Penalties in Critical Situations Continue to Cost Oklahoma in Loss to Ole Miss

With the game tied at 10 early in the second quarter Saturday vs. Ole Miss, OU had a chance to seize momentum in what eventually became a 34-26 loss.

The Rebels were facing third-and-15 from their own 34 when Oklahoma’s defense did what it has done all season.

Bring the heat.

R Mason Thomas came off the edge and quickly corralled Trinidad Chambliss for an apparent loss of 14 yards.

But there was a flag.

Thomas was called for an offsides penalty, not only negating the sack but giving the Rebels another play.

Penalties continue to be an issue for the Sooners, not necessarily just in numbers but that they’re happening in critical situations.

The penalty on Thomas wound up creating a 24-yard swing in favor of Ole Miss, and while Ole Miss still had to punt the ball away without a first down, those yards proved critical.

OU punt returner Isaiah Sategna hauled in the punt at the 10, then made it to just the 13 on the return, but Jacobe Johnson was flagged for holding.

The spot foul moved the ball back to the OU 5.

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An illegal formation penalty on the first play of the drive pushed the ball back to the 3, John Mateer checked into a run for Tory Blaylock and Ole Miss brought Blaylock down for a safety.

The Rebels then went on a long field-goal drive.

“I can’t check outside zone, mid-zone like that,” Mateer said. “I gotta check inside zone, or just a different call. It’s not on him (Blaylock). I think he knows that.”

Early in the third quarter, OU stopped Ole Miss on fourth-and-1 from the 25, as a bad snap helped give the Sooners the ball at the Rebels 15.

A touchdown could’ve not only made it a one-possession game but swung the momentum wildly in Oklahoma’s favor.

But on the first play, Michael Fasusi was called for being an ineligible man downfield, pushing the Sooners back and the drive sputtered.

OU eventually had to settle for a 42-yard field goal.

Later in the quarter, defensive lineman Jayden Jackson was flagged for roughing the passer on an apparent third-down stop from the Sooners’ 41.

Instead, the Rebels drove down for a field goal to go up 25-13 and ate up nearly three more minutes of clock.

While the call was a questionable one, the flag was another big one.

The Sooners wound up being flagged eight times for 52 yards.

OU is in the middle of the pack in the SEC in penalties, standing eighth at 58 yards per game. The Sooners are 15th in the 16-team league in opponent’s penalties, with just 37.13 yards per game. 

Ole Miss was flagged six times for 50 yards Saturday.

While the yardage wasn’t a huge difference in the game, on balance, many of OU’s penalties were in critical spots that could’ve swung the momentum to the Sooners’ side.

“We’re not good enough to overcome those things right now,” OU coach Brent Venables said a few days after the loss to Texas. “We need to be better about the fundamental things that keep us out of harm’s way. That’s football too; I get it, but we’ve got to be cleaner.”