Caleb Williams’ grip on the Oklahoma starting quarterback job seems to tighten every week.
Williams and the Sooners faced an upset bid from the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday, with the game coming down to the final possession. Oklahoma faced a 4th-and-1 from its own 46 with 3:20 left and went for it, knowing that failure would give Kansas the ball back with excellent field position.
It looked like the Jayhawks had done their job. The defense wrapped up Oklahoma running back Kennedy Brooks behind the line of scrimmage. That was when Williams improvised, grabbing the ball from Brooks as the running back was being pushed backward.
The play was reviewed and confirmed. Since Brooks was behind the line of scrimmage, there wasn’t anything illegal about what Williams did.
Williams replaced Spencer Rattler at halftime two weeks ago, and the Sooners have not looked back. They took a while to get going against Kansas, but they got the win in the end. It was largely due to this sort of quick thinking that few had ever seen before.
The scariest part? Williams is an 18-year-old true freshman and he’s doing stuff like this. No wonder Rattler might be on his way out.
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