OU football notebook: Peyton Bowen goes rogue, takes risk and blocks SMU punt

Block or not to block punt

Peyton Bowen, just a freshman, fessed up to his mistake in Oklahoma’s 28-11 win over SMU.

He wasn’t supposed to make the blocked punt that led to OU’s first touchdown.

“I ain’t gonna lie. I was supposed to help block for a blocker and then it kind of just like … we didn’t get lined up correctly early,” Bowen said, describing his first-quarter punt block. “And he blocked so hard down I saw no guard, like no shield and I was like ‘let’s go make a play.’ And that’s what I did and it ended up working out in our favor. It was one of those ‘take-a-risk’ moments and it worked.”

It was the Sooners’ first punt block since the 2020 season, when David Ugwoegbu had one against Texas.

Did the coaches point out that he went rogue on the play?

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“They didn’t even ask questions. I mean I might get told about it (on Sunday) but they didn’t say anything on the sidelines. They didn’t notice,” Bowen said.

Finding end zone

It felt so good, Jalil Farooq said with a smile.

The Sooners receiver discusses his performance against the Mustangs.

The sophomore wide receiver finally found the end zone with a 21-yard reception during the fourth quarter to give the Sooners a 21-11 lead over the Mustangs and some much-needed breathing room.

“It’s the start for me of just getting, starting the season off right, just starting to get rolling. Just taking advantage of my opportunity. The ball came my way and I made a play,” Farooq said.

SMU had momentum after cutting the Sooners’ edge to 14-11 with 12 minutes remaining in regulation before the Sooners traveled 76 yards on 13 players, including a pair of critical third-down pickups.

What were those conversations in the huddle like at crunch time?

“Just like we got together, just talked about how critical it is now. We gotta go down and score,” Farooq said. “We gotta make sure we make plays. 50-50 balls, we gotta take advantage of it. Just everybody gotta do their job, just focus on doing their job. The game’s not over, so we gotta finish it, so that’s what we did. We closed it up.”

Still no scholarship

Tawee Walker is Oklahoma’s leading rusher after gaining 117 yards on 21 carries against the Mustangs.

He remains a walk-on within the roster. Does he expect to gain a scholarship?

“That’s not really something that I’m thinking about right now,” Walker said. “I’m just thinking about winning games with my team and just keep practicing and just keeping my head up. Everything’s going to fall into place one day.”

Walker’s big run was a 30-yard dash during the second quarter.

Movement in polls

Oklahoma dipped one spot to No. 19 in the AP Top 25 poll released on Sunday afternoon.

The Sooners moved up one spot to No. 16 in the US LBM Coaches Poll announced earlier in the day.

The AP poll includes two other Big 12 schools and is led by No. 4 Texas, which moved up seven spaces to No. 7 after beating Alabama 34-24. The Longhorns are No. 6 in the coaches poll.

Kansas State (2-0) is No. 15 in both polls.

OU will visit Tulsa at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Stutsman honored

Linebacker Danny Stutsman was named the Walter Camp FBS National Defensive Player of the Week after registering 17 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack, a QB hurray and recovering a fumble against the Mustangs.

It’s the first time that an OU player has earned the honor since Kenneth Murray picked up the award in the 2018 season.

“I just trust the system I’m playing in. Really starting to understand it,” Stutsman said.

“All those extra hours with the coaches is really starting to pay off. It slows down. I know there is so much to improve on. I made a lot of mistakes. I have a long ways to go.”

— Eric Bailey, Tulsa World

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