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OU-Navy quick-hit: Sooners falter in Armed Forces Bowl

Bob Przybyloby:Bob Przybylo•12/27/24•

BPrzybylo

Blake Horvath
Navy QB Blake Horvath. (Bryan Terry - Imagn Images).

FORT WORTH, Texas – You cannot question the effort of OU, don’t think anybody has. But for whatever reason, the execution and thought process in 2024 just left a lot to be desired.

There’s a reason Brent Venables and Team 130 were 6-6 going into the Armed Forces Bowl. Sadly, it was on full display against Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl on Friday afternoon at TCU.

After a great start, a disastrous finish. OU downed 21-20 against Navy, Sooners denied the two-point conversion with :06 left. Michael Hawkins Jr. sacked on the two-point try.

Hawkins found Jake Roberts in the corner of the end zone to give OU a chance.

Hawkins leaves it all out there, not enough

It wasn’t all pretty by quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr., but he was on-point. Passing, running, scrambling. You could see the confidence.

He created something special on a 56-yard touchdown pass to Zion Kearney in the first quarter. Reversing field, giving himself a chance to make the throw.

OU had six drops. Some of them, no other way to say it, stopped scoring drives. Period. But Hawkins kept coming.

He took some hits, lost a fumble, but he gave his best to show offensive coordinator-to be Ben Arbuckle exactly what he can do.

Hawkins threw for 247 yards and ran for 61. But it wasn’t enough. He also accounted for two touchdowns.

Allergic to success, even in a bowl game

Drops, penalties. You name it. OU had a real chance to separate on the scoreboard in the first half. Up 14-0, and it could have been a lot worse. It should have been a lot worse.

Throughout the course of the game, though, the miscues kept piling up. Dropped passes by receivers that would have been potential game-changers.

Hawkins had a 56-yard touchdown run wiped out by penalty. OU simply couldn’t get out of its own way. Even someone as stout as punter Luke Elzinga couldn’t avoid it. He had an 11-yard punt in the first half that led to Navy’s first touchdown.

Just incredibly hard to piece it together as to why it simply kept happening. Defense allowed one big play after another, including a 95-yard touchdown run by Blake Horvath that set a Navy record. Just unreal.

Up next

Take a breath… or a drink. The 2024 season is over for OU. The Sooners will now look to replenish what they need to in the transfer portal and get ready for 2025.

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