Oklahoma Football Wrap: What Sooner Fans Can Take Away From Win at TCU

For two quarters in a hostile road environment at TCU on Saturday, Oklahoma football looked like the glory days of old. But Saturday’s big victory was nearly squandered late by the Sooners’ lingering problems of the present.

After a Grand Canyon-like 42-3 scoring advantage in quarters two and three, it appeared that Oklahoma was going to literally run away and hide from the 21st-ranked Horned Frogs. But, then again, this was TCU, and Sooner fans no all too well about closing rallies when these two Big 12 foes collide.

Going into the Saturday showdown at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Ft. Worth, the winning margin in the four games contested by OU and TCU in Big 12 play was just. 3.5 points. Although the Sooners had come out on top in three of the four games, none of the four had been decided by more than seven points and the winning margin in the previous two was a combined five points.

With Oklahoma leading by a comfortable 49-24 count entering the fourth quarter on Saturday, it appeared that this year’s game was about to blow away the prospects of another close game and, in the process, change a few minds of those who had prematurely proclaimed the Sooners as dead and buried just three games into the 2016 season.

Oct 1, 2016; Fort Worth, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Kapri Doucet (1) sacks TCU Horned Frogs quarterback Kenny Hill (7) during the first quarter at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

That was not to be, obviously, as the Horned Frogs mounted a high-flying fourth-quarter comeback reminiscent of last year when they rallied from 17 points down midway through the third quarter and came within a missed two-point conversion at the very end of pulling out a remarkable one-point win.

In just a little over four minutes in the final period on Saturday, TCU shaved 21 points off the Oklahoma advantage, and again had the ball at the very end with a chance to win, only to be turned away on a fourth-down attempt deep in their own territory on their final possession.

This was clearly a tale of two unnatural halves of football. The Sooners owned the second and third quarters, while the Horned Frogs dominated in the first and fourth, outscoring Oklahoma 43-10 over that 30 minute span.

In the end, it amounted to a huge victory for the Sooners and a provided some redemption for an Oklahoma team that started out as if this game was going to be a repeat of their two previous 2016 defeats and send the Sooners into unprecedented three-loss territory under Bob Stoops to begin a season.

Here are the some of the key takeaways from Oklahoma’s victory in its Big 12 opener:

The going doesn’t get any easier for the Sooners, with the annual Red River brawl in Dallas with archrival Texas up next and what promises to be another high-scoring shootout.