DALLAS — Dillon Gabriel made the most of his lone Red River Rivalry chance Saturday.
The OU quarterback engineered a last-minute touchdown drive, pulling a rabbit out of his hat with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Nic Anderson with 15 seconds left to lift the Sooners to a 34-30 win over Texas in another classic Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl.
The Sooners blew a 10-point lead late, as Texas took the lead with a field goal with 1:17 left.
But with Gabriel under center, Anderson in the mix and Jeff Lebby’s tempo drilled into their heads, OU had plenty of time.
The Sooners quickly drove down into the red zone, then just had to finish it off.
On second-and-goal from the 3, Texas’ defensive front collapsed around Gabriel, who flung it to Anderson in the corner of the end zone to cap the stunning sequence.
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Gabriel wasn’t at his best through the air, as Texas made it tough for him to work on short and intermediate routes.
But he was excellent overall.
He threw for 285 yards and ran for a career-high 113 yards and a score.
Last season’s 49-0 loss to the Longhorns —with Gabriel sidelined with a concussion —seems a long ways away. So does last year’s 6-7 finish, as the Sooners (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) put themselves in prime position for not only a Big 12 Championship Game berth but also put themselves squarely in College Football Playoff contention.
Here are three more takeaways from the win:
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Goal-line stop boosts Sooners, at least briefly
Brent Venables rolled the dice with his belief in his defense.
It paid off —at least initially.
OU’s goal line stand, one long strides away from the end zone, was the biggest moment for the Sooners —before Gabriel’s last-second heroics.
For a moment, it seemed like Venables’ trust might be —slightly, at least —misplaced.
OU’s defense was knocked a bit on its heels early in the fourth quarter as Texas looked to tie it Saturday in what had already become a classic of a Red River Rivalry.
But after the Longhorns had first and goal from the 1, the Sooners turned first down into second and second into third and finally third into fourth with big-time stops of Texas workhorse Jonathon Brooks.
Then it was Steve Sarkisian’s turn to roll the dice, calling for a pass that ultimately went to Xavier Worthy.
Worthy scratched and clawed and did everything he could to twist and stretch into the end zone.
But Billy Bowman wouldn’t allow it.
Bowman wrested Worthy’s bottom to the ground, arms around Worthy’s neck, just before Worthy stretched the ball across to give the Sooners the ball back.
The stop preserved OU’s 27-20 lead, but it couldn’t be that easy.
OU drove into Texas territory but Zach Schmit’s field goal try was short, keeping the Longhorns alive.
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Sooners’ special teams keep Longhorns in it early
The first half was full of plenty of special-teams blunders for the Sooners, who had been strong on special teams coming into the game.
The mistakes helped the Longhorns keep the game tight despite Quinn Ewers’ two early interceptions.
First, Josh Plaster’s punt from the end zone was blocked by Kitan Crawford.
The kick went off Crawford’s forearm, bounced off the ground and directly into the arms of freshman Malik Muhammad for the touchdown to tie it nearly six minutes into the game.
OU tried some trickery on the ensuing kickoff, with Jalil Farooq pitching it to Jaquaize Pettaway on a reverse that initially brought the ball near midfield.
But after a review, Farooq was ruled to have thrown the ball forward, bringing the ball back to the 15.
Plaster had a 26-yard punt after the Sooners’ next drive, continuing his struggles.
Plaster nearly had another punt blocked in the first quarter, though Texas was called for running into the punter, keeping OU’s drive alive for the Sooners to kick a go-ahead field goal.
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Brent Venables wins clock management in both halves
It wasn’t just late where Brent Venables’ clock management paid off.
As Texas crept deep into Sooners territory in the final minutes of the second quarter, OU coach Brent Venables chose to call a pair of timeouts to give his offense time to work after the drive.
The decision paid off, as OU got the ball back with 1:53 left after the Longhorns kicked an extra point to tie it, 17-17.
Then Dillon Gabriel completed a 34-yard pass to Jalil Farooq to put the Sooners in field-goal position.
It could’ve been much better, as Gabriel threw to Tawee Walker inside the 5 with time running down. But Walker couldn’t haul it in and OU had to settle for a Zach Schmit 26-yard field goal to take a 20-17 lead into the break.
The drop might’ve been a break, though, as Walker looked to be tripping as the ball was thrown his way. Had Walker caught the pass and not made it into the end zone, the clock would’ve ran out.
Instead, the Sooners had two seconds for Schmit to kick the field goal.
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