OU 27, Auburn 21: Takeaways from a stunning Sooners victory

AUBURN, Alabama — The game was over. Auburn was in full control.

The Sooners trailed 21-10, and the offense had just turned the ball over on downs with 11:43 remaining in the game. The Tigers opened their drive with a 22-yard run, appearing content to run out the clock as they clung to an 11-point lead.

But two consecutive incompletions, an OU third-down stop and a missed field goal kept the door open. Michael Hawkins, Kip Lewis and R Mason Thomas carried the Sooners through it.

Fueled by a beautiful throw from Hawkins, a pick-six from Lewis and disruption from Thomas, the Sooners somehow made enough to plays to score 14 unanswered points to escape Auburn with a 27-21 victory on Saturday.

Here's very quick takeaways from the Sooners' stunning victory:

Even after Auburn missed the 51-yard field goal, the Sooners were still in dire straits. They trailed 21-10 and still needed at least two scores to win the game.

Two plays following the missed FG, Hawkins decided to take a shot down the field. He found Hester, who had beaten his man in one-on-one coverage, for a 60-yard shot down to the Auburn five-yard line.

That play 21% of the Sooners' total yardage output on the day (291).

Jovantae Barnes capitalized two plays later with a two-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 21-16 with 8:32 remaining in the game.

But that wasn't the only game-changing play from Hawkins. After Lewis picked off Thorne on the following drive, Hawkins forced his way into the end zone on the ensuing two-point conversion.

In fact, he was flipped in mid air to secure the two extra points that put the Sooners up 24-21 with 4:06 left in the game.

Those plays helped erase what had been an awful performance through three quarters for the Sooners. They had gained just 172 yards through three quarters while averaging just 4.9 yards per play, and 48 of those yards came on a Hawkins touchdown run on the first drive of the game. They punted on five-straight drives to end the first half, with only two of those drives including first downs. A 24-yard field goal from Zach Schmit were the Sooners only points in the second and third quarter. Before that 60-yard completion to Hester, Hawkins had completed nine of 14 passes for 101 yards.

But in the end, the late-game heroics proved just enough to win.

The Sooners still trailed 21-16 after Barnes' touchdown, and Auburn started their ensuing drive with success. They picked up two first downs and had made it to OU's 41-yard line as they looked to ice the game with a score.

Instead, Lewis had other plans.

Thomas got a free run at Auburn QB Payton Thorne, who hurriedly threw a pass over the middle. It was picked off by Lewis, who returned 63 yards for a touchdown to give the Sooners their first lead since the first quarter.

Thomas wasn't done making impact plays. On the following drive, the Sooners forced Auburn into a fourth down, and Thomas sacked him to force the turnover on downs. It led to a 40-yard field goal from Schmit that pushed the lead to six points with 58 seconds to go.

Those were the plays the Sooners weren't making through the first three quarters. The Tigers 363 total yards through the first 45 minutes and possessed the ball for nearly 26 minutes, consistently gaining chunk yards on the ground. The Tigers tested the Sooners' secondary early, scoring on passing plays of 48 and 31 yards, respectively, in the first half to take a 14-7 lead.

The Tigers maintained control for nearly the entire game. But when it mattered the most, the Sooners' defense made huge plays to seal the win.