Oklahoma scored 17 points in the nine minutes on Saturday to shock homestanding Auburn 27-21 on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
The Tigers held a 21-10 lead – with no turnovers – and appeared to be in control when the Sooners exploded with a 63-yard interception return for a touchdown by Kip Lewis gave Oklahoma the lead for good with 4:01 to play.
“Our guys just dug in, were there for each other through the good and the bad,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables. “Amazing couple of touchdown drives by our offense. Better late than never. Really proud of our guys.”
With 8:32 left in the game, Javontae Barnes scored from 2 yards out. Oklahoma’s two-point conversion failed to cut the lead 21-16. The touchdown was made possible by Michael Hawkins first deep throw of the game, 60 yards to JJ Hester.
“And Auburn played so well for so long, but, hey, we just kept hanging in there,” Venables said. “That’s what we told them, just find a way to win. …
“You have to fight your butt off to the last second on that clock. That’s what coming to Auburn will do to you.”
Venables re-iterated his Sooners (4-1, 1-1 in SEC) had their hands full with a very good Auburn team (2-3, 0-2).
“The fourth quarter was fantastic,” Venables said about his defense. “Auburn’s really good.”
The Sooners coach said Auburn would have been 4-0 heading into the game had it not been for turnovers.
It wasn’t looking good at halftime for Venables’ team, which trailed 14-7. His team scored on the opening possession only to punt the rest of the first half.
“Not very good,” he said of his defense at halftime. “We allowed them to just nickel and dime us. The tackling underneath, our coverage, not reacting. They are doing a good job of running the ball downhill.
“We have to handle the rush (on offense). I thought Michael (Hawkins) did some really good things in the first half. Auburn’s been able to sit on the ball. We’ve haven’t had many opportunities to get into a really good rhythm. With the little bit of work we’ve had, they’ve done some good things. He’s an explosive guy. We’ve had guys open down the field.”
Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.
