NORMAN — The Sooners were a 30-point favorite heading into Saturday's game with Houston.

But their performance was anything but dominant.

The Sooners took an early lead but were forced to hang on for all four quarters, as they narrowly escaped with a 16-12 win over the Cougars. A lot of the themes from last week's win over Temple popped back up against the Cougars, as the offense again struggled.

Here's a look at three takeaways from the win:

Considering the struggles last week, the main focus coming into Saturday was solely on the Sooners' offensive line. To make matters worse, Branson Hickman and Geirean Hatchett suited up but didn't play, and Troy Everett was again in street clothes. But Jake Taylor returned after missing the opener against Temple, which figured to give a boost.

Instead, it was a nightmare for the offensive line.

It was Michael Tarquin, Jacob Sexton, Joshua Bates, Febechi Nwaiwu and Taylor who got the start, but the offensive line never found a rhythm. After giving up three sacks last week to Temple, the offensive line allowed Temple to sack Jackson Arnold twice while giving up six tackles for loss.

The running game was non-existent. The Sooners ran the ball 29 times for just 75 yards (2.6 yards per carry), and 11 of those carries came from Arnold. Jovantae Barnes led the backfield with 12 carries for 40 yards, while Gavin Sawchuk and Taylor Tatum combined for 10 yards on five carries.

The Pro Football Focus data is going to be interesting to monitor. But regardless, one thing is clear — this offensive line needed to look better than it did against Temple, and it looked worse. That group has a ton of questions to answer before SEC play begins.

The signs were there that this would be a tough game for the offense. The Sooners went three and out on the opening drive of the game and gained zero yards, and the first place was a jet sweep for Deion Burks that lost six yards.

However, they were given a gift when they recovered a muffed punt by Houston at the 10-yard line. Jackson Arnold found Brenen Thompson for a touchdown on the next play, giving OU an early 7-0 lead.

From there, it was nothing but struggles. The only other touchdown came two drives later, when Arnold found Jake Roberts on an 11-yard touchdown pass to a cap off an eight-play, 82-yard drive.

The Sooners finished with 249 total yards, their fewest in a game since their 49-0 loss to Texas in 2022 (195)

Here are the results for all 11 of OU's drives:

3 plays, 0 yards, PUNT

1 play, 10 yards, TD

5 plays, 19 yards, PUNT

8 plays, 81 yards, TD

6 plays, 16 yards, PUNT

4 plays, 13 yards, PUNT

3 plays, 0 yards, PUNT

9 plays, 34 yards, INT

3 plays, 1 yard, PUNT

4 plays, 4 yards, missed FGA

11 plays, 34 yards, PUNT

5 plays, 17 yards, PUNT

Outside of the Roberts' touchdown, the Sooners gained 167 yards on 10 possessions. The second-half offense was even worse, as they scored zero points and only gained 110 yards of offense.

In addition to the struggles in the running game, Arnold also couldn't find a rhythm in the passing game. He completed just 19 of 32 passes (59%) for 174 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on an apparent miscommunication with Deion Burks.

To make matters worse, the Sooners converted just four of its 13 third-down attempts (31%). Combine that with last week, and the Sooners are now 5/25 on third downs through the first two weeks. That was a big reason why the Sooners held possession for just 24:51 of game time.

The Sooners were all the way in danger zone with under two minutes left the game. The offense was again forced to punt while clinging to a 14-12 lead, and the Cougars set up shop at the five-yard line, all three timeouts and a chance to win.

Halton had other plans. He blew up Houston's attempt to hand the ball off, and he tackled RB Stacey Sneed in the end zone for a safety that pushed OU's lead to four points while giving the ball back to the offense.

Those were the only points Oklahoma scored in the second half.

That was the play of the game for Halton, who was arguably the game's MVP with two tackles for loss, a sack and a safety.

That play was also the perfect summary for the Sooners' performance. With the offense struggling, the defense was forced to carry the load. Outside of Houston's 12-play, 63-yard drive to open the game — which ended in a field goal — the defense mostly limited the Cougars' offense. Only three of Houston's 12 drives ended in points, and the Sooners forced three three-and-outs.

The Cougars finished with just 318 yards of offense, including 58 rushing yards on 35 attempts (1.7 yards per carry). The Sooners also added to their takeaway total with Robert Spears-Jennings' interception early in the fourth quarter.

There were really only two blemishes. Houston's lone touchdown came on a 44-yard pass from Donovan Smith to Joseph Manjack, which appeared to be a bust in coverage. The other blemish was the time of possession — Houston had the ball for over 35 minutes.

But the defense made enough to plays to offset it, and proved to be the difference in a close victory and a gut-punch, upset loss.

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