Big 12 vs. SEC. No matter which teams from this conference are playing each other, the whole country is intrigued. With seasons and pride on the line, nothing feels quite as good as a great football game on a Saturday night.
The SEC/Big 12 showdown on Saturday was one that won’t be forgotten for either Tennessee or Oklahoma. While the first three quarters were slow and painful for the Sooners, in the fourth quarter it looked like a different team was on the field; or as some would like to call it, Sooner Magic. Sooner Magic is something that is known pretty well by most college football fans, especially those from Oklahoma or those in the Big 12 conference. I think it’s safe to say that Tennessee (SEC) has now had a front row seat to the magic show. Sooner Magic baby.
The Sooner’s season opener against Akron was a little scary at first but after a quarter, the Sooners picked up momentum and gave us an entertaining show. The student section was rocking more than I had seen it on the season openers I’ve attended while being a student. Though last season was a little rough, I think that we all have hope that this season we'll make a run for the national title. We all know we’re due with our largest gap between national titles being 15 years apart from 1985 to 2000.
The Tennessee game was one that many students traveled to with the expectation of winning. When Tennessee went down the field on us early in the first quarter and we held them to a field goal there was a small moral victory. Later in the first quarter, the Vols scored a touchdown and there may have been some worry in the hearts of the Sooners, I know there was in mine.
The second quarter was when I started to give up, I’ll admit, and Tennessee scored yet another touchdown. Going into halftime down 17-3 wasn’t a great feeling and I could taste defeat on my tongue. So much frustration flowed through my veins and there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop this feeling.
The third quarter proved to be very slow with no one scoring at all.
Finally, when the fourth quarter rolled around there was something different in the way the Sooners were playing. I could feel it in my chest, both a weight as well as relief. We were actually playing like we knew what we were doing and we were in control for the first time all night. Even though we were down there was still the feeling of possibility and hope. When Baker Mayfield threw a short pass to Samaje Perine for a touchdown I just knew that there was a real chance of comeback. The Sooner defense was playing well the entire time considering the momentum of the game was not in their favor. Once the offense got going I knew that we could do it, that we could make a comeback and save the hope of our season. The Sooner defense held Tennessee again and then the offense drove down the field and scored another touchdown this time with a Mayfield pass to Sterling Shepard. This brought us to overtime.
Overtime was when I felt my most confident as a Sooner fan. With the way we finished out the fourth quarter there were many reasons to have faith in Sooner magic. Tennessee had the ball first and they scored a touchdown with a run by Hurd. Then the Sooners rebutted with a Mayfield rushing touchdown. This sent us to double OT.
In the second overtime the vulnerability of both teams caused the tension to be at a game-time high. This time the Sooners had the ball first and scored with an amazing 18 yard catch by Sterling Shepard. For Tennessee the next drive was do or die. Joshua Dobbs (QB) threw an interception to Zack Sanchez to end the game. And this, my friends, was a display of Sooner Magic. Boomer.
