3 takeaways from Oklahoma's wild comeback win at Auburn
That was fun, wasn’t it?
Oklahoma’s comeback 27-21 victory at Auburn certainly sparked a lot of emotions.
Well, check that. That wasn’t fun for Auburn. That was a nightmare. That was the type of game that can come back to haunt a head coach in hot water.
That was fun for Oklahoma. Overcoming an 11-point deficit in the 4th quarter with a true freshman quarterback on the road was an ideal way for the Sooners to cap off their first SEC road game.
Here are 3 takeaways from the thriller at Jordan-Hare:
1. Michael Hawkins Jr., welcome to the big time
Did I mention that was a true freshman who led Oklahoma back from down 11 in the 4th quarter? Sure, it helped that Oklahoma got that all-important go-ahead pick-6 from captain Kip Lewis in the final 4 minutes. That was the play of the day.
Oklahoma was in that position because of the play of Hawkins. He got the day started with a 48-yard touchdown run. Up until that 60-yard pass to JJ Hester to set up a late Oklahoma touchdown, the Oklahoma offense was stuck in the mud. It was evident that the Sooners were without their top 5 receivers.
But Hawkins made the plays down the stretch, including a helicopter 2-point conversion attempt that allowed Oklahoma to get a 3-point lead against a stunned Auburn squad. Oklahoma came into Saturday wondering if could have an offensive identity. It found that with Hawkins.
2. Oh, Payton Thorne. Not like that.
Man, just when you thought that Thorne was out of the woods, that happened.
A pick-6 to blow a 21-16 lead. Brutal. Absolutely brutal.
Thorne was 4 minutes away from closing out an SEC win that would’ve calmed the critics. Instead, his turnover woes surfaced at the worst possible time.
As long as Thorne is the starter, those moments feel inevitable.
3. Up next for Auburn is a date with Georgia in Athens while Oklahoma gets … a bye and Texas
Oh, no big deal. Attention will shift to the fact that Auburn is traveling to a place where it hasn’t won since 2005. We’ll see how the Auburn quarterback room handles a Georgia defense that’s looked darn good to start the season. The Tigers will be significant underdogs for that matchup.
Oklahoma, on the other hand, will feel a whole lot more confident heading into the bye week. A date against Texas awaits on the other side of it. While the No. 1 Longhorns will be a significant favorite, Oklahoma avoiding an 0-2 start to SEC play was the only thing that mattered on Saturday.
The Sooners’ first SEC win couldn’t have been more thrilling.
From the arms of victory come…
The jaws of defeat .
‘Round here we say ‘they pulled an Arkansas’.
>Poo Sleeze
Auburn fans be honest, are y’all committed to keeping him as HC?
I don’t see how this season can be salvaged if you’re making the same mistakes every game.
Can’t fire him. He’s on a 6 year contract.
Hugh “wet brain” Freeze
Firing him would do more harm than good. Looking for who would be your fifth head coach in the last six seasons (counting Cadillac Williams’ run two years ago as the interim HC, which right now Auburn fans wish that the interim tag had been taken off) is not the sort of thing that’s going to get any good head coaches to even give Auburn the time of day. And the best guy that Auburn could get right now would be either James Franklin–whose welcome at Penn State may be wearing thin unless he can get over the Michigan/Ohio State hump) or Alex Golesh at USF, not exactly two guys who would make the fan base start making Playoff plans though they both very well make it. Freeze is going to have to be on Plains for at least another couple years regardless of whether he turns things around.
Wow. OU has an SEC-level defense.
No, AU is just that bad.
Freeze already thinking about how he’s going to throw his players under the bus
He has no kicker. Pick six doesn’t matter if they make two field goals.
Freeze didn’t throw that pass into coverage, Thorne did. That is truth, not throwing a player under the bus.
Nope, but there were some awful coaching decisions in this game.
The Ditch is deep, Awbarn. This could all have been avoided.
Yes, we should have hired Prime who can’t beat top ranked teams.
He whooped Gus’s ass today as a visitor. If Awbarn had Shaduer and Travis, they’d be 4-0, maybe a bubble playoff team. And, Prime would be recruiting the Southeast. The sky would have been the limit.
Congrats. He beat a bad football school. Great job!
AU will have losing seasons for the foreseeable future. I say end the football program and focus on basketball. AU is now a basketball school.
I see you embrace The Ditch. You’re evolving.
Yea, I get that, Arky fans are looking forward to basketball season.
I actually feel bad for the Auburn fans. What a heartbreaker….
Nah, don’t.
Awbarn has a date in Athens next week. They will be brutalized by an angry team trying to make up for their debacle in Tuscaloosa. After the total beat down and humiliation, this sorry Awbarn team will fold for the rest of the season. Once the transfer portal opens, the players leaving the Awbarn ship will nullify any top recruiting classes Coach Huge Wet Brain Freeze claims. GD, what a disaster.
Auburn will not go bowling. Sad. Coaching, or the lack thereof, plagues this team. The D played great for Auburn. Needing a QB in the worst way. And get Alex McPherson well.
4 straight losing seasons. I’ve never seen that in my lifetime.
We feel you down in g ville Ron
No, this is different.
Sooner Magic!!!
Congrats on the win.
Keep your head up Sooners, winning on the road in the SEC is hard. Oh wait, Lol!
Glad for a bye week after that. Hopefully some of our guys can get health. We sure won’t beat Texas playing the way we did today.
Glad for a bye week after that. Hopefully some of our guys can get healthy. We sure won’t beat Texas playing the way we did today.
Stunning, but with Auburn so turnover prone…
The turnover didn’t lose the game. 2 missed field goals + bone headed coaching decisions. Thorne threw for over 300 yards. This loss is not his fault.
Congrats, Sooners. You beat the worst team in the SEC.
Yes, this is true.
Don’t worry Auburn, if you play that game 9 more times you’d win 9 of them.
ouch lol…..oh well, if Ark played A&M 9 more times….