Telling the story: OU 49, Nebraska 14
Every play matters in a college football game but some do a better job of explaining the outcome than others. Here are the five plays that told the story of Oklahoma’s 49-14 destruction of Nebraska.
OU 49, Nebraska 14
Play No. 1: Gabriel shows his wheels
You look at the outcome, but OU fans remember it was 7-0 Nebraska, and Memorial Stadium was electric in Lincoln.
One play, took one play. With OU facing a third-and-seven at its 39 yard line, it was time to unleash the quarterback run game.
A designed run for Dillon Gabriel picked up the first down and more and more. Out of bounds? Nope, kept going. Didn’t stop until he went a career-long 61 yards and quieted the Nebraska faithful.
“It was huge. What sweet feet he had, too,” head coach Brent Venables said. “Who would have thought? Anytime the quarterback has a threat to run the football, t's hard. It puts stress on a defense and obviously we're trying to keep (Dillon) clean as much as we can. But he shows you what he can do.”
Gabriel also threw for two touchdowns.
Play No. 2: White turns it around
OK, the offense was starting to roll, but Casey Thompson was having his way early until DaShaun White changed the tone of the game with one hit.
Still tied 7-7, Nebraska had second-and-eight from its 45 yard line when White came through and hammered Thompson for the first sack of the game.
“I think we took a step forward,” defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. “They also proved that, in front of an energetic crowd and a great rivalry in college football, they can respond and take a punch. That's what they did on the first drive. They took a punch in the mouth, and they came out swinging and got it back.”
OU finished with four sacks, nine tackles for loss and NU’s offense was never the same.
Play No. 3: Downs leaves a mark
It’s starting to feel good for OU. It’s now 21-7 in the first minute of the second quarter, but you’re still waiting for Thompson to get rolling again.
Ethan Downs says no, that’s not going to happen. He absolutely blows up a little flip pass to Trey Palmer for a six-yard loss and ends it with a violent throw down to the turf.
Downs finished with three tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack.
And now the fun begins.
Play No. 4: Willis goes old school
Get in your bag, Mr. Lebby.
The very next drive after Downs blew everything up, OU was in firm control and ready to pounce and separate.
It’s first-and-10 at the Nebraska 24 yard line, and yep, here it is. Gabriel backwards pass to Brayden Willis, who finds Marcus Major wide open for the touchdown.
“It felt great. I knew it was money,” Willis said. “I had trust in my guy, man. We did it in practice. It was caught every time — except for one time (but) we're not going to talk about that. But I had full trust in him.”
Major also scored a rushing touchdown for the third straight game.
Play No. 5: Wease makes it all the way back
Let’s end with one of those feel-good moments featuring wide receiver Theo Wease.
He had made a few plays in the first couple of games, but his first touchdown since 2020 was a special one.
A great throw by Gabriel, an incredibly competitive catch by Wease, and it’s already 49-7 for OU just six minutes into the third quarter.
“When you do the right things day in and day out, you're a really good teammate, you work really hard and you respect the game, good things are going to happen,” Lebby said. “He made plays today. I'm super proud of him and excited for him. I loved that he was able to come up here and have success today.”
A toss-up between Wease and Jalil Farooq, who caught his first touchdown ever at OU. But when you think about Wease has battled through with the foot injuries and fighting back, he gets the edge this week.
