The fact that the Oklahoma Sooners were leading at halftime coming off a loss to Ole Miss made the result even more disappointing. Even though the third quarter was a game of kicks for the Sooners offense, late in the game OU had a chance to pull a score back after moving the ball into the red zone.

But a botched first-down trick left the Sooners facing a second-and-11. And from there, the Ole Miss defense simply played Jackson Arnold.

In Oklahoma’s last three drives, Arnold has been sacked seven times.

“It was good to get a lead, going great and getting two (possessions), Kifin said after the game. “We were in that position with both losses, with the ball, ahead by one score and we didn’t push it to two scores. Because when you push him up to two, now he has to throw more, and now our pass rush can come alive. And that’s what we were hoping to happen when we had the ball in the last game (against LSU). … I think that helped us get up to two scores (ahead), and they were able to transition quicker.”

It made all the difference in the ball game. For the first three quarters, the Sooners were able to maintain their offensive balance, using the running game to keep Ole Miss’ pass rushers from simply being able to rush the passer. But when Oklahoma was down 12 points and had to punt, the offensive line had no answer when they got into obvious passing situations.

When Oklahoma drove the ball into the red zone with about five minutes left in the game, they failed to create a positive gain on first-and-10, and that allowed the Rebels to go after Jackson Arnold.

What had been a solid day up front was blown up in the final moments as Ole Miss racked up sack after sack en route to a career-high 10 sacks by the Oklahoma Sooners.

It was a disappointing end to the game for the Sooners offensive line. A good defense was able to make OU one-dimensional. When that happens, it will be tough on any offensive line, but especially one that struggled in 2024.

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