BREAKING NEWS: 3 Stars from the Oklahoma Sooners 34-19 win over Tulane…… read more
Saturday was a more significant win than it should have been for the Oklahoma Sooners, not because of the opponent or because the game had some stakes tied to it. However, internally, the Sooners had to answer a few questions.
The Sooners won 34-19 at home to wrap up this portion of their nonconference schedule. Now OU begins SEC play when they host the No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers next week.
Several players stood out from the Sooners win and here are this week’s three stars of the game.
On Saturday, the best player on the field was R Mason Thomas.
Thomas has spent his first two years in Norman, adding mass to his frame while fighting injuries. His development has impressed coaches, but we’d yet to see it come to fruition.
Coming into the season, it felt like now or never for him, and in this third game of the 2024 season, Thomas stepped up and provided good pressure throughout the game, coming up with three pivotal sacks and a forced fumble and fumble recovery in the most critical time of the game.
His calling card is winning with speed and he did just that on Saturday afternoon. He showed good awareness, being able to change his rush approach after the snap to go from working outside to working inside. He has added a few other tricks to his bag to win more regularly.
Thomas was Pro Football Focus highest-graded Power Four edge rusher among players with at least 15 snaps for week three.
OU has been desperate for a star-caliber pass rusher, and Thomas has the ability to fill that void.
