Here are five key takeaways from OU’s 40-35 week 1 win over Tulane:
Credit to Tulane
For a team displaced by a devastating hurricane, who had to travel across the state of Alabama to practice, and who was forced to play a street game sooner than the number runner-up in the country at home, the Green Wave certainly swung.
Tulane’s defense forced a turn on play two when cornerback Jadon Canady played a rash pass from Spencer Rattler. The Green Wave offensive then went on a 55-yard, eight-game touchdown drive that lasted just over three minutes, and all of a sudden the Sooners were trailing in a game for the first time since October 2020. Tulane scored 14 points and added 147 yards in the first quarter alone.
And they didn’t give up after falling into a 34-14 hole at halftime. Tulane improved again in the second half, beating the Sooners 21-3 and making it a game. They even recovered an onside kick and wanted to take the lead in less than two minutes, but quarterback Michael Pratt came on with a frantic 4.
Rattler inconsistent, often imprecise
Rattler finished day 30-39 for over 300 yards, but no one will be impressed with his week 1 performance.
Rattler wavered between looking himself at the end of 2020 and thoroughly dubbing his counterpart in Michael Pratt. He threw two picks, one bad throw and one bad decision, and had a third interception that was negated by an extremely questionable defensive pass interference call. He often placed passports either behind or above the heads of his recipients.
After his first interception, he went 20-25 with a passing TD and a rushing TD to end the first half. But he only threw 93 yards in the second half, and the offense only scored three points. Put simply, he looked a long way from a Heisman candidate in his first game of 2021.
Defense allows points, but makes moves
Alex Grinch’s defense was popped in the mouth in the first quarter, no question about it. But tied to the second at 14, that’s how the next 15 minutes went for the Tulane offensive: punt, fumble, fumble, punt, fumble. This included a stretch where the OU defense restored fumbles on the first game of two consecutive Tulane drives. In this phase, the Sooners went into halftime with a 23-0 run and took the lead with three points.
It also has great games from its great players. Nik Bonitto made a nice play to rescue a fake Tulane snapshot, and shortly thereafter Isaiah Thomas wiped the ball out of the hands of a crawling Michael Pratt to force another fumble.
They were often put in a bad field position in the second half, which was a major factor in helping the Green Wave climb back into the game. But there were clear flashes of close-out, playmaker defense.
Kennedy Brooks is mean
Running back Kennedy Brooks stormed the ball 14 times for 87 yards (6.2 yards per carry) and a touchdown, and while that looks like a decent day, that doesn’t show how adamant he looked as he battled Tulane defenders for every extra Yard that he could muster.
He converted to the 4th downruns twice in the long stretch of the Sooners’ second quarter. On one of them, he blurted out for a huge 32 yard win.
If Brooks is a legitimate ground threat, add another weapon to the powerful Sooners attack. One that might give them the opportunity to hold the lead better than they do today.
Gabe Brkic is a weapon
In three quarters, senior kicker Gabe Brkic had pretty much the best game an OU kicker had ever had.
To date, no Sooner has scored more than a field goal of at least 50 yards in a game. @GabeBrkic did three today – 51, 56, and 55. (He also has a 26 yard mark.)
– Mike Houck (@mhouckOU) September 4, 2021
Brkic then missed a shorty, a 31-yarder, in the fourth quarter that ran well to the left and allowed Tulane to hang around for a while. Perhaps that can simply be attributed to the messy football black hole that the Sooners got dragged into in the fourth quarter.
He looked rock solid as he scored three straight field goals from over 50 yards, all of which would have been good from a distance. In the college kicker world, Brkic, as fit as he was in the first three quarters, would be a much appreciated safety blanket for this offense.
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