Is there such a thing as starting too fast? Oklahoma had the juices flowing early and often and delivered a first-round knockout of Oklahoma State.

Unfortunately, there were still three quarters left to go. Wasn’t all roses from that point forward, but the damage had been done as the Sooners earned a 28-13 against their Bedlam rival on Saturday evening on senior night.

The win improved OU to 6-5 overall and 3-5 in the Big 12 and guaranteed the Sooners will be in a bowl game next month.

OU led 28-0 at the end of the first quarter. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel had already thrown for 224 yards and accounted for three touchdowns. OSU’s Spencer Sanders threw two interceptions.

The Sooners had 299 yards of total offense and had a 299-61 advantage in total yards.

“We were clicking on all cylinders,” said running back Eric Gray, who had 54 yards and a touchdown in the quarter. “It felt great. You felt the energy. Like Coach Lebby in the locker room said, you can see how good we can be on offense. We just have to be consistent and keep doing what we were doing that first quarter.”

Just boom, boom, boom, before you could blink. Touchdown (Gabriel run), three-and-out, touchdown (Gabriel pass to Jalil Farooq), interception, OU punt, another interception, touchdown (Eric Gray run) and one more touchdown (Gabriel pass to Drake Stoops) with 1:09 left in the first quarter.

It threw off the flow and rhythm for the rest of the game as there was no way it could be sustained, but it was like OU was taking a year’s worth of frustrations out in one 15-minute span against the Cowboys.

Offensive ineptitude

OK, that was the good. But now, the bad. And a lot of it. After that final touchdown, a 23-yard pass from Gabriel to Drake Stoops, the Sooners were held scoreless in their final 12 possessions.

Not just that, but they couldn’t execute much of anything. None of those 12 drives lasted more than 91 seconds. Tempo, tempo, tempo in this case meant punt, punt, punt, no time coming off the clock.

“Well, it started fast,” offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby said. “Obviously, we did the things that we wanted to do. We were able to get in a rhythm and roll. Then it was something different every single series after that. We didn’t make some plays. We had some drops.

“I have to do a better job of putting us in better position to be able to go create some first downs and some momentum and really some tempo and some feel. I’m proud of the way we started, but after that we really struggled.”

Struggled is putting it mildly. Eight of those 12 possessions were three-and-outs, and OU only managed 135 yards of offense combined in the final three quarters.

Gabriel started 14-of-18 passing for 224 yards only to end completing 20 of 40 passes for 259 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

Time management was a head-scratcher all night, even for the head coach.

“No. Actually I wasn’t (happy),” Brent Venables said. “We gotta be better there. Make no mistake. Played 102 plays on defense and they got a couple drives there, but we were dominating them. To continue to put that defense in that position is not what you wanna do. Running the clock to give them a little more time to recover and adjust. It’s important that we do a better job of that.”

A growing concern continues to be OU’s issues on third and fourth downs. The Sooners converted just one of 15 vs. OSU.

Turk’s memorable night

As the clock hit zero, punter Michael Turk darted out of the stadium. No, he wasn’t unhappy or anything, but he had some business to get to.

Turk ran back to his locker room to bust out an engagement ring, proposing to his girlfriend, softball star Grace Lyons, on the field after the game. Lyons did indeed say yes.

“I wasn't really nervous, thankfully, I was more so excited, because I knew that God already had this happen for a reason,” Turk said. “So I was super just pumped up. And like I said, Grace is so awesome. So it was a great feeling, I'm happy we got the win, too, and then I got to do that right after. But I was excited, not really nervous.”

Turk was sensational for OU, averaging 49 yards per punt with a whopping 11 opportunities. Nobody expected him to be on the field that much, but he delivered time and time again.

“I had a really good week of practice and been really focused, and I knew that if I was going to propose I had to have a good enough game so that was extra motivation on top for sure,” Turk said.

Senior night emotions

This group of OU seniors has certainly seen some things during their time in Norman. Those emotions were running pretty high Saturday, and really, for the last couple of weeks.

“They were pretty high,” linebacker DaShaun White said. “I've kind of been emotional little bit for a few weeks now. It's really starting to set in that we walk in here, it's going to be Monday and the board is gonna say five days left or five days and practices left this season.

“It just kind of continues to settle in how surreal it is that this is coming to an end. Such a big, exciting chapter of my life is coming to a close.”

White punctuated his OU home career with eight tackles, a sack and an interception in the fourth quarter.

Wide receiver Drake Stoops earned the Kalsu Award and had a banner night with six catches for 89 yards and a touchdown.

Brayden Willis, Eric Gray and Justin Broiles shared in the Don Key Award.