In what can only be described as a nightmare season for the Oklahoma Sooners, Saturday’s loss at Missouri was another disappointing, gut punch of a game. The Sooners turned the ball over four times and looked helpless on offense for most of the contest. With Jackson Arnold at the helm, the offense managed just over 120 yards of offense in the first half and was just as bad in the second half. Here’s how it went down for the Sooners, and what, if anything, the team can learn from this loss.
Sooners Stunning Defeat Against Mizzou
Oklahoma vs. Missouri Recap
Unfortunately for Oklahoma, Jackson Arnold’s turnover issues resurfaced early against Missouri. In the first quarter, After a nice scramble for a first down, Arnold had the football punched loose from his grasp and it was recovered by the Tigers. Luckily for the Sooners, the defense held up nicely and forced another Mizzou punt.
After the Oklahoma offense stalled out near midfield near the end of the first, Brent Venables dialed up a fake punt. Punter Luke Elzinga threw a short pass to tight end Bauer Sharp and he took it 43 yards to the Tiger ten-yard line. But after a delay of game, Arnold was sacked on back-to-back downs, and the Sooners would have to settle for a field goal, the first points of the game.
On Missouri’s ensuing possession, they too went for it on fourth down, but Billy Bowman laid a massive hit on Luther Burden III that stopped him short of the line to gain. On the next play, Arnold scrambled to the Missouri 20-yard line, but the offense couldn’t do anything after that and kicked another field goal to take a 6-0 lead. But another silly mistake by OU on Missouri’s next drive—a muffed punt by Peyton Bowen—gave the Tigers the ball on OU’s 28-yard line. The Sooner’s defense stood strong again and forced a field goal, preserving Oklahoma’s slim lead.
OU got the ball just before halftime and was able to score again, thanks to a 56-yard field goal by Zach Schmidt. The Sooners led 9-3 at halftime after a physical, defensive battle in the first half. The teams barely had 200 yards of offense combined in the half and Jackson Arnold had the same number of passing yards as the punter Elzinga, with 43. The Sooners makeshift offensive line allowed two sacks and four tackles for loss in the first two quarters.
After Mizzou punted on their first drive of the second half, Oklahoma squandered great field position after failing to convert a fourth-and-one from the Missouri 40-yard line. The Tigers drove down the field in 12 plays and took the lead on a score by former Sooner Theo Wease. Two possessions later, Deion Burks, who returned to the field for the first time since the Tennessee game, caught a short pass and had the ball stripped, which the Tigers recovered. Missouri, led by Drew Pyne, took the ball and scored in nine plays but missed the extra point, giving them a 16-9 lead with less than nine minutes left in the game.
But the Sooners didn’t go quietly. They drove 75 yards in 12 plays and scored on an 18-yard halfback pass from Taylor Tatum to Arnold that tied the game with just a few minutes remaining. Just as Missouri seemed primed to drive down the field and win the game, Sammy Omosigho stripped the ball from Missouri’s running back and Bowman returned it 43 yards for a score.
Oklahoma led 23-16 with two minutes left in the game, but the Venables defense allowed the Tigers to score in less than a minute. Arnold and the offense had the ball and two timeouts to work with, but it didn’t matter. On second-and-five, Arnold scrambled out of the pocket, and as he wound up to throw, a Missouri defensive lineman knocked the ball from his hand and it was returned for a touchdown, cementing the final score, Missouri 30-Oklahoma 23.
What OU Can Take From This Loss
This was Oklahoma’s best chance to earn their sixth win and bowl eligibility for this season. Now if they want to do that, they’ll need to upset either Alabama or LSU, both teams who are significantly better than the Sooners.
The clearest takeaway from this game, and this season really, is that Venables is a great defensive coach, but OU needs to completely hit the reset button on offense this offseason. They need to bring in fresh play callers, new offensive linemen, and possibly even a new quarterback if they want to remedy this situation. In this new era of NIL and unlimited transfers, Oklahoma needs to go out and prove that it belongs in the SEC by spending big on talented players and coaches, because this is not the type of team that Oklahoma is.
Main Image: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
