Rapid Reaction: Oklahoma Rallies To Take Down Texas Tech

Rapid reaction from Oklahoma's 42-30 win over Texas on Saturday.

The Good: It took a half for the OU coaching staff to figure out what it needed to do to leave Lubbock with a win, but at least they figured it out. The Sooners owned the game in the second half by pounding the ball down Texas Tech's throat. OU ran for 384 yards against Texas Tech, but 316 of those came in the second half when OU smartly abandoned the pass game and just pounded the Red Raiders' 119th-ranked run defense. The OU defense was anything but good, but the Sooners did manage to get consistent pressure on the quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Eric Striker was in the backfield all night and made life difficult for Mahomes. Cody Thomas, making his first career start, was wildly erratic in the first half, but made some nice throws all the same. He also ran for 103 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.

The Bad: Lots of things went wrong for the Sooners on Saturday and it nearly led to a disastrous loss. The secondary was terrible once again, giving up xxx yards to Tech through the air. The Sooners also blew several coverages that led to long touchdowns, but two of those were called back due to holding calls. The offense in the first half was dismal. The Sooners opted to throw the ball 17 times in the first half with Thomas, which resulted in three interceptions. The Sooners found themselves down 21-7 after the first possession of the third quarter, but they were lucky it wasn't worse than that. The Sooners also left Lubbock with a slew of injuries and bumps and bruises. Among those injured (or left the game momentarily due to an injur): Sterling Shepard, Geneo Grissom, Alex Ross, Dionte Savage, Daryl Williams, Blake Bell, Jordan Phillips and Samaje Perine. Only Shepard, Grissom and Williams didn't return to the game.

What It Means: The Sooners avoided a cataclysmic loss in Lubbock and remains on pace to win out and possibly make a trip to San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl. I know, I know, don't get too excited.

MVP: Samaje Perine

The bulldozing true freshman looked like the running back that ran roughshod over West Virginia back in September. Perine finished with 25 carries for 213 yards and three touchdowns. 182 of those yards came in the second half when OU smartly leaned on the run game. With Saturday's performance, Perine became the first OU back since Demarco Murray in 2010 to rush for 1,000 yards in a season.

Game-Changing Play: Perine's 64-yard touchdown run

Perine's impressive display of speed came just four plays after Texas Tech had taken a 21-7 lead on the first possession after halftime. Perine simply took a handoff off the left side of the line and outran the Texas Tech defense to the end zone. It was all Sooners after that.

What's Next: Oklahoma plays Kansas at 11 a.m. next week in Norman. Based on how the two teams played this week, the Sooners better come prepared or they could lose their third straight home game. The crowd could be pretty terrible, as well.