Oklahoma-Nebraska Observations: AllSooners LIVE In-Game Blog

John Hoover, Ryan Chapman and Josh Callaway offer their real-time observations from the Sooners' game at Nebraska.

LINCOLN, NE — No. 6-ranked Oklahoma and unranked Nebraska renew their ancient rivalry in an 11 a.m. kickoff from Memorial Stadium. AllSooners has four reporters on site to cover the game.

This live blog will be updated throughout Saturday's contest. Newest posts appear at the top. Simply refresh your browser to see the latest posts.

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1:56 p.m.

Nebraska native Kaden Helms, a freshman tight end, just caught his first career pass for the Sooners, a 4-yard reception from Davis Beville. Cool moment for him and his family.

— JH

1:47 p.m.

Third quarter stats: 

— JH

1:46 p.m.

Third quarter ends mercifully. Sooners backups are getting some quality snaps.

— JH

1:38 p.m.

We have another quarterback change in Lincoln.

Davis Beville has come in for Dillon Gabriel and throws complete to LV Bunkley-Shelton.

Gabriel is 16-of-27 for 230 yards with two TDs and the 61-yard TD run.

— JH

1:34 p.m.

Key Lawrence gives up a completion on a quick slant, but then rips the football out. He's unable to scoop (he'd have probably scored), but it's a stop for no gain and Nebraska will punt.

Lawrence is pretty good at stripping fumbles.

— JH

1:31 p.m.

We have a quarterback change in Lincoln.

Chubba Purdy — Brock Purdy’s little brother and the guy who flirted with coming to Oklahoma last winter — has entered the game at the midway point of the third quarter.

It’s Purdy’s first appearance of the season.

Frankly, Casey Thompson deserved better blocking than what he’s gotten today.

— JH

1:26 p.m.

Gabriel finishes off a really nice, patient drive with a bullet on a slant pass to Theo Wease for the touchdown.

Sooners are humming. It’s 49-7.

— JH

1:13 p.m.

Eric Gray cashes it in on a 21-yard run. The mood around the Nebraska program is so dismal that the press box PA announcer announced the touchdown run before Gray had even crossed the plane of the goal line. All Sooners, up 42-7 with 13:13 still left in the third quarter.

— RC 

1:10 p.m.

How’s that for a start?

First play Jaren Kanak forces a fumble and recovers it himself on the first play of the second half. Davis Beville might get to throw the ball today.

— RC 

12:46 p.m.

Halftime: Sooners are dominating. OU is an 11-point favorite and it probably won't be enough.

— JH

12:42 p.m.

Marvin Mims with the 38-yard catch and run on a quick hitch and Eric Gray with the 15-yard touchdown run almost untouched.

This is almost too easy.

Oklahoma leads it 35-7, 1:44 to play before half.

Nebraska isn’t good at football. And we may be finding out something about Oklahoma.

— JH

12:41 p.m.

Lost in the shuffle of the muffed punt… Brent Venables has been eating the Nebraska offense alive with his Cheetah blitzes.

DaShaun White was having a career day pinning his ears back and getting after Casey Thompson before the targeting, and then Jaren Kanak produces the exact same result on his first snap.

— RC 

12:39 p.m.

Ethan Downs gets another sack to end the Husker drive and Oklahoma will get the ball back with 2:55 before half — after an adventure on the punt return. Kani Walker recovers to save the possession after the ball seemed to hit Trevon West.

— JH

12:36 p.m.

DaShaun White is playing the game of his life, and he just got ejected for targeting on Casey Thompson. Lowered his head at the last second. Ref flagged him. Easy call. Reviews quickly confirmed it. 

Good thing is he'll be available to start next week against Kansas State.

Jaren Kanek is in at Sam linebacker, instead of Justin Harrington at the Cheetah.

— JH

12:31 p.m.

A 39-yard field goal by Zach Schmit goes wide right. Snap and hold were perfect.

It’s still 28-7, but that’s good information for Brent Venables to have in the team’s first road test.

— JH

12: 28 p.m.

Dillon Gabriel just overthrows Jalil Farooq on what might have been a 62-yard touchdown. He’s been a little out front with a handful of throws today.

Farooq made a couple nice moves on his catch on the previous play. Reminded of the Alamo Bowl.

— JH

12:21 p.m.

Brent Venables and Jay Valai both went straight to Jaden Davis after that pass interference call, and it appeared they were trying to get him to turn around earlier. Looked like a close call either way, but instead of lighting up the official, the OU staff went to work trying to correct Davis’ technique.

That flag was the first real life the Nebraska offense showed since the second drive stalled.

— RC 

12:15 p.m.

So about that atmosphere… Memorial Stadium is dead. All you could hear (through thick press box windows) were “O-U-O-U-O-U” chants before that extra point.

Also, the Podcast on the Prairie will be electric this week after that Willis touchdown pass.

— RC 

12:12 p.m.

Really nice drive there by the Oklahoma offense to take a 28-7 lead with 11:35 to play before half.

Marcus Major catches the touchdown from tight end Brayden Willis wide open, but it was a deep ball from Gabriel to Mims that drew a 15-yard pass interference penalty and a great play-action from Gabriel to Brayden Willis that set it up.

Nebraska is guessing, and Jeff Lebby is having a day.

— JH

12:09 a.m.

Daniel Parker just kept a drive alive by stretching the ball across the first down on third-and-5. He’d have been short without the stretch.

Jayden Gibson comes in on first down, but the Sooners call timeout.

— JH

12:06 p.m.

This quarter is at 13:30 and is absolutely dragging.

Dillon Gabriel is 7/11 for 86 yds with a TD and leads OU with 58 yds rushing and a 61y TD run.

Casey Thompson is 7/10 for 72 yds with one TD and has -22 yds rushing on three sacks.

— JH

12:03 p.m.

Ethan Downs opens the drive by beating his man and annihilating Trey Palmer on a jet-sweep pass. What a play. Nebraska punts.

— JH

12:01 p.m.

Now the Sooners are in the end zone.

Marcus Major walks in. No Chris Murray at fullback, but Tawee Walker got the call.

That was a five play, 23-yard touchdown drive set up by a 34-yard punt return from Marvin Mims.

— RC 

12:00 p.m.

Interesting throwback look for the Sooners on that goal line play: their most physical runner (Marcus Major) gets the football behind their stout walk-on RB-turned-fullback (Tawee Walker) and they plow into the end zone behind a two-tight end front. OU just used a 22 personnel formation, and Major scores untouched. Maybe Jeff Lebby has found something here today.

OU leads it 21-7.

— JH

11:56 a.m.

Take the touchdown off the board, Mims was ruled to have crossed the ball outside the pylon and he never touched the end zone. Let’s see if the line can get any push.

Chris Murray came in at fullback and Mickey Joseph burns a timeout.

— RC 

11: 54 a.m.

First play out of the break and Gabriel finds Marvin Mims for a 9-yard touchdown pass, but everything is grinding to a halt for a review to see if Mims indeed nosed inside the pylon (looks like he scored based on what is being shown on the Jumbotron).

The score is currently pending at 20-7 with 14:54 left in the second quarter.

— RC 

11:50 a.m.

Veteran moment there by Gabriel ahead of picking up that first down. Mettauer stood back up out of his stance for a second, but Gabriel waited to snap the ball. Instead of a false start, offense got set and Brayden Willis picks up the first down.

Sooners have had a false start due to a player not getting set on time in each of the first two games. The OU quarterback looks like he’s settled in.

— RC 

11:49 a.m.

First-quarter stats:

11:48 a.m.

End of first quarter. Sooners seem to be taking control.

11:46 a.m.

We knew the Nebraska offensive line was bad. So did Casey Thompson. Poor kid just got sacked for the third time this quarter by Jalen Redmond to end the drive. OU also has 5 TFLs.

— JH

11:44 a.m.

Kani Walker hasn’t been used much this year at CB, but he just opened this drive for the Sooners and was in on the tackle. Trey Morrison also is in at safety.

— JH

11:43 a.m.

Jeff Lebby said on Monday he was too stubborn in trying to establish the run in the first half against Kent State.

Comes out on that drive and the positive plays were all passing downfield. There’s no shame in passing to open up the run game, and that’s what the 2022 Sooners need to do.

— RC 

11:39 a.m.

Dillon Gabriel saved the Sooners on that 61-yard TD scramble. He may have saved them to open this drive, too, getting a mitt on that high snap from Andrew Raym and then gathering the football off the turf. Could have been a disaster. He’s completed four straight throws after to get the drive going.

The last one went to Jalil Farooq for a 34-yard touchdown and Oklahoma leads Nebraska 14-7.

— JH

11:38 a.m.

Brent Venables is officially back. Three straight blitzes to stop the Nebraska drive in its tracks. Hasn’t dialed up much pressure through the first two weeks, and the Sooners burst through the ‘Husker line like a knife through butter.

— RC 

11:37 a.m.

Oklahoma squashes the Nebraska drive with back to back sacks by DaShaun White and Jonah Laulu.

Sooners got after it that time. Good talk by Brent Venables, I'm guessing.

— JH

11:36 a.m.

Key Lawrence is back in the lineup to start this Huskers drive in place of Justin Broiles. Damond Harmon still at the other safety.

— JH

11:32 a.m.

Quick three-and-out for the offense. Gets positive yardage on the Gabriel run on first down, but a couple of incompletions stalls the drive out. Sooners tried to set up a screen on third down and Gray would have had a chance for a massive play, but Gabriel couldn’t get it to the running back over the pursuing rusher. Turk boots it to set Nebraska up at the 32-yard line.

— RC 

11:29 a.m.

Wanya Morris in at right tackle for Tyler Guyton to start the third drive.

— RC 

11:25 a.m.

Venables sticking with the three-man front on the second defensive drive.

— RC 

11:20 a.m.

Great play by Gabriel gets the touchdown, but the offensive line is getting no push against a porous ‘Husker front outside of that. Is the Nebraska defense riding the emotion of the moment, or major problems up front?

— RC 

11:19 a.m.

And as soon as I post that, Dillon Gabriel takes off on a 61-yard touchdown scramble on third down. He's way more athletic than you thought he was.

It's 7-7, and the shootout is underway.

— JH

DILLON GABRIEL TAKES IT THE DISTANCE😳💨

pic.twitter.com/EyllbelVzr

— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 17, 2022

11:18 a.m.

It’s still early, but Nebraska’s run defense, which ranks 115th in the nation, is dominating the line of scrimmage, and the Husker DBs are tackling in space.

They’re excited, for sure.

— JH

11:15 a.m.

Brent Venables just spent the entire timeout reading his defense the riot act. In fact, he’s still going.

Miguel Chavis and Todd Bates are working on the defensive line.

One possession each, Sooners trail early, 7-0. Now we see how this team responds to real adversity.

Tyler Guyton is back out at RT. 

— JH

11:14 a.m.

This is the nightmare start for the Sooners. Crowd in the game and will be in the game for the duration.

Gabriel eats a terrible sack that he ran into to kill the first offensive drive, and OU gets no pressure with a three-man front to get gashed down the field.

Not the end of the world between the white lines, but the atmosphere is gonna kick up another notch here.

— RC 

11:12 a.m.

Thompson to Palmer, wide open behind the OU secondary. First time this year we’ve seen that. Huskers lead 7-0.

Clayton Smith and Jonah Laulu were the d-ends on that pass rush.

— JH

11:12 a.m.

Defensive Starters:

Grimes - Johnson - Downs

Ugwoegbu - Stutsman - White

Washington - Harmon - Bowman - Broiles - Davis

— RC 

11:11 a.m.

Three plays, three first downs for the Huskers. Damond Harmon starting for Key Lawrence at safety.

Defense looking shaky.

— JH

11:09 a.m.

The Nebraska defense gets a stop, and the crowd goes wild.

It wasn’t a three-and-out, but the Sooners only took 1:27 off the clock on that possession.

— JH

11:08 a.m.

Oklahoma Starters:

Harrison - Mettauer - Raym - Murray - Guyton

Willis - Wease - Farooq - Mims

Gabriel - Gray

— RC 

11:06 a.m.

Tyler Guyton starts at right tackle. Just like everyone expected. Oh well.

— RC/JH

11:06 a.m.

Nic Anderson was in pads during warmups, but it back into street clothes on the sidelines as we kick off.

— RC 

11:00 a.m.

On the hype video, which was VERY well done, Tom Osborne just reminded us:

“There’s no place … like Nebraska.”

Really glad I got to come to this game today.

— JH

10:55 a.m.

Just got back up to the press box from field level. The Husker fans were up for it in the warmups. Atmosphere is every bit what people speculated it would be with the coaching change. Big road test for Dillon Gabriel and Co.

— RC 

10:39 a.m.

Just saw tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley and defensive coordinator Ted Roof go out of their way to pat  Wanya Morris on the back. He was standing outside the big team huddle right before they head to the locker room, and both coaches sort of nudged him forward.

— JH

10:37 a.m.

I only see three quarterbacks: Dillon Gabriel, Davis Beville and Josh Booty. Not seeing Nick Evers, Ralph Rucker, Micah Parsons.

— JH

10:35 a.m.

Other freshmen I see in warm up who made the trip: DE Gracen Halton, RBs Jovantae Barnes and Gavin Sawchuck, WRs Gavin Freeman, Jayden Gibson, Nic Anderson, DB Robert Spears-Jennings.

— JH

10:27 a.m.

All three freshmen linebackers made the trip: Jaren Kanak, Kobie McKinzie and Kip Lewis are warming up.

— JH

10:21 a.m.

Right tackle Wanya Morris is here, is suited up, and is going through pregame warmups.

As Brent Venables said Tuesday, expect him to start today.

— JH

10:19 a.m.

Defensive end R Mason Thomas is here but isn't suited up for Oklahoma.

Safety Key Lawrence is dressed out and appears good to go.

— RC

9:37 a.m.

It’s been raining moderately all morning in Lincoln. Current temp is 68 degrees. There were what looked like student equipment managers playing touch football in the north “Huskers” end zone, but thy’ve given way to the early arriving players.

Fox’s Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush just posed for a photo on the big “N” at midfield. The Sooners are in the building but haven’t been on the field yet.

— JH