Oklahoma vs Houston Recap: 3 Things we Learned
By Tyler Brooke
The No. 15 Houston Cougars pulled off a big upset over the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday, pulling off the 33-23 victory.
They may be an American Conference school, but the No. 15 Houston Cougars showed the nation that they’re one of the top teams in the country with an upset win over the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners.
The Sooners got off to a hot start on their opening drive, going 79 yards down the field and capping the drive off with a 32-yard touchdown from backup RB Joe Mixon to take a 7-0 lead. On the next drive, Mixon made a one-handed catch for 60 yards to set up another field goal to go up 10-3.
However, the Cougars wouldn’t be denied in the first half. Some solid drives from senior QB Greg Ward Jr., including a 15-yard touchdown in the second quarter, helped the Cougars take a 19-17 lead into the locker room.
After a strong first half, the Cougars started to blow things wide open in the third quarter. A missed field goal from the Sooners turned into a 109-yard return from Cougars corner Brandon Wilson for a touchdown. The Sooners then proceeded to fumble the ball away on their next drive, leading to another Cougars touchdown drive to put Houston in the driver seat up 33-17 entering the fourth quarter.
The Sooners were able to grab a touchdown late in the fourth on Mark Andrews’ second TD catch of the day, but couldn’t grab the crucial two-point conversion to make it a one-possession game. The Cougars went on to run down the clock and come away with an upset victory.
Saturday’s game was an eventful one to say the least, so let’s take a look at three things we can take away from the Week 1 battle.
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Discipline is a Serious Issue for the Sooners
This was a game that could have been a lot closer had the Sooners kept their composure and stayed focus early on. Unfortunately, a plethora of mental mistakes led to a tough loss for Oklahoma.
Defensively, the Sooners couldn’t stop shooting themselves in the foot, especially on third down. A handful of pass interference and roughing the passer penalties turned what could have been third-down stops into automatic first downs that led to points on the board. There were even some third downs that were converted simply due to blown coverage.
On offense, the Sooners were sloppy with ball security leading to two lost fumbles from Baker Mayfield and Jarvis Baxter. Special teams was even a problem after a missed field goal led to a huge kickoff return from the Cougars due to terrible coverage from the field goal unit.
The good news is that Oklahoma has a whole season to try and prove that they belong in the College Football Playoff, but the bad news is that they’re going to have to be nearly perfect for the rest of the year.
The Houston Cougars are For Real
Going against a tough defense and one of the most hyped offensive units in the nation, the Cougars stood their ground and took down the No. 3 team in the nation.
Houston quarterback Greg Ward Jr., who was a 1,000-yard rusher last season, couldn’t find anything on the ground on Saturday with just one yard gained on 18 attempts. However, he looked great through the air, going 23-for-40 with 321 yards and two touchdowns.
On defense, the Cougars held a stacked team of Sooners to just 23 points, two turnovers and a handful of sacks.
The Cougars won’t be playing any other top-tier opponents this season, but a big win like this could help them wind up in the College Football Playoff if they can go 12-0 in the regular season.
Oklahoma Has a Legitimate 1-2 Punch at Running Back
Any loss is tough, especially for a team coming into the season ranked No. 3. However, the Sooners can be happy to know that they have a legitimate 1-2 punch in the backfield with Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon.
While Perine was hyped up entering the season, Mixon was relatively overlooked. However, Mixon got off to a great start with a 32-yard touchdown followed by a 60-yard one-handed reception on the very next drive.
The two running backs finished with 183 total yards in this game despite the Sooners playing from behind in the second half. With that kind of production, expect the Sooners to get their running backs involved more often as the season goes on.