All Sooners

Why Special Teams Miscues Didn’t Cost Oklahoma In Win Over Longhorns

The Sooners overcame a fake punt, a blocked kick for a TD, missed FG and more in Saturday’s instant classic.

Tim Willert

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Special teams play could have derailed Oklahoma's chances of knocking off Texas on Saturday in the Cotton Bowl.

It certainly looked that way after the Sooners grabbed the early  momentum following Gentry Williams' interception of Quinn Ewers on the Longhorns' second play of the game.

Five plays later, quarterback Dillon Gabriel scored on a 9-yard run to give the  Sooners a 7-0 lead.

But just like that, momentum swung the other way. On its next possession, Texas faked a punt on fourth down and picked up 20 yards and a first down.

The Longhorns’ second possession, however, ended just like its first, with Kendel Dolby intercepting a pass broken up by Billy Bowman at the OU 3-yard line. 

Dolby returned the pick to the 10-yard line, but the Sooners lost three yards on three plays and had to punt from their end zone.

Kitan Crawford broke through to block Josh Plaster's punt, and the Longhorns' Malik Muhammad recovered the ball for a touchdown to tie the score 7-7.

OU did benefit from a special teams error when Texas' Keilan Robinson was flagged for running into Plaster on fourth-and-3 from the OU 30-yard line with 1:50 left in the first quarter.

The penalty gave OU a first down from its 35 and on the next play Gabriel completed a 43-yard pass to Jalil Farooq, giving the Sooners a first down on the Texas 22.

But the drive stalled, and Zach Schmit kicked a 27-yard field goal to give Oklahoma a 10-7 lead.

In the fourth quarter, OU led 27-20 and was looking for more following a goal line stand for the ages by the Oklahoma defense. From their 1-yard line, the Sooners' offense drove to the Texas 27. But Schmit missed a 45-yard field goal attempt with 7:55 left in the game.

The Longhorns took over and and drove 73 yards in five plays, the last 29 coming on a run by Jonathon Brooks to tie the score 27-27.

Texas added a field goal and led 30-27 before Gabriel drove the Sooners 75 yards in 1:02 for a touchdown to win the game. 

"This game was unlike any other," defensive end Ethan Downs said. "There were highs, lows. Big momentum game. Big plays at the right time. It’s just a big confidence boost going to the next week. Bye week, we can rest up, watch more film. Work on our skills and look forward to the next one. Every week we’re going 1-0 like it’s our Super Bowl."

With Downs and the defense making plays (two interceptions, five sacks, 10 tackles for loss) and Gabriel doing the same with his arm and legs, Oklahoma was able to overcome a subpar performance by its special teams.

"I love watching young people respond and to believe and our guys have an unshakable belief, I know that," head coach Brent Venables said. "I can't brag enough on our players, just their toughness, their leadership, their effort, their strain, their love for one another. I love what we're building and as we've said for a while now, again there's no limits on what this team can do. And no excuses either. We've got everything that we need, we're certainly not there ... there's plenty that we'll have to improve and get better."

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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. 

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