Every play matters in a college football game but some do a better job of explaining than others. Here are the five plays that told the story of Oklahoma’s 76-0 victory vs. Western Carolina.
OU 76, Western Carolina 0
Play No. 1: Gray’s first OU touchdown
Pick up the action with OU already up 10-0 midway through the first quarter. Really? Just needed to find a way to get running back Eric Gray into this mix.
The vision, the cuts, it was all there again. Nothing like the Gray that looked tentative and unsure of himself vs. Tulane.
Getting him into the end zone didn’t feature Gray breaking ankles, but it was a nice play design on a 20-yard reception from Spencer Rattler to make it 17-0.
Gray had just rushed for 15 yards on the previous play, and he was in a groove vs. WCU. He finished with 74 yards on nine carries, and his touchdown came on Wanya Morris’ first drive as a Sooner offensive tackle.
Play No. 2: Turnover on ‘Downs’
It’s now 24-0 for the Sooners in the first minute of the second quarter. The Catamounts know they’re not going to win the game by punting and take a shot on a fourth-and-two from their own 33 yard line.
OU freshman defensive lineman Ethan Downs absolutely blows up the play, with a two-yard tackle for loss. The play is great, celebration might even be better. You can just see how much that moment meant for Downs, who dreamed of being a Sooner his whole life.
What you love is how decisive he was. No thinking about it. Go in, make your call and go for it. Downs did just that.
Play No. 3: Rattler keeps his word
This was a strong bounce-back outing from Rattler, just in terms of mechanics and doing the little things. Part of that also was a promise he made to wide receiver Jadon Haselwood.
Haselwood did OK vs. Tulane, but Rattler told him that they were going to find the end zone vs. WCU, and they did it twice.
We’re looking at the second here, as OU is up 38-0 at this point with less than five minutes left in the first half.
Rattler had already connected on one back-shoulder touchdown pass to Mario Williams on the drive before, and he was going to it again with Haselwood.
Except it wasn’t the best pass, and Haselwood made a competitive grab to earn his first two-touchdown performance as a Sooner.
“I told him before the game that I was going to get him in the end zone a couple of times, and that's what we did,” Rattler said. “He came off the ball aggressive tonight. Had a bunch of one-on-ones that he won. He sort of bailed me out on that one throw. It was back-shoulder, but it wasn't as back-shoulder as it could be. He went up there and grabbed it from the guy.”
Rattler threw for five touchdowns in the first half and cheered from the sidelines the rest of the night.
Play No. 4: Williams airs it out
OU scored four touchdowns in the second half, and yet somehow freshman quarterback Caleb Williams didn’t get any of them.
Two rushing scores apiece for Jaden Knowles and Todd Hudson, but that doesn’t mean Williams didn’t have a couple of bright moments.
His second play from scrimmage was a 59-yard run, but we’re going to look at the final play of the third quarter.
Williams threw a perfect pass to Knowles down the sideline for a 57-yard gain to put OU in position to score again with a 62-0 lead to start the fourth quarter.
Play No. 5: Shutout preserved
It’s now 69-0 midway through the fourth quarter, but the shutout is still lingering. WCU has now advanced to its best field position of the night, down to the OU 29 yard line.
A run by Carlos Davis brings them into the red zone, but the effort of Downs and Jordan Mukes create a forced fumble that is recovered by Shane Whitter.
No mop-up touchdown in this one.
“We threatened the guys in the second half and told them we were going to run them on Monday if they scored a touchdown,” defensive coordinator Alex Grinch said. “That was motivation for those older guys to help those younger guys out. I don’t if they were thrilled with the takeaways as much as the drive stopped. I thought the energy level was good with some of the older guys leading the younger guys.”
