NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Jackson Arnold ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as No. 15 Oklahoma beat Tulane 34-19 on Saturday.
Arnold passed for 169 yards and ran for 97. Freshman running back Taylor Tatum caught a touchdown pass and ran for a score, and Deion Burks caught seven passes for 80 yards to help lead the Sooners.
Oklahoma coach Brent Venables liked how the Sooners responded after struggling to beat Houston 16-12 in their previous game.
“You go into a week where there’s a lot of questions and concern, if you will, and they did a great job of managing the week and focusing on what they need to do to improve and get better and take another step forward,” Venables said.
The Sooners (3-0) won their final tune-up before playing their first Southeastern Conference game next Saturday at home against Tennessee.
Oklahoma expected a tough game against the Green Wave. Tulane was coming off a 34-27 loss to then-No. 17 Kansas State last week. And the Sooners remembered the close call in 2021, when No. 2 Oklahoma held on to beat Tulane 40-35.
The Green Wave (1-2) again challenged the Sooners and came up just short. Darian Mensah completed just 14 of 32 passes for 166 yards, and Makhi Hughes ran for 71 yards and caught a touchdown pass.
“Very disappointed in the outcome today,” Tulane coach Jon Sumrall said. “Frustrated with a lot of things I think we could have done better. Hat’s off to a good opponent. They’re a quality football team. They’re very talented in a lot of spots and they’re well coached.”
The Sooners held Tulane to 279 yards and ended the Green Wave’s 10-game road win streak.
Oklahoma defensive end R. Mason Thomas dominated down the stretch. In a little more than four minutes late in the game, he had three sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup. His biggest play was his last one — he sacked Mensah, stripped the ball and recovered it to shut down Tulane’s final threat with 1:40 remaining.
Early on, it didn’t appear Thomas’ heroics would be necessary. Many fans left early when the Sooners went up by three touchdowns.
Tulane stayed in it when backup quarterback Ty Thompson connected with Reggie Brown for a 7-yard touchdown pass with 19 seconds left in the second quarter. The extra point failed, and the Sooners led 21-6 at halftime.
The Green Wave hung tough. Hughes’ 8-yard touchdown catch on fourth down was upheld upon review, and Tulane cut Oklahoma’s lead to 24-13 in the third.
Tyler Grubbs’ 22-yard interception return for a touchdown to start the fourth quarter threw a scare into the Sooners. The Green Wave missed the 2-point conversion, and Oklahoma’s lead was cut to 24-19.
Arnold’s second TD run, a 24-yarder, put the Sooners up 31-19 with 6:05 to go.
“Against a team like that, it’s almost impossible to dig yourselves a 21-0 hole and think you’ve got any chance to come back and win,” Sumrall said. “So very disappointed how we started. That falls on me. Didn’t didn’t get us ready to play the game early the right way.”
The Takeaway
Tulane: For the second straight week, the Green Wave found themselves in the game in the fourth quarter against a high-level Power Four opponent and couldn’t finish the deal. Tulane had no turnovers through three quarters, but two in the fourth.
Oklahoma: The defense was good again, but the passing game has yet to produce 200 yards in a game. The Sooners have made up for their aerial struggles with timely plays on offense and an opportunistic defense.
Welcome back
Former Oklahoma receiver Mario Williams finished with three catches for 36 yards.
Williams caught 35 passes for 380 yards and four touchdowns for the Sooners in 2021. He transferred to USC and caught 69 passes for 936 yards and seven touchdowns in two seasons with the Trojans. He entered Saturday’s game with 10 catches for 252 yards this season.
Quotable
Sumrall, on how the altered practice schedule because of Hurricane Francine affected preparation: “It’d be really easy to sit up here and go, ‘Well, we didn’t have our normal week.’ Well, who cares? Look, nobody’s looking for an excuse. I’m not going to allow that to be an excuse. I mean, was our schedule abnormal? Sure. Was it really goofy and funky for everybody? … Yeah. Does the scoreboard care? No.”
Up Next
Tulane: Visits Louisiana on Saturday.
Oklahoma: Hosts No. 7 Tennessee in its Southeastern Conference opener next Saturday.
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