Lincoln Riley weighs in on narrow Oklahoma win over Tulane

Oklahoma entered today’s season opener against Tulane with a credible claim to being the nation’s best team.

After today’s 40-35 win where the Sooners’ defense looked pedestrian and Heisman frontrunner and quarterback Spencer Rattler made several mistakes, the Oklahoma’s potential was called into question. 

Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley addressed the performance following the game, reading the room right off the bat. 

“I think the big things for us are we’re not going to apologize for winning, but at the same time we’ve got to own the good and the bad,” Riley said. “And there was certainly plenty of both.”

Riley took responsibility for mistakes he made, including his decision not to punt on a 4th and 1 from their own 46-yard line in the middle of the third quarter. Running back Kennedy Brooks was dropped for a loss of four yards on the play.

“It was just a really, really poor decision by me,” Riley said.

Additionally, Riley blamed himself for the complacency from the Sooners after they took a 37-14 lead just before halftime.

“Second half, I think clearly our team felt like the game was over,” Riley said. “That’s my job, to make sure our mentality is right. I don’t think it was.”

Oklahoma scored just three points after the half, and Tulane came storming back, albeit with several mistakes. They missed a field goal on their first drive of the second half, then scored touchdowns on three of their next four possessions. The sole drive that ended without points was a fumble, one of three Tulane turnovers on the day.

Of course, the late momentum swing was not just a result of Oklahoma falling asleep at the wheel. Riley threw plenty of compliments Tulane’s way in his post game presser.

“I give Tulane credit, I mean they made a lot of plays,” Riley said. “They threw and caught the ball well. The two interceptions we threw were phenomenal plays on the ball. They played a lot better than we did in the second half, and their mentality was a lot better than ours in the second half.”

Tulane finished with 396 yards of total offense, and quarterback Michael Pratt went 27-for-44 with 296 yards and three touchdowns. He carried the ball 15 times for 34 yards and a score as well. 

In the end, Oklahoma got the win, and Riley was proud of the face his team handled late adversity. 

“I’m proud of the way we finished because, again, football is always a game of momentum,” Riley said. “And when it’s going the way it was for us, you gotta find your best there at the end. We did a great job getting a stop defensively and then being able to run out the clock with the two runs there to finish the game. 

“Right now we’re a football team that shows some flashes of having a chance to be a good team, but we’ve clearly got a ton of work to do, all of us, if we’re going to reach our potential. And that will be our goal, certainly going into this next one and the rest of the way up.”