Oklahoma
Sooners in the NFL: Oklahoma’s Quarterbacks On Fire Again in Week 8
Oklahoma has suffered through a season of subpar quarterback play and questionable offensive schemes all year long. Tuning into the Sooners’ NFL quarterbacks on Sunday’s has to be breath of fresh air.
It was another tremendous week in the NFL for Oklahoma’s three-headed monster in Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Jalen Hurts. Murray and Hurts led their teams to victory, while Mayfield fell short with an injured supporting cast.
Hurts claimed possession of the most dominant performance of the weekend, leading the Eagles to a commanding 37-17 win in Cincinnati. The Bengals had won three of their last four games, but couldn’t find a solution to slow down Hurts and Philadelphia’s offensive attack.
The former Oklahoma quarterback completed 16-of-20 passes for 236 yards and one touchdown through the air, marking his most efficient passing performance of the season. As always, his legs added a different element to the Eagles’ offense as Hurts rushed 10 times for 37 yards and three touchdowns. He had a turnover free day and an efficiency rating of 132.5.
Murray’s performance was similar to Hurts in the fact that he took over the game and put the team on his back. He completed 26-of-36 passing attempts for 307 yards and two touchdowns with zero turnovers. Murray was quiet on the ground today with just 19 rushing yards, but he trusted his arm all day long.
The 307-yard passing performance was the most passing yards Murray has generated since October 30, 2022. He now has 11 passing touchdowns and three interceptions on the season, and Arizona is an underrated team at 4-4 overall.
Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Bucs fell just short, failing to complete the Oklahoma quarterback trifecta of victories. Tampa’s costly penalties played a part in the game late, but he did everything he could to help the Buccaneers stay alive.
On the afternoon, Mayfield was 37-of-50 through the air with 330 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, and his Hail Mary on the final play was caught by a Bucs wideout out of bounds. He added three rushes for 11 yards. Both of Mayfield’s interceptions came on deep shots downfield where he was trying to move the ball for Tampa Bay. In a 31-26 loss, though, turnovers are crucial, and Mayfield couldn’t take care of the ball.
Tampa’s 26 points, 330 passing yards and three touchdowns is even more impressive considering the context. Mayfield was without both of his top targets, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, and had to make do with a supporting cast of backup wide receivers. At 4-4 with two straight losses, the Bucs have to figure things out in a hurry, and it doesn’t get much easier. Mayfield will face the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers in back-to-back weeks coming up.
All three of Oklahoma’s quarterbacks put on a show during Sunday’s early slate. Murray and Hurts simply dominated, while Mayfield tried to will his team back into the game. One thing is for certain: Oklahoma is QBU eight weeks into the NFL season.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA (KOKH) — The Oklahoma City Fire Department responded to a home fire late Tuesday evening, around 10:42 p.m.
According to OKCFD, fire could be seen from a window of the home located in the 4200 block of N. Phillips Avenue.
Firefighters were able to rescue an adult female from inside the home. No injuries were reported in connection with the fire.
Investigators believe that the fire may have originated from an outlet near the refrigerator that had a power strip plugged in that was supplying multiple appliances.
There was also no smoke detector present within the home.
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NORMAN — The Sooners were behind the eight ball for much of Tuesday’s game against Oral Roberts.
But one swing of the bat got them in a more favorable position.
Shortstop Jaxon Willits blasted a grand slam in the sixth inning to give No. 14 Oklahoma its first lead before eventually winning 7-6.
The Sooners trailed by as many as five runs before they rallied late.
In the first inning, Oral Roberts’ Cooper Combs hit a two-out grand slam to give the Golden Eagles a comfortable cushion. OU infielder Deiten Lachance got the Sooners on the board in the second inning with a solo home run, but ORU responded with a solo shot of its own in the next frame.
The Golden Eagles made it a 6-1 run game in the top of the fourth, and they appeared to be on cruise control. But in the bottom of that frame, OU’s rally began.
Dasan Harris made it a four-run game again with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth before Camden Johnson hit a sacrifice fly of his own in the fifth.
Then, in the sixth, the Sooners took their first lead of the game.
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Harris singled before Kyle Branch and Connor Larkin walked to load the bases. Willits then swung at the first pitch he saw, sending it well over the right-center field fence.
Neither team scored after Willits’ home run, as OU relief pitcher Xander Mercurius retired nine ORU batters in a row to seal the Sooners’ one-run win.
Michael Catalano started on the mound for Oklahoma, but his outing was short-lived — he gave up four earned runs on two hits and five walks in 1 ⅓ innings.
After coach Skip Johnson relieved Catalano in the second inning, six different OU arms entered the game. Reid Hensley collected the win, while Mercurius got the save.
OU improved to 28-12 overall with the win, while Oral Roberts dropped to 23-15. The Sooners are 7-3 in midweek games this season, and they clinched the season sweep of the Golden Eagles on Tuesday.
Next, the Sooners will hit the road for a three-game series against Auburn. The Tigers, ranked No. 11 by D1Baseball, are 10-8 in SEC play and took two of three games against Florida over the weekend.
The series will open on Friday, and first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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NORMAN — After an up-and down week that saw Oklahoma drop the lone Bedlam match of the season, and then split two tight games with Arkansas before blowing out the Razorbacks on Sunday, the Sooners remained No. 1 in the NFCA/Go Rout coaches’ poll released Tuesday.
But there’s far from a consensus.
Oklahoma received 12 first-place votes — the same total they had last week — but five other teams received first-place votes.
Texas Tech remained No. 2 with four four-place votes and Alabama No. 3 with seven. Nebraska moved up two spots to No. 4 with four first-place votes, followed by Florida with two and UCLA with two.
Texas is No. 7, followed by Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida State.
Texas A&M, the Sooners’ opponent for the final regular-season weekend in two weeks, comes in at No. 11.
Other SEC teams include Georgia at No. 15, Mississippi State at No. 17 and LSU at No. 20.
OU hosts the Georgia Bulldogs in a three-game series beginning Friday.
Other Sooners’ opponents this season in the polls include No. 14 Duke, No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Arizona, No. 24 Arizona State and No. 25 Washington.
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Oklahoma also remained in the top spot in the D1Softball poll, with Alabama No. 2 there followed by Texas Tech, Nebraska at Texas.
The Sooners dropped a spot in the Softball America poll, with Nebraska elevating to No. 1 behind the two-way stardom of former OU standout Jordy Frahm (formerly Jordy Bahl).
Frahm is 13-4 with a 1.36 ERA and 157 strikeouts in 118 2/3 innings in the circle and hitting .440 with 16 home runs and 42 RBIs. Another former Sooners player, Hannah Coor, is among the Cornhuskers’ regulars as well.
The Sooners have 158 home runs, just three away from tying their own season record in the category, but UCLA has closed the gap in a major way, sitting just four behind Oklahoma.
OU freshman sensation Kendall Wells leads the nation with 34 home runs, three ahead of UCLA’s Megan Grant. Wells tied Jocelyn Alo‘s program record for home runs in a season with her home run in Sunday’s win.
The Sooners host Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 6 p.m. Tuesday in their final non-conference game of the season before opening the series against Georgia at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Love’s FIeld.
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