Oklahoma
Oklahoma State football grades vs. Texas: Cowboys fail to slow down Quinn Ewers, Longhorns
ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas showed little mercy in trucking Oklahoma State 49-21 Saturday in the Big 12 Championship Game.
Let’s get to the grades.
Warning: They aren’t pretty.
More: Quinn Ewers sets Big 12 passing record & more key stats from Oklahoma State loss to Texas
Containing Texas QB Quinn Ewers: F
Three-touchdown days are good. A three-touchdown first quarter is absurd.
Absurdly good was Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers on Saturday. Ewers completed 11-of-11 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns in the first quarter.
Ewers stamped his name all over the Big 12 Championship Game record book. His 452 passing yards were the most ever in a Big 12 title game. His four touchdown passes tied a record. Ewers completed 76% (35-of-46) of his passes.
Texas had 662 yards.
More: Oklahoma State football vs. Texas recap: Longhorns rout Cowboys for Big 12 championship
OSU counters Texas’ all-white uniforms: A+
Texas wore its classic all-whites, the Longhorns’ best look.
OSU countered by going with all-black everything.
So while the stadium was split by two shades of orange, neither team went with orange as its dominant uniform color. It was a cool contrast to the monochrome crowd.
Credit to the fans by the way for setting a Big 12 Championship attendance record: 84,523.
More: Mussatto: How Oklahoma State QB Alan Bowman’s ‘whirlwind’ career has brought him back home
Ollie Gordon II, OSU run game: F
We all knew about Texas’ fearsome defensive line, but seeing it stifle Ollie Gordon II and OSU’s run game was something else.
Gordon, who appeared gimpy at multiple junctures, carried 13 times for 34 yards. He averaged a measly 2.6 yards per carry as OSU’s offensive line struggled to open holes against Texas’ front.
Factoring in lost yards due to sacks, OSU had just 31 rushing yards.
More: Oklahoma State football bowl possibilities range from New Year’s Six to mid-level games
Alan Bowman, OSU pass game: C+
Alan Bowman tested the Longhorns’ secondary with early deep balls to Brennan Presley, Rashod Owens and Jaden Bray.
OSU got a pass interference call out of one and Owens hauled in a 41-yard contested catch.
Bowman completed 22-of-38 (58%) passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns against one interception.
OSU’s lack of success in the run game made things harder on Bowman, but Bowman had success through the air, and his offensive line held up in pass block.
More: Oklahoma State football: What to know about 2023 OSU Cowboys schedule, roster & more
Limiting Texas’ big plays: D
The Longhorns had way too many chunk gains.
Texas had 14 completions of 15-plus yards and eight runs of 10-plus yards.
Chunk plays accounted for 478 of Texas’ 662 yards.
Texas averaged 7.6 yards per play.
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
Oklahoma
What will the weather be like on Christmas Day in OKC? See 2024 Christmas forecast
Watch mom’s happy tears when her son delivers a snowy Christmas surprise
The weather outside is frightful but the feeling’s so delightful when a son surprises his mom for the holidays.
USA Today
Oklahoma City won’t have a white Christmas in 2024, but we also won’t be breaking any high temperature records.
Here’s what you need to know about the Christmas forecast in OKC and across Oklahoma.
Oklahoma Christmas 2024 forecast
According to the National Weather Service, it will be cloudy but dry on Christmas Day in Oklahoma.
A chance of rain will increase in the late evening hours.
Here are the forecasted highs and lows across central, western and northern Oklahoma:
- Oklahoma City: Low of 44°F, high of 52°F
- Enid: Low of 36°F, high of 50°F
- Lawton: Low of 46°F, high of 57°F
- Woodward: Low of 30°F, high of 52°F
- Ada: Low of 46°F, high of 56°F
Oklahoma
Former Oklahoma State DC Bryan Nardo Expected to Join Charlotte Staff
Oklahoma State’s former defensive coordinator is wasting no time finding another gig.
On Monday, Doug Samuels of FootballScoop reported that Bryan Nardo is expected to join the defensive staff at Charlotte. One of the most recent teams to jump to the FBS level, Charlotte could soon be adding a coach with Big 12 experience.
Nardo spent the past two seasons in Stillwater as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator. While his first season wasn’t necessarily the most impressive, it seemed his adjustments and overall scheme were key in OSU’s ascension to a 10-win season and Big 12 Championship appearance.
However, everything fell apart for Nardo in year 2. With the Cowboys ranking among the bottom 10 in the FBS in most statistical categories, OSU’s defense was the main issue in the team’s winless Big 12 campaign.
However, not all of the blame for OSU’s three-win season can be placed on Nardo. OSU’s offense also struggled mightily throughout the season, but the injuries piling up for the OSU defense sealed Nardo’s fate.
With future NFL players Collin Oliver and Nick Martin not playing a snap after September, the Cowboys were without their anchors and other injuries piled up from there. With a myriad of backups and players not playing in their natural positions, Nardo had no true opportunities to run his desired scheme. Still, OSU’s horrendous rankings and results on the field were still too much to overlook as the team overhauled virtually its entire staff this offseason.
With Nardo heading east, the Cowboys hired Todd Grantham as his replacement shortly after the position opened. Nardo is also not the first former OSU defensive coordinator to head to Charlotte.
After being let go following the 2017 season, Glenn Spencer went to Charlotte and was its defensive coordinator for the 2018 season.
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Oklahoma
Navy Midshipmen Keys to Beating Oklahoma Sooners in Armed Forces Bowl
The Armed Forces Bowl is the Navy Midshipmen’s kind of bowl game. As they prepare to take on the Oklahoma Sooners, they are familiar with the surroundings at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.
Kickoff on Friday is at noon eastern on ESPN.
This is Navy’s (9-3) third appearance in the Armed Forces Bowl, as they beat Middle Tennessee in 2013 and then played a highly-dramatic affair with Louisiana Tech in 2016, which Navy lost 48-45.
At stake for the Midshipmen is their first 10-win season under second-year coach Brian Newberry and their sixth 10-win season in program history. Also with the win the Midshipmen can double their win total from a season ago in Newberry’s debut.
All in all, it would be the capper for a successful second year under their former defensive coordinator.
Oklahoma (6-6) is coming off a sluggish debut in the SEC, where at times the Sooners struggled to score points but scored a huge elite season win over Alabama, a victory that likely kept the Crimson Tide out of the College Football Playoff.
Third-year coach Brent Venables is also dealing with losing players to the transfer portal and two potential defensive stars who may not play in the game as they prepare for the NFL.
How does Navy win? Here are three keys to watch.
Wanna see a simple cause-and-effect relationship?
In Navy’s nine wins, the Midshipmen have outscored teams 104-7 in points off turnovers. The only team to score any points off a Navy turnover in those nine games? Incredibly, it was Bucknell in the season opener.
In the Midshipmen’s three losses, Navy has been outscored 48-0 in points off turnovers.
Navy needs to avoid turnovers, avoid giving up points when it turns the ball over. It also needs to force turnovers and score points off those turnovers.
Yes, that’s rather simple. But the Midshipmen are polar opposite teams in this category, which means that first turnover of the game, whoever commits it, could be telling.
It’s not as if Navy is going to become a different team than it was against Army West Point, and certainly quarterback Blake Hovarth’s ability to throw the ball as a differentiator. But, the Midshipmen just need to be who they are.
Navy is averaging 249.3 rushing yards per game, the seventh-best average in FBS and the program’s best since 2019.
Navy hasn’t played Oklahoma in decades comma but Army played the Sooners recently in Norman. Back in 2018, OU needed overtime to beat Army, 28-21. Oklahoma doesn’t see option teams at all during the season. That’s an edge for Navy.
Oklahoma has had some turnover at quarterback since the end of the regular season. Starter Jackson Arnold transferred to Auburn and another quarterback is in the portal.
The Sooners expect to start Michael Hawkins Jr. behind center, who actually began the season as the starting quarterback. So Navy’s defensive staff will need to break down some tape from earlier in the season.
He has 536 passing yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He’s a solid runner. But he was benched for fumbling the ball multiple times against South Carolina. Ball protection is key against Navy, which does a good job of creating turnovers. Pressure on Hawkins will be a difference-maker in the game.
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