Poll Report: Oklahoma Back on the Rise After Auburn Win

The Sooners are carrying momentum into the bye week after Saturday's 27-21 win over the Auburn Tigers.

Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Kobie McKinzie (11) celebrates after the game as Auburn Tigers take on Oklahoma Sooners at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. Oklahoma Sooners defeated Auburn Tigers 27-21. / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oklahoma stole momentum on the way into its bye week on the Alabama plains. 

OU introduced Sooner Magic to the SEC with a furious fourth quarter rally, reeling off 17-straight points to upend Auburn 27-21 inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. 

J.J. Hester’s 60-yard catch from Michael Hawkins Jr.’s right hand started the rally, and Kip Lewis’ 63-yard “Kip Six” pushed Brent Venables’ team to a necessary victory with the Red River Rivalry looming in two Saturday’s time. 

The late game heroics propelled the Sooners to 4-1 on the year and 1-1 in SEC competition, but it also sent OU back up the polls after another chaotic week across college football. 

Oklahoma moved up two spots to No. 19 in the AP Poll after the win, and the Sooners also bumped up one spot to No. 17 in the US LBM Coaches Poll. 

Venables’ team won the fourth quarter 17-7 to avoid what could have been a long off week in Norman.

Embattled offensive coordinator Seth Littrell still has plenty to clean up on his side fo the ball, but his unit finally showed a glimmer of big-play ability. 

Before Hester’s massive catch set OU up on the 5-yard line in the fourth quarter, Hawkins delivered a dream start. 

On the fourth offensive snap of the game for the Sooners’ offense, the true freshman pulled the ball down and called his own number, bursting through the line of scrimmage and outrunning Auburn’s defense 48 yards to the house. 

“I was all the way behind him as he, pshewww, just dashed through everybody like he was in a track meet,” Hester said of Hawkins’ touchdown run after the win. “So that boy’s fast. … As soon as he got to the linebackers, he was out of there.”

Still, there were lulls. 

Outside of Hawkins’ massive run, OU only was able to move the ball 63 yards the rest of the first half, and the Tigers held the Sooners to 61 yards in the third quarter. 

Oklahoma’s offensive line was as close to full health as its been all year, however, and Hawkins had to hit the road without his top five wide receivers and true freshman running back Taylor Tatum. 

The Sooners hope the off week will help a few of those names get back in the lineup against No. 2 Texas, and they’ll have to be available for OU to pull off the Red River upset. 

Venables and Zac Alley’s defense struggled at times as well, but the resilient unit came alive late to push Oklahoma across the finish line. 

After Auburn’s touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter to take a 21-10 lead, OU strung together four straight stops, including the interception, to close out the game. 

The lone takeaway was a season-low for Oklahoma, but it was enough as Lewis rumbled into the end zone to silence the Orange-clad Tigers and bring the strong OU road support to life. 

If Texas overtakes Alabama as the nation’s top-ranked team through both the Sooners’ and the Longhorns’ bye weeks, it will be the first time Oklahoma has taken on the AP No. 1 team since beating Nebraska 31-14 in 2000.

The Sooners last took on the top-ranked team when OU met LSU in the 2019 Peach Bowl in the College Football Playoff.