At the buzzer takeaways: Bedlam goes to OSU
STILLWATER — Whatever magic OU had in the first half of the season is long gone. Needing five yards on a fourth down near midfield, the Sooners could only get three.
And that’s how the final Bedlam is written. Oklahoma State closes the rivalry with a 27-24 victory against the No. 9 Sooners on Saturday afternoon at Boone Pickens Stadium.
OU had a fourth-and-five, and OSU never allowed Drake Stoops to get deep enough to catch the ball for the first down. He was stopped two yards short.
The Sooners, after the 7-0 start, have dropped back-to-back games.
Your at the buzzer takeaways from Bedlam.
Giveaways costly
The only way OSU scored in the second half was from OU turnovers. Two of them resulted in 10 points. The Sooners did such a great job of taking care of the ball in the first half of the season. That has disappeared lately.
OU had three turnovers in the game.
Stoops comes up big
His final Bedlam, and OU wide receiver Drake Stoops was ready for it. Routinely making one tough catch after another, especially on third down. He didn’t come through on fourth down, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying.
He set a career high in receiving yards. Dillon Gabriel knew if there was one person he could count on in a tough spot, it was Stoops. Gabriel looked that way repeatedly, and it worked.
Stoops also caught a touchdown pass. It is the first time he has had more than 100 receiving yards in a game in his career.
Gutty effort
It absolutely didn’t work out for the Sooners. But guys like running backs Gavin Sawchuk and Tawee Walker and linebacker Kip Lewis played as hard as you could.
Lewis was thrust into the spotlight with Danny Stutsman not being able to play. Lewis had 15 tackles in the game.
Sawchuk and Walker each scored touchdown runs.
Failure to capitalize
No other way to say it. In the last month, when OU has had chances to separate on the scoreboard, it just hasn’t happened.
Up 21-17, OU couldn’t convert on fourth down. The Sooners got a gift of a takeaway on a Billy Bowman interception off a Ollie Gordon trick pass play.
But the Sooners, again, did nothing with it. You can look at the final plays and pinpoint, but there are plays all over the place that explain why this one was so tight.
Up next
OU finally goes back home. After a rough two-game road stretch at Kansas and OSU, the Sooners welcome West Virginia to Norman next Saturday.
