Sooners Fall at LSU in Regular Season Finale
Oklahoma's football team struggled on defense and gave up a critical special teams touchdown in a 37-17 loss to LSU at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Saturday night.
LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier passed for 277 yards and three touchdowns on 22-of-31 passing.
Oklahoma could only manage 110 yards passing on 14-of-21 from Jackson Arnold.
Arnold rushed for 75 yards on 17 carries but OU only had 167 rushing yards total.
Both teams had to punt on their first possession, then LSU moved the ball on their second possession.
The Tigers went 53 yards in seven plays, with Garrett Nussmeier passing to Kyren Lacy for an 18-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead with 7:09 to play in the first quarter.
Oklahoma had to punt on the ensuing possession, then the Sooner defense got the game tied up.
Gracen Halton sacked Nussmeier and caused a fumble, which was scooped up by R Mason Thomas and returned 9 yards for a touchdown to tie the game 7-7 wth 3:26 to play in the first quarter.
On LSU's ensuing possession, Thomas sacked Nussmeier for a seven yard loss and Nussmeier had to be helped off the field.
The two teams traded punts, then the Tigers got a 50-yard run from Caden Durham to the Sooner 12-yard line.
The OU defense held from there and LSU got a 34-yard field goal from Damian Ramos to take a 10-7 lead with 8:39 left in the first half.
Oklahoma responded in just 3 plays, going 75 yards.
On the first play, Jackson Arnold threw deep to J.J. Hester, who made a diving catch for 50 yards.
Arnold then ran for 28 yards to the LSU 2-yard line, and Xavier Robinson finished the drive with a two-yard touchdown run to give the Sooners their first lead 14-10, with 7:22 left in the second quarter.
LSU's response took just one play, as Aaron Anderson returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to give the the Tigers the lead back at 17-14 with 7:08 left in the first half.
Oklahoma answered to tie the game on their ensuing possession.
Arnold passed to Jacob Jordan for 17 yards to the LSU 24-yard line.
OU then lost two yards on the next three plays and had to settle for a 44-yard field goal from Zach Schmit to make it 17-17 with 2:13 remaining in the first half.
LSU once again had a response, going 66 yards in six plays, with Nussmeier back at quarterback.
He went deep to Chris Hilton, made a spinning catch in the end zone for a 40-yard touchdown to put the Tigers up 24-17 with 45 seconds to play in the first half.
Oklahoma got the ball to start the second half and had to punt after gaining 20 yards.
LSU then took their first possession and went 88 yards in nine plays to extend their lead.
Nussmeier went deep again to Hilton for a 45-yard touchdown to make it 31-17 LSU with 6:48 left in the third quarter.
Oklahoma was moving the ball on their next possession until they tried a trick play that failed miserably.
Arnold lateraled to Bauer Sharp, who was looking to pass, had to avoid the pass rush, then threw a wild desperation pass that was intercepted by Sage Ryan, who returned it 16 yards to the LSU 42-yard line.
Late in the third quarter, Nussmeier passed deep to Ka'Morreun Pimpton for a gain of 42 yards to the OU 4-yard line.
The Sooner defense held, however and Ramos kicked a 22-yard field goal to extend LSU's lead to 34-17 with 14:47 to play.
The two teams traded punts, then Oklahoma turned the ball over on downs, as Arnold was sacked on a 4th and 6 play, giving the Tigers the ball at the OU 28-yard line.
LSU got a 32-yard field goal from Ramos to make it 37-17 with 3:19 to play.
Oklahoma drops to 6-6 on the season and finishes 2-6 in SEC play.
The Sooners will await their bowl announcement on December 8th.
The official attendance was 99,364, the third largest crowd to watch an OU football game.
This was the first regular season meeting between the two teams, who had met previously three times in bowl games.