by Kyle Golik
Oklahoma avenged last season’s 49-0 embarrassment in their annual Red River contest against Texas by completing a 34-30 comeback.
Here are my five key takeaways from this classic encounter in Dallas:
1. Venables late game time management paid off to secure his first signature win.
For head coach Brent Venables, his first impressions for Oklahoma in the 2022 season weren’t the best. Suffering the program’s first losing season since the 1998 season with John Blake at the helm brought in a lot of questions if Venables was the right head coach for the job.
Venables described during Big XII Media Days that the reload project most Sooners anticipated was a rebuild of the program, finding the right personnel, and creating a new culture with more attention to detail.
That detail shined late against Texas.
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The Longhorns were driving with under two minutes to go, with all the momentum in the fourth quarter, Venables had confidence in his offense to be explosive enough if it was given a chance. Venables believed in his defense to make key stops and rolled the dice to spend his final two timeouts to save time on the clock for his offense and giving a vote of confidence to his defense they could execute.
The Sooners defense and timeouts gave the Oklahoma offense an opportunity with 1:17 to go.
That sort of coaching is going to bode well for Venables, who, in my opinion, out-coached his counterpart on the other sideline Steve Sarkisian.
2. Texas had no answers to Venables’ coaching, Lebby’s scheme, & Gabriel’s decision making
I felt there was never a time that Texas had the tactical advantage during the game. While Sarkisian did have the upper hand on a few early fourth down attempts, outside of that, Venables had a better counter every time Texas had a potential answer.
There were two key exchanges in the fourth quarter where Sarkisian was out-coached. On the goal line stand, Sarkisian was steadfast that the Longhorns could out-muscle Venables’ defensive front, and each time, either bad assignments or reads by the Texas offensive line or Oklahoma’s front seven when linebacker Dasan McCullough shook off a massive Texas blocker and dropped Jonathon Brooks for a loss.
The second came when Sarkisian felt Brooks could catch Oklahoma napping on a third and 10. Brooks positioned kicker Bert Auburn well for the field goal attempt, but I had the feeling there was too much time for Oklahoma to tie or win the game.
While Venables will receive many laurels for this win, offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby deserves a ton of credit for his strategy and giving Oklahoma the opportunity to win this game. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who had prior experience in Lebby’s scheme with UCF in 2019, is in his third season with Lebby’s offense and it showed today.
Gabriel finished 23 for 38 passing for 285 yards and a touchdown, what is measured by stats is Gabriel’s excellent decision making because of his comfort in Lebby’s offense.
Gabriel knew when to be patient in the pocket and be shifty. He also knew when to take off and run, and those runs Texas had no answers for as Gabriel compiled 113 yards and a touchdown on a guessing Longhorns defense. Texas and Sarkisian had no answers for Venables plan, Lebby’s scheme, or Gabriel’s decision making.
3. The Defense is Scary Good
If you watched the game, the eye test on the Sooners defense is it is scary good. Dare I say elite.
The stat sheet doesn’t tell the story of how good Oklahoma defense is. By no means surrendering 30 points or 527 yards of total offense is elite, but this was Oklahoma’s equal entering the game and it turned into a classic heavyweight bout.
The Oklahoma defensive front dominated the Texas offensive line by sacking Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers five times and it had 10 tackles for loss.
As I outlined previously, Dasan McCullough, the Indiana transfer at linebacker, had a physical gem in the trenches on the goal line stand in the fourth quarter that stuffed Brooks, he is a player to keep your eye on Venables scheme as he develops. While I felt Texas linebacker Jaylan Ford was the top linebacker in the nation, Sooner linebackers in sophomore Jaren Kanek, who had 13 tackles (7 solo) a sack and tackle for loss, and junior Danny Stutsman, who had nine tackles (6 solo) and 1.5 tackles for loss, played a better game.
In the secondary Billy Bowman Jr. and Woodi Washington had amazing games, but the player that amazed me was true freshman Peyton Bowen. Before it is all said and done, there’s a good chance that he’s will be mentioned in the same breath as Roy Williams.
Bowen was dynamic and all over the field. His highlight came on the forced fumble he had on Quinn Ewers. This kid is special and one of Venables’ big flips last recruiting cycle and has two punt blocks on the season.
Bowen is going to be a factor all opposing offenses have to take into account for.
4. Is it déjà vu for Oklahoma?
Where have we seen this story before?
- Oklahoma hires an elite defensive coordinator from a perennial power that has first season struggles
- Oklahoma figures it out through Year 1 and in Year 2 goes scorched earth up to the Texas game
- Oklahoma has a southpaw quarterback who is shifty but is accurate and played himself into the Heisman race
- A stifling defense
- A statement win against Texas
The only difference between these Sooners and the 2000 Sooners is Gabriel is a little more mobile than Josh Heupel and these Sooners, while making a big statement against Texas, did not have the Texas Massacre style win it had in 2000 defeating Texas 63-14.
Other than that it is an almost exact déjà vu for Oklahoma. They have the same makeup as those 2000 Sooners who last won a national championship in Norman. The schedule is extremely favorable for Oklahoma as it should enter the Big XII Championship Game undefeated.
5. Expect a Texas rematch in the Big XII Championship Game
I don’t feel there are any other Big XII teams that are close to the level Texas and Oklahoma are. If both teams can avoid upsets they will see each other back in Dallas at AT&T Stadium for the Big XII Championship Game for the ages.
Texas shot themselves in the foot today many times and I don’t expect them to make the same mistakes twice if there is a rematch, something I fully anticipate. I feel both teams are playoff caliber teams.
Oklahoma has some things to address. Outside of Gabriel, there was no sense of a running game for the Sooners. Granted, there was no Gavin Sawchuk or Jovantae Barnes, but the Sooners, outside of Dillon Gabriel, barely averaged three yards per carry (88 yards on 29 carries).
The Sooners’ defense, who is as talented as any group in the country, still got gashed with 19 completions in a row by Quinn Ewers, who finished after a rough start completing 26 of his final 28 passes, will be scrutinized this week.
On special teams, allowing Texas’s Kitan Crawford to block the punt and Malik Muhammad to get the recovery in the end zone for a touchdown will be reviewed at length this week.
Overall, Oklahoma sent a resounding statement to their rivals and the nation they are firmly back and is a College Football Playoff contender.
