Turnovers in the first quarter doomed both the Oklahoma Sooners and their starting quarterback, as South Carolina defeated OU, 35-9 Saturday afternoon at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, in Norman.

“Just so happy for our players,” said South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer said. “To come off the heartbreak of last week and respond like we did today was really freaking awesome to watch. I think there was very much a mentality with our players after last week of enough is enough, and we know what kind of team we can be. We’ve been banging on the door. It’s time to kick the door down. And we certainly kicked the door down today.”

Beamer, a former assistant coach at OU, was referring to his team’s rebound following a 27-25 loss at then-No. 7 Alabama last week.

Even though the Sooners outgained South Carolina 291 to 254 in total yardage, three turnovers on three consecutive drives by starting quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. in the first quarter proved to be costly.

The Gamecocks (4-3, 2-3 SEC) took advantage of those turnovers, by scoring two defensive touchdowns and another score, and building a 21-0 lead in the first six minutes of the game.

This was the second straight game where turnovers took the Sooners out of the game early. Last week against Texas, turnovers in the second quarter led to the Longhorns winning that game.

“We said going into the game that one of our keys to victory was — every week, it’s to win the turnover battle, but this week we actually used the word dominate the turnover battle, and they absolutely did,” Beamer said.

It wasn’t all Hawkins’ fault. The OU offensive line just couldn’t protect their quarterback or give him enough time to be productive. That even continued after the Sooners replaced Hawkins with Jackson Arnold. The OU offensive line allowed nine sacks in the game, an OU record. Plus, the nine sacks were credited to nine different South Carolina players.

OU head coach Brent Venables admitted that his team has a lot of work to do to turn things around.

“What we put out there today as a football team is nothing remotely close to the standard here at the University of Oklahoma, certainly not what we planned for today,” Venables said. “My job as a head coach is to evaluate everything and figure it out and find a way to put us in a better position to be successful.”

The Sooners (4-3, 1-3 SEC) defense matched a season high with six sacks and a season-high 11 tackles for loss.

South Carolina extended their lead to 24-0 with a 39-yard field goal by Alex Herrera early in the second quarter before OU kicker Zach Schmit converted from 44 yards out with four minutes to play in the half.

The Gamecocks scored again on a 33-yard pass play to take a 32-3 lead into halftime.

Arnold connected with Brenen Thompson for a 54-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter, but a two-point conversion attempt failed, making the score 32-9.

Herrera kicked a 33-yard field goal with 7:48 remaining for the final score.

Arnold finished the game having completed 18-of-36 passes for a season-high 225 yards and one touchdown. It was the first time this season an OU quarterback threw for more than 200 yards in a game.

For the Sooners, Jovantae Barnes rushed for a season-high 70 yards on 17 carries, while freshman wide receiver Jacob Jordan had career-best marks of six catches and 86 yards on eight targets while playing in his second collegiate game.

This Saturday, Oklahoma travels to Ole Miss with the kickoff set for 11:00 a.m. CDT on ESPN or ABC.

Sooners fire OC Seth Littrell

After the Sooners loss to South Carolina, Offensive Coordinator and Play Caller Seth Littrell was fired.

The Sooners who have an inexperienced offensive line had allowed 29 sacks this season, combined with the quarterback position not being settled and injuries plaguing the wide receiver corps the offense  has  been unproductive.

Littrell was hired in December of 2023 replacing Jeff Lebby who left for Mississippi State.  Littrell is the former head coach of North Texas.

“Seth is an all-time great Sooner,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said in a statement. “He has a deep love for this university and football program, and has poured his heart and soul into both. Despite that, our performance as an offense this season has not at all lived up to the OU standard and I felt a change was necessary now.”

Co-Offensive Coordinator Joe Jon Finley was promoted to Interim Offensive Coordinator and play caller.  Kevin Johns was promoted to quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator.