We finally get to have a positive therapy session!!!
Oklahoma snapped a three-game losing streak with a decisive 59-14 victory over Maine. The Sooners’ offense exploded, led by a career-best performance from running back Jovantae Barnes, who rushed for 203 yards and three touchdowns.
Jackson Arnold also had his best game of the season, throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for another, while J.J. Hester had a standout game with 112 receiving yards, and a touchdown, on four receptions.
Defensively, OU held Maine to just 251 total yards, limiting the Black Bears’ offensive opportunities. This dominant performance allowed Oklahoma to gain much-needed momentum and confidence heading into a final stretch of the season where they’ll play two of their last three games on the road.
Let’s Start With Perspective
The Sooners had multiple season-best numbers on Saturday, with the offense exploding for 665 total yards of offense, while severely limiting the Black Bears on offense. While it’s fun to finally celebrate a win, and a huge one at that, there’s a danger in overreacting in a positive way. This was, after all, Maine. They’re Oklahoma’s weakest opponent on the schedule, and as bad as things have been for the last month for the Sooners, just imagine how much worse things would have been if the struggles continued against an FCS opponent. Oklahoma looked dominant against the Black Bears, but that’s exactly what they were supposed to do. By all means, enjoy the win, but there are still issues that will pop back up when they travel to Missouri next weekend.
Offense Is Moving In The Right Direction With A Power Run Identity
Oklahoma outgained Maine 665 to 251 in total yards, 381 to 107 in rushing yards and 284 to 144 in passing yards on Saturday, setting
season highs for total offensive yards, rushing yards and passing yards. This was OU’s first 300-yard rushing game since going for 312 yards at Nebraska in 2022. The 381 rushing yards against Maine were the most since rushing for 435 yards in the 2020 Cotton Bowl vs. Florida.
Jovantae Barnes was the primary workhorse for Oklahoma’s attack. He ran 18 times for a career-high 203 yards and three touchdowns (average of 11.3 yards per rush), including 158 yards on 11 carries in the first half. It was the most by a Sooner since Eric Gray rushed for 211 yards at West Virginia in 2022. Prior to this game, OU’s highest rushing total by a running back this season was 70 yards by Barnes two weeks ago vs. South Carolina.
The result was a more balanced approach for the Sooners, that ultimately yielded season bests of 8.5 yards per play, 7.3 yards per rush, 15.8 yards per completion and 10.9 yards per pass attempt. The last time OU averaged at least 8.5 yards per play was last season at Tulsa (9.4), at least 7.3 yards per rush was the 2021 Alamo Bowl vs. Oregon (7.5), at least 15.8 yards per completion was last season vs. TCU (16.7) and at least 10.9 yards per pass attempt was last season vs. West Virginia (11.8).
I don’t feel like we’ve seen enough to declare the offense to be fixed, we all know that isn’t the case, but we have seen enough to confidently say that moving away from Seth Littrell was a step in the right direction.
The Revival Of Jackson Arnold Continues
For the second week in a row we’ve seen progress from Jackson Arnold, giving us the best version yet of the Sooner signal caller. He completed 15 of 21 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns (no interceptions) and rushed nine times for 45 yards and a score. His 90-yard TD pass to JJ Hester in the second quarter was the longest catch by a Sooner in Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium history. It tied for the second-longest reception in school history.
Prior to Saturday, the previous record for longest reception by a Sooner in stadium history was 88 yards by Dede Westbrook vs. Kansas State in 2016 on a pass from QB Baker Mayfield. It also marked the longest OU pass play in any game since 1995 (90-yard TD pass from Eric Moore to WR P.J. Mills).
Arnold’s QBR on Saturday was 77.4, which marked his highest rated performance since the Tulane game. Not to keep piling on Seth Littrell, but it just goes to show the value of a true quarterback’s coach.
Defense Was More Than Enough
The Black Bears were held to just 251 total yards of offense on the afternoon. If you’re going to criticize the defense, it’ll be that they only recorded three quarterback sacks on the day. One might think that number should have been larger considering the advantage the Sooners had upfront, but if that’s all we’re criticizing then it was a good day.
Oklahoma held Maine to 4-of-15 on third down and forced the Black Bears into seven punting situations. Oklahoma had one takeaway (a fumble) in the game. The Sooners are +2 in turnover margin through nine games this season. In OU’s five wins on the year, it has outscored opponents 63-6 off turnovers (7-0 on Saturday).
Time and again this season we’ve seen the defense deliver. It was nice to finally see the offense play complimentary football to the point where the defense was more than enough to pave the way to victory.
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