Sooners Surge Late to Beat SMU
Oklahoma's football team scored 14 fourth quarter points to take control and beat SMU 28-11 at Owen Field in Norman on Saturday.
OU quarterback Dillon Gabriel threw four touchdown passes to four different players and running back Tawee Walker rushed for 107 yards.
Gabriel was 19-for-27 for 176 yards and OU's offense did not commit a turnover.
Both teams had to punt on their opening possession, then OU made the first big play of the game, as Peyton Bowen got a piece of the SMU punt, and it went out of bounds just 10 yards from the line of scrimmage at the SMU 40-yard line.
It took the Sooners just three plays to score, with Dillon Gabriel passing over the middle to Andrel Anthony for a 29-yard touchdown to put OU up 7-0 with 10:39 left in the first quarter.
Anthony had 7 catches for 76 yards.
SMU answered with their own scoring drive, with quarterback Preston Stone completing passes of 29 and 30 yards, setting up a 27-yard field goal by Collin Rogers to make it 7-3 Oklahoma with 8:43 to play in the first quarter.
Both teams had to punt on their next two possessions, then Oklahoma put together a 13-play, 94 yard drive to extend the lead.
Tawee Walker had the big play on the drive with a 30-yard run, then Gabriel finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Blake Smith and OU led 14-3 with 8:33 to play in the second quarter.
SMU moved the ball into OU territory, but on 4th and 3 from the Sooner 40, Jaren Kanak broke up a pass to give the Sooners the ball on downs.
OU gained just six yards on their ensuing possession and had to punt.
SMU moved into OU territory again, but Rogers missed a 49-yard field goal wide right with 13 seconds left in the first half.
Both teams had to punt on their first possession of the second half, then SMU once again got into Sooner territory.
Jaylan Knighton gained 23 yards on a run, but Key Lawrence knocked the ball out and Danny Stutsman covered the fumble at the OU 38-yard line.
Oklahoma could not capitalize, however, as Jackson Arnold came in on on a 4th and 1 from the SMU 19-yard line, and came up just inches short of the first down on a run play.
The Mustangs then marched 81 yards in 13 plays to make it a one-score game.
The drive was helped by a pair of pass interference penalties on the Sooners, and was capped by a two-yard touchdown pass from Preston Stone to Stone Eby.
SMU went for two points on the conversion, and got it on a Stone pass to Jake Bailey to make it 14-11 Sooners with 12:09 to play.
Stone was 26-for-45 for 250 yards passing.
Oklahoma responded with a 10-play, 75-yard drive, with Gabriel passing to Jalil Farooq, who made a nice cutback for a 21-yard touchdown to extend OU's lead to 21-11 with 9:01 to play.
Oklahoma got the ball back quickly, as SMU went for it on 4th and 5 from their own 30, and Peyton Bowen broke up a pass to give the Sooners the ball on downs.
It took OU just three plays to convert, with Gabriel passing to Marcus Major, who made several nice moves down the sideline for a 27-yard touchdown to make it 28-11 with 6:40 left.
Oklahoma's defense closed the deal on the ensuing possession as Stone was intercepted by Justin Harrington, who returned it four yards and took a slide down at the OU 25 with 1:41 to play.
The Sooners improved to 2-0 on the season and have won five straight games over the Mustangs in the series, now leading the all-time series 6-1-1.
Oklahoma visits Tulsa for a 2:30 pm kickoff next Saturday.