Now the real work begins for Oklahoma.

Exactly half of OU’s 2024 season is behind us — six games, one open date — and now the Sooners (4-2 overall, 1-2 SEC) get to see what they’re made of.

Saturday’s 34-3 loss to rival Texas was another setback for Brent Venables — and not just in the loss column. It was a reality check, a real indicator that no, Oklahoma is not SEC-ready, and has not taken the necessary steps in the first two years under Venables to get there. 

Just as bad, it must have felt like a crime scene when the Sooners got back to Norman, with yellow police tape cordoning off the Switzer Center after a break-in. The only thing stolen was the Golden Hat Trophy — and at this rate, who knows how long the Longhorns are going to keep it?

Some advice for the pragmatic and common-sensical citizens of Sooner Nation: don’t read the comments section. Whether on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or any other social media platform, there are furious calls for jobs — anyone’s job, really, from Venables to athletic director Joe Castiglione to certainly offensive coordinator Seth Littrell. Venables may need to examine a few things and reassess — again — how the Sooners’ operation can be optimized. But nobody’s getting fired.

Not during the season, anyway.

Now out of both college football polls for just the second time in 10 years, Oklahoma needs to do much better across the board over the next seven weeks. That starts with this week’s home game against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Here’s the Sooners On SI video review of the Texas game.

OU comes out in a three-man front with three safeties 12-14 yards deep. With good coverage downfield, Quinn Ewers has nowhere to go with the ball on the first snap, and Sammy Omosigho pressures him to step up, where Ethan Downs taps him down for yet another Red River Rivalry sack. The Sooners’ run fits are flawless on the first running play as Jaydon Blue goes down for no gain. On third down, P.J. Adebawore puts heat on Ewers again from the right edge, and Ewers steps up and badly overthrows his receiver across the middle, giving Billy Bowman an interception on the opening possession at the Texas 45. Ewers has now had two straight bad starts against the Sooners.

Oklahoma immediately does something we haven’t seen much of from the OU offense: Brenen Thompson motions from left to right in front of Hawkins, who takes the snap, fakes a handoff to Jovantae Barnes, who had jab-stepped to the right and came back with a counter to the left. Hawkins then zips a quick throw to Thompson uncovered in the right flat for 12 yards and a first down. Another new play on the second snap, with four receivers lined up to the left, J.J. Hester motioning in front of Hawkins and then Hawkins faking a handoff left to Barnes and countering back with a keeper to the right. The blocking is blown up by the Texas front and it nets zero yards as Hawkins is swarmed and slammed down, but it’s the kind of misdirection play that the OU offense has been missing. On second-and-10 from the 33, Hawkins had Hester open down the right sideline for just a moment, but his throw sails too far as pressure again comes hard off the right side and into Hawkins’ face. On third down, immediate signs that this isn’t going to be a good day for the offense: Barnes motions from his wide right split into an empty backfield as Hawkins starts to call out the signals. The play clock is winding down, and now, with Barnes to his right to help protect him, Hawkins communicates with the offensive line about what he’s seeing from the Texas front. Meanwhile, the play clock is about to expire, forcing OU to burn a timeout with 12:32 on the game clock. The Sooners come out of the timeout in a brand new formation for 2024, with Hawkins in the middle of a diamond backfield (Bauer Sharp to the right, Gavin Sawchuk behind him and Jaquaize Pettaway to the left. Pettaway and Sharp motion out to receiver, then Hester comes in motion behind the snap as Hawkins rolls right and fakes a counter handoff to Sawchuk. Hawkins scoots quickly to his left and cuts it up through some Texas tacklers for 6 yards. That gain gives Venables pause — too much pause, actually. With 28 seconds on the play clock, the field goal team begins to head out onto the field. But their pace is much too slow as most players are just jogging. As kicker Tyler Keltner is standing behind the formation, holder Josh Plaster takes his place and goes to a knee with 14 seconds on the clock. Keltner then begins marking off his steps as the play clock hits 10. Now Plaster is waving his right arm wildly, telling everyone to hurry up. The line is set and Plaster is ready as he looks at Keltner, but Keltner is still going through his pre-kick routine. The snap comes with 1 second on the clock, and Keltner doesn’t look quite ready. The snap is clean and the hold is good, but Keltner — who didn’t miss in pregame warmups and belted several from beyond 50 yards — pushes it to the right. It’s a completely deflating moment as the immediate defensive stop and turnover produce zero points.

Texas opened as a 14-point favorite, and the line moved to 17 on Saturday morning. So now it’s expected the Longhorns will get things rolling, right? The OU defense has other ideas. This time Oklahoma comes out in a four-man front with R Mason Thomas in a stand-up position. Gracen Halton provides immediate pressure up the middle. Ewers checks down wide to the right to a tight end for a 3-yard gain. In the same four-man front on second down, Dasan McCullough walks up  and Blue plows into the middle of the defense for 4 yards. Against a three-man front on third-and-3, Ewers picks Isaiah Bond out of a trips formation deep over the middle and badly under throws his wide open receiver — another Texas three-and-out.

Peyton Bowen returns the punt 5 yards and gets another 15 on Jelani McDonald’s facemask penalty — another short field for the Sooners, this time setting up at the OU 49. OU opens with two split backs behind Hawkins in the shotgun — it almost looks like the old wishbone. Sawchuk motions to the left behind the formation, then at the snap counters back to his right and takes the handoff up the middle from Hawkins for 3 yards as OU pulls Sharp and right guard Febechi Nwaiwu on a trap block. Same formation on second down but with no motion. This time Hawkins hands to Barnes, who follows Sawchuk’s lead block off the edge behind Jake Roberts for a tough 8-yard run and an impressive first down. That was another new play. On first down, another diamond formation motions to split-gun with Roberts off the left wing. Hawkins drops to pass and the pocket is clean as Texas rushes only four. Hawkins pumps a couple times, steps up and then his mechanics break down as he coils to throw. His back foot comes forward as his arm does, his balance is off and the throw to Thompson wide to the left is nowhere near catchable. On second-and-10, Barnes motions out of another split-gun backfield at the snap. It’s a screen to Sawchuk, who steps up to block and then clears the defense for his release, but Texas has sent a blitz off the left edge right into Sawchuk’s path. Safety Michael Taaffe is immediately in Hawkins’ face as Hawkins’ pump fakes to the left and then turns to find Sawchuk. Taaffe smothers Hawkins for a 13-yard loss and now it’s third-and-23. In a four-receiver set, Hawkins dumps a quick screen to Thompson, but he’s brought down for no gain by Anthony Hill. Oklahoma started the drive with a 15-yard Texas penalty and picked up a first down but still lost yards on the drive as Robert Spears-Jennings and Lewis Carter commit back-to-back false start penalties in punt formation, pushing the ball back to the 33. Luke Elzinga finally gets to kick and on fourth-and-33, he hammers one for 51 yards.

Surely this is where Texas takes command, right? Wrong again. Deployed in a 3-3-5 defense, Danny Stutsman knifes through the offensive line untouched and brings down Blue for a loss of 3. OU is back in the 4-2-5 on second down, and Caiden Woullard shoves his blocker back collapses the pocket on Ewers, who dumps it down to safety valve Tre Wisner for a gain of 5. On third and 8, we see more fanatical defense by Oklahoma, who rushes three down linemen and McCullough off the left edge. Ewers slides away from pressure to his left, then takes off — but he’s quickly chased down by Halton. As Ewers cuts up inside a big hit from Bowman, Halton falls on him for a gain of 3. Ewers actually fumbled the ball before he hit the ground, but it one-hopped directly into his hands as he landed. Clearly the Oklahoma offense has its issues, but early on, this game looks like one of those shockers that could turn into an OU upset because of the OU defense. Through three series, Texas has run nine plays and has gained 8 yards, with two punts, one turnover and zero first downs.

OU starts the next drive in another new formation: Two wides, two wings and Barnes directly behind Hawkins in the pistol. It doesn’t look like this one has been scripted — or even practiced much — as Sharp motions to the right and Hawkins takes a high snap, spins to half-heartedly fake a handoff to Barnes (who’s already departed the backfield) and then starts freestyling behind Barnes, a la Johnny Manziel or Lamar Jackson. It’s a 3-yard loss and OU is behind the chains again. On second down, Hawkins rolls right and quickly zips a short throw to Zion Kearney on a curl, and Kearney turns it up for a gain of 15. Things get curious again as OU — clearly struggling to possess the football, clearly in a talent deficit to the Longhorns — turn up the tempo. Hawkins takes the next step with 27 seconds left on the play clock, and it’s a rudimentary Hawkins keeper wide right into the boundary for a meager gain of 3. Out of trips left, Hawkins hands to Barnes on an inside zone play, and Barnes makes a defender miss and picks up six tough yards right up the middle. Now it’s third-and-1, and Barnes is greeted in the backfield by two Texas tacklers, but he gets low and pushes forward for 3 yards and a first down. Hawkins drops to pass and looks to throw deep, but his receiver is covered and he quickly checks down to Sharp for a gain of 8. Again in the pistol, Hawkins starts to the right with Sawchuk on a speed option. It looks like the pitch is wide open for a potential nice gain, but Hawkins keeps, then stutter-stops and restarts, then squeezes toward the pylon for a 6-yard run. Sawchuk picks up 6 on an outside zone sweep to the right, but then on second-and-4, Colin Simmons swipes past a pulling block from Jacob Sexton and crushes Barnes for a 2-yard loss. It’s another formation OU hasn’t run much of, with Sexton pulling and two other blockers, Roberts and Sharp, pulling across behind him. But the secondary blockers never reach their man as Barnes is dropped for a loss. On third-and-6, with three receivers in the route, Hawkins can’t find anything quick and is forced to step up. He’s hit by Hill, but is able to throw it away. That preserves enough field position for Keltner to come on for a 42-yard field goal. This time the play clock is at 5 when Plaster gets the snap, and Keltner’s in a more comfortable place as he bangs it right down the middle. The Sooners went just 38 yards but got off 11 plays to get on the scoreboard first. OU has outgained Texas 54-13, has six first downs to UT’s zero, and has had the ball for 9:53 on the clock, and it’s the first time Texas has trailed all year. The Sooners have run 14 plays in Texas territory — and won’t run another one all day until late in the fourth quarter. That’s pretty much where the Sooners’ offensive highlights end.

After Ewers gets it to Bond for first down on the final play of the first quarter, the Longhorns open the second quarter with second-and-5. Out of a four-man front, Halton immediately splits the tackle-guard gap again and nearly wraps up Ewers for a sack, but Ewers throws it away. On third down, Venables and Zac Alley rush five, including two linebackers from the left, but they can’t get home. Ewers escapes the pocket, rolls to his right and floats a pass to to DeAndre Moore on the sideline for a 26-yard gain and Texas’ initial first down. Who knows what one more three-and-out might have done for Oklahoma, but instead, it’s the big play Texas has been needing. Replays can’t confirm or overturn the call on the field that Moore got his left foot inbounds, but he got behind Kani Walker and the Horns have new life. Even if Moore would have been out of bounds, however, Dez Malone was called for holding, which would have given Texas its first first down anyway. On the Longhorns’ first snap in OU territory, from the OU 44, Wisner takes back-to-back carries for 4 (he slipped a tackle from Kip Lewis) and 6 yards as Texas picks up another first down. Ewers checks down to Wisner but it looks like Walker will drop him for a loss. Wisner shakes Walker and then jukes Stutsman to turn a negative into a positive 2-yard run. On second-and-8, OU brings pressure but Ewers slips a quick throw to tight end Gunnar Helm. Lewis Carter draws a bead on Helm for what should be about a 4-yard gain, but he takes a bad angle and Helm dips his shoulder to avoid the tackle as Carter flies out of bounds. Helm turns it into a 21-yard gain and tries to hurdle Walker to the OU 11-yard line. On first and 10, Blue gets stopped for no gain by Jayden Jackson, but he got away from what could have been a 3-yard loss by McCullough. On second-and-10, Texas may have confused the OU defense with three running backs, and Ewers flips a quick throw to the left to Blue, who escapes two more tackles from Carter and Eli Bowen and gains 4 yards. It’s third-and-6 from the 7, and the OU defense appears disheveled. Steve Sarkisian calls a perfect play against this defense, flowing Ewers and the blockers to the right and stopping for a throwback toss to Helm on the left side. Helm stepped inside as he was pass-blocking Thomas, but he let Thomas go as Ewers wheeled to throw. Ewers floated a perfect throw over Thomas, and Helm catches the ball, cuts inside a block on the edge, breaks through a tackle from Jackson and leaps across the goal line. It’s a backbreaking moment for the Sooners, who had played so brilliantly on defense for a quarter but missed seven tackles on that drive.

Sam Franklin’s 24-yard kickoff sets up the offense, but things immediately go backward as Hawkins takes a shotgun snap, drops to pass and can’t find anyone open. His scramble ends up as a 2-yard loss, and after a Texas timeout saves Michael Tarquin from a false start penalty, Hawkins takes another shotgun snap, rolls right, pump fakes and keeps for 4 yards. After so much formation variety and play diversity in the first quarter, Littrell’s first three formations of the second quarter all come from the same basic setup: 11 personnel, receivers split 1 x 2 or 2 x 1. On third-and-8, this time out of a 3 x 1 set (Sharp is split wide right), Hawkins spins out of pressure as both offensive tackles fail to hold the edge, rolls to his left and tries to fit a pass into Sharp on a shallow cross, but he’s lucky that Gavin Holmes doesn’t pick it off and run it back for a touchdown. Holmes’ easy PBU, however, is negated as Texas commits two penalties on defense — holding is declined, a late-hit on Hawkins is accepted for an OU first down. OU now has it at their own 45, and Hawkins deploys another 2 x 1 set — this time with both twins extra wide outside the numbers to the wide side of the field. Hawkins fakes a handoff to Barnes on a counter, but keeps, rolls left and drops a short throw to Hester, who had come in motion under the play fake. Texas reads it perfectly, however, as Jaylon Guilbeau submarines Hester, who somersaults for a gain of 4. On second-and-6, Hawkins rolls right toward three wideouts and his back to the wide side, but he can’t find anyone and throws it away. On third-and-6, Hawkins again drops to pass, but he doesn’t see Sawchuk slip down the left sideline wide open on a wheel route. Instead, he’s locked into the trips formation to the right, and when nobody gets open immediately, the pocket closes and Hawkins is sacked by Barryn Sorrell. Elzinga’s punt goes only 33 yards this time, and Silas Bolden catches it in traffic and runs it back 10 yards to set Texas up at the 32.

Stutsman and Halton stretch out Blue’s toss sweep to the right and take him down for no gain on first down. Ewers throws a wide receiver screen to Blue on the left side, but he’s dropped by Peyton Bowen for a gain of 3. OU brings seven defenders to the line on third down, but Ewers gets nervous as the Sooners only rush four and leaves a clean pocket. His throw to Bond is too high and forces another three-and-out.

Bowen catches the punt, makes a tackler miss and picks up 14 yards. Kirk Herbstreit notes how much Hawkins has struggled to get comfortable and asks if the Sooners might start to consider going back to Jackson Arnold — a question to which Venables explicitly declares “No” in the postgame press conference. A better question to being this possession would be why is Heath Ozaeta in at left guard and Tarquin out at left tackle (Sexton is now playing LT). The drive starts well enough for Hawkins, though, as OU comes out in a shotgun-T backfield and Barnes takes the handoff and follows Sawchuk for a pickup of 7 yards. A false start by Sharp makes it second-and-8, and out of the split-gun, Hawkins fakes a handoff to Barnes and keeps on a QB counter to the right behind a good block from Kearney that gains 8 yards and another first down. Out of the same formation following the first down, Littrell goes tempo again, and this time Barnes is blown up for a 4-yard loss by Liona Lefau. Sawchuk didn’t read the pressure coming from the edge and was supposed to block Lefau, but instead took a wide path toward the sideline. Also, Roberts could have collapsed his block a lot earlier and maybe disrupted the defender’s path to Barnes, but he hesitates and looks for an inside defender instead. Roberts quickly atones on second-and-14, however, coming off inside twins to the left and breaking across the field. Hawkins confidently sets up and decisively delivers a perfect strike through a tight window and into Roberts’ chest for a 12-yard gain. Derrick Williams’ immediate tackle keeps OU short of a first down. Then on third-and-2, again out of the split-gun, Barnes takes the handoff to the left, avoids a body and cuts upfield, only to slip and is gang-tackled for a 1-yard loss. Venables briefly thinks about going for it on fourth-and-3 from the OU 46 — in review, that might have been a better decision — but instead calls Elzinga to punt.

Here it comes. Wisner gains 5 yards as he easily reaches the soft left edge of OU’s 3-3-5 alignment. On second down, Eli Bowen boldly comes up to drop Moore for a 1-yard loss in a one-on-one situation — impressive work for a true freshman. But on third-and-6 from the 20, the game inextricably swings toward Texas. Trace Ford sneaks up to blitz, and Ewers and Ryan Wingo see a free release behind Ford. Ewers throws a quick slant to Wingo at the 24, and Wingo catches the ball in stride, uncontested, for a first down. He then breaks through a diving tackle from cornerback Makari Vickers, sprints through arm tackles from Spears-Jennings and Eli Bowen and races downfield for a 44-yard gain. Now running tempo and seeing OU lay an extra safety back a few steps to help fortify the pass defense, Wisner gets the handoff to the left, again finds the soft edge against the 3-man front, cuts inside a rush from McCullough, then busts it up the left sideline. Wisner jukes Bowman to the ground and cuts behind a blind pursuit from Woodi Washington toward the end zone. Washington catches up to Wisner just as Spears-Jennings arrives from the inside, and Spears-Jennings rips the football out of Wisner’s hand at the 5-yard line. The ball shoots into the end zone and bounces on the orange grass for a count and even looks like it might be headed out of bounds for what would be an OU touchback. Stutsman had been pursuing the play but he slows up right as Spears-Jennings makes the tackle. Stutsman then sees Bolden — who had been throwing a block in the backfield to spring Wisner — sprinting downfield full speed, but he’s powerless to react as Bolden rushes past him and pounces on the football a split second ahead of Stutsman and before it trickles out of bounds, giving Texas a touchdown and a 14-3 lead with 2:21 to play in the half.

More immediate troubles await the Oklahoma offense. With Ozaeta still at guard and Sexton at tackle, Hawkins cuts loose on a QB draw for 10 yards. After the 2-minute timeout, freshman running back Taylor Tatum gets his first snaps since suffering a concussion against Tennessee. Tatum flanks left to block an edge rusher, but he takes a bad angle and the pressure forces Hawkins to evacuate the pocket up the middle. Hill wraps up Hawkins from behind and rips out the football, and it’s a fumble and Texas football.

Texas takes over at the OU 43 with 1:51 to play and OU is not ready to play after the sudden change. The Sooners again go with three safeties as Spears-Jennings runs onto the field late. Omosigho also seems out of position at the snap as Wisner takes a handoff up the middle. He cuts through a tackle from Spears-Jennings (as Omosigho jumps over Spears-Jennings instead of tackling Wisner), breaks a tackle from Bowman, cuts outside and reaches the end zone essentially untouched. Now it’s 21-3 and the game is over, although OU’s first-half troubles aren’t quite over yet.

Tatum takes a handoff up the middle, spins away from a tackler and cuts up for a nice 13-yard gain. But at the end of the run, the ball is on the grass. Replay review overturns the call and gives Texas a fumble recovery on two consecutive snaps. 

The Horns have it again at the OU 38 with 1:32 to play. On first down, wide receiver Matthew Golden catches a lateral from Ewers in motion to the right, then pulls up and throws to Wingo wide open past Walker. But instead of an easy touchdown, Golden’s throw falls well short. Blue breaks through the heart of the OU defense for 13 yards, and on the next play he pounds for 6 yards. Ewers’ quick throw to Moore wide left is stopped by Spears-Jennings for no gain, and Ewers’ flip to Bolden on the right side is stopped by Bowen for a gain of 3. During a Texas timeout, Chris Fowler asks Herbstreit if OU could go back to Arnold in the second half, and Herbstreit says, “I think you have to consider that, if nothing else to create a spark.” After the timeout, Helm is flagged for holding on a toss sweep to Blue, and with 20 seconds left, Sarkisian sends out the field goal team, and just before Bert Auburn misses wide right, Venables calls timeout. That strategy hasn’t worked well for Venables before, either. But Auburn, on his second chance, gives Venables a reprieve when he misses the 44-yarder wide left. “Who will be the quarterback?” Fowler asks as Hawkins takes a knee to end the half. Venables tells ESPN’s Laura Rutledge that he’ll stick with Hawkins. “He’s done — he’s done OK,” Venables says.

OU has the football to start the third quarter, and indeed it’s Hawkins behind center. It’s also Ozaeta at left guard and Sexton at left tackle, and will be that way for the remainder of the game. Barnes follows those two outside for a 10-yard run, and he jumps through a lane behind them again for 7 yards. On second-and-03, Hawkins heads right on a speed option, but his pitch to Barnes is snuffed out for a loss of 1. On third-and-4, Littrell orders a tight formation, and Hawkins feels immediate pressure at the top of his drop and has to escape. Texas’ spy defense, however, only allows Hawkins to get back to the line of scrimmage as Elzinga comes in to punt it away.

Out of the 3-3-5, Jackson smushes Wisner for a 1-yard gain, but Helm shakes Spears-Jennings in coverage and catches a corner throw from Ewers for 26. Against OU’s 4-man front with two linebackers walked up, Wisner finds a cutback lane for 8 yards, and Ewers scrambles away from the 4-man front for a 5-yard pickup as Damonic Williams ends the run by landing on top of Ewers at the end of a slide. Wisner goes after Williams, and Williams retaliates by pushing Wisner to th ground as Kip Lewis pulls him away from the melee, but not before Texas’ Cameron Williams gets involved. Both Williamses are flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct as tempers begin to flare. Blue is brought down by Eli Bowen again for a gain of 2, but Wingo takes a reverse around the right edge and sprints through OU tacklers for a 25-yard run to the OU 18. Ewers avoids a sack by Downs and throws it away through the end zone, and after an 8-yard run by Blue, Ewers’ third-down throw to the right edge sails wide, and his fourth-down throw to Wingo into the end zone is well off target as the Sooners get a stop.

It’s short-lived success however, as Hawkins drops to pass but declines to throw it to wide open Zion Ragins and gets sacked hard for a loss of 4. Barnes gets the handoff up the middle for no gain, and then on third down, Hawkins drops into the end zone, rolls to his left away from pressure, and throws it away as nobody is open. Elzinga smashes a 63-yard bomb to flip the field.

Texas starts at its own 32 and Jaren Kanak makes his defensive debut with a tackle on Wisner for no gain. Ewers checks down to Wisner for 6, and then finds Golden across the middle for a gain of 23. Wisner thuds ahead for 5 yards, and then chugs for 7 more to the Texas sideline. After Jackson and Kobie McKinzie stop Jerrick Gibson for no gain, Blue gets good blocking on the edge to pick up 11 yards. Da’Jon Terry and Woullard drop Blue for a loss of 2, and a holding penalty wipes out a Wisner 10-yard gain. On second-and-22, Ewers hits Wingo on a screen, but Damonic Williams brings him down for a 5-yard gain. Ewers’ pass into the end zone to Wingo falls incomplete as he’s glued by Eli Bowen. Auburn comes in for a 41-yard field goal that pushes the Texas lead to 24-3.

Freshman Devon Jordan makes a rookie mistake on the kickoff return, catching the ball in the end zone, then hesitating and ultimately bringing it out, and instead of taking over at the 25, OU gets it at the 12. First down shows the shotgun-T, and a run fake lets Hawkins roll right and deliver a strike to Kearney for 10 yards on the Texas sideline. Same formation, and this time Hawkins delivers a strike over the middle to Sharp, who fights off his defender to make a competitive catch.

OU fans start to head to the exits as Hawkins comes out of a 2 x 2 formation, scrambles and checks down to Barnes for a gain of 6. Hawkins keeps straight ahead for 2, and on third-and-2, Hawkins stands in an empty backfield, fakes a handoff to Barnes in motion to the left, and flips a shovel pass to Sharp in the middle for a gain of 3 and a first down. Hawkins is flushed by a 3-man Texas rush, and Branson Hickman is flagged for holding. On first-and-20, Hawkins is surrounded in the diamond formation again, and they all motion out. Texas rushes five this time, and Hill gets home and drops Hawkins for a loss of 6. Hawkins hits Pettaway on a quick hitch on second-and-26, and on third-and-20, Hawkins is again flushed by a 3-man rush and is again sacked by Hill for a loss of 2. Elzinga’s 48-yard punt is returned 55 yards by Bolden, another strike against the OU special teams. Sharp chases him down and dives to get Bolden out of bounds, but the play of the day belongs to Sooner linebacker legend and local soda pop sheriff Brian Bosworth, who nimbly leaps over Sharp on the OU sideline.

Ewers rolls right and throws to Wingo, and McCullough at first seemed to have a good break on the throw to knock it down. But then three flags come in as McCullough hooks Wingo and is flagged for pass interference. Wisner comes at Eli Bowen on a sweep and tries to juke him, but Bowen single-legs him and gets him to the ground for a gain of 2. Wisner’s 2-yard run up the middle is wrapped up by Stutsman. Ewers’ check down to Helm picks up 7 yards on third-and-6, and Stutsman and Terry pound down Wisner for a loss of 1. On second down, Ewers’ throw to Golden is caught out of bounds (Eli Bowen made sure he was out), and on third-and-goal from the 10, Kip Lewis chases down Wisner on a screen pass for a loss of 1. Auburn’s 29-yard field goal makes to 27-3 with 7:44 to go.

Littrell is still seeking formation advantages as OU comes out in a diamond backfield and motions out of it. Hawkins fakes a handoff to Barnes and dumps to motion man Thompson for 7 yards, and Barnes is crushed for no gain. Hawkins throws to Ragins on a curl-in to the left side for what should be a first down, but Ragins drops it. Then on fourth down, Hawkins surveys a 2 x 2, sends Barnes on fly motion to the left, then escapes pressure and throws it away, out of bounds — on fourth down.

Texas takes over at its 32, and Sarkisian tries the wide receiver pass again, this time on a quick hitch to Golden, who floats a deep ball to Helm. It’s well-defended by Spears-Jennings this time, but Helm elevates and brings it down at the 2. Two plays later, Ewers dashes to the right into the end zone for a rushing touchdown that gives the Longhorns a 34-3 lead with 5:21 to play. Ewers, who missed the last three games with an abdominal injury, takes a hard hit in the back from Spears-Jennings as he crosses the goal line.

Finally, a bit of good news for Oklahoma on the injury front. Troy Everett, who transferred last year from Appalachian State and was a part-time starter at offensive line, is on the field and making his season debut. Everett sustained a knee injury and missed almost all of spring practice, and Saturday he finally got on the field here as he finished the game at center in place of Hickman, who had a holding penalty and gave up a sack earlier in the quarter. On the first of five straight plays out of the split gun, right tackle Jake Taylor and right guard Febechi Nwaiwu pull across the formation to spring Barnes on a trap for 3 yards. Barnes runs the same action behind the same blocking and gains 2. Hawkins zips a quick curl to the left to freshman Ivan Carreon, and Carreon turns up for a 12-yard gain. Hawkins scrambles out of trouble for 4 yards, and Tatum jet motions left but then jab steps at the snap, cuts back and counters for a 3-yard run off right tackle — a run that’s negated by a holding penalty by Sexton. Hawkins scrambles for his life and throws it away on second down, and he swings a pass to Sawchuk for 7 yards on third-and-16. On fourth-and-9, Hawkins drops to pass, scrambles to the left and picks up a first down with an 11-yard gain. The Sooners are still playing hard as Hawkins drops to pass and is bailed out by a solid blitz pickup by Tatum. Hawkins scrambles for 3 yards and goes down hard, but he’s not done yet. The next play is OU’s first on the Texas side of the field since the first quarter and it’s a 4-yard check-down pass from Hawkins to Tatum. Tatum sprints around the edge and takes a big hit as he dives for a first down, but the play is wiped out by a holding penalty against Sharp. On third-and-9, Hawkins throws from an empty backfield to Kearney for a first down and a 13-yard gain. Hawkins hits Kearney again on the OU sideline for 7 yards with 35 seconds left. On second-and-3, Hawkins escapes pressure and overhand shovels a dump-off pass to freshman Xavier Robinson for 7 yards and a first down. Hawkins’ swing pass to Robinson to the right side goes for 5 yards, and a roughing-the-passer personal foul penalty moves the ball to the 6. Hawkins misses Tatum leaking out of the backfield for what should have been an easy touchdown pass, and instead throws to Roberts — and leads him too much. On second-and-6, Hawkins gets out of the grip of Texas defender Jermayne Lole — a former OU transfer commit from Louisville  who flipped to Texas at the last minute — but fumbles the football, picks it up and throws it away with two seconds left. On the final play, Hawkins throws it out of the back of the end zone as the clock runs out.