Dave: Ball control would help against Tennessee
There is little to no room for error in the SEC this year. And that made itself readily apparent last Saturday when the Sooners dropped their second contest of the season to the Rebels.
After digging themselves a hole in the first half, Oklahoma fought back and took the lead going into the fourth quarter. Then the wheels fell off as they went scoreless the rest of the way.
Inexplicably, Offensive Coordinator Ben Arbuckle went away from the run game that gave them the lead, and the comeback was no more. Even then, the Sooners had a great chance to pull the game out when Isaiah Sategna fielded a punt and had a great return to the Ole Miss 47-yard line, only to fumble the ball and end any realistic hope of a comeback win.
Although this team’s identity is defense, at some point the offense needs to contribute on a consistent basis. Ole Miss dominated the time of possession because the OU offense could not sustain drives.
This of course tired out the Sooner defense and they gave up the most points they had all year.
4th quarter fumble takes air out of Boomer Sooner balloon, OU falls to Ol’ Miss 34-26
With 7:11 left in the game, Isaiah Sategna began his punt return — riding the momentum that a revived offense and a stingy defense had presented after the halftime intermission, which saw the Sooners outscoring eighth-ranked Mississippi 16-3 in the third quarter.
The Sooners were behind 31-26, but despite a sloppy offensive performance most of the game, Sategna’s punt return presented the best opportunity for good field position when the Sooners needed it most.
Four seconds later, as his speedy wheels took him to the 50 yard line — a perfect place to launch the Sooners to a comeback winning drive — Sategna instead launched himself, hurdling an Ol’ Miss defender.
And on his way down, in that next second, at 7:04 on the clock, he fumbled.
The hope-filled balloon of those previous six seconds, the ones that carried a chance to take an Oklahoma lead late in the game and, if held, a win that would solidify the Sooners’ play off chances, burst.