A Sense of Normalcy

Uncertainty abounds in every football season opener, but the circumstances have become incalculable dealing with all the unknown brought on by COVID-19.

Although Oklahoma's player availability was significantly dwindled Saturday night due to the pandemic, injuries and other factors, the No. 5-ranked Sooners were still able to post some impressive numbers in a 48-0 victory over Missouri State at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

In an eerie, unprecedented setting, an undisclosed number of OU players were missing and attendance in the stands was limited to 25 percent of stadium capacity. This resulted in a "sellout" crowd of 22,700, the smallest gathering for an OU home game since Nov. 10, 1945, when 11,000 fans witnessed a 14-7 Homecoming win against Iowa State.

And yet, fourth-year Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley still managed a smile and chuckle during his post-game interview session while describing how he dealt with all the chaos.

"It was fun," Riley said. "It was, it was in a way. It's not maybe exactly how you draw it up. All these situations right now, it's either one of two things. You either see it as a hinderance and you say, 'poor me,' and you're mad you're in the situation and frustrated. Or you look at it as an opportunity to see some new players that maybe we wouldn't have seen and an opportunity as coaches to test yourselves and to be able to adjust as things come up. We tried to look at it as an opportunity."

Six OU players made their first starts and 20 players made their first appearance with the Sooners. "We had to move some guys around to make tonight work, and that was a luxury that our experience afforded us, for sure," Riley said.

"It's not maybe exactly how you draw it up. All these situations right now... We tried to look at it as an opportunity."
Lincoln Riley

The much-anticipated debut of OU redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Rattler as OU's starting quarterback didn't disappoint. While playing only in the first half, the five-star recruit from Phoenix directed the Sooners to a 41-0 lead with 290 passing yards and four touchdowns, becoming the first OU freshman quarterback to throw four touchdown passes in his first career start.

"He did OK, played pretty well," Riley said of Rattler. "I thought he handled it mentally pretty well. He wasn't too high or too low for this one, so I thought that was important. He did some good things, made a few mistakes like he was going to make. All in all, a positive start, but a long ways to go. Some guys can get too up for these things, especially your first (start). I thought he handled it the right way. He certainly had energy and juice and he didn't let that consume him and he didn't try to do too much, and that was always some of your chief concerns. I'm proud of the way he handled the situation."

Rattler completed 14 of 17 passes and two of those incompletions were dropped touchdown passes. His 303.3 passer efficiency rating is the third-best single-game mark in school history.

"It was good to get out against a different team and show what we've got," Rattler said. "We've got some things to clean up, but we'll clean them up... I feel like I've earned a lot of trust from my guys on the team. Being the quarterback, you have to have that assertive leadership and bring certain qualities to you, and I feel like I'm still working on that, but doing a pretty good job with it."

Missouri State coach Bobby Petrino, who coached Heisman winner Lamar Jackson at Louisville in 2016, said of Rattler, "I think his presence in the pocket, being able to find the open receiver – he's got a great quick release and can make all the different throws."

Thin at running back Saturday, redshirt freshman Marcus Major started the game and true freshman Seth McGowan came off the bench to score his first career touchdown on a 1-yard run and added a 37-yard reception later in the first quarter. He led the Sooners with 61 rushing yards on nine carries (6.8 yards per rush).

OU wide receiver Marvin Mims was another true freshman who impressed, finishing with 148 all-purpose yards – 80 receiving yards and three punt returns for 68 yards (a 22.7 average). It was the second-most all-purpose yards by a Sooners freshman in his debut. Joe Washington holds the record with 157 all-purpose yards in 1972 against Utah State. Mims' first career catch was a 58-yard touchdown reception from Rattler in the first quarter.

"They both did some good things," Riley said of McGowan and Mims. "They're both two pretty explosive kids for their age. They both have a little home-run ability. The moment wasn't too big for those guys. When you don't have hesitation at a young age, it's a great quality."

"We were dominant defensively for the entire game. That shutout was really, really important to us."

En route to winning their 15th straight home opener, the Sooners amassed 608 total yards offensively (484 passing) while limiting MSU to 135 total yards. OU led 31-0 at the end of the first quarter and outgained the Bears 236 yards to 1. It was the sixth time in school history, and the first time since 2008 (35-0 vs. Nebraska), the Sooners scored at least 31 points in the first quarter.

OU posted its first shutout since 2015 (55-0 at Kansas State) and its first shutout in a home opener since 2013 (34-0 vs. UL-Monroe). Missouri State didn't pick up a first down until 5½ minutes remained in the first half.

"We were dominant defensively for the entire game," Riley said. "That shutout was really, really important to us. Being able to get that, you just don't see those very often in college football anymore, so that was definitely special for 'Speed D.' I was excited about the way we tackled. That was one of the biggest concerns coming in. Pretty sound, kind of where we needed to be, made tackles, made some explosive plays, so a very, very complete performance by our D tonight."

Overall, Riley said there "was more good than bad," but expressed disappointment in a running game that amassed just 124 yards on 35 attempts (a 3.5 average).

"The run game was just OK tonight," Riley said. "Honestly, I probably wouldn't even give it that. It was probably a little bit worse than OK. We've got to run the ball better, but it's a group effort. There were some mistakes I made... we all had our hands in it."

The Sooners are scheduled to next play Sept. 26 against Kansas State at 11 a.m. in Norman.