All Sooners

Three Quick Takeaways From Oklahoma's Victory Over UCF

The game was ugly for large stretches on Saturday, but No. 6 Oklahoma remained unbeaten with a strong fourth quarter against UCF.

Ryan Chapman

In this story:

NORMAN — The Texas hangover was real.

Oklahoma sputtered along for much of Saturday, and had to erase a fourth quarter deficit to remain unbeaten in OU’s first outing since beating the Longhorns 34-30 two weeks ago.

The No. 6-ranked Sooners eventually got rolling, beating UCF 31-29 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, but it was a performance to forget.

Oklahoma (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) trailed UCF (3-4, 0-4) for almost the entirety of the third quarter, but a Drake Stoops 11-yard touchdown with 9:16 left in the game finally put OU back in front.

Jeff Lebby’s Sooner offense did enough late to close out the win, but it was an ugly afternoon of football in Norman coming off the bye week.

Run Aground

Through six games, UCF struggled to defend the run.

The Knights were allowing 197.2 rushing yards per game, which was in the bottom 10 in the FBS.

But Oklahoma couldn’t make its opponents pay on Saturday.

Down running back Tawee Walker and right guard McKade Mettauer, OU’s running game looked discombobulated.

Redshirt freshman Gavin Sawchuk got the first chance of the game, but he mishandled a direct snap and dropped a routine pass to derail the Sooners’ first series of the game.

From there, Lebby leaned on a banged up Marcus Major and tried to get creative with Jalil Farooq and Gavin Freeman in the running game.

It took a pair of Dillon Gabriel scrambles pushed the Sooners over 100 yards rushing entering the fourth quarter.

In UCF’s last outing, Kansas running backs Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw Jr. combined to rush for 288 yards on 31 carries.

OU’s inability to run the ball made the offense one dimensional, allowing the Knights to dial in on Gabriel.

The Sooner quarterback was sacked three times on Saturday, a departure from the Oklahoma offensive line that had only allowed five sacks through the first six games of the season.

Oklahoma finally broke loose in the fourth quarter.

Seventy-four of the Sooners’ 189 rushing yards came in the final 15 minutes of the game, and Sawchuk finally gave OU breathing room with his 30-yard touchdown, putting Oklahoma up eight points with 3:13 left in the game.

Kicking Woes Press On

Special teams was an area Oklahoma needed to improve on the bye week.

OU made a handful of mistakes against Texas, though the Sooners were able to overcome those errors to beat the Longhorns 34-30.

It appears Oklahoma made a punting switch, allowing Luke Elzinga to take the job full time instead of splitting punts between him and Josh Plaster, and that worked.

But Zach Schmit’s struggles kicking field goals continued.

He missed a pair of kicks int he first quarter, a 38-yard attempt and a 43-yard attempt.

Schmit rallied to nail a 25-yard try to send the Sooners into halftime, but OU entered the fourth quarter in a six-point hole — one that would have been erased had Schmit made his first quarter kicks.

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables was forced to alter his decision making, giving Lebby the green light to leave the offense on the field on fourth-and-1 in the red zone late in the first quarter when the trust in Schmit was obviously gone.

OU never turned to Gavin Marshall, however, a decision the coaching staff will have to consider moving forward.

Staying Alive

Oklahoma’s offense wasn’t ever going to totally shut down UCF. The Knights entered the game ranked fourth nationally in total offense, but OU did enough to buy the offense time.

Venables’ defense started the game with four straight three-and-outs before the Knights found some success.

UCF running back RJ Harvey broke off a 54-yard run to set his team up on the 1-yard line early in the second quarter.

OU stuffed the Knights on three straight plays, but Jaren Kanak gave the visitors a fresh set of downs with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the third down stop.

Later in the quarter, a coverage bust allowed UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee to hit Javon Baker for an 86-yard catch-and-run, putting the Knights back up 17-14.

Even with the big plays allowed, Oklahoma found ways to get off the field.

The Sooners held UCF to 4-of-16 on third downs, and the Knights never built a lead larger than six points.

True freshman Peyton Bowen made the biggest play late, a sack on third-and-6 in the fourth quarter to force a punt and give the ball back to the offense to extend the lead.

UCF had one last gasp, curling the lead to two with 1:16 left, but the defense wasn’t fooled by the Knights’ double pass attempt on the two-point conversation to tie the game.

Instead, Oklahoma recovered the onside kick and got into the victory formation to close out the win. 

Published
Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is deputy editor at AllSooners and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK. 

Home/Football