Play No. 1: Rattler gets picked
Let’s get weird right from the beginning. OU received the ball to start the game, and on the second pass of the season, quarterback Spencer Rattler already had an interception.
Whoops.
Rattler trusted his arm and believed there was a window to sandwich the ball in for Marvin Mims between defenders. There wasn’t.
“First throw down the field, the safety, thought he was dropping deeper,” Rattler said. “I threw the ball. There was a hole. He made a great play on the ball. We didn’t connect on that. I probably should have dumped it down.”
Dumping it down meant a wide open Eric Gray across the field, but the Sooners were going for home run shots early. The gamble didn’t pay off and was a sign of the strange afternoon that was about to go down.
Play No. 2: Mims to the rescue
Surprisingly, OU only had one play go for 50 yards and more, but it was a beauty, and we’ll spotlight it here.
With OU trailing 14-7 late in the first quarter, it was Rattler trying to get it to Mims again. This time, it worked.
Mims juggled a catch before that could have been a touchdown if he caught it cleanly, but this one he was back to his usual self. Nice, competitive catch and down the sideline he went.
Initially ruled a touchdown, replay showed Mims was pushed out of bounds at the one yard line.
“It was a big play,” Mims said. “At the end of the day, it was a route we’ve practiced over and over again all week in preparation for Tulane. Spencer threw it on the money. I just took off, ran as far as I can. At the end of the day, they reviewed it, out at the 1.”
Mims finished with five catches for a game-high 117 yards.
Play No. 3: Williams enters the chat
Mims being ruled out at the one yard line meant Lincoln Riley could do something different. After Kennedy Brooks was stopped on first down, Riley put in freshman quarterback Caleb Williams on the next play.
Williams didn’t use speed. Instead, it was patience that helped pave the way for his first OU career play to be a rushing touchdown.
“As far as using Caleb or any other personnel as the season goes on, we’ll just have to see how it goes,” Riley said.
Williams didn’t play another snap.
Play No. 4: Thomas makes his mark
The OU defense came alive in the second quarter, sparked by senior leader Isaiah Thomas. The group earned three takeaways, with Thomas having his hand in this one.
A nice effort to track quarterback Michael Pratt down and strip him, allowing freshman Clayton Smith to get the recovery.
It led to a field goal, and the very next drive, Thomas would get his first sack of the season to stop a drive on third down. OU would score on the ensuing drive to make it 34-14 in the second quarter.
The second quarter was everything about the OU defense people are excited about. The only downside was three turnovers led to three field goals, zero touchdowns.
Play No. 5: Bonitto, Winfrey allow you to breathe
We jump way ahead to Tulane’s final drive of the game. We’ve gone from OU being up 37-14 at halftime to now holding on for dear life at 40-35, and the Green Wave recovering an onside kick.
Facing a third-and-10 with just over two minutes to go, it was Nik Bonitto and Perrion Winfrey combining for a sack to make it an incredibly difficult fourth-and-13 going forward.
“Just knowing that we always preach finishing in the fourth quarter,” Bonitto said. “The defense knew we needed a stop and I feel like we did a good job rallying up before that drive happened and making sure that we could finish the game.”
Pratt scrambled for 12 yards the next play, one yard short. Brooks did the job for OU on the ground, and the clock hit zero and everybody let out a sigh of relief and a look of borderline disappointment with the 40-35 win.
