Oklahoma held on to defeat Houston 16-12 on Saturday night in Norman.
It was an alarming night overall for the Sooners, who were hoping to build on their effort from last week against Temple. Instead, Houston had the ball with a chance to win multiple times in the closing minutes of this game.
Here are 3 takeaways from OU’s narrow win:
Oklahoma’s offense sputtered again
Oklahoma’s offense was shutout in the second half against Houston on Saturday night. The only scoring the Sooners did after halftime was when their defense produced a safety with 1:42 left in the game to extend their lead to 16-12 over the Cougars.
For the second straight game, Jackson Arnold really struggled to be efficient as a passer. He threw for just 174 yards on 32 attempts against a Houston defense that struggled against UNLV a week ago.
OU also never really established the run against Houston. The Sooners managed just 75 yards on 29 carries. Eleven of those rushing attempts came from Arnold, many of which were scrambles.
Oklahoma only managed 1 full-field touchdown drive, as one of its scores came on a short field after the Sooners recovered a muffed punt. OU averaged 4.1 yards per play when all was said and done.
Sloppy play almost derailed OU’s season
Oklahoma made countless mistakes in this game. The issues started on special teams, as punt returner and star safety Billy Bowman had a tough night reading the ball at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. He muffed 2 punts, but recovered both of them, and had a few other alarming attempts to catch the ball that nearly ended in disaster.
Oklahoma also had a couple of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties that could have been back-breaking. Bowman was charged with a taunting penalty after the Sooners had already forced a 4th-and-long at one point in the game. Houston ended up punting anyways 3 plays later.
Then, with just over 30 seconds remaining in the game, Oklahoma’s Joshua Bates was whistled for taking his helmet off on the field of play. This caused the clock to stop and gave Houston significantly more time — nearly 30 extra seconds — to attempt a game-winning drive. However, again, the Cougars were not able to get the job done.
Against tougher competition, though, these issues could be a major problem. That’s something to watch out for as early as next weekend when OU hosts Tulane.
Oklahoma’s defense continues to look the part
While Oklahoma’s offense struggled again, the defense saved the game over and over on Saturday night. The Sooners forced 2 more turnovers (which they converted into 0 points) and held Houston to just 5 yards per play.
Linebacker Danny Stutsman was the leader on defense as he recorded 15 tackles (including 12 solo). He also had a tackle for loss.
Robert Spears-Jennings snagged OU’s only interception on the night and Lewis Carter was credited with the Sooners’ fumble recovery.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
