Oklahoma Obliterated by South Carolina: All You Need to Know

The Sooners committed turnovers on their first three possessions and never showed a pulse in Saturday's blowout loss to Southeastern Conference foe South Carolina.

South Carolina Gamecocks defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway (91) returns a fumble for a touchdown ahead of Oklahoma Sooners running back Jovantae Barnes. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

NORMAN — Saturday revealed the painful truth: Oklahoma is out of its league.

Literally, the Sooners do not belong in the Southeastern Conference.

Not yet, at least.

South Carolina, a traditional SEC doormat and a team that nearly upset both LSU and Alabama this year but came town for the first time ever with a 1-3 conference record, shocked the Sooners and a whited-out crowd of 83,331 on an otherwise picturesque Saturday afternoon at Owen Field. The final score was 35-9, and USC led 32-3 at halftime — OU’s biggest halftime deficit at home since 1998.

This was supposed to be the easiest SEC game on a demanding OU schedule. Instead, it was a blaring alarm for the Sooners’ proud football program: Welcome to the SEC. 

Freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins’ first snap was intercepted, and the Gamecocks quickly made it 7-0. Hawkins then fumbled, and USC made it 14-0 on a 36-yard fumble return. Hawkins then threw another interception — to the same South Carolina safety — who ran it back 65 yards for a touchdown.

In less than five minutes, and in nine total offensive snaps, the Sooners were down 21-0.

That brought on Jackson Arnold, the erstwhile starter who came in and didn’t fare much better — at least until the second half, when he threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Brenen Thompson at the end of a 90-yard drive. 

It was Arnold’s fifth game of the season, meaning he’s ineligible to take a redshirt — which now completely opens the quarterback competition.

Head coach Brent Venables has been saying he needed to see Hawkins’ full body of work, but against the Gamecocks, that body was cold and lifeless.

South Carolina went for a needless (and needling) 2-point conversion late in the second quarter, and they also tried a fake field goal right before halftime. The Sooners also went for a fake punt in the second quarter, but came up woefully short at their own 25-yard line.

Much of the second half was spent fighting for a shred of respectability, Arnold just trying to get passes away without getting sacked, receivers just trying to stretch for a first down.

Here's everything you need to know about OU's loss to South Carolina:

Today’s Star

We’ll not insult the reader and just skip this one this week.

Play of the Game

The actual play of the game may have been the coin toss, which South Carolina won. They deferred possession to the second half, putting OU on offense first.

Oklahoma’s first nine offensive snaps resulted in three South Carolina touchdowns. Two were defensive scores, a 36-yard fumble return by Tonka Hemingway and a 65-yard interception return by Nick Emmanwori and it was 21-0 less than five minutes into the game.

Stock Report

WR Brenen Thompson — UP: After a tough start for everyone, it was Thompson who finally broke loose in the third quarter and scored on a 54-yard deep ball from Jackson Arnold. It was the Sooners’ second-longest offensive play of the year behind J.J. Hester’s 60-yard catch at Auburn.

DB Eli Bowen — UP: Made a couple nice tackles again in one-on-one situations.

WR Jacob Jordan — UP: A 5-foot-9, 186-pound true freshman walk-on from Southlake Carroll (TX), Jordan caught a pass from Jackson Arnold on three straight pass plays in the second quarter — a 10-yard out to the left, a 27-yard catch-and-run up the left sideline, and a 5-yard out on the left. Jordan’s immediate productivity is a good example of staying ready for his moment, but also maybe an indictment on why he hasn’t played any offense all year as the top five wideouts have continued to miss games with injury. 

PK Zach Schmit — UP: Schmit was elevated to starting placekicker before the game, but that was OU’s single most inconsequential decision all day. Still, he came on in the second quarter and drilled a 44-yard field goal to put the Sooners on the board after trailing 24-0. He should have been allowed to kick the PAT after Brenen Thompson’s third-quarter touchdown.

DT Jayden Jackson — UP: Made three tackles in the first half, including a sack.

Literally everybody else, from head coach Brent Venables to both coordinators to special teams to both quarterbacks to the entire offensive line to the receivers and tight ends to the defense — DOWN.

Injury Report

WR Deion Burks was a game-time decision but didn’t play. Smart decision. He wouldn’t have helped anyway.

C Troy Everett, who played the final drive against Texas, was back in the starting lineup.

Crazy Stat

Midway through the second quarter, Oklahoma was down 10-0 with the defense on the field and down 14-0 with the offense on the field.