Oklahoma Survives a Wild College Football Saturday.

By Hunter Cornejo

Week 2 of the College Football season was a wild one. Alabama looked like a completely different team than the Alabama we are used to when the Tide rolled into Austin, having an uncharacteristic 15 penalties for 100 yards in their 20-19 win. Marshall went to South Bend and went home with the 26-21 win, making first year Notre Dame Head Coach Marcus Freeman 0-3 as a head coach, the worst coaching start the Irish have ever had. Appalachian State did it again, this time upsetting Texas A&M on the road 17-14.

For the first 29 minutes of play, Oklahoma looked like the next team to be upset. The first quarter of play was nothing but exchanged punts from Oklahoma and Kent State. The Sooners’ seemed to be shocked by the level of play of Kent State’s QB Collin Schlee, who was able to put the Golden Flashes on the board first. The Golden Flashes were extremely effective at limiting Oklahoma’s run game in the first half, holding the Sooners to only 7 yards rushing in the first half. The Sooners’ defense was able to limit the damage from Kent State by only allowing 3 points all game, however Schlee and the Golden Flashes were able to stay on the field for 19 minutes in the first half. With 1 minute left in the first half, Dillion Gabriel got the Sooners offense started, connecting with Marvin Mims 3 times for 63 yards, including a 36 yard touchdown pass. The Sooners kept the momentum rolling with Marcus Major capping off the 68 yard drive with a 16 yard touchdown run. The Sooners’ defense responded with a turnover when Billy Bowman punched out the ball putting the Sooners in prime position for another touchdown. Kent State however had different plans, holding the Sooners to only a field goal. Collin Schlee and the Golden Flashes had a good drive going until Danny Stutsman picked up a sack to get the Sooners the ball back. Dillion Gabriel led the Sooners on an 80 yard drive, and found WR Drake Stoops who dove into the end zone for another Sooner touchdown, making the score 24-3. Danny Stutsman picked up another key tackle for the Sooners, this time a 4th down tackle at the line of scrimmage. Building off of Stutsman’s big play, Dillion Gabriel fired a deep ball to Marvin Mims for a 58 yard touchdown. The Sooners’ last score of the game was from a high snap that resulted in Schlee stepping on the baseline of the end zone for a safety.

Kent State gave the Sooners a great fight. There is a very good chance that we will see Kent State playing in the MAC Championship game. Oklahoma will have to play much better next week when they face Nebraska in Lincoln. Danny Stutsman was electric for the Sooners, racking up 12 tackles including 4 tackles for a loss and a sack. Oklahoma will need his play making ability against a Nebraska team that will no longer be coached by Scott Frost, Mickey Joseph will be the Interim Head Coach for the Cornhuskers. Dillion Gabriel will have to get the Sooners offense in stride early in the game or there will be a very good chance Nebraska pulls off the upset in the rivalry game. Although it is great to see Michael Turk on the field punting, the Sooners can not afford to call on him 6 times like the Kent State game. Oklahoma will face Nebraska on Saturday at 11:00 AM CT on Fox.