The Oklahoma Sooners spent Saturday traveling to Columbia to take on the Missouri Tigers. In this last chance, last dance game of the season, the Sooners had to win out to have a badly needed winning season. With injuries up and down both teams, though, it was never going to be an easy night.
Oklahoma Fumbles The Season In Missouri, 30-23
Of Injuries and Backups
Even in the hours before the game, there was no shortage of speculation on who would ultimately take the field. The Sooners have an injury report a mile long, while Missouri was counting on some of its best to be eligible for game time. Still, it’s inarguable who is suffering more from injuries.
Jayden Gibson, Jovantae Barnes, Nic Anderson, Andrel Anthony, Joshua Bates, Geirean Hatchett, Jacob Sexton, Jake Taylor, Gavin Sawchuk, and Michael Tarquin– all out of commission for Oklahoma. That’s enough to constitute an entire offensive team, and none of them are seeing the field any time soon.
On the Missouri side of the ball, the injury list is short- but the one missing name is also the most important. Brady Cook has been an integral part of wins over Vanderbilt and Auburn this year. However, an injury against Alabama has had him laid out for over two weeks now. Without him, Missouri is leaning heavily on backup quarterback Drew Pyne.
Oklahoma’s Weaknesses Exposed
The Sooners’ injury list is made up, predominantly, of offensive linemen. As Arnold is not a particularly reliable passer, the lack of an offensive line compounds the issue into an even bigger problem. This has been evident since week three and should have been solved by now. It hasn’t been.
After a beautiful fake punt by Luke Elzinga led to a massive pass and run into Missouri’s side of the field, Brent Venables and Joe Jon Finley couldn’t help themselves. At the fifteen-yard line, they called for Arnold to pass the ball three times in a row. Three sacks later the Sooners had to settle for a field goal instead. The season-long theme of losing yards to passes and gaining them on the ground is a lesson that Oklahoma refuses to learn.
Oklahoma and Missouri’s Game of Inches
Unlike the high-intensity game between Colorado and Texas Tech, it was a slow day in Missouri. A fumble by Arnold led to an early 4th and 20 for Oklahoma. On Missouri’s first possession, though, they didn’t do much better. Conservative playcalling allowed R Mason Thomas and Ethan Downs to sack Nate Noel on the run. Pyne’s first pass went for a loss of six yards. Then, another fumble by Arnold led to a turnover as the Missouri defense pounced on the opportunity.
Elzinga’s fake punt pass in the second quarter led to a 43-yard gain downfield. A Missouri timeout and woeful playcalling by Oklahoma immediately took the momentum out of the moment and immediately slowed the game back down. At first glance, it seems like one of the Big 12’s oldest rivalries had cooled off in the intervening decade.
On closer inspection, though, it’s due to four things: Oklahoma’s defense, Missouri’s defense, Pyne, and Arnold.
Missouri’s man-to-man coverage, as expected, was in spectacular form. Oklahoma’s defense wasn’t willing to be outmatched, of course. Missouri was relying on its weakest link: The ground game. Danny Stutsman, Billy Bowman, and the rest, were there to stuff the run each and every time. Until Pyne put together a sixty-yard drive to put the Tigers in the endzone, this was absolutely a game where both teams had to fight for each and every inch of the field.
Fleeting Glory
The second half was everything the first half wasn’t. Missouri opened the third quarter with a Pyne touchdown pass to lead 10-9. The fourth quarter then saw back-to-back-to-back scores. Missouri put together a field-spanning drive to go up 16-9 early in the fourth quarter. Then, the unexpected happens:
Oklahoma began to play risky, daring, football for the first time all season.
In the closing minutes, a 75-yard drive turned into a brilliant trick play. Taylor Tatum accepted a handoff, but then turned around and sent it down the field to Arnold for a touchdown. Missouri’s next possession lasted all of forty seconds. Bowman slammed into Jamal Roberts, took the ball out of his hands as he fell, and sprinted 43 yards down the field for a touchdown. In the span of a single minute, Oklahoma had gone from nine to twenty-three points.
Then, they let Missouri do the same thing to them. A 75-yard drive for a touchdown. A fumble for another touchdown. The Sooners held all the glory in their hands for but a moment, and what a fleeting moment it was.
What’s Next for Oklahoma and Missouri?
Missouri still has to face South Carolina, but their season ends relatively easily after tonight. Mississippi State and Arkansas are teetering on the lower half of the SEC and, certainly, won’t be at the same level of heart-pounding as the game against Oklahoma was.
This heartbreaking 30-23 loss is compounded by the possible loss of Deion Burks, who was targeted by a defender in the final seconds of the game. So, what’s next for Oklahoma? Well, to put it simply, it’s time to pick up the pieces and start looking towards next year.
