Longhorns. 

But the focus for now is getting better week by week.

"I'm happy to be 6-0, but we've still got like a ton of work to do," he said. "We've got to get better before we play in December, so we know that and so we're working towards that."

Defensive back Key Lawrence said the energy at practice Monday was "correction oriented."

"Still had that hungry, never-get-satisfied type of mindset today," Lawrence said. "Because coach ... he harps on not being complacent, and that's something we need to strive to just keep pushing through. To not try to get the big head, just stay hungry and humble."

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Tim Willert
TIM WILLERT

AllSooners staff writer Tim Willert has covered news and sports for 29 years as a reporter and editor for daily and online publications, including The Oklahoman and The Norman Transcript. 

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