Caleb Williams threw for four TDs and ran for another. The defense was less impressive.

Providing a follow-up to his performance against the Texas Longhorns was going to be no easy task, but freshman phenom Caleb Williams matched and exceeded expectations as the Oklahoma Sooners topped TCU by a score of 52-31.

Williams opened the evening by completing eight consecutive passes, and he continued the fine form throughout the evening. When TCU’s offense was finding, the DC native was always there with an answer of his own. He would end the night with a stat line of 18-23 with 295 passing yards and four TDs while also adding 66 yards and a TD on the ground. If there was any doubt about him being the real deal, tonight took care of that.

After breaking out and providing the winning score a week ago, Kennedy Brooks quietly had a fantastic night of his own, running for 153 yards on 20 carries and adding a rushibg TD of his own. Eric Gray wasn’t able to find as much success, and he punctuated the night with his first TD as a Sooner to seal the win.

Along with Williams and Brooks, Jadon Haselwood had a huge night in his own right, hauling in three TD receptions. With the offense beginning to open up, look for the former five-star recruit to truly thrive and become one of the team’s primary big-play threats.

Oddly enough, these were the first three TDs he has scored against an FBS program since arriving in Norman (the other three came against South Dakota in 2019 and Western Carolina earlier this season).

Unfortunately, the momentum of the second half in Dallas did not translate for the OU defense, as TCU was able to gain 519 yards of total offense. The secondary continues to provide red flags, and things only deteriorated further when DJ Graham left the game due to concussion protocol. To be fair, Grinch’s defense did come up with some timely stops against one of the better offenses in the conference.

The win brings OU to 924 all-time wins, pulling the Sooners ahead of Notre Dame for fifth in the history of college football.

Next up for the Sooners is an 11 a.m. contest against the lowly Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence. If you’ve never been to Lawrence and are able to make it this week, I highly recommend it. You get a stress-free game, plenty of OU fans in the stands and a BEAUTIFUL campus. The fall foliage should be on point.

After a huge comeback win in Dallas, the Sooners are looking to stay focused amid distractions.

After a huge comeback win over the Texas Longhorns in Dallas, the Oklahoma Sooners are looking to stay focused amid distractions as they face Gary Patterson’s TCU Horned Frogs. The rise of Caleb Williams, the future of Spencer Rattler and the ingenuity of the OU Daily have ruled the headlines all week, but avoiding a letdown against a well-coached team will be no small task.

Take it away, Toby.

Time & TV: Saturday, Oct. 16 at 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC

Commentary: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe

Streaming: WatchESPN

Line: Oklahoma -13.5 (as of Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT)

O/U: 64

OU-TCU Game Primer

Seth’s Game Preview

C&C Machine Q&A with Frogs O’ War’s Melissa Triebwasser

Kamiar also caught up with Melissa to preview TCU and more from this week at OU

Frogs O’ War Q&A with C&C Machine’s Jack Shields

Allen Kenney looks at how Oklahoma can utilize both Caleb Williams and Spencer Rattler

Check out this officially licensed Marvin Mims TD shirt from BreakingT

Final Thoughts

On paper, an offense that has found its stride on the ground should feast on a TCU defense that has allowed over 200 rushing yards per game this season. Unfortunately for the Sooners, Patterson has never made things easy for an OU offense, and it’ll be interesting to see what he cooks up for this one. With that in mind, I don’t expect the OU offense or Caleb Williams to ever find complete comfort, but the personnel disparity should win the day in the end.

On the other side, OU’s issues at corner remain, but Max Duggan isn’t the man to make them pay (or at least not to the full extent). While he’s a solid quarterback who can give defenses fits with his legs, his deep ball accuracy leaves a bit to be desired. OU’s athletes on defense should also do enough to corral him and prevent him from extending too many plays.

Prediction

Oklahoma 44, TCU 28

Gary Patterson’s Texas Christian squad prepares for OU during a very interesting week in Norman.

The No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners (6-0, 3-0) are back in the comfy confines of the Palace on the Prairie after making a comeback for the ages in the Red River Showdown last Saturday. This weekend, the TCU Horned Frogs (3-2, 1-1) are due up, pitting offensive mastermind Lincoln Riley against Gary Patterson’s defensive wisdom for the eighth time in seven seasons.

OU has been especially dominant at the Palace as of late, having won 24 of its last 25 home games dating back to the 2017 season, including an active streak of seven consecutive victories in Norman.

Date, Time & TV: Saturday, Oct. 16 at 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC

Line: Oklahoma -13.5 (as of Friday at 4 p.m. CT)

O/U: 64

Lincoln Riley’s final word on Friday:

OU-TCU Game Primer

C&C Machine Q&A with Frogs O’ War’s Melissa Triebwasser

Kamiar also caught up with Melissa to preview TCU and more from this week at OU

Frogs O’ War Q&A with C&C Machine’s Jack Shields

Allen Kenney looks at how Oklahoma can utilize both Caleb Williams and Spencer Rattler

Check out this officially licensed Marvin Mims TD shirt from BreakingT

Major Storylines

Who does Lincoln Riley start at QB?

That’s the big question that’s been on everyone’s mind ever since true freshman Caleb Williams came in for Spencer Rattler and led OU to a record-breaking comeback victory against Texas. Once the celebratory dust finally settled, things took a strange turn this week after the OU Daily published a report that Williams was practicing with the first-team, leading to Riley pulling the plug on all media access until after this Saturday’s game against TCU.

All QB drama aside, it’s pretty plain to see for anyone who watched the Red River game that Williams gave Oklahoma’s offense something it hadn’t shown in its previous five contests. Whether it was his energy or his play-making abilities, the team around him responded and looked more like the championship-caliber group they were projected to be coming into the season. If you ask me, I believe Williams will get the start against TCU, but I also expect to see Rattler play a significant portion of the game throughout the night. Bottom line: while this isn’t an ideal situation for the Sooners to be in mid-way through the regular season, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing to have two capable quarterbacks competing for the No. 1 spot.

Watch out for TCU’s Zach Evans and Kendre Miller

The Horned Frogs have leaned heavily on their run game this season, and for the most part they’ve been successful on the ground, production-wise. Sophomore RB Zach Evans leads the way for Gary Patterson’s offense, as he’s put up some monster stats in just five games. Coming into the weekend, he’s recorded 586 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 74 carries, and he’s added 95 receiving yards and another score on seven catches. Keep an eye on his availability, however, as he was sidelined in the second half against Texas Tech last week after sustaining what has since been reported to be a minor foot injury.

Sophomore Kendre Miller has also proven himself to be a threat from the backfield, racking up 302 yards and six TDs on 34 rushes. Additionally, both Miller and Evans top the Big 12 with 8.9 and 7.9 average yards per carry, respectively, so it’ll be paramount that OU’s run defense steps up like it has for the majority of this season to contain TCU’s explosive duo.

Gary Patterson’s defense has struggled in 2021

Gary Patterson’s name is synonymous with defense. That’s what happens when you’ve built a reputation of fielding some of the smartest and most productive defenses in college football over the years. However, that hasn’t been the case for the Horned Frogs in 2021. By the numbers, TCU ranks 91st nationally in turnovers gained (six), 95th in third-down defense (.422 conversion percentage), 99th in total defense (429.2 yards allowed per game), 116th in rush defense (206.0 rushing yards allowed per game), 122nd in total team sacks (6.0) and 126th in tackles-for-loss per contest (3.8) coming into this weekend.

Needless to say, those kinds of statistics do not bode well for Patterson’s team considering they’re about to face an Oklahoma offense that may have finally turned the corner and hit another gear with a potentially new starting QB. If these figures stay true on Saturday, it could be another long night for Gary’s group.

Does Kennedy Brooks pick up where he left off?

Kennedy Brooks is quietly building himself a case as the most underrated running back in OU history. His patience is second-to-none, and he’s deceptively fast when he breaks into the open field. Coming off a career-high 217 yards and a pair of game-changing touchdowns, what will he do against a vulnerable TCU run defense?

Well for starters, in two career games (‘18 and ‘19) against the Horned Frogs, Brooks has carried the ball a total of 43 times for 317 rushing yards (7.4 average ypc) and one touchdown. That’s about as dominant of a two-game sample as you’ll find from any one player. Given what he looked like a week ago, his presence on the field should be squarely on the minds of Gary Patterson and company.

Prediction

Looking at how much the TCU defense has struggled this season, especially against teams with respectable rushing attacks, I don’t envision OU having any real difficulty with generating yards on the ground. As anyone who has watched Oklahoma under Lincoln Riley could tell you, when his offenses are able to run the ball at will, it’s nearly impossible to stop. I believe Caleb Williams will get the starting nod, and both he and Kennedy Brooks will hurt the Horned Frogs with their legs throughout the night. That’ll gradually open up play action for guys like Marvin Mims and Mike Woods to take the top off of Patterson’s secondary. On the other side, the Sooners’ defensive line and linebackers will have their hands full with defending Zach Evans, but the pass rush be able to hurry Max Duggan into some dangerous throws that will keep them from moving the ball consistently. In the end, I see this as a relatively drama-free outing for the home team from start to finish.

Oklahoma 38, TCU 17

Follow Crimson & Cream Machine on Twitter