OU football's loss to Kentucky makes Texas win mirage, not start of special run | Mussatto

NORMAN — Owen Heinecke sighed, knowing the momentum OU had seized from a Red River triumph was gone. Just like that.

“That game,” Heinecke said, “that’s a game we’ve got to win all day.”

It was a game the Sooners controlled for much of three quarters before Kentucky, lying in wait, pounced.

The Sooners had more yards, more first downs, more possession and more big plays. And most critically, more mistakes.

Kentucky scratched its way to a 21-13 win on Saturday night in Norman thanks to not one, not two, not three … but a plus-four advantage in the turnover margin.

“We can’t go down 0-4 in the turnover margin and expect to win games,” Heinecke said. “It’s not gonna work like that. The defense has to be better on that front, and same with the offense.”

More: OU football offensive line collapses late in loss vs Kentucky. Can Sooners get healthy?

John Mateer threw zero interceptions in OU’s win against Texas a week ago. And OU won. He threw three interceptions against Kentucky. And OU lost. (Punter Jacob Ulrich was responsible for the other pick on a flubbed fake field goal attempt).

Is it encouraging or discouraging that Mateer was playing the best football of his SEC career in the first half? OU only had three possessions, and all were long. Drives of 13, 12 and 12 plays. The last was a touchdown drive that traversed 90 yards as OU took a 10-7 lead into the locker room.

But as the game wore on, a depleted and defeated Sooner offensive line wore down. As his protection collapsed, Mateer did the same. The picks were bad, but it’s hard to pin this loss on Mateer. He has enough problems of his own. Asking him to thrive behind a damaged offensive line seems less than fair.

Mateer outgained his counterpart, Kentucky quarterback Kenny Minchey, 270-158 through the air, but Minchey was turnover free.

The margins in the SEC are too thin to overcome a turnover count that lopsided.

“You’ve seen it in almost every game we’ve played,” Heinecke said. “They’re one-score games, and that’s why the emphasis on the turnover margin is so high for us.”

This isn’t the same old Kentucky, by the way. These Cats — 4-1 in SEC play — might be bound for Atlanta. What a story that would be. Kentucky in the last-ever SEC title game?

But this isn’t the same old OU, either. The Texas win could’ve been the start of a turnaround. Instead, OU returned home only to lose to a basketball school with a first-year coach.

Maybe we should’ve seen it coming. There were upsets galore across the SEC on Saturday. Auburn beat Georgia, Florida beat Texas and Tennessee beat Alabama all before OU and Kentucky kicked off.

More: OU football's fatal flaw haunts Sooners again in collapse vs Kentucky

OU outgained Kentucky 346 to 230, but just ask Cats coach Will Stein what he thinks about that.

“Somebody told me once, ‘Stats are for losers,’” Stein said. “This is one of those games. Somehow, and I know how, we found a way to win through our grit, through our toughness …”

Kentucky played sound football. The Sooners were sloppy.

“We had plenty of opportunities there late into the third quarter to knock them out,” Venables said. “We just weren’t able to get it done. Couldn’t get the stop when we needed to. Couldn’t make the conversions when we needed to.”

Everything seems to change week to week in this crazy conference, but OU’s comeback in the Cotton Bowl is already looking more like a mirage than the start of some magical run.

“After a game like last week, the message is you’ve got to take the win and learn from it but also get better,” Heinecke said. “And we were not better this week.”

Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football's loss to Kentucky makes Texas win mirage, not start of special run | Mussatto