What Brent Venables, Oklahoma players said about silencing Williams-Brice crowd
Brent Venables knew what kind of environment he was taking his Oklahoma Sooners football into on Saturday.
The Sooners head coach had spent 10 years as Clemson defensive coordinator and faced South Carolina, the Tigers’ top rival, several times at Williams-Brice Stadium. So, he knew he would be seeing a rowdy student section with white towels that would be waving and knew he would be hearing the song “Sandstorm” that would be playing.
But Venables’ Sooners were ready for the challenge in their first game at a college stadium this season as they defeated the Gamecocks, 26-7, with a dominating performance especially in the second half.
“The environment here is fantastic and is as good as there is in college football,” Venables said. “The fan base is passionate and loyal. You go on the road. You are going to have to play through the chaos of game day. But at the end of the day, you can set the tone for the day. We got a couple of those fourth-down stops early in the day. It kept everyone edgy and a little more quiet.
“But that is what happens when your guys compete with great strain.”
The Sooners were coming off a disappointing loss to Texas last week and Venables said his team “played angry and hungry.”
It was Oklahoma’s first trip to Williams-Brice Stadium — as they are in its second season in the Southeastern Conference — and toughest road test of the season. Oklahoma played a neutral site game against Texas at the Cotton Bowl last week and played at Temple, which plays in a mostly empty stadium in the home of the Philadelphia Eagles.
But the Sooners definitely weren’t intimidated by the hostile environment on Saturday and fed off the crowd. By late in the second half, most of the fans poured out of the stadium with the Sooners firmly in control.
Oklahoma players got into the act in the fourth quarter, waving white towels on the sidelines, similar to what South Carolina fans do when “Sandstorm” blares.. After the game, you could hear Oklahoma players chanting U-S-C, U-S-C from their locker room, similar to what Gamecock fans chant.
“The atmosphere was great,” Oklahoma defensive tackle Gracen Halton said. “A lot of people showed up, did the little towel dance and it was great to see. Great environment . But like I said we shut that down in the fourth quarter.”
The Sooners shut down the Gamecocks well before the fourth quarter. Oklahoma marched down the field on the first possession of the game and running back Tony Blalock scored on an 18-yard run that made it 7-0.
It looked like South Carolina had momentum going into halftime, scoring late in the second quarter to cut the lead to 14-7. The Gamecocks got the ball first in the second half but were stopped on third-and-1.
The Sooners also didn’t fall for the Gamecocks’ special-teams’ trick plays, which they are known for under coach Shane Beamer. Down 17-7 in the third quarter and looking for momentum, Beamer called for a fake punt on fourth-and-2 from the Gamecocks’ own 48-yard line.
But linebacker Taylor Wein picked off punter Mason Love’s punt.
“We worked on it all week, and they are known for that,” Wein said. “... We worked on it all week and the whole message was in the right spot. Nothing more special than the coaches getting us in the right area. I saw the ball in. I wish I could have took off but didn’t have good vision.”
The Sooners capitalized on that momentum and scored a touchdown on the next possession. Oklahoma’s defense made things rough for South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers and didn’t let him extend plays with his feet like he was able to do last season against the Sooners and the week before in the game against LSU.
“We were a hungry team and a team on the mission, and the defense was fired up and ready to play in that second half,” Wein said. “And with a quarterback like that and an athlete like that, you got to contain him. That was the whole plan, and we executed.”
