The No. 7 Oklahoma football team was able to make just enough plays to hold off a late charge from Air Force on Saturday, coming away with another close win at home.
With the 27-24 win, the Sooners advanced to 3-0 on the season and extended their home winning streak to 32 games.
Although the game was close, the team did not panic, defensive coordinator Brent Venables said.
“The guys stuck in there together as a team when they needed to and complemented each other,” Venables said. “That’s the biggest thing, finding a way to win.”
The Sooners’ lone touchdown in the first half came courtesy of senior running back DeMarco Murray, who punched in a three-yard run in the first quarter. Murray gained 113 yards on 26 carries and scored two rushing touchdowns.
The OU defense seemed less formidable after halftime, leading to 21 Air Force points in the second half.
“We kept getting worked, and they kept executing better than we were,” coach Bob Stoops said. “Their execution in the second half was definitely better than ours on defense.”
The Sooners were out-gained by the Falcons’ offense 458 to 367, and also were behind in time of possession. However, Air Force wasn’t able to turn its yards into as many points as OU did.
As expected, a majority of the Falcons’ offense was rushing yards. Air Force gained 351 yards with 63 carries against OU, averaging 5.6 yards per carry.
Despite the high total of rushing yards, senior linebacker Travis Lewis said he wasn’t concerned about it going ahead with the season.
“It’s not like teams can watch this film and say ‘Oh, we’re going to put up 300 rushing yards on Oklahoma,’” Lewis said. “This is one team that a lot of players on our team have never seen this offense before, and we had one week to prepare.”
Air Force hung in with OU for a majority of the game, even tying it up as late as the third quarter when a 38-yard touchdown run by junior quarterback Tim Jefferson made it 10-10.
The Sooners’ offense seemed to pull it together immediately after that, though, scoring 17 consecutive points in the third quarter in response.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Landry Jones began the Sooners’ first drive of the third quarter with a 36-yard pass to junior wide receiver Ryan Broyles, followed by a 5-yard touchdown run by Murray to make it 17-10.
Jones finished the game with 254 yards on 26-42 passing and one touchdown. Broyles once again led the OU receivers with 116 yards on ten receptions.
Air Force went three-and-out on its next drive, and was forced to punt. OU drove down the field and junior kicker Jimmy Stevens converted a 41-yard field goal.
Stevens was kicking in place of sophomore Patrick O’Hara, who was out for the game with a muscle strain. He went 2-2 on the day and made all his extra points.
The Falcons took the ball down to the OU 35 yard line on the following drive before senior defensive end Jeremy Beal forced Jefferson to fumble. The fumble was recovered by sophomore strong safety Javon Harris.
OU then put together a 10-play, 76-yard drive and scored another touchdown off a 17-yard Jones pass to Murray, making the score 27-10.
Air Force rallied back in the fourth quarter, scoring two consecutive touchdowns to pull within three points of the Sooners with fewer than four minutes left in the game, 27-24.
After kicking off to OU, Air Force was unable to stop the Sooners’ offense and burned all three of its timeouts.
OU picked up a crucial first down with 2:35 left to play on a pass from Jones to freshman wide receiver Kenny Stills, and was able to run out the clock from there.
“We knew we were going to have to pass the ball on that 3rd down, since it was longer, and they had been stuffing us with the run,” Stills said. “I heard the play call go my way, and I just did what I was supposed to do. I read the defense, sat down in the opening and caught the ball.”
Stills finished the game with four catches for 47 yards.
Up next for the undefeated Sooners is the Cincinnati Bearcats on Sept. 25 in Cincinnati. It will be the first game of the season for OU outside of Norman. The game time is to be announced.