Oklahoma-Texas Tech Observations: AllSooners LIVE In-Game Blog

John Hoover, Ryan Chapman and Ross Lovelace offer their real-time observations from the Sooners' season final at Texas Tech.

LUBBOCK, TX — Unranked Oklahoma and unranked Texas Tech come into Saturday's game at Jones AT&T Stadium with 6-5 overall records. AllSooners has three 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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12:24 a.m.

Late night here in Lubbock. Sooners lose 51-48 in OT to fall to 6-6 on the season. Unbelievable.

Final stats:

9:59 p.m.

CJ Coldon made a fantastic read to jump a route and came away with a game-changing interception.

The Sooners offense, however, stalled inside the redzone, and Brent Venables opted to settle for a field goal. 4:04 left, Texas Tech ball, Oklahoma’s defense heading back onto the field.

— RL

9:45 p.m.

Texas Tech strikes back to take a 45-38 lead in the fourth quarter. Oklahoma sent a blitz there, and two blitzers pulled up, and simply watched Shough air it out. Brutal sequence for OU’s defense.

— RL

9:39 p.m.

Oklahoma’s wide receivers are saving the day. Theo Wease just made the best contested catch of the season, setting up a Gabriel-Willis touchdown. Massive, massive score for the Sooners, who were clearly running out of gas.

Both Mims and Wease have been game-changing tonight. Gabriel is trusting his receivers and airing it out.

— RL

9:25 p.m.

Oklahoma is down by just a score entering the fourth quarter, but this one feels on the brink of snowballing. The Sooners have no consistency whatsoever on offense and the defense is clearly gassed. Brent Venables needs an inspiring end-of-the-quarter speech.

— RL

9:23 p.m.

Third quarter stats:

9:23 p.m.

Oklahoma has found itself in an offensive slugfest.

9:14 p.m.

Really clever play design there as Texas Tech scores maybe its easiest touchdown of the season.

Quarterback Donovan Smith lined up in the backfield and went in motion into a twin-receiver stack to the left. Both receivers slated in, bringing both defensive backs with them, and absolutely nobody went with Smith. Tyler Shough lofted an easy toss to him for the touchdown.

Two-point conversion run gives Tech a 38-31 lead.

Amazing.

— JH

9:12 p.m.

Oklahoma’s defense looks like it’s on roller skates as Texas Tech pushes almost uncontested again down the field.

This after another failed fourth-down — another ill-fated tempo snap on which Jeff Lebby called for Dillon Gabriel to keep it around the left edge.

OU still leads 31-30 as the third quarter begins to wind down, but it feels like the Sooners are two touchdowns behind.

— JH

9:11 p.m.

Oklahoma was stopped short on a critical fourth down. If the Sooners didn’t hurry up to the line of scrimmage, though, I wonder if the third-down spot would’ve been reviewed. This game is all sorts of crazy.

— RL

9:03 p.m.

Ethan Downs made a huge play to shed that block and bring down Thompson short of the first down marker.

Texas Tech had scored on four straight drives, and now the offense has a chance to breathe and figure out how it wants to attack the Red Raider defense during this media timeout.

Not sure why McGuire opted to punt on fourth-and-2 there, though. Neither of the two defenses appear to be playing with much confidence right now. 

— RC 

8:59 p.m.

This is a nice homage to this last era of Big 12 football.

Next time these two teams take the field, there will be four new teams in the conference. Why not send close this chapter with a defense-optional shootout in Lubbock that might take five hours to play.

Big 12 country, let’s ride.

— RC 

8:58 p.m.

One of the best plays of Theo Wease’s Oklahoma career comes at a perfect time. This game is trending towards a good ol’ fashioned Oklahoma-Texas Tech shootout. The Sooners need offensive consistency to keep up.

— RL

8:57 p.m.

Theo Wease with the unexpected appearance. It’s a deep ball from Dillon Gabriel — a perfect throw — and Wease hauls in a deep post, then hangs on through contact from Malik Dunlap and Tyler Owens for a 61-yard touchdown.

Oklahoma re-takes the lead at 31-30, 10:09 third quarter.

Take Wease off the milk carton. He’s been found.

— JH

8:51 p.m.

Not sure the second half could start any worse for Oklahoma.

After Eric Gray starts the third quarter with a 24-yard run, Jovantae Barnes drops a possible touchdown pass, Dillon Gabriel throws behind Drake Stoops, and Gabriel is sacked on fourth-and-4.

Texas Tech then responds with an authoritative touchdown drive (5 plays, 62 yards, 1:55) to take a 30-24 lead.

The Sooner defense, once absolutely dominating Tech, offered no resistance that drive and is searching for any kind of answer.

— JH

8:28 p.m.

Key Lawrence dropped a gift-wrapped interception on the last drive that, honestly, could’ve ended in Oklahoma points. Instead, Texas Tech capitalizes on OU’s mistake and has all the momentum heading into the second half.

Brutal second quarter for the Sooners.

— RL

8:22 p.m.

Halftime stats:

8:22 p.m.

Texas Tech had dominated the number of plays run in the second quarter 35-15.

OU’s defense wore down in Morgantown but held strong last week.

Jeff Lebby is going to have to find a way to get his offense to hold onto the football for longer in the second half today to avoid the same fate tonight as the Sooner defense faced in Morgantown.

— RC 

8:20 p.m.

Halftime. Sooners appear to be in some real trouble after that second quarter finish.

8:16 p.m.

OU was bailed out by a hold from the Red Raiders on the punt.

Seems like the first bad thing to happen to the Red Raiders since the busted coverage on the Marvin Mims bomb.

— RC 

8:10 p.m.

Bottom line: both of these teams are good enough to get a big lead, but neither of them is good enough to hold it.

Gonna be a long, entertaining night in Lubbock.

— JH

8:09 p.m.

Much like last week, it felt like Oklahoma should have been up 35-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The different this week is that the Red Raiders aren’t completely decimated by injuries on offense, and they’ve started to move the ball.

OU will get the ball back to start the second half, but it’s suddenly a football game after the Sooners dominated the first quarter.

— RC 

8:06 p.m.

That was a dreadful possession by the Sooners: a first down run, a super quick second down run, then a pressured bad throw by Gabriel and not much of a catch attempt by Drake Stoops — and the ball is intercepted.

Tech is in business at the OU 29 with under 2 minutes to play.

Really bad offense there, all around.

— JH

8:03 p.m.

Texas Tech’s offense has found some rhythm.

After getting held to 35 yards of offense in the first quarter, the Red Raiders have 159 yards and 13 points in the second quarter.

Oklahoma’s kickoff return unit is doing nothing to help flip the momentum either, as they’ve dropped two straight fair catches.

— RC 

8:01 p.m.

Another strong drive there by the Red Raiders to cut OU’s lead to 24-13, 3:09 til halftime.

It was literally just a “hit ‘em where they ain’t” possession for Tech. OU’s defense tried a few pressures but Tech diagnosed them all and found receivers in space.

— JH

7:57 p.m.

Yeah, turns out Dillon Gabriel isn’t affected much by 40-degree temperatures like I thought he was.

Still, it’s really not that cold, and there’s no precipitation and the wind is current 7 mph.

And yet, that’s a heck of a stat line:

— JH

7:57 p.m.

Two thoughts I shared with Hoover after that touchdown.

First, this game is going to take five hours.

Second, Texas Tech fired Matt Wells for this?

— RC 

7:53 p.m.

Nothing wrong with Mims. He just got 20 yards behind the Tech secondary for a 77-yard touchdown pass from Dillon Gabriel.

Sooners lead 24-6.

— JH

7:53 p.m.

Woodi Washington just nearly had a pick six. Shough tried a long throw to the sideline, and Washington arrived at Nehemiah Martinez at the same time as the ball.

— JH

7:51 p.m.

Marvin Mims missed that whole last drive for the Sooners. He’s now sitting on the OU bench with the other wideouts.

— JH

7:43 p.m.

Texas Tech with a nice answer — 11 plays, 75 yards, 3:19 off the clock — and it’s 17-6.

The Sooners got caught by Tech’s turbo tempo (RC says they even had 10 men on the field one play as Jonah Laulu ran out to cover somebody) and Tech piled up gains of 12, 7, 34, 6 and 6 on the drive.

Expect a lot more of that from the Red Raider offense.

— JH

7:40 p.m.

Oklahoma moved back primarily to a three-man front on this series and the Red Raiders have zipped right down the field.

I guess everybody has a hill they have to die on.

— RC 

7:31 p.m.

Well the second quarter is off to a very first quarter-like start. Marvin Mims just made arguably the catch of the year in all of college football for a 30-yard gain, Dillon Gabriel got driven out of bounds into the Tech sideline (and Tech was flagged for a late hit), Theo Wease scored a touchdown that was nullified by Anton Harrison’s false start, and Mims scored a touchdown that was nullified by Wease’s offensive pass interference penalty.

Sooners can’t convert a third-and-goal from the 24 and Zach Schmit makes a 41-yard field goal.

Sooners lead 17-0.

— JH

7:21 p.m.

Sooners dominating.

7:21 p.m.

First quarter stats: 

7:18 p.m.

Eric Gray is finding ample running space behind variations of a G-T counter. It’s been Chris Murray mostly, but this drive Gray ran behind a pulling Murray and Brayden Willis, who hit the Tech end and linebacker with wham blocks that cleared a massive hole.

Good stuff. Old school football.

— JH

7:14 p.m.

Great work in the first quarter keeping Texas Tech behind the chains so the Red Raiders haven’t felt comfortable pulling the trigger on fourth down.

The OU defense has held Texas Tech to fourth-and-10, fourth-and-17 and fourth-and-5. All have resulted in punts for the most aggressive fourth down offense in the country.

— RC 

7:09 p.m.

Jay Nunez has really put his imprints on this Oklahoma special teams unit. For the third time this season, OU dials up a fake field goal. It failed miserably, as Brayden Willis drops Michael Turk’s jump pass, but it was brilliantly designed and Willis should have walked into the end zone.

Sooners lead is still 14-0.

— JH

7:00 p.m.

Oklahoma’s offense showed a couple of different speeds on that drive. Everybody knows about the tempo, but Dillon Gabriel didn’t snap the ball until there were under 20 seconds on the play clock on three different occasions.

Not sure if that’s offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby trying to help the defense out after the Sooners have been dominated in time of possession the last two weeks or just priming the offense to be able to run some clock in the fourth quarter if needed. Clock management will obviously be a big conversation in the second half if this lead holds after last week.

— RC 

6:57 p.m.

Extremely efficient OU drive ends with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Dillon Gabriel to Brayden Willis for a 14-0 lead. OU went 11 plays, 93 yards in 2:58 off the clock. Spectacular efficiency. Only faced one third down, the third-and-1 throw to Willis.

And that’s how you overcome not being able to convert a third down.

— JH

6:46 p.m.

After a one-play takeaway, the Oklahoma defense forces a quick punt. Simply put, the OU defense has turned it up for most of the last two-plus games.

— JH

6:44 p.m.

Texas Tech showed the student section on the video board and there was a kid in a Clemson jersey with a sign that said “Brent please come home” in case anyone was wondering how the Tigers are doing this season.

— RC 

6:40 p.m.

Bold call there by Brent Venables to go for it after Eric Gray got stuffed on third-and-3, and a bold call there by Jeff Lebby to have Dillon Gabriel half-roll left and find Marvin Mims wide open behind the Tech defense for a 37-yard touchdown.

Sooners lead it 7-0 early.

— JH

6:40 p.m.

Oklahoma’s offensive starters:

Harrison - Mettauer - Congel - Murray - Guyton

Mims - Farooq - Willis - Stoops

Gabriel - Gray

OU’s third down woes continued, but Dillon Gabriel hit Marvin Mims for a 37-yard touchdown pass to cash in on the fumble.

— RC 

6:38 p.m.

Oklahomas defensive starters:

Downs - Redmond - Kelley - Laulu

Stutsman - Ugwoegbu - White

Coldon - Broiles - Bowman - Washington

And right on cue, my Under the Radar section, Jordan Kelley, forces a fumble on the first play from scrimmage.

Welcome back to me fresh off the flu. Things moving quickly in Lubbock.

— RC 

6:34 p.m.

What a disappointment.

Centennial Champion, the horse who carries the Texas Tech Spirit Rider out in a dramatic pregame sprint, has inflammation in one leg and is out for tonight’s game.

The first-year mascot is expected to make a full recovery and will run at home.

On a related note, Jordan Brown replaces the horse by taking the opening kickoff 66 yards against the OU coverage team.

That's OK because OU's Jordan Kelley forces a fumble and Ethan Downs recovers on Tech's first play.

Here we go.

— JH

6:27 p.m.

Still about 10 minutes until kickoff but this crowd is… sad. Tons of totally empty bleachers inside Jones AT&T Stadium. About what you’d expect for a Big 12 pillow fight.

— RC 

6:07 p.m.

What a cluster.

Texas Tech gathered on the OU sideline so they could jog single file past the crowd and high-five.

This occurred just a few seconds before OU broke its team huddle and headed to the locker room.

Problem: OU’s locker room entrance was behind the Tech gathering.

After several OU players and coaches tried to run around the blockade and were again blocked from exiting the field, the officiating crew ran over and held up the Tech high-five line while the OU team ran up the tunnel.

Gamesmanship, no?

— JH

6:02 p.m.

This comes from Josh Callaway on the field — it appears Brayden Willis may have hurt himself in the warmup.

Callaway said the Sooner tight end is getting his ankle looked at on the sideline.

Willis did rejoin the team in warmups before heading back into the locker room, Callaway said. 

— RC 

5:52 p.m.

We're not seeing defensive tackle Isaiah Coe in warmups either.

That would leave the D-line rotation as Jordan Kelley, Jalen Redmond, Jeffery Johnson, Josh Ellison and Gracen Halton.

No Kori Roberson, either, though I don't believe he's been available for a while now (unconfirmed). 

Also, as was reported on Friday, Clayton Smith is no longer on the online roster. 

— JH

5:50 p.m.

Remember, before the season, Tech coach Joey McGuire said, “We're gonna beat OU and then we're gonna knock down the end zone,” meaning start early on renovations to the south end zone of Jones AT&T Stadium.

We don’t exactly have a timetable on the demolition, but the AllSooners postgame podcast may have to originate from the car on the way to Amarillo tonight.

Just to be safe.

— JH

5:40 p.m.

No Wanya Morris in warmups yet. Doesn't look like he's here. At least, he's not with the rest of the o-line.

The Sooners' senior right tackle took a knee/thigh to the helmet last week against Oklahoma State.

Big night for TCU transfer Tyler Guyton.

Also, no Marcus Major yet.

— JH

5:38 p.m.

Matt Wells is still at it. He’s nw dressed in a crimson hoodie, but he just jogged halfway across the field to pat the Texas Tech punter on the back.

— JH

5:32 p.m.

Just had to ask those around me if the gates are open yet here at Jones AT&T Stadium.

It’s lifeless on campus and fans are slowly filing in. Don’t think this will be the typical House of Horrors that is Lubbock at night.

— RC 

5:18 p.m.

The boss John Hoover has an impressive plate of nachos to my left here in the press box while we await the Oklahoma return crew to hit the field for warmups.

It’s cold but dry in Lubbock, and the flags on top of the goalposts are dormant. The conditions shouldn’t be a problem for Dillon Gabriel today, so let’s see if he can have a bounce-back performance to close the regular season.

— RC

4:52 p.m.

Oklahoma offensive analyst Matt Wells has arrived on the playing surface at Jones AT&T Stadium — wearing a spiffy blue suit — and is greeted passionately by a handful of Texas Tech players. Lots of hugs and smiles all around. I can tell he’s really enjoying this very cool human moment with guys who he probably recruited.

I actually met Matt way back in 1991 when he was a high school quarterback at Sallisaw, and after they knocked Okmulgee out of the playoffs, I interviewed him. When he got the job at Tech, he told me he still remembered that game and our interview. 

He's a great guy.

— JH

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