On Sept. 20, the No. 11-ranked team in the country, the University of Oklahoma, defeated the No. 22-ranked Auburn University 24-7. Since joining the Southeastern Conference last year, Oklahoma is 2-0 against Auburn and 4-0 all-time.
At the end of the first quarter, both teams were tied at three. The slow start began to ramp up when both teams scored touchdowns, making it 10-10 before halftime. Oklahoma’s touchdown was a 24-yard reception to Isaiah Satenga, a transfer from Arkansas, from Heisman favorite John Mateer. The Heisman Trophy is given to the best college football player in the country at the end of the calendar year of a football season, a tradition that began in 1935.
The first controversial play came when Satenga appeared to be walking off the field. The SEC made a statement on the play, stating that the play should have been overturned and called an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on OU for deceiving the defense.
OU’s quarterback, Mateer, had another impressive outing with a 24-36 completion rate for 271 yards and one touchdown, as well as 29 yards rushing and one rushing touchdown. The OU wide receivers were led by Satenga, who had nine receptions for 127 yards.
Oklahoma’s defense had one of its best outings in history, with a record-tying nine sacks. Kip Lewis, Oklahoma’s starting linebacker, led the team with 10 total tackles. As a whole, the team had 14 tackles that resulted in negative yards. This is potentially a program record, but it cannot be verified because of how statistics were kept back in the early and late 1900s.
One of Oklahoma’s edge rushers, R Mason Thomas, was out for the first half due to targeting in the previous game versus Temple, which Oklahoma beat 42-3. After his return in the second half, he sacked former quarterback Jackson Arnold to make it a total of eight sacks for the Sooners.
The last sack of the game happened in the last two minutes, where Thomas broke through the blocks of two linemen to sack Arnold in the end zone for a safety and put the Sooners up by seven with only 1:06 remaining on the clock. That was the final play of the game, because Auburn only had one timeout left, and Oklahoma was able to kneel the clock out.
Oklahoma is now going into its first Bye week of the season, but after that, Oklahoma plays Kent State in Kent, Ohio, and then its rival, Texas, in the Red River Rivalry.
Oklahoma’s defense led the way to the win this past Saturday and is currently ranked as one of the top defenses in college football. As SEC play continues, Oklahoma’s schedule is only going to become harder and the offenses are only going to become better.
Contact Wes Matlock at [email protected]
