Advertisement
football Edit

Tale of the Tape: TCU

Every play matters in a college football game but some do a better job of telling the story of a game than others. Here are the five that explain Oklahoma’s 28-24 win vs. TCU.

OU 28, TCU 24

Play No. 1: Redmond sets tone

After seemingly going MIA the last month, Jalen Redmond has returned with a vengeance the last couple of games. Getting the start vs. TCU, Redmond showed why immediately in the initial two drives.

He tipped a third down pass on the first drive, and then had a sack on third down for the second drive as the OU defense came out on fire to begin the game.

“He had to work through it from a confidence standpoint, understanding what Saturdays are going to look like,” defensive coordinator Alex Grinch said. “Feel like and what preparation takes place and is necessary so that you can walk into the stadium with confidence, understanding calls and understanding from an effort standpoint. Thrilled for him, thrilled for us and he's going to be a heck of a football player.”

OU’s pass defense was exceptional all night. In 21 attempts, Max Duggan only accounted for 65 yards, a little more than three yards per attempt.

Advertisement

Play No. 2: Willis’ spectacular effort

Sophomore Brayden Willis went nearly two seasons without a receiving touchdown to now having one in back-to-back games.

Facing a first-and-10 at the TCU 20 yard line and a 7-0 lead, OU was hungry for more. Jalen Hurts had a lot of options on this throw and decided to go with Willis.

Not only did Willis make a great grab, but the effort after the catch to lay out his body without hitting the ground and touch the pylon are the types of plays that win games in November.

It was Willis’ only catch, but it was a big one.

Play No. 3: Brooks the workhorse

Stop if you’ve heard this before. OU gets out to a big lead (Kansas State, Iowa State) only to seemingly go to sleep on offense. Huh.

OU was up 21-0, but the score is now 21-17 with 10:15 left in the third quarter. Maybe OU got too cute at times, so it was back to basics and back to the running game.

That meant some Hurts, but a whole lot of Kennedy Brooks. He got the drive rolling right off the bat with his game-high 31-yard run to calm the fears of the OU crowd.

Brooks rushed for 149 yards and did an outstanding job as a lead blocker for Hurts when asked to do so. OU would score to make it 28-17 with 7:11 left in the third quarter. Remarkably, the Sooners would never score again.

Play No. 4: Hurts’ uh oh moment

Usually love to spotlight OU plays, but you cannot talk about this game without mentioning the 98-yard pick-six thrown by Hurts early in the fourth quarter.

This whole set of plays was weird. With OU in the red zone, Hurts’ first down attempt was tipped and should have been picked off.

A second down run by Brooks had head coach Lincoln Riley pleading for a targeting hit that was never called. That led to a third-and-five, and a slant route to CeeDee Lamb that saw Lamb stumble just a bit in his break, allowing Vernon Scott to step in and catch it and take a whole long way.

“I think 26 played the route good,” Hurts said. “Kind of anticipated the route. CeeDee, I think, may have slipped. We'll see it on film. Maybe I threw a bad ball. But regardless it was what it was and how about how we responded to that. Especially defensively. Defense, they showed up and made things happen.”

Play No. 5: Bookie puts game on ice

Parnell Motley, Nik Bonitto and now Brendan Radley-Hiles as the defensive hero. Bookie, playing with a heavy heart with his cousin’s funeral the same day in California, came through with another magical moment.

Now 28-24 and TCU facing a fourth-and-six with under two minutes left, Radley-Hiles made a diving interception that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

TCU had two drives to attempt to take the lead. One was a three-and-out. The other was the Radley-Hiles pick as the defense stood tall when it mattered most in the fourth quarter.

Advertisement