Oklahoma-OSU Observations: LIVE In-Game Blog

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

10:40 p.m.

Final score:

10:39 p.m.

Final stats:

10:06 p.m.

After Oklahoma took a 33-24 lead early in the third quarter, Kennedy Brooks got just six handoffs over the next four Sooner possessions, a span of nearly 20 minutes. 

He has 120 yards rushing and is averaging 6.6 yards per carry, but since OU grabbed that lead, Caleb Williams has been called on to run or throw 12 times.

The Sooners have scored zero points during that time.

Take that for data.

— JH

9:54 p.m.

Mike Gundy just chose to punt on fourth-and-3 from the 50 while down 33-31 -- and it's the play of the game. Eric Gray muffs the punt, OSU's Demarco Jones recovers at the 4 and OSU takes a 38-33 lead on a Jaylen Warren touchdown run with 8:54 left.

What a sour turn of events for OU after getting a crucial stop.

— JH

9:44 p.m.

After emphatically throwing a flag on the Oklahoma State defense for shoving Kennedy Brooks to the ground at the end of a third down run, referee Kevin Hassell talks it over with his center judge and decides, “There is no foul.”

Would have been a first down for  Oklahoma after third-and-23 came up very short.

Not sure what I just saw.

— JH

9:33 p.m.

Oklahoma State cuts it to two on Spencer Sanders' 37-yard touchdown run. Really nifty scamper there on an option to the right side.

Sooners had four backups in on the defensive line again.

— JH

9:24 p.m.

Third quarter stats:

9:22 p.m.

Just a terrible series for the Sooners.

Caleb Williams had a first down toss to Eric Gray, but a low snap threw off his rhythm. Kennedy Brooks then had two different first down gains called back, and a third down sack set up an insurmountable third-and-24. Anything that could go wrong has gone wrong for the Cowboys here in the third quarter, and they’re still just down nine points with a chance to cut the it to a one score game early in the fourth quarter.

Buckle up.

— RC

9:17 p.m.

Spencer Sanders throws another pick, but this one wasn’t on him. Wide receiver Tay Martin tips the ball up in to the air and Woodi Washington hauls it in at the 7-yard line. Washington then gets up and points straight into Warren’s face, drawing perhaps the easiest taunting call of the year, and the Sooners will take over at their own 4-yard line.

OU could put this one away with a touchdown, going up 40-24, but the offensive line has looked pretty shaky in this second half.

— RC

9:13 p.m.

Ahead of the Iowa State game, Lincoln Riley said if he could get one thing, it would be for his team to play complimentary football.

They still haven’t done it tonight. Offense was on fire in the first half and the defense couldn’t stop a nose bleed save one bad Spencer Sanders pass.

OU’s punt game has been lights out in the second half, and the offense can’t get anything rolling to put the game out of reach, including coughing up a fumble in their own territory. Story of the season.

— RC

9:11 p.m.

Caleb Williams is still used to doing things on ability alone. That scramble and fumble was just careless. He has to realize he can’t do that against this Oklahoma State defense. Cowboy ball at the 39.

— JH

9:04 p.m.

Oklahoma State got new life when Key Lawrence dropped an easy pick six, and the Cowboys didn’t appreciate where Brian Asamoah put his foot (Spencer Sanders’ crotch after a short run). Emotions ran high for a second.

But, the defensive line of Stripling, Coe, Ellison and Downs, four backups, rise up and get a HUGE third-down stop (Coe tackled Jalen Warren for a 1-yard gain) — huge because Tanner Brown missed a 44-yard field goal wide right.

OU takes over leading 33-24, 7

— JH

9:03 p.m.

Key Lawrence dropped a sure-fire pick six. Spencer Sanders is rattled. More turnovers likely incoming.

— RC

8:57 p.m.

Michael Turk is dominating this second half.

His punt set up the OSU safety on his first punt of the half, and he got Brennan Presley to back pedal and muff his second punt of the second half. Ball bounces into the end zone and Justin Broiles is Johnny on the spot to recover for a touchdown.

Sooners generating points after two stalled offensive drives to start the half, OU now up 33-24 with 10:36 left in the third quarter.

— RC

8:54 p.m.

Per Gabe Ikard on the OU radio broadcast, OU's medical team is looking at Erik Swenson. Anton Harrison is back in the game at left tackle.

— JH

8:51 p.m.

Dominic Richardson fumbles and the ball shoots into the end zone. Two Sooners — Nik Bonitto and Justin Broiles — knocked each other off of what should have been a touchdown.

Mike Gundy is hot at the refs because he thought OU's defensive line was offsides. And he makes a good argument.

Regardless, the Sooners lead  26-24 and OU takes over at their own 40.

— JH

8:47 p.m.

Caleb Williams made some chicken salad early in the Sooners’ opening drive, but his throw to Austin Stogner was behind him and his throw to to Mike Woods was low. OU opens the second half with a punt.

Erik Swenson has replaced Anton Harrison at left tackle. Swenson does have the sweet Fu Manchu working , per Bedlam tradition.

At least Oklahoma is running  the football. Kennedy Brooks ran three times for 47 yards on that drive and now has 94 yards on 13 carries. 

— JH

8:21 p.m.

Halftime stats:

8:19 p.m.

It's halftime, and it's all tied up.

8:16 p.m.

Boone Pickens Stadium is in stunned silence as Lincoln Riley is once again wrecking shop over a Jim Knowles defense.

Sooners get the ball back first with a chance to take their first lead. A methodical drive could nerf the crowd for a bit and let the Bedlam nerves set in for the Cowboys.

Can’t understate how critical OU’s first drive will be out of the locker room.

— RC

8:15 p.m. 

It looked like a potential backbreaking penalty on Chris Murray for unnecessary roughness, but Caleb Williams throws a touchdown pass to Brayden Willis — who makes a phenomenal catch in the back of the end zone — and the Sooners and Cowboys are now tied at 24-24, just 37 seconds til halftime.

— JH

8:09 p.m.

True conversation between Ryan Chapman and myself:

“Spencer Sanders (is not very good.)”

“Yeah, but he’s doing a great job avoiding the rush, and he hasn’t turned the ball over yet.”

Ten seconds later, Woodi Washington snags the first turnover of the night off Sanders’ arm. Just a brutal interception.

Sooners are in the red zone.

— JH

8:05 p.m.

I thought Caleb Williams made the right read on that second-down keeper, but by the time he decided, he had two defensive linemen in his lap. The OU offensive line is getting smacked up front. They're having more success running wide.

— JH

7:59 p.m.

Pretty interesting chess match going on between Alex Grinch and Kasey Dunn right now.

Spencer Sanders doing a great job of making quick decisions with the football, and it seems like Dunn is running right into OU’s slant every time between the 20’s. Then in the red zone, Perrion Winfrey and Nik Bonitto stand tall. Hold the Cowboys to a field goal, but the Sooners are going to have to do better than leaning on bend but don’t break tonight.

— RC

7:55 p.m.

Nik Bonitto certainly looked full speed on that wide run by Jaylen Warren. Bonitto exploded off the line, swarmed onto Warren’s back and took him down for a loss of six yards, and the Cowboys have to kick. A 27-yard field goal by Tanner Brown makes it 24-17 OSU with 6:25 til halftime.

— JH

7:51 p.m. 

Tough call on the pass interference by Woodi Washington. Real time, I didn’t think it was, but he contacted the receiver’s back shoulder while reaching in to break up the pass from the front. 

An offsides penalty by the OU defensive front compounds the situation, and Oklahoma State is marching again. 

— JH

7:52 p.m.

After that second down catch, Delarrin Turner-Yell immediately left the field, headed over straight to the sideline.

Justin Broiles in his spot at safety, and Billy Bowman in at nickel. Something to monitor. Didn’t head to the injury tent, and he came back in two plays later. Will be something to monitor if he misses a few more plays.

— RC

7:50 p.m.

Also of note: it turns out, the Oklahoma offense, no matter how disappointing they’ve been, is much better than all of Kansas, West Virginia, TCU (with a backup quarterback) and Texas Tech (with a backup quarterback).

Weird how that works.

— RC

7:45 p.m.

Jim Knowles sends more red zone pressure at Caleb Williams, and he again finds a receiver one-on-one in the end zone. This time, Jadon Haselwood can’t pull it down fighting through good coverage from Jarrick Bernard-Converse. OU settles for the field goal, and Gabe Brkic knocks through his successful attempt since destroying a burrito with his foot. The curse is broken, but more importantly, Oklahoma’s kicker builds some early confidence. They might need him later on in this one.

OU cuts the deficit to 21-17 with 11:05 remaining in the first half.

— RC

7:43 p.m.

Kennedy Brooks just went over 1,000 yards for the season, making him the fourth running back in OU history to do it three times in a career.

Question now is, will the OSU defense let him stay there?

 — JH

7:40 p.m.

Brennan Pressley’s 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown — right after Austin Stogner’s nice TD catch from Caleb Williams — was made possible by a missed tackle by Bryan Mead and Shane Whitter’s diving tackle attempt that took out teammate Jake McCoy.

That was a comedy of errors by the OU kickoff coverage team.

— JH

7:39 p.m.

Well, we didn’t have to wait too long into the second quarter to get some action. Jim Knowles sends a Cover Zero blitz at Caleb Williams and he tosses up a 50/50 ball to Austin Stogner, who makes his triumphant return with a 29-yard touchdown catch.

With all the pressure Knowles sends, there were always going to be opportunities for OU receivers to make plays one-on-one downfield, and Stogner just made the biggest of his season.

Tied up at 14 with 14:53 left in the second quarter… and then the Sooners give up a kickoff return for a touchdown on the very next play. Brennan Presley took it 100 yards to the house to put the Cowboys right back up 21-14 with 14:38 left in the second quarter. Who said anything about a defensive struggle anyways?

— RC

7:33 p.m.

First quarter stats:

7:30 p.m.

Caleb Williams has been sacked only two times, officially (so far). But that last one shows how hard Jim Knowles makes it for opposing offenses. It looked like six or seven rushers were coming at Caleb Williams, but only five started, and only four finished. Two of them met Williams in the backfield.

Must be a real challenge to plan for that kind of blitz. Offensive linemen and quarterbacks are chasing ghosts.

— JH

7:26 p.m.

Cale Gundy told us in August that OU quarterbacks were not able to overthrow Mario Williams. Caleb Williams just did, missing him in the end zone. Williams had to get away from more pressure to get that throw off. The throw probably should have been there, but it looked like Williams kind of lost track of where he was on the field … or just couldn’t find the football.

Michael Turk is roughed on his fourth-down punt, and the Sooner drive still has life.

— JH

7:25 p.m.

The Cowboy defense isn’t just hitting Caleb Williams, they’re corkscrewing him into the ground. That’s gotta hurt. OU needs to do something about its protection schemes.

— JH

7:22 p.m.

Before that timeout, it looked like Jeremiah Hall was coming in to block for Kennedy Brooks on fourth-and-1. Either that or it was gonna be a Caleb Williams bootleg to the left.

Both of them looked covered.

Williams pulls off the QB sneak and the Sooners have a first down.

— JH

7:20 p.m.

Reverse concepts to Trevon West might be Lincoln Riley’s best play calls this year.

— RC

7:14 p.m.

Nik Bonitto returned on that series, but he was far from 100 percent. Something to watch closely for the next couple of hours.

— JH

7:11 p.m.

OSU’s offense looks like the irresistible force tonight. The Cowboys march almost uncontested right down the field and make it 14-7 as Tay Martin takes in a reverse. OSU ran it up the middle, used QB misdirection, threw it outside, got a defensive holding and executed a reverse. Deft series there by Kasey Dunn. Alex Grinch and his staff need to figure things out.

— JH

7:07 p.m.

Just a reminder: In their previous three contests, Lincoln Riley offenses are putting up an average of 41.0 points per game on Jim Knowles defenses.

This unit is obviously an entirely different animal, but something’s gonna have to give tonight.

— RC

7:05 p.m

Just a timing route to Brian Darby. That’s all. Totally routine. Darby beat Jason Taylor for the catch in the back of the end zone.

Oklahoma scores its first points on a Caleb Williams TD pass and it’s 7-7, 9:08 first quarter.

— JH

7:02 p.m.

I know it’s just the second drive, but it feels like that 50-yard pass from Caleb Williams — a well-designed, well-blocked delay route over the middle — deserves a “finally.”

— JH

7:00 p.m.

We're 30 minutes into this thing, and with Caleb Williams missing on the deep throw to Woods being a big missed opportunity and OSU's answer, it feels like it's already teetering.

— JH

6:58 p.m.

Nik Bonitto got dinged as he nearly sacked Sanders, then on the next play Tay Martin beats Woodi Washington in man coverage and Justin Broiles is late with safety help. Touchdown Cowboys, OSU leads it 7-0 early, 10:57 first quarter.

— JH

6:57 p.m.

The defense played three whole snaps on the first drive. Three.

Why on earth are Downs, Coe and Roberson in the game instead of Thomas, Redmond and Winfrey. There’s no way they could possibly be gassed after three plays. Cowboys run right down the field. Laughable roster management by Alex Grinch and Co.

— RC

6:55 p.m.

Great blitz by Brian Asamoah on first down, but Jaylen Warren picks him up and Spencer Sanders keeps it outside for a gain of 14 yards. Then Sanders hits a throw and the Cowboys are moving.

Alex Grinch has shown that if his blitzes can’t get home early, he’ll back off. Wonder if he stick with that plan.

— JH

6:52 p.m.

Blistering start to Bedlam. Two and a half minutes in and we’ve had two punts.

Just about what we expected (but seriously, it’s gonna be a slog).

— RC

6:50 p.m.

OU offensive starters:

Harrison - Hayes - Congel - Murray - Robinson

Stogner- Willis - Hall - Haselwood

Williams - Brooks

Only the change at center.

— RC

6:49 p.m.

On second and long, Caleb Williams overthrows Mike Woods on a go route. Woods got knocked off his route a bit, but he was open at the end. Williams needs to settle down and hit that ball next time.

— JH

6:45 p.m.

D.J. Graham is in the house, defensive starters:

Bonitto - Redmond - Winfrey - Thomas

Asamoah - White

Graham - Broiles (nickel) - Fields - Turner-Yell - Washington

— RC

6:30 p.m.

With Andrew Raym out at center, Robert Congel replaces him tonight against the best defense Oklahoma has played all season.

The Sooners will need to run the football tonight. Will be a challenge, but I think OU has produced better rushing numbers this season with Congel on the field.

— JH

6:18 p.m.

RB Kennedy Brooks needs 28 yards to become just the fourth Sooner to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season three times.

The others were De’Mond Parker, Adrian Peterson and Samaje Perine.

I think Brooks will get 28 yards tonight. But I don’t think any of them will be easy. Not against this OSU defense.

— JH

6:17 p.m.

Gabe Brkic nailed his normal PAT attempt in the pre-game warmups. Means little, but at least it’s visual confirmation he can indeed still parallel park the football between the goalposts after Burrito-Gate.

— RC

6:15 p.m.

Drake Stoops is dressed out and went through warmups tonight. The Sooners are heading into the locker room one last time.

— JH

6:09 p.m.

Not Bedlam related, but there was a bit of an uproar in the BPS press box just now as Alabama came back with a late touchdown pass.

No cheering in the press box, guys.

Unless you have money on the game.

— JH

5:35 p.m.

Bumped into Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione in the elevator on the way into Boone Pickens Stadium. Asked him how we’re supposed to keep all the Lincoln Riley rumors straight.

He offered up some real wisdom for Sooner fans:

“Just don’t try.”

— JH