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Oklahoma Lands Three on Weekly SEC Awards

The Sooners dominated No. 7 Alabama on Saturday night, and on Monday they dominated the SEC's weekly awards as well.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma Sooners running back Xavier Robinson
Oklahoma Sooners running back Xavier Robinson / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Oklahoma’s 24-3 win over Alabama on Saturday night was pretty impressive.

So says the committee who chooses the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week Awards, anyway.

Three Sooners landed awards this week for their play against the Crimson Tide.

Running back Xavier Robinson was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week, defensive end R Mason Thomas was named SEC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week, and right guard Febechi Nwaiwu was named SEC Co-Offensive Lineman of the Week.

OU didn’t just upset the two-touchdown favorite Crimson Tide — the Sooners dominated No. 7 ‘Bama from start to finish. It was OU's first home win over an AP top-10 opponent as an unranked team since 1990.

Robinson, a freshman from Oklahoma City, was the star with a career-high 107 yards on 18 carries, and he scored two touchdowns. Three weeks ago, coach Brent Venables said the plan was to redshirt Robinson, but Robinson canceled that and played in just his fifth collegiate game against the Tide.

Robinson also caught a career-high four passes for 20 yards to pace Oklahoma's offense. Playing in just his fifth career game (third in which he registered a carry), he averaged 5.9 yards per rush against an Alabama defense that entered the game permitting 3.6 yards per run on the season. Robinson rushed for 40 yards on his first carry of the game, his longest run of the season and the second longest by an OU running back this year. His touchdowns came from 18 yards (gave OU a 10-3 lead in the second quarter) and 1 yard (17-3 lead in the third quarter). His effort helped the Sooners maintain a 34:11 to 25:49 advantage in time of possession, and his 3-yard rush on fourth-and-2 with 2:00 minutes remaining allowed OU to run out the final 6:53 off the game clock.

Thomas, a junior from Fort Lauderdale, FL, had three total tackles against Alabama, including 1 1/2 tackles for loss, one quarterback sack and two QB hurries. On the season, Thomas has 20 tackles, but 10 1/2 of those are tackles for loss, with eight sacks.

On one of his QB hurries, Thomas hit the arm of quarterback Jalen Milroe, causing the ball to fly into the air and be intercepted by teammate Woodi Washington. Thomas' play helped spur an OU defense that kept Alabama from scoring a touchdown for the first time since 2011 and that held the Crimson Tide to its fewest points since 2004 and its fewest offensive yards (234) since 2014. Thomas, a Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., product, leads OU and ranks fifth in the SEC with 8.0 sacks and 12th with his 10.5 tackles for loss (both career highs).

Nwaiwu, a fourth-year junior from Coppell, TX, was the best of an OU offensive line that cleared the way for 257 rushing yards and only allowed one sack all night. The Sooners’ front five is all new this season and has struggled with consistency and cohesion as OU has allowed 42 sacks this season, but they were at their best against Bama.

It was the most rushing yards allowed by the Crimson Tide in 26 games and just the ninth game in the last 20 seasons it surrendered at least 250 rushing yards. Nwaiwu and his offensive linemates helped the Sooners become just the fifth team going back to at least 1996 to have two players each rush for at least 100 yards against Alabama. OU surrendered just one sack and did not allow a tackle for loss until the 3:56 mark of the third quarter.

OU Media Relations contributed to this report.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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