Sooners Hang Onto Victory in Starkville

Starkville, Miss. - The Oklahoma Sooners first visit to Starksville in program history wasn’t pretty but resulted in handing the Mississippi State Bulldogs their third straight loss with a 23-15 Sooner victory inside Davis Wade Stadium Saturday afternoon. 

It was a dominate first half defensively as Oklahoma saw three players tally a sack while the Sooners held former offensive coordinator turned Bulldog head coach Jeff Lebby’s offense scoreless in the first half. MSU’s offense was limited to just five first downs in the first half and to 126 total yards offensively by a Sooners defense that kept the Bulldogs out of the offensive half of the field for all but 35% of MSU’s 26 plays. 

“Defense, man, I thought they just played their guts out,” Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables said. “Two great turnovers and then I think turnovers on downs. Those are like turnovers.” 

The Bulldogs were handicapped as starting quarterback Kamario Taylor was limited to just one quarter of action. Taylor finished 2-of-5 passing for 10 yards and three carries for -12 yards while being sacked three times before exiting due to injury. Taylor missed last week’s loss to LSU due to a turf toe injury and was spotted on the sideline in a walking boot. 

After the Sooners defense forced a three-and-out on the MSU opening possession and the Bulldogs punt went just 13 yards setting the Sooners up at the Mississippi State 44 yard line. Isaiah Sategna took an end-around for 12 yards for a Sooner first down followed by three carries by Lloyd Avant resulted in a fourth-and-two. Tate Sandell hit a 42 yard field goal, his first of three on the afternoon, to put the Sooner up 3-0. 

The Sooners closed out the first quarter with a ten play drive that moved 30 yards down field setting up the first 45 yard try as this one sailed above the right upright and was ruled no-good. 

The miss set the Bulldogs up on their own 27 yard line, as redshirt-freshman quarterback Parker Puckett entered the contest. The Madison, Miss. native’s first pass fell incomplete intended for former Sooner Zion Ragins but the backup signal caller moved the Bulldogs to the 50 yard line before Lebby elected to punt on fourth-and-one. OU punted to give MSU the ball at the 50 yard line and the Bulldogs moved down to the Sooners six yard line. On first and goal, Puckett took the shotgun snap and plunged forward behind right tackle for two yards before linebacker Owen Heinecke forced a fumble that was recovered by defensive end Taylor Wein. 

With the ball starting at their own four yard line, the Sooner offense progressed down the field with a pair of third down conversions. As OU crossed midfield to the MSU 44 yard line, John Mateer took a shotgun snap on third down and six and rushed down to the 39 yard line bring up a fourth-and-one. Mateer was called upon for the fourth down  conversion moving the Sooners to the Bulldogs 36 yard line with 49 seconds remaining. On first-and-ten, Mateer rolled to his left and on a leaping throw along the sideline found Sategna at the 22 yard line and the Sooners wide out bolted to the middle of the field and into the endzone to put OU up 10-0 before the half. 

The Sooner offense took off in the second half with a 47 yard run by Tory Blaylock, the longest Sooner run of the season, flipped the field on the first play of the third quarter. Three plays later from the Bulldog 32, Mateer signaled to his three receivers set to his right out of the shotgun and delivered laser through the air to tight end Rocky Beers to build a 17-0 advantage on the first drive of the second half. 

“Thought the critical moment in the game, right there before half from the 16-play, 90-some yard drive,” said Sooners head coach Brent Venables, “and then to open up the second half as well, another 75-yard drive.” 

On the Sooners next possession after a quick first down, Mateer found Beers on a short pass to the right. The transfer tight end scampered 21 yards before trying to hurdle a defender and having the ball dislodged by Bulldog safety Jardin Gilbert that was recovered by former Sooner Kendel Dolby. “Made it hard at times, didn’t have to be as hard, but make some of the mistakes that we made (and) we’re gonna be sitting there, right there at the end hoping to close them out,” Venables stated postgame. 

The Bulldogs turned the turnover into points with a play out of the Sooners playbook, to make the score 17-7, as Puckett threw a backward pass to Sam West who floated a pass over a leaping defender to find Camden Capehart in the back of the endzone. 

On the ensuing possession, Oklahoma used a 54 yard pass from Mateer to Sategna to flip the field to the Mississippi State 17 yard line. A pair of runs moved the Sooners to the 12 yard line setting up a third down and five but a pass breakup by Gilbert on a pass to Beers resulted in a Sandell 30 yard field goal, his second of the night, to give OU a 20-7 lead

The fourth quarter started poorly for the Sooner offense. On the second play of the period, Sandell missed a 45 yard field goal and on the next possession, a shortened drive thanks to a fourth down stop by the OU defense, Sandell missed his third field goal attempt of the evening this time from 41 yards. 

The Bulldog offense strung together a seven play drive, after the missed Sandell field goal, that moved the ball 39 yards before Peyton Bowen intercepted Puckett in the endzone and returned the ball to the Sooners 24 yard line. Bowen’s interception was his second of the season and his fourth of his collegiate career. 

Mateer found Sategna deep again, this time for 48 yards, on third down and six to flip the field to the Bulldog 24 yard line with 6:03 remaining in the fourth quarter. Mateer and Sategna connected eight times on 11 targets for a career high 164 yards for Sategna and one touchdown in the game. The offense stalled but Sandell nailed the 38 yard field goal down the middle to put Oklahoma up 23-7. 

Mississippi State wasn’t done as the Bulldogs’ Puckett found Sanfrisco Magee deep for a 42 yard touchdown and converted on the two point conversion to Magee bringing the Bulldogs within one score, 23-15, with 2:10 remaining. After a touchback on the kickoff, OU converted a pair of third downs, including a 13 yard pass to Rocky Beers with 1:11 remaining to allow the Sooners to kneel twice and conserve the victory. 

Sandell finished the evening 3-of-6 on field goals connecting from 42, 30, and 38 while missing on a pair of 45 yard attempts and a 41 yard try. Mateer completed 22 of his 29 pass attempts for a season-high 283 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Blaylock finished with a team-high 71 yards on the ground, a season-high for the Sooners, on 12 carries. 

The Sooners are back home for a Halloween, October 31, matinee hosting the South Carolina Gamecocks at 3:15 pm on the SEC Network.