OXFORD, Mississippi — The rhythm was there. The complementary football was there.
All of the improvements Brent Venables and the Sooners had talked about were there in the first half on Saturday, when they led Ole Miss 14-10.
The Sooners' offense had seemingly fixed all of their issues from the season. The offense ran the ball incredibly well, totaling 125 yards — finishing six yards short of surpassing their most yards in a conference game — while averaging 4.2 yards per carry. Jackson Arnold completed 10 of 13 passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns, showing poise and confidence in the pocket on both of his touchdown passes.
After a rough opening drive that included an Ole Miss touchdown, the Sooners' defense did its part, too. They allowed just 115 yards and three points on the five possessions following that drive, allowing Ole Miss' explosive offensive to record just two plays of 17 yards or more.
And it all culminated in a perfect way to end the first half. The Sooners stopped Ole Miss on a fourth-down attempt inside the 10-yard line with 2:40 minutes before halftime, and the OU offense proceeded to soak up the rest of the clock while driving down the field.
With six seconds left on the clock, Arnold avoided the pressure and found Jacob Jordan for a nine-yard touchdown that gave the Sooners a four-point lead. The Sooners — which had not topped 291 yards in a conference game — had 235 yards at halftime.
Unfortunately for the Sooners, it was a completely different story in the second half. The Rebels outscored the Sooners 16-0 in the second half, as they handed OU its third-straight loss.
"We got a great stop and really a picture-perfect two-minute drill going into halftime," Venables said. "... I think it showed what we’re capable of. Today, there are some signs there. Again, there is no silver lining. Our expectation was to come in here and win. If we can play our best four quarters of football, complement each other, do the things we needed to — (we) showed we could do it. Obviously, it’s a 60-minute, four-quarter game. We weren’t able to sustain that."
The Sooners weren't able to sustain it because two fundamental issues resurfaced.
On defense, the secondary was chewed up by Jaxson Dart and the Ole Miss receivers. That began on the Rebels' opening drive of the half, when Dart capped off an eight-play, 65-yard drive with a 24-yard touchdown to Caden Prieskorn. Dart completed five passes of 20 yards or more in the third quarter alone as the Rebels totaled 201 yards in that 15-minute period, 36 more than they totaled in the entire first half.
That was particularly disappointing given the Rebels were missing wideout Tre Harris, who leads the NCAA in receiving yards (965). Instead, the Rebels targeted their two tight ends — Prieskorn and Dae'Quan Wright — who combined for 125 yards. The Sooners also sacked Dart once as he had plenty of time to throw.
"You get a little bit nosy, eyes going to the backfield and a guy runs by you," OU defensive coordinator Zac Alley said. "And there was quite a bit of that that, man, I felt like we could have been in probably some better calls too. That's on me, I always take ownership of that. But we've also gotta execute what we're doing and do our job and do it really, really well. And a couple of those, we just gave 'em easy reads and weren't in a great phase or great technique, and we've gotta continue to play hard.
"At the end of the day," Venables added, "we beat ourselves with some explosive plays on defense."
On offense, it was the offensive line. The Sooners, who were without Jacob Sexton for the final 30 minutes, gave up seven sacks in the second half, as Arnold spent most of his time running for his life or sitting on the turf. It was a part of a disastrous day for the offensive line, as the Sooners surrendered 10 sacks overall. That marks the most sacks OU has ever allowed in program history, and it comes just one week after they set the previous record against South Carolina with nine.
As a result, the Sooners' offense caved in. They recorded just 94 total yards in the second half while averaging 2.5 yards per play. They recorded just one first down in their first four drives and finished the half converting one of nine third-down attempts.
"Obviously it was a tale of two halves," Finley said. "I thought the guys came out after an extremely hard week on them and came out swinging. Fought. That was the only thing I asked for is come out and fight for your brother and strain for every single inch because we’re not that far off. And for one half today you could see who this football team can be, who this offense can be.
"Now it’s my job to put them in a better situation in the second half, but I think we did a really good job for a half against a really good defense. And that’s what we have to build upon and create some confidence for these guys moving forward. They can play against anybody in the country when they’re on point and when I put them in good situations.”
Now, the Sooners (4-4, 1-4 SEC) find themselves in an even tougher position. The loss marks the third-consecutive defeat — all three by double digits — and the Sooners face the possibility of a losing season, something they experienced in 2022. And while there flashes of improvement on offense, it wasn't enough to bridge the gap and the same issues that have plagued them all year eventually came back.
"It's tough," OU linebacker Danny Stutsman said. "We've got to get all the guys going, get them rallied up for next week. I've been here before back in 2022. ... We've just got to keep morale high and keep the guys going."
