Sooners suffering from costly mistakes
Self-inflicted wounds have plagued OU throughout the season. After suffering an upset loss to Iowa State, the No. 12 Sooners desperately need to eliminate those miscues to get the season back on track.
NORMAN — Oklahoma needed a stop, and it needed points.
Tied with Iowa State late in the fourth quarter, the Sooners were on the cusp of checking off the first part of their to-do list when a yellow flag derailed that plan.
After trying to shake wide receiver Hakeem Butler from holding his jersey, freshman middle linebacker Kenneth Murray slapped Butler’s helmet three times.
That kind of sequence isn’t uncommon, but this time, the final retaliatory shove was caught by a nearby official. He didn’t hesitate to flag Murray.
With that, a thirdand-8 at Iowa State’s 27 turned into a firstand-10 near midfield, and eventually it led to Iowa State scoring the game-winning touchdown.
It was the kind of selfinflicted wound that’s plagued Oklahoma throughout the season and the kind that the No. 12 Sooners desperately need to eliminate to get the season back on track after the stunning loss.
“(Iowa State) made a couple contested plays,” coach Lincoln Riley said after his team’s 38-31 loss. “But the ones I’m more disappointed about are the ones where we weren’t there, the ones that we had the penalties on.”
The Sooners allowed the Cyclones to pick up five first downs on their penalties, including a personal foul committed by linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo on third-and-goal. Had Okoronkwo not been flagged for piling on, the Sooners likely would’ve forced Iowa State to kick a second-quarter field goal.
Instead, David Montgomery found the end zone on the next play.
“We had two critical, critical penalties that were drive- and gamechanging type penalties,” Riley said.
“You’re getting ready to be third-and-long in both situations and just giving them a free pass there was just… It was bad football.”
Penalties, particularly personal fouls, have been a problem for OU all season. The Sooners have been whistled for a personal foul or an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in every game except the win at Ohio State.
After Matt Romar was called for two personal fouls against UTEP, OU displayed more discipline. CeeDee Lamb’s controversial targeting foul was the only 15-yard penalty committed by the Sooners against Ohio State or Tulane.
Against Baylor, however, the Sooners veered off track and committed 10 penalties for 105 yards.
Parnell Motley was flagged for a late hit on Baylor punt-returner Tony Nicholson, tacking an additional 15 yards to Nicholson’s 42-yard return. The Bears scored a play later.
Then, defensive lineman Dillon Faamatau dove on top of a tackle made by Murray and Okoronkwo and drew a flag for a late hit. That mistake turned a third-and-10 into a first down at OU’s 16-yard line. The Bears ended up scoring a field goal on that drive.
Even quarterback Baker Mayfield picked up a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct in that game, though it wasn’t as costly as the others.
“We moved it well,” Riley said after the Baylor win. “But still way too many penalties.”
In every game except the Ohio State win, the Sooners have been penalized more yards than their opponents.
Entering Saturday’s game against Texas (2:30 p.m., ESPN), OU is averaging 57.4 penalty yards per game, five more than last season’s average of 52.2.
Meanwhile, the Longhorns are also struggling with penalties and are ninth in the Big 12 with 72.8 yards per game.
On a week when OU has plenty to fix before a potentially season-defining game, the first place to start might be cleaning up its self-inflicted wounds.