3 Sooner Takeaways: 'The Waiting' Was The Hardest Part

The Oklahoma Sooners offense came alive late in the second quarter turning a sleepy 3-0 deficit into a 33-3 win over Kent State in Norman Saturday night.

With apologies to the late, great Tom Petty, "the waiting" was indeed the hardest part.

Quarterback Dillon Gabriel found Marvin Mims Jr. three consecutive times on the first half's final drive, culminating in a 36-yard touchdown. Oklahoma went into the locker room with a 7-3 lead, a lead the Sooners would expand to 31-3 by the end of the third quarter. The Sooners improve to 2-0 in head coach Brent Venables' first season, and he'll take his crew to Lincoln, Nebraska, next week for a date with the Cornhuskers. The last time Oklahoma played Nebraska in Lincoln, the Huskers came away with a 10-3 win, in 2009.

Takeaway 1: There Goes That Mims

Playing back quite a bit as the first half drew to a close, the Golden Flashes were fine it seemed with OU's Gabriel hitting receivers on curls near the sideline. There was less than 1:00 left to play, and Kent State had held the Sooners to 7 yards rushing and a goose-egg on the scoreboard.

However, two of those curls, back to back, were from No. 8 to No. 17, Gabriel to Mims. Instead of another curl on the next play, Mims streaked toward the end zone where the University of Central Florida transfer hit him in stride for a score. An extra point later, and it was 7-3 Oklahoma.

Mims drew the first ball of the third quarter, too, before Gabriel threw deep to him, drawing a pass interference penalty. Marcus Major took it in from 16 yards out, and Oklahoma had breathing room, 14-3.

When Mims got involved, everything changed for the Oklahoma offense, and Gabriel later hit him for 58 yards and a touchdown to give Oklahoma a 31-3 lead.

Takeaway 2: Run Then Pass? Or Pass Then Run?

The halftime stats were pretty shocking in one category in particular: rushing yards. The Sooners were held to 7 yards in the first half against Kent State. However, once the Gabriel-to-Mims connection heated up, the holes opened for Sooner running backs Eric Gray and Marcus Major.

We often think of the running game as an ignition for the passing attack. Saturday night in Norman, it felt opposite.

Gray got the vast majority of the carries in the first half, and the Golden Flashes held him in check. However, as soon as Oklahoma's passing game got going, the running attack got going, too, although not to the level achieved in Week 1 versus UTEP. Eric Gray finished the day with 71 yards, the longest of which was a 44-yard run in the third. The Sooners totaled 134 yards, compared to 259 gained against the Miners in a 45-13 win Sept. 3.

"I just think we stayed patient. We didn't panic. We got some things going obviously throwing the football, and that set up our run game, really got our run game going," Venables told ESPN+ moments after the game.

Takeaway 3: No Turnovers

This is totally not meant to be a jinx, but do you know what Sooners fans haven't seen yet in 2022?

Not a single turnover from OU, not a fumble nor an interception.

Sure, Oklahoma's first two opponents have been UTEP and Kent State. However, disciplined football is worth some applause, no?

Going into next week's showdown against Nebraska, continuing to play clean football is surely going to be a key to victory No. 3.