OU's game-sealing safety caps 10-sack explosion

NORMAN, Okla. -- Auburn manager Hugh Freeze called Oklahoma "one of the amended pass-rushing teams successful the country" aft the 11th-ranked Sooners swarmed erstwhile backmost Jackson Arnold and rode a record-setting antiaircraft enactment show to a 24-17 triumph implicit the No. 22 Tigers connected Saturday.

Arnold, a erstwhile five-star enlistee who started 9 games astatine Oklahoma successful 2024, was a cardinal storyline successful the Week 4 SEC opener. The Sooners commemorated his instrumentality by sacking Arnold 10 times, mounting a schoolhouse grounds successful a connection show that lifted Oklahoma to 4-0 and handed the Tigers their archetypal nonaccomplishment of the season.

Sophomore Jayden Jackson (2.5 sacks) led a radical of 7 Oklahoma defenders who accounted for astatine slightest 1 sack. Edge rusher R Mason Thomas, who missed the archetypal fractional pursuing a Week 3 targeting ejection, capped the show erstwhile helium chased down Arnold for a information with 1:06 near successful the game, stymying Auburn connected a imaginable go-ahead thrust successful the closing minutes.

"Their physicality, their quality to get disconnected blocks and sound radical backmost was thing other today," Sooners manager Brent Venables said of his antiaircraft enactment portion afterward.

Arnold was welcomed backmost to Oklahoma Memorial Stadium with boos and pregame jeers from the Sooners' pupil section. He finished 21-of-32 for 220 yards and a passing touchdown successful his 4th crippled with the Tigers, but spent the bulk of crippled avoiding an Oklahoma walk unreserved that pressured Arnold connected 46% of his dropbacks connected Saturday, according to ESPN Insights.

The show marked lone the 4th clip successful the past 40 seasons that an SEC defence has recorded 10 oregon much sacks successful a league game. Arnold, who was sacked 8 times connected 2 occasions with the Sooners past fall, is lone the sixth SEC backmost to beryllium sacked nine-plus times successful a league crippled since 1996 and the archetypal since erstwhile Mississippi State passer Dak Presscott successful 2015.

"He's got astonishing courageousness and toughness," Venables said of Arnold. "He's going to person plentifulness of astonishing days. He had immoderate astonishing moments contiguous -- immoderate large moments today. He's inactive conscionable a baby. All of his champion days were successful beforehand of him...I'm conscionable gladsome astatine the close clip we made the plays connected him that we needed to."

Oklahoma spent the offseason earlier Venables' 4th run successful complaint of the Sooners emphasizing the value of its beingness connected the antiaircraft enactment pursuing a 6-7 commencement to beingness successful the SEC past fall. On Saturday, the fruits of those efforts broke done successful a large way.

Despite 7 first-half sacks, Oklahoma entered halftime knotted with Auburn astatine 10-10 pursuing Arnold's two-yard touchdown propulsion to Cam Coleman with 1:08 remaining earlier the break. The Tigers took their archetypal pb of the crippled with 7:08 near successful regularisation earlier Sooners backmost Mateer restored the Oklahoma vantage with a nine-yard rushing touchdown two-and-a-half minutes later, mounting the signifier for a last flourish from the Sooners' antiaircraft line.

Leading Auburn 22-17 with 2:00 remaining, Oklahoma stuffed the Tigers connected 3 consecutive plays to seal the win. One play aft Sooners defender David Stone stuffed Arnold connected a tally up the mediate connected 2nd down, Gracen Halton notched Oklahoma's ninth sack of the crippled and Thomas followed with an end-zone sack to trigger a game-clinching safety.

"The radical successful the stands cognize they're going to pas...