All Sooners

Oklahoma's Nic Anderson Makes The Most Of His Limited Opportunities. Again.

Redshirt freshman's only catch of the game delivers Sooners' come-from-behind 34-30 win over Texas

Tim Willert

DALLAS -- Wide receiver Nic Anderson had one catch for three yards Saturday, but it was a big one. 

The redshirt freshman from Katy, TX, got behind Texas defender  Jerrin Thompson in the left corner of the end zone and caught a dart from quarterback Dillon Gabriel for the game-winning touchdown with 15 seconds left.

"We ran the play and it happened that I was the one that opened up and Dillon thew a beautiful ball," Anderson said. "I couldn't have asked for a more perfect ball and I scored."

Anderson has made a habit of making his catches count for No. 12-ranked Oklahoma (6-0, 3-0 Big 12), which handed No. 3-ranked Texas (5-1, 2-1) its first loss of the season, 34-30.

The younger brother of former OU running back Rodney Anderson has caught 11 passes in six games and six of those catches have gone for touchdowns.

Gabriel was flawless on the final drive, which started at the OU 25-yard line with 1:17 remaining and no timeouts. The offense covered the 75 yards in five plays in 1:02, with Gabriel completing four of four passes, to Drake Stoops for 11 yards, Jalil Farooq for 16 yards and Stoops for 28 yards to position the ball on the Texas 20-yard line.

Gabriel threw Farooq's way on the next play, but Texas defensive back Terrance Brooks was flagged for pass interference, setting up the Sooners at the Texas 6-yard line. 

A quarterback keeper netted three yards and the next play broke the hearts of the Longhorns' faithful looking for their second straight win in the series.

"We had a lot of confidence. We were all calm, very very cool-headed, we knew what we were able to do and what we did," Anderson said. "I mean, Dillon ... he commanded the offense all the way down the field just like we had done in thousands of practices before, so we were ready for that moment."

"It was good," offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby said of the final drive. 

"Again, we were executing, pitching and catching, protection was incredible, really, protection all day really really good, then found a way to make a play there at the end to win it."

On the throw to Anderson, Gabriel looked like he might be in danger of taking a sack or possibly throwing the ball out of bounds.

"As we're down there it's touchdown (or) out of bounds," Lebby said. "And you've got to play on schedule, and so what ended up happening is he's gonna go scramble and Nic ends up popping for him and he makes a really good throw and Nic makes the play.

"I thought he was going to do right," Lebby said. "If he didn't have it right there on the scramble immediately, he's going to get it out of bounds and we'll have two plays."

Anderson and the Sooners return to action Oct. 21 when they host UCF.

Published
Tim Willert
TIM WILLERT

AllSooners staff writer Tim Willert has covered news and sports for 29 years as a reporter and editor for daily and online publications, including The Oklahoman and The Norman Transcript. 

Home/Football