NORMAN — Everything that could go wrong, did in fact go wrong for the Sooners for the first half.

Still, they somehow trail No. 6 Tennessee just 19-3 at halftime.

Here's a look at takeaways from the first 30 minutes of play:

Outside of one busted coverage, the Sooners have made a statement. Their defense is legitimate.

The Vols have 204 total yards so far while averaging just 6.1 yards per play (they were averaging nearly 320 yards a half coming into the game). More impressively, the Vols are averaging just 2.8 yards per rush and finished with 78 total rushing yards.. Dylan Sampson, who is averaging nearly seven yards per carry on the year, has just 12 carries for 55 yards. This is a running game that ranked third nationally coming into the day, averaging over 336 yards per game.

The Sooners have simply been relentless in their pursuit of Tennessee quarterback Nico lamaleava, and it's led to two massive takeovers. The first one came early in the second quarter, when Robert Spears-Jennings blitzed off the edge and knocked the ball away from lamaleava, and it was recovered by Ethan Downs at the Tennessee five-yard line.

The second one came midway through the second quarter. when Trace Ford knocked the ball away from lamaleava and it was recovered by Gracen Halton. They even forced Tennessee to kick a field goal after a 38-yard gain set the Vols up inside the eight-yard line.

The Sooners have three sacks — the Vols gave up three total sacks through the first three games – and five tackles for loss.

The only blemish on an otherwise flawless half came early in the first quarter. Kani Walker was beaten in man coverage by Dont'e Thornton for a 66-yard touchdown, and it appeared safety Billy Bowman had a lapse in coverage and didn't provide help over the top. That play accounted for over 25% of the Vols' yards in the first half. The Vols also scored late after the Sooners' offense committed its third turnover.

But the defense is the only reason why the Sooners are still in the game. The problem will be covered in the next section.

With under two minutes left in the half, Brent Venables decided he had seen enough. After committing three turnovers in the first half, Jackson Arnold was benched in favor of Michael Hawkins.

The Sooners' offense was just anemic in the first half. The Sooners finished with 82 total yards through the first two quarters, including -20 (!!!!) total yards in the second quarter. The Sooners simply couldn't do anything — they averaged 2.3 yards per play, 1.5 yards per play and 7.7 yards per completion. Arnold completed 7 of 16 passers for 54 yards and an interception.

But the most costly mistakes came after both of the defensive takeaways. On the Spears-Jennings forced fumble, with OU trailing 10-3, Arnold made a bad read on first down and lost the ball on a fumble. After the Ford takeaway, Arnold panicked and threw the ball backwards across the field to Zion Ragins, and the ball bounced around before it was picked up by Tennessee. Both of those turnovers came on the first play immediately following the Sooners' takeaways.

The Sooners' only productive drive came on a 10-play, 55-yard possession that resulted in a 37-yard field goal from Tyler Keltner that tied the game at 3-3.

Here's a summary of OU's second-half drives:

1 play, -1 yard, fumble

1 play, -4 yards, safety

3 plays, -2 yards, punt

1 play, -21 yards, fumble

3 plays, 6 yards punt

The move was made. Now it'll be the Hawkins show.

— Kendel Dolby was injured in the second quarter and left the game on a cart. It was a devastating injury — the team gathered for a prayer then helped send Dolby off the field as he was loaded onto the cart.

Dolby had three tackles before leaving the game.

— Multiple Sooners on both sides of the ball have been in and out of the game with injuries. Nic Anderson returned and started the game, but went into the locker room late in the first quarter and returned to the sidelines without pads. Taylor Tatum also went into the locker room and has yet to return.

Da'Jon Terry has also been dealing with injuries in the first half.

— The Vols get the ball to start the second half.