OU vs. Kansas football: Five takeaways from Sooners' win over Jayhawks to snap losing skid
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NORMAN — OU’s losing streak is over.
The Sooners’ offense came back to life with the return of Dillon Gabriel, the defense had its moments, and OU knocked off No. 19 Kansas 52-42 on Saturday on Owen Field.
Here are five takeaways from the win:
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Dillon Gabriel returns to OU starting lineup
After missing last week’s blowout loss to Texas, quarterback Dillon Gabriel returned Saturday and the Sooners’ offense — which was mostly toothless against the Longhorns — quickly showed it had life again.
Just three plays into the game, OU had more passing yards than it had in the entire game last week.
Gabriel spread the ball around, completing passes to four different receivers on the opening drive, as the Sooners scored on the opening drive for the first time since the season opener against UTEP.
It was also the first time since that game where OU scored first.
Even before Gabriel was hurt early in the second quarter at TCU on Oct. 1, he didn’t look as sharp as he did early in the season.
But Gabriel was mostly on-point against the Jayhawks, going 21 for 29 for 304 yards and a touchdown in the first half as the Sooners built a 35-21 lead at the break.
The blemish on Gabriel’s early performance came late in the first quarter, when he lost the ball as he tucked to run on a rollout, and Kansas recovered.
Then in the third quarter, Gabriel’s streak of passes without an interception came to an end when Kenny Logan Jr. picked off Gabriel.
Gabriel had started his OU career with 167 pass attempts without an interception.
He added another fumble later in the game but finished 29 of 42 for 403 yards and two touchdowns.
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Finally a glimmer of hope for defense
The first two defensive drives looked like more of the same for Brent Venables’ defense.
The Sooners missed tackles, took questionable angles and looked discombobulated as the Jayhawks answered OU’s touchdowns with scores of their own to tie the game, 14-14.
Even the most positive development of the first quarter for OU’s defense wasn’t without an asterisk.
On third and 11 — after Kansas had converted its first two third-down tries — Jayhawks quarterback Jason Bean’s pass went right into the hands of Sooners’ safety Key Lawrence.
Lawrence couldn’t come down with the interception, but the Jayhawks at least had to punt.
It was the latest in a string of interception opportunities that OU couldn’t finish off this season.
Their only takeaway during the three-game losing streak was C.J. Coldon’s gimme catch of an ill-advised and even more ill-executed attempted throwaway by Texas’ Quinn Ewers.
But in the second quarter, Coldon got another opportunity that had a might higher degree of difficulty.
The 5-foot-11 cornerback leaped high into the air to get his right hand on Jason Bean’s pass, then as he hit the ground following the extension, Coldon was able to haul the ball in with his right hand to finish off the interception.
In the third quarter, Sooners’ cheetah DaShaun White picked off Bean. It was White’s first career interception.
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Offensive line coming together
It had been easy to overlook in all of the problems the Sooners have had during their three-game losing streak but the offensive line, which had been inconsistent early in the season, has steadily improved and become a strength.
But with OU finally breaking through a winning, it was easier to see that the group is playing its best in the last couple years.
Wanya Morris continues to impress at right tackle since he missed the season’s first two games due to off-the-field issues and the rest of the group has improved as well.
That improvement is evidenced in the big rushing numbers posted by Eric Gray and the 487 total yards OU had in the first half.
That latter mark was the Sooners’ second-most ever in a half, behind on the 507 they posted in the first half against Missouri in 1986 and the 278 yards OU had in the second quarter was the fifth-most in a quarter in school history.
OU finished with 701 yards of total offense, their most against a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent since posting 702 against Kansas State on Oct. 27, 2018.
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Sooners can’t add points late in half
After Eric Gray’s 28-yard touchdown with less than three minutes remaining in the first half put OU ahead 35-14, the Sooners’ defense couldn’t respond with a big stop.
It took Kansas just 1:04 to drive 75 yards — thanks in large part to a 46-yard run by Devin Neal — to score a touchdown and once again pull within 14.
With Jeff Lebby’s up-tempo offense, the 1:36 remaining when the Sooners got the ball back was plenty.
And it didn’t take long for OU to get on the doorstep.
Marvin Mims appeared to have scored as he dove toward the end zone to finish off what would’ve been a 16-yard score.
But he was ruled short and there was no replay angle that officials felt offered definitive proof Mims wasn’t down short, giving OU first-and-goal inside the 1.
The Sooners couldn’t take advantage of the field position, though.
Dillon Gabriel spiked the ball with 7 seconds remaining, then Jovantae Barnes — with guard Chris Murray lined up in the backfield as a fullback — was stopped short on back-to-back plays to send the Sooners into the locker room with a 35-21 lead.
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Uniforms sharp, but hard to read
Plenty of Sooners fans weren’t happy with OU going away from their traditional look.
But the Anthracite and crimson combination looked sharp up close.
From a distance, though, the uniform numbers were hard to read with the lack of contrast between the dark gray jerseys and the crimson numbers.
The jerseys — designed by a group of former players to honor OU trailblazer Prentice Gautt — also lacked last names. Instead, each player wore “Unity” on their nameplates.
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU vs. Kansas football: Dillon Gabriel Sooners snap losing streak
