3 Sooners Takeaways: Winning The Close Ones Is A Big Deal

Oklahoma's 31-29 win over the University of Central Florida is a tale of what could have been.

A few hours after OU escaped Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium with its 7-0 record intact, football fans of the crimson-and-cream variety surely saw what went down in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as the 1-5 Virginia Cavaliers beat a Top 10 opponent on the road for the first time in Wahoos' history. Undefeated North Carolina fell to 6-1 with a 31-27 loss.

That just as easily could have been the Oklahoma Sooners, who struggled mightily with 3-3 UCF.

Survive and advance.

Quarterback John Rhys Plumlee was only 16 of 30 for 248 yards and a couple of touchdowns, but the big play was very much in effect for Guz Malzahn and the Golden Knights. Javon Baker hauled in a pass from Plumlee and took it down the sidelines for 86 yards, a score, and a kiss blown to the Sooners' sidelines. That made it 17-14 late in the first half.

It just never felt like the Sooners were hitting on all cylinders. However, as good teams start to become great, they find a way to win even when things aren't falling their way. It was a sentiment Oklahoma coach Brent Venables talked about after the game.

"Find a way to win. If you go in there and think things are going to be easy, or you go in there and try to play to a certain level of expectations or to a point spread, to an opinion of others, you're going to be in for a rude awakening. Your butt ain't going to be ready to play and compete. We try to nurture that, that mindset, and it's not an easy thing to nurture. But when you go through it, it develops some confidence -- and we've gone through it a little bit," Venables said.

It doesn't get easier for Oklahoma, who travels to Lawrence, Kansas, this weekend to face a Jayhawks team with a good offense of its own (especially with quarterback Jalon Daniels under center, should he return). The Jayhawks are coming off a bye week, rested and ready.

Takeaway 1: Can we give UCF some credit?

First, let's talk about Gus Malzahn, a well-known commodity in these parts, especially if you have any family or friends from northwest Arkansas. He won the 2005 Class 5A state title with Springdale HS thanks to a really talented core of players, including quarterback Mitch Mustain. Malzahn's offense has always been uptempo and a little gimmickly, not unlike the offense pioneered by coaches like Hal Mumme and the late, great Mike Leach. Malzahn and Mustain both ended up in Fayetteville with the Razorbacks, and then eventually Gus ended up as the offensive coordinator for Auburn.

War Eagle won the national championship in 2011 with Malzahn as OC and Heisman winner Cam Newton at QB. Gus eventually got the call to become Auburn's head coach and was there through 2020, making it back to a title game one time, a 34-31 loss to Florida State in 2014.

Malzahn is a very good coach, a terrific offensive mind, and he's got a solid quarterback. A transfer to UCF from Ole Miss, Plumlee was returning from an injury he suffered in the second game of the season. UCF was 2-0 at that point with wins over Kent State (56-6) and Boise State (18-16).

Is it possible that UCF with Plumlee is simply a much better team than its 3-4 record indicates?

Takeaway 2: Special teams are still a concern

The good news Saturday against UCF is that Oklahoma's punting game was considerably improved. Luke Elzinga booted the pigskin five times for a total of 258 yards, an average of 51.6 yards per kick. That's an improvement over previous games by nearly 10 yards per punt. In Game 1 versus Arkansas State, Josh Plaster had one kick for 50 yards.

The bad news was that field goal kicker Zach Schmit was one for three on FG attempts. For the season, he's 9 of 13 for a 69.2 percent success rate. This is up from his 66.7 percent success rate a year ago (12 of 18). However, this ranks Schmit 81st in the country in field goal percentage.

That could cost Oklahoma down the road.

Takeaway 3: Signs of life from OU running game

The Sooners' running attack has frustrated fans for most of the season. There hasn't been much in the way of breakway speed, and with the exception of senior Marcus Major, it's largely been running back by committee for Oklahoma this year. Note: Tawee Walker was serving a one-game suspension against UCF.

However, let's go back to the game-winning drive (and the one right before it) for the Sooners and the emergence of freshman Gavin Sawchuk. Down 23-17, Sawchuk started to find his rhythm. On 2nd and 10 from the Sooners' 35, Sawchuk ran for 7. And then he ran for 8. Then for another 8 on second down, and then for 6 more on a play that was nullified by a UCF penalty.

Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby then hit the Golden Knights with a couple doses of Marcus Major. On 1st and 10 from the UCF 37, Major picked up 13. He duplicated that two plays later to get OU to the UCF 11. From there, quarterback Dillon Gabriel hit Drake Stoops for an 11-yard touchdown.

On the next drive, Sawchuk took it to the house:

It's armchair-quarterback talk, but a good running game sure opens up the passing game.

Rarely does everything go perfect for any team, anywhere. But last season, Oklahoma lost all the close ones:

1. 41-34 loss to Kansas State
2. 38-35 loss to Baylor
3. 23-20 loss to West Virginia
4. 51-48 loss to Texas Tech
5. 35-32 loss to Florida State

It's a new season, and for the second game in a row, the Sooners found a way to win a close one.

That is progress, probably more important than we armchair-quarterbacks can understand.