Oklahoma Survives, Holds on and Guts Out a Rough Win Over UCF

Coach Brent Venables said the Sooners were "fortunate to win the game," as OU held off a last-second comeback attempt.

NORMAN — The post-Texas hangover is real.

At least this year it was for Brent Venables’ Sooners.

Oklahoma suffered its worst performance of the college football season on Saturday in its first-ever meeting with the UCF Knights, but got a couple of late touchdowns to pull away to a 31-29 victory at Memorial Stadium.

Venables said this game was the kind that last year's team would have lost.

"I believe so," he said. " ... We made some boneheaded mistakes."

The No. 6-ranked Sooners (7-0 overall, 4-0 Big 12 Conference) failed to take advantage of an open date last Saturday, wasting whatever it was they got — rest and relaxation, a moment to recharge, extra time to prepare — and had to fight to avoid a catastrophic loss.

"We were fortunate to win the game," Venables said. "We made enough mistakes today to lose. Captain Obvious here. But we made enough plays to overcome it."

Oklahoma came in as a 19 1/2-point favorite but needed a one-on-one tackle by cornerback Kendel Dolby on a potential tying 2-point conversion after giving up a touchdown pass with 1:16 left.

"This had all the makings of being a dominant performance on defense," Venables said. "It wasn't."

OU had only trailed this season for a total of 12 minutes in its first six games — all wins — and hadn’t faced a deficit larger than three points all year. But UCF hit two field goals in the third quarter and led by six for much of the second half.

"This game will punish you for the lack of poise and discipline," Venables said. "Don't think the off week had anything to do with with. Don't think looking ahead of anybody had anything to do with it."

The Sooners, meanwhile, could have used a couple of field goals of their own, but instead endured Zach Schmit misses from 38 and 43 yards in the first quarter.

"I got plenty of confidence in him," Venables said. " ... I got confidence he'll make 'em at the right times."

Regardless, Saturday’s performance shouldn’t be placed on the inconsistent foot of a placekicker.

From the Sooners’ second offensive snap, things seemed off and the team seemed unprepared for the Knights.

With starting running back Tawee Walker out of the lineup due to what Venables called "an in-house suspension," sophomore Gavin Sawchuk got the start and dropped a direct snap on second down, then dropped a pass on third down. It was just the first of a handful of drops for the OU pass catchers, including one that produced a UCF interception.

OU’s offense was mired in that kind of much for much of the day.

UCF punted three times in the first quarter and OU started at its own 45, the UCF 45, the UCF 40 and its own 48 — 18 of the Sooners’ first 22 snaps were in Knights territory — but Oklahoma managed only a 29-yard touchdown pass from Dillon Gabriel to Nic Anderson. That included the two whiffs by Schmit.

Meanwhile, the OU defense started strong, forcing UCF into four consecutive three-and-outs to open the game. On their first 12 snaps, the Knights managed just three total yards.

But even the Sooner defense couldn’t hold up.

UCF tied it at 7-7 on John Rhys Plumlee’s 1-yard touchdown run, then took a 10-7 lead on Colton Boomer’s 21-yard field goal. After going nowhere on their first four drives, UCF’s two scoring drives covered 74 and 76 yards as Sooner missed tackles started to pile up.

"You're always a week away from humility in this game," Venables said.

OU got the lead back 17-14 when Gabriel finished a 75-yard drive with a 42-yard TD pass to Anderson behind the UCF defense.

But on the next drive, Plumlee tricked the Sooner defense and found Javon Baker behind cornerback Woodi Washington for an 86-yard touchdown pass. The play came with some controversy, as Baker appeared to blow a kiss to the OU bench as he ran past — a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. But despite Venables’ vehement protests, the penalty was assessed as a dead-ball violation on the kickoff.

"They said they missed where it happened," Venables said, "and they called it in the end zone."

Schmit’s 25-yard field goal just before halftime tied at 17-17, and Boomer gave the Knights a 23-17 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

That’s when the Oklahoma offense finally came back to life, riding a suddenly resurgent running game and one perfect throw from Gabriel to a go-ahead touchdown with 9:16 to play.

Sawchuk, making his first career start, got the drive going with runs of 7, 8 and 8 yards, and Marcus Major powered for a pair of 13-yard runs. Gabriel then threw across the middle to Drake Stoops, who cut upfield and dove into the end zone for a 24-23 lead.

"Drake Stoops was fantastic again," Venables said. "What an outstanding football player."

Peyton Bowen came in and rocked Plumlee with a thunderous quarterback sack on third down to end the next Knights possession, setting up Sawchuk’s clinching TD run from 30 yards out with 3:13 to play.

"They're all big in a game like that," Venables said of Bowen's sack, "but that was certainly a big one there. ... We've seen guys get there and faint, and Peyton didn't faint."

That touchdown was set up by three Gabriel throws to Stoops (14 and 12 yards) and Anderson (19 yards).

UCF still had one more chance and made the most of it with a 75-yard touchdown drive that cut it to a two-point game.

Plumlee’s 12-yard TD pass to Baker on fourth down set up the game-tying 2-pointer, but Dolby, a junior college transfer, sniffed out a double-pass and tackled Xavier Townsend behind the line of scrimmage as OU defenders covered his options in the end zone.

Anderson finished with 105 yards on five catches, and Stoops led OU with seven receptions for 60 yards.

Major led the Sooners with 82 rushing yards on 18 carries, and Sawchuk ran for 63 on 10.

Gabriel threw for 253 yards (25-of-38) and three TDs.

UCF’s R.J. Harvey ran for 101 yards on 23 carries, including a 54-yard run, and Baker collected four receptions for 122 yards and a TD.

For the Knights, a first-year Big 12 member coming from The American Athletic Conference, giving up a late lead in Big 12 play was nothing new. They came into Saturday having been outscored 53-21 in their first three conference games, including 29 unanswered points by Baylor.

"Really proud of our team," Venables said. "I love going in on Monday after a win and I get to yell at some guys."

"There's not a team I've been a part of, a championship team ... you've got to win lots of different ways. ... The story reads really good at the end, but there's a story behind all that glory."