AUBURN, Alabama — As he began his postgame press conference, it was clear OU head coach Brent Venables was still processing what had happened.
The Sooners, who trailed by 11 points early in the fourth quarter, scored 17 unanswered points to beat Auburn, 27-21. It was game that looked all but over — Auburn's win probability was above 97% with under 12 minutes to go, per ESPN.
Yet, somehow the Sooners managed to rally with huge, game-defining plays. It was crazy enough for Venables to use a harrowing phrase known very well to OU fans.
"That was the first experience of 'Sooner Magic' as a head coach," Venables said.
That might be the best way to describe it.
For the entire game, the Tigers had simply bested the Sooners on both sides of the ball. The Tigers outgained the Sooners 363-172 through the first three quarters and possessed the ball for nearly 26 minutes, controlling the tempo and momentum of the game.
The Sooners' offense, which had struggled all game, turned the ball over on downs with 11:43 left in the fourth quarter, handing the ball back to the Tigers. Auburn immediately began the drive with a 22-yard run from running back Jarquez Hunter, who rumbled the ball down to the OU 33-yard line. The Tigers were poised to build on their already-daunting 11-point win.
Instead, the Sooners caught a break. Auburn threw back-to-back incompletions and the Sooners got a third-down stop, and the Tigers promptly missed a 51-yard field goal.
That left the door cracked open. Michael Hawkins and the offense decided to run through it.
On the second play of the drive, Hawkins saw JJ Hester open down the right sideline and delivered a 60-yard completion down to the Auburn five-yard line. Jovantae Barnes eventually punched it in from two yards out, cutting Auburn's lead to 21-16 with just over eight minutes left.
It was a completely unexpected sequence for an offense that had scored just three points and gained just 125 yards over its last seven drives.
"The biggest thing for us this game was just staying down," Hawkins said, "keeping our head down, knowing that we're going to get it going and just move the ball successfully as a whole. It (ended up in) a great way."
If there was a real example of Sooner magic, it came on the following series.
The Tigers had successfully bled the clock for most of the game, and their first six plays took over four minutes off the game clock. But on third-and-4, R Mason Thomas got free on a blitz that forced Payton Thorne to get rid of it.
OU linebacker Kip Lewis was there to snag it, and he returned it for a 63-yard pick six that gave the Sooners the lead.
"When I was running down the sideline, I was like, 'wow, this is kind of like a movie moment,'" Lewis said.
On the ensuing two-point conversion, Hawkins took it himself and was sent flying midair as he crossed the goal-line, pushing the Sooners' lead to 24-21 with 4:06 remaining.
The Sooners clearly rode that momentum. Thomas recorded a fourth-down sack on the next series to force a turnover on downs, which led to Zach Schmit's 40-yard field goal that pushed the lead to six with 58 seconds to go. The defense held Auburn out of the end zone on the final drive, sealing the win.
Even as the Sooners struggled to generate any kind of momentum through the first three quarters, there was confidence that they could find a way to win.
"Just fight, just fight," Venables said of his message heading into the fourth quarter. "Nobody was hard to coach. No attitudes, certainly no finger pointing. Taking hard coaching and corrections along the way. Talking about leaning on standards in the most pressure-filled moments.
"You have to lean on the standards of this program. With your toughness, effort, your execution, your leadership. Our guys did, and they rose to the occasion."
The Tigers held the advantage in nearly every metric. They outgained the Sooners 482-291; they possessed the ball for nearly 36 minutes; Auburn recorded 26 first downs to OU's 11; the Sooners committed more penalties (10-7); and, of course, the Sooners scored just 10 points and trailed by 11 early in the fourth quarter.
But led by some standout moments, and a determination to keep fighting, the Sooners found a way to win. Venables might say it was 'Sooner Magic', but whatever it was, it helped OU snag its first win in the SEC.
"It's affirmation for everybody that's invested in it," Venables said. "You don't have to play perfect, you just keep fighting, you just keep hanging in there. At the right moments you've got to play well together, you've got to figure it out, have each other's back no matter what, good and bad.
"This program, the foundation is built on the little things. Sometimes that doesn't sound sexy to people but it is. The little things like believing in yourself, believing in one another and fighting for each other. That's got to mean something. And then something that's bigger than yourself... To see them through a lot of moments of overcoming (and) have victory, even if it's just for a few minutes, until we get to the bye week and we get started on what's next, you can't put a price on that. It's invaluable."
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