OU football tied a single-game program record with nine sacks Saturday in the 24-17 win over Auburn. The Sooners also recorded 13 tackles for loss.
NORMAN — R Mason Thomas could barely sit still on the OU sideline.
It was a challenge for the Sooners’ All-SEC defensive end to find ways to pass the time as he served a first-half suspension from a targeting call that ejected him from last week’s Temple game.
Thomas motivated teammates, hopped on and off the stationary bike, and was frequently reminded by trainers to stay hydrated.
“I was just itching,” said Thomas, who spent the week annoying teammates about the second half.
It took two plays on the field for Thomas to scratch the itch, blowing past Tigers offensive lineman Xavier Chaplin to record his first sack of the season.
And if that wasn’t enough to do the trick, Thomas called game — bull-rushing Auburn’s 320-pound right tackle Mason Murphy and devouring quarterback Jackson Arnold for a game-clinching sack and safety. Thomas’ sack — OU’s ninth, tying a single-game program record — capped the Sooners’ 24-17 victory over the Tigers on Saturday on Owen Field.
“That was tough sledding,” Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said. “We’ll have to watch the film to see some of the early sacks. Could (Arnold) have gotten it out? I don’t know. I mean, those late ones, that’s a hard ask. No. 32 is going to do that to a lot of teams in a two-minute drill.”
While the Sooners’ offensive revamp this season — bringing in offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and quarterback John Mateer — garners a lot of headlines, retaining their veteran defensive core has proved paramount.
OU spent big to keep Thomas, defensive linemen Gracen Halton and Damonic Williams, linebackers Kip Lewis and Kobie McKinzie and safety Robert Spears-Jennings, and it seems to be paying off. The Sooners’ defense, specifically their defensive line through four games, looks like one of the most dominant groups in the country.
“We played in the second half with a really light box,” OU coach Brent Venables said. “Even though it was a one-score game, (Auburn was) still trying to run the ball and we continued to stop the run with a light box. Their physicality, their ability to get off the blocks and knock people back, was something else today.”
Six of the Sooners’ nine sacks came in the first half. Halton, Owen Heinecke, David Stone, Thomas and Taylor Wein were credited with sacks, while Lewis recorded a half-sack.
OU also recorded 13 tackles for loss, its most in two seasons, and held the Tigers to 3 for 15 on third downs.
“I do think that’s one of the better pass rushing teams in the country,” Freeze said.
In addition to Thomas, no one has played better on the Sooners’ defensive line to start the season than sophomore Jayden Jackson. Jackson entered the game with 2 ½ career sacks and recorded 2 ½ on Saturday, both of which came in the first half.
Jackson was a force all day, getting off double teams and creating pressure for his teammates to record sacks. The freshman All-American was unblocked at times Saturday and took full advantage.
“Man, he was so good,” Venables said. “Played vertical all day, physical all day, unblocked a lot, and really affected the game interior-wise. And when you're really strong up the middle in your defense, man, you have a chance to become a great unit.”
While he was running for his life most of the night, Arnold showed guts, fighting through adversity on the road during an emotional return against his former team.
But he was smothered by Venables’ defense, which has a lot of familiarity with Arnold, from right to left almost every play.
“He’s one of the best we’ve faced,” Freeze said of Venables. “He does an incredible job and has incredible talent, which makes playcalling a lot easier. But he does a great job, mixes it up, a lot of different coverages and disguises them well. And then all of the front stuff, of course, is challenging.”
Following a second 6-7 season in three years and the departure of defensive coordinator Zac Alley, the future looked grim. Venables was on the hot seat and on the hunt for new offensive firepower. It would’ve been easy for a plethora of the Sooners’ defensive players to move on to the NFL or transfer elsewhere, to give up on Venables’ vision.
But during a meeting to discuss their future plans, Spears-Jennings and Thomas kept thinking of the phrase, “paid in full.”
OU’s veteran defensive core had other options — Venables mentioned a few weeks back on his radio show that Thomas was offered “well over seven figures” to transfer — but they had unfinished business in Norman.
Thomas said Saturday’s dominating performance validated those feelings they felt in December, that things could be turned around and that this group has what it takes to become one of the best in the country.
“This being our last year, we knew what we could do,” Thomas told The Oklahoman. “It was a surreal feeling, for this game, for the majority of our defense being fourth and fifth-year players.
“You can't even script this. You can't even write this up.”
Colton Sulley covers the Oklahoma Sooners for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Colton? He can be reached at [email protected] or on X/Twitter at @colton_sulley. Support Colton's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: R Mason Thomas, Jayden Jackson spark OU football sack party of Auburn
Category: General Sports
