COLUMBIA, MO – Oklahoma has gotten really good at beating Oklahoma.
This time, the Sooners (5-5, 1-5 SEC) had Missouri backup quarterback Drew Pyne lead an eight-play, 75-yard drive in 57 seconds to tie Saturday’s game between the old Big 8 foes .
Dan, OU quarterback Jackson Arnold lost his second fumble of the night – a fatal blow.
Zion Young picked up the ball and fumbled 17 yards to place the ball Tigers in front 30-23and Missouri (7-2, 3-2) closed out the win from there.
“Heartbreaking loss. I feel so bad for our players,” the OU coach said Brent Venables said after the game. “… We definitely had our moments and ultimately had a great opportunity there. We have two minutes left and Missouri did a great job of executing… Our guys fought with everything they had. Wasn’t good enough. We have to do a better job helping them.”
The Sooners lost the turnover battle 4-1, with Missouri outscoring the visitors 21-7 on those takeaways.
INCREDIBLE
MISSOURI SCOOP N SCORE TO TAKE THE LEAD WITH 30 SECONDS LEFT!@MizzouFootball x @SECNetwork pic.twitter.com/N7iyuIrNi4
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) November 10, 2024
Arnold lost a few fumbles, safety Peyton Bowen muffed a punter and a wide receiver Deion Burks was stripped because all four miscues occurred in the Oklahoma half of the field.
“Turnover has always been a big problem,” says Venables. ‘They are big if you can force them into defense. They make sure you get beat when you go on the attack.”
Arnold actually placed the ball on the Faurot Field grass for the third time, as he just dropped the ball while scrambling on the first possession, although he was able to fall on that fumble.
The back-breaker came when the Sooners tried to march down the field and set up a kicker Zach Schmit up for a potential game-winner after the OU kicker scored a 56-yard field goal to end the first half.
“It’s a shame. I just tried to roll out, get out of my pocket and throw it away. I probably should have thrown it out a little sooner and just put a new piece in,” Arnold said. “…It sucks. That could happen at any time, and it happened at the worst possible time, but I just have to be better.
On the way to the decisive possession, interim player Joe Jon Finley said he had one goal in mind.
“We’re going to be aggressive. We wanted to go win,” Finley said. “I felt very confident… the last three to four weeks of practice, we went out on the field in practice (during the two-minute drill), and we fully expected to do that.
“It clearly didn’t work out. I just have to take care of the ball, across the board. Not just Jackson. But the entire football team… That starts with me running this offense. We have to take care of it.”
Turnovers were an issue for the second-year signal caller in his first season as OU’s starter.
His three turnover days against Tennessee in Week 4 landed him on the bench.
Arnold’s return to the lineup came next Michael Hawkins Jr. promised turnovers on each of the first three possessions against South Carolina, meaning there was no clear answer to correct the bench’s woes.
For Arnold, the answer to increasing sales – especially the clumsy jobs – can be found during the week.
“At the beginning of training we do a turnover circuit,” he said. “It’s running through the blasters or trying to get the ball out through other teammates and stuff like that. We continue to focus on that and emphasize that we must keep the ball in traffic with both hands. Little things like that can help us keep the ball better.”
Oklahoma shot itself in the foot again and again on Saturday night, doing its utmost to extend the program’s 25-year bowl streak.
The Sooners now head into a bye week with No. 11 Alabama on the other side, then OU closing out the year in Baton Rouge against No. 15 LSU.
Venables extended the streak in 2022, though he couldn’t avoid a losing season after the Sooners fell to Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl.
Now it will take even more unlikely circumstances for Oklahoma to get even six wins in Venables’ third year at the helm.
“(The goal) doesn’t change now,” Venables said. ‘That’s not really popular for anyone to hear. Get right back, keep your head down, eyes forward, get back to work, find a way to get win #6. “Take ownership and responsibility, everyone, coaches and players alike.”
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