Boomer!
I said, BOOMER!
There it is. I heard you say "Sooner" from all the way out here on the prairie. Hey, y'all, it's Savannah Redbird-Lowe, former rodeo princess, current full-time Sooner, and a woman who reads a defense the way I used to read a barrel pattern: three turns, no wasted motion, and don't you dare knock one over.
This week I'm writing from the bleachers of a little practice arena outside Norman, where the October wind is doing that thing where it rearranges your hair for free. It's been a two-sided week, darlin'. One weekend we beat No. 1. The next weekend, we tipped a barrel. So let's talk about both, and then let's go to Starkville, a place no Sooner team has ever played.
Part 1: Four Barrels Down
Kentucky 21, Oklahoma 13, at home in Norman, in front of 83,218 people.
I'll be honest, because a rodeo princess doesn't fib about her times. We led most of the night. After Kentucky scored on its first drive, our defense held the Wildcats to 76 yards and four punts on their next five possessions. Tate Sandell drilled a 44-yard field goal. Then John Mateer found tight end Rocky Beers for a 20-yard touchdown with 30 seconds left in the half, and we led 10-7. Sandell added a 26-yarder in the third, and it was 13-7. I was standing up in my boots.
And then the barrels started falling. Kentucky intercepted us four times. Ty Bryant's first interception set up a Kentucky touchdown that made it 14-13 early in the fourth quarter. Then, with 1:17 to go, Jordan Castell returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown. That was the night.
Mateer threw for 270 yards and a touchdown. Isaiah Sategna III caught eight passes for 83 yards, and Manny Choice caught five for 98. And our defense was terrific. Jake Kreul had 2.5 sacks and three tackles for loss, Owen Heinecke and Kip Lewis each made eight tackles, and we held Kentucky to 230 yards. You hold an SEC team to 230 yards, you ought to win. We just have to quit handing out free gifts.
Schooner Ride: The Week Before
Now let me remind everybody what happened one week earlier, because a princess always shows her best ride first. On Oct. 10, at the Cotton Bowl, Oklahoma beat then-No. 1 Texas 27-24. The AP noted that the No. 1 team then lost again the next week, too, when Auburn beat Georgia, the first time the No. 1 team had lost in consecutive weeks since October 1990. We started that trend, darlin'. You're welcome, college football.
That's this team. When we hold onto the ball, we can beat anybody in America.
Part 2: First Trip to Starkville
Saturday at 3:30 Eastern on SEC Network, we head to Davis Wade Stadium to play Mississippi State. We're 3-3 and 1-2 in the SEC. The Bulldogs are 4-2 and 2-2.
According to CollegeFootballData.com's records, the Sooners and Bulldogs have never played each other. First time ever. And there's a twist: Mississippi State's head coach, Jeff Lebby, used to be Oklahoma's offensive coordinator. He knows us. He knows our songs. He might even know the words to "Boomer Sooner." I hope he hums along.
Now, I'll be gracious, because Mama raised me with manners and a curry comb. Mississippi State started 4-0, with wins at South Carolina and over Missouri. Its offense averages 454.3 yards a game, 22nd in FBS, and Anthony Evans III has 47 catches for 614 yards. And the Bulldogs have been without starting quarterback Kamario Taylor and top running back Da'Marion Bothwell; we wish them both well and a full recovery.
But then I read the rest of the program.
The last two weeks, Mississippi State lost 56-23 at home to Alabama and 31-0 at LSU. That's two straight losses by more than 30. The Bulldog pass defense gives up 264.8 yards a game, 127th in FBS. It allows 28.5 points a game, 111th. And Mississippi State averages 70.7 penalty yards a game, 118th. Darlin', that's a lot of yellow laundry for one afternoon.
Who to Watch
Our defense: It allows 260.7 yards a game, fifth in FBS, and 151.3 passing yards, sixth. Opponents convert just 25.6% of their third downs, second in the country. In the red zone, opponents score only 66.7% of the time, sixth. This is the best barrel racer in the arena, and it doesn't knock anything over.
John Mateer, quarterback: 1,308 yards, nine touchdowns and a 65.1 completion rate. The interceptions are the one thing I'd fix with a magic wand. Against a pass defense that ranks 127th, he doesn't need to force anything. Just ride the pattern.
Isaiah Sategna III, receiver: 33 catches for 414 yards, our leader.
Lloyd Avant, running back: 267 yards on 60 carries. I'll be honest: our run game averages 92.5 yards a game, 136th in FBS. But Mississippi State's defense just gave up 289 passing yards to LSU, so maybe this is a throw-it-around kind of Saturday.
Anthony Evans III, the Bulldogs' top receiver: 614 yards. Our sixth-ranked pass defense would like a word with him.
A Brief History Seminar
Oklahoma claims seven national championships: 1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985 and 2000. We have seven Heisman Trophy winners and 50 conference championships. Mississippi State has won one SEC championship, in 1941. Darlin', we won 14 straight conference titles from 1946 to 1959. We've had seasons with more trophies than Starkville has stoplights. I'm kidding about the stoplights. Mostly. I haven't counted.
Prairie Talk: A Tale of Two Towns
Norman. The 2020 census counted 128,026 people in Norman, the third-largest city in Oklahoma. Our campus has a Gothic-inspired style that Frank Lloyd Wright called "Cherokee Gothic," and our stadium, which seats 80,126, is known as the Palace on the Prairie. And our official mascot, the Sooner Schooner, is a scaled-down replica of the Conestoga wagons used by settlers around the Land Rush of 1889. It's pulled by two white ponies named Boomer and Sooner, and it first rolled onto Owen Field in 1964. Name a cuter mascot. You can't. I'll wait.
Starkville. Now, Starkville is charming, and I mean it. But it had 24,360 people in the 2020 census. Norman is more than five times bigger. Our stadium alone holds more than three Starkvilles.
And the town's history! Starkville was first called Boardtown, because a nearby mill made clapboards. They named the town after lumber, darlin'. Then they renamed it to honor a Revolutionary War general. Honestly, I liked Boardtown. It had honesty.
Their stadium, Davis Wade, opened in 1914, and it's the second-oldest in FBS. I respect my elders. I just wonder whether the bleachers creak in time with the cowbells.
Oh, the cowbells. Mississippi State fans have been ringing cowbells at games since roughly the late 1930s, and Wikipedia says the tradition has survived repeated attempts to quiet it down. Y'all, I grew up around livestock. I know exactly what a cowbell is for. It's so you can find the cow. And after the last two Saturdays, I think the Bulldogs might be ringing them to find their offense.
The Last Barrel
Here's how I see it. We have a top-five defense, a pass defense that ranks sixth, and a team that beat No. 1 two weeks ago. They have a pass defense that ranks 127th and two straight blowout losses. All we have to do is hold on to the football and ride a clean pattern. Three turns, no knockdowns, and a fast time home.
Now, one more time, all together.
Boomer!
(You say Sooner.)
My call: Oklahoma Sooners 25, Mississippi State Bulldogs 24.