Halftime Huddle: OU leads South Carolina, 14-7
COLUMBIA, South Carolina — The first half went nearly as well as Oklahoma could’ve hoped on Saturday.
The Sooners go into halftime with a 14-7 lead over the Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Sooners scored the first 14 points of the game and dominated on both sides of the ball for most of the half.
However, late mistakes helped the Gamecocks score before the half and stay within striking distance.
Here are the highlights and notes from the first half:
HIGHLIGHTS
The play: Tory Blaylock scores from 18 yards out on the Sooners’ opening possession.
Blaylock had four carries for 45 yards on the drive.
The play: Taylor Wein stops LaNorris Sellers short of the end zone on fourth down.
The play: Xavier Robinson scores from 10 yards out to give the Sooners a 14-0 lead.
It’s Robinson’s first touchdown of the season.
Number to Know
7.2
That’s the number of yards OU averaged per carry in the first half.
They came into the game averaging 3.48 yards per rush — which ranked 116th in the country.
Key Players, Offense
Tory Blaylock: 13 carries, 82 yards, 1 TD
John Mateer: 13/19 passing, 97 yards
Xavier Robinson: 5 carries, 49 yards, 1 TD
Javonnie Gibson: 5 receptions, 24 yards
Key Players, Defense
Robert Spears-Jennings: 7 tackles
Taylor Wein: 2 TFL
Gracen Halton: 1 sack
Damonic Williams: 1 sack
Kobie McKinzie: 1 sack, 1.5 TFL
The Notes
— After all of the issues through the first six games, and all of the criticism this week… Did the Sooners actually figure things out in the running game?
The Sooners were fantastic on the ground, finishing the half with 136 rushing yards on 19 carries. They were great from the opening kickoff, going for 50 yards on five carries on the first drive of the game. That’s more rushing yards than the Sooners had all of last week against Texas.
Most importantly, the Sooners appeared to figure out the running back rotation. Tory Blaylock saw the bulk of the work, while Xavier Robinson handled the change-of-pace work. Jaydn Ott did not play in the first half.
— With the running game succeeding, John Mateer hasn’t had to throw much. He’s mostly been content to take what South Carolina is giving him, though he’s made a couple of questionable throws.
— The defense was excellent on the first three possessions. The Gamecocks drove down inside the five on their opening drive, but back-to-back plays from Kendal Daniels and Taylor Wein helped the Sooners force a turnover on downs.
However, the defense committed three penalties, including a personal foul, that helped South Carolina score right before half.
— LaNorris Sellers (70 passing yards, 0 rushing yards) has been mostly bottled up. The Sooners sacked him three times.
— OU punter Grayson Miller had an uncharacteristically bad attempt, shanking one punt for 18 yards in the second quarter. That helped set up the Gamecocks’ scoring drive to end the half.
— The Sooners committed eight penalties for 73 yards in the first half. The Gamecocks were not whistled for a penalty.
— The Gamecocks get the ball to start the second half.
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