NCAAF

Maine Black Bears at Oklahoma Sooners

· NCAA - Football
4-5, 2-4 Away
Final
14 - 59
5-4, 4-2 Home

Barnes runs for 203 yards, 3 TDs as Oklahoma routs Maine 59-14

Highlight: Barnes leads OU's offensive explosion in blowout vs. Maine

Barnes said the day was more about the Sooners ending their three-game losing streak and getting their offense going after struggling all season. Oklahoma gained a season-high 665 yards, including 381 on the ground.

“It feels good, but I can’t celebrate so much," he said. “I think it’s a good moment to build off of this as an offense, as a team, and go on to next week’s practice and just work. So it was a good start to something.”

Jackson Arnold passed for two touchdowns and ran for another and J.J. Hester had four catches for 112 yards and a score for the Sooners (5-4, 1-4 Southeastern Conference), who snapped a three-game losing streak.

It was Oklahoma’s 49th straight win against an unranked non-conference opponent.

“At the end of the day, we got what we wanted accomplished," Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said. “We got a lot of young guys some experience. Saw some improvement with guys up front just playing through the whistle, competing, playing with confidence.”

Carter Peevy passed for 123 yards and ran for 30 for Maine. The Sooners held the Black Bears to 251 total yards.

Maine (4-5, 2/3 Colonial Athletic Association), a Football Championship Subdivision program, fell to 4-27 all-time against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents.

Maine scored on its opening possession when Peevy connected with Cooper Heisey for a 3-yard touchdown pass.

Oklahoma immediately recovered. Barnes ripped off a 74-yard run on the first play of the ensuing possession — the longest run of his career — then he scored on a 2-yard run two plays later.

Oklahoma poured it on after that. Arnold completed a 90-yard touchdown pass to J.J. Hester that put the Sooners up 28-7 in the second quarter. It was the second-longest touchdown connection for the Sooners in Memorial Stadium history.

The Sooners gained 402 yards before the break — a season-high for an entire game — to take a 35-7 lead.

Even with the blowout loss, Maine coach Jordan Stevens saw a silver lining in having the chance to play at Oklahoma.

The Takeaway: Maine: The Black Bears were scrappy but overmatched. They got off to a good start and were fundamentally sound, but Oklahoma was bigger, stronger and faster.

Oklahoma: The Sooners ironed out some of the kinks in their offense in the second game with Joe Jon Finley calling plays. Aside from a fumble in the second quarter and a few protection breakdowns, Oklahoma played the clean, effective game it was looking for.

Time change The game was moved up from 1:30 p.m. to 11 a.m. due to expected inclement weather.

The weather never got bad, but plans were changed. Stevens said he found out right before the team got on the plane that the game would be moved up. He said his team was prepared.

“I would say like that’s the one thing that probably helps us is that we do practice early in the morning,” he said. “The players are accustomed to getting up early and getting going. So I thought they responded really well.”

Another Moss Montigo Moss, son of Pro Football Hall of Fame member Randy Moss, entered the game as Maine’s top receiver with 42 catches for 441 yards. He was held to 20 yards on two catches.

Joe Gillette led the Black Bears with three catches for 64 yards.

Up Next Maine: Hosts Bryant on Saturday.

Oklahoma: Visits No. 25 Missouri on Saturday.

How To Watch

How can I watch Maine Black Bears vs. Oklahoma Sooners?
  • TV Channel: Black Bears at Sooners 2021 College Football, week 10, is broadcasted on ESPN+.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Sooners: 98.4%
Black Bears: 1.6%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

ME TD 1st Period 7:59 Cooper Heisey 3 Yd pass from Carter Peevy (Joey Bryson Kick)
OU TD 1st Period 7:07 Jovantae Barnes 2 Yd Run (Zach Schmit Kick)
OU TD 2nd Period 13:44 Taylor Tatum 1 Yd Run (Zach Schmit Kick)
OU TD 2nd Period 6:46 Jackson Arnold 1 Yd Run (Zach Schmit Kick)
OU TD 2nd Period 3:16 J.J. Hester 90 Yd pass from Jackson Arnold (Zach Schmit Kick)
OU TD 2nd Period 0:34 Jovantae Barnes 8 Yd Run (Zach Schmit Kick)
OU TD 3rd Period 12:40 Jovantae Barnes 19 Yd Run (Zach Schmit Kick)
OU TD 3rd Period 6:20 Kaden Helms 9 Yd pass from Jackson Arnold (Zach Schmit Kick)
OU FG 4th Period 12:37 Zach Schmit 24 Yd Field Goal
ME TD 4th Period 9:38 Nick Laughlin 5 Yd Run (Joey Bryson Kick)
OU TD 4th Period 6:17 Xavier Robinson 4 Yd Run (Liam Evans Kick)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/311.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originME https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/201.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originOU
14 1st Downs 26
4-15 3rd down efficiency 10-14
2-2 4th down efficiency 2-2
251 Total Yards 665
144 Passing 284
17/33 Comp/Att 18/26
4.4 Yards per pass 10.9
107 Rushing 381
29 Rushing Attempts 52
3.7 Yards per rush 7.3
1-5 Penalties 6-65
1 Turnovers 1
1 Fumbles lost 1
0 Interceptions thrown 0
30:16 Possession 29:44

Game Information

Memorial Stadium (Norman, OK)

Location: Norman, OK
Attendance: 82,831 · Capacity:
Full Standings

College Football News

Mason Rudolph evades pressure, fires TD pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine

Mason Rudolph evades pressure, fires TD pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine

Mason Rudolph avoids getting sacked and throws a short touchdown pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.

Heupel speaks on Vols' first CFP appearance, where to go from here

Heupel speaks on Vols' first CFP appearance, where to go from here

Josh Heupel discusses what No. 7 Tennessee needed to improve on for a better result in the first round of the CFP and outlines his vision for the future of the program.

College football SP+ rankings after first-round CFP games

College football SP+ rankings after first-round CFP games

After the first round of the College Football Playoff, the championship odds are more bunched than ever.

How will Stockton level up for Georgia against Notre Dame?

How will Stockton level up for Georgia against Notre Dame?

The SEC Now crew talks about how Gunner Stockton has the ability to prepare for the Fighting Irish and breaks down the game plan Georgia needs to come out victorious.

Does CFP need tweaking after lopsided losses in 1st round?

Does CFP need tweaking after lopsided losses in 1st round?

Heather Dinich reacts to the lopsided losses in the first round of the new College Football Playoff system.